There are still some Internet search results for the Love Israel cult including some video of their annual Garlic Fest. Basically they were a cult that started in Seattle Washington, and at their height they owned property and/or had communes in Washington, Alaska and Hawaii. There is a documentary called "It Takes a Cult. " They were semi-famous for having Steve Allen's son in the cult for awhile.
I was a roadie for a band that played their Garlic fest in Arlington WA in 2003, and I went ahead of the band and volunteered to work the festival for a week. I didn't even know it was a cult till I got there, so that was real strange. The most distinctive thing about the cult, besides their leader, was that they had all taken new names. They all used the same last name Israel, but they all had first names which were some kind of virtue; like Honesty Israel, Compassion Israel, etc. The leader was Love Israel, and he was real amusing. As cult leaders go he wasn't real bad, but he obviously was "in charge". He really looked the part of a spiritual leader, like a cross between Kenny Rogers, and Jon Anderson of Yes. There would be an early morning meeting for all the volunteers, and he would give up all a new age speech about compassion, and community, but also about bringing in resources (making Money) and abundance. A major concern for the week was acquiring a liquor license for the festival. The reason they had the annual garlic fest was they owed millions of dollars in loan payments so they were keen on making a lot of money. They got big crowds and had great bands like shimshia, and Sasha Butterfly and Freedom, who was a very talented musician who was a member of the cult.
The regular members of the cult didn't like the festival, it was all about raising money for their commune, they thought the festival itself was just crowded and noisy and created a lot of damage. They thought it was kind of decadent. They were really worried that something would go wrong. As festivals go it was real mellow, and the bands had a spiritual vibe.
So of course, some of us volunteers took on new names for the festival, like Decadence or Hate, but we were just kidding, and did our volunteer jobs faithfully. Ironically a bunch of the children of the cult were hanging out at a campfire, and one of them said "I think they are trying to kill all of us children with drugs." I'm not sure if it was a joke, maybe they were encouraged to try hallucinogens, since that is how the cult started originally, though maybe they had moved beyond them. Just as soon as the concert ended on Sunday, they got all the volunteers and the members of the cult together to very aggressively get the patrons to leave the grounds. I thought we were next, but they actually held a special show by the best band of the weekend, Flowmotion, and they were in top form, and played till late at night
I was a roadie for a band that played their Garlic fest in Arlington WA in 2003, and I went ahead of the band and volunteered to work the festival for a week. I didn't even know it was a cult till I got there, so that was real strange. The most distinctive thing about the cult, besides their leader, was that they had all taken new names. They all used the same last name Israel, but they all had first names which were some kind of virtue; like Honesty Israel, Compassion Israel, etc. The leader was Love Israel, and he was real amusing. As cult leaders go he wasn't real bad, but he obviously was "in charge". He really looked the part of a spiritual leader, like a cross between Kenny Rogers, and Jon Anderson of Yes. There would be an early morning meeting for all the volunteers, and he would give up all a new age speech about compassion, and community, but also about bringing in resources (making Money) and abundance. A major concern for the week was acquiring a liquor license for the festival. The reason they had the annual garlic fest was they owed millions of dollars in loan payments so they were keen on making a lot of money. They got big crowds and had great bands like shimshia, and Sasha Butterfly and Freedom, who was a very talented musician who was a member of the cult.
The regular members of the cult didn't like the festival, it was all about raising money for their commune, they thought the festival itself was just crowded and noisy and created a lot of damage. They thought it was kind of decadent. They were really worried that something would go wrong. As festivals go it was real mellow, and the bands had a spiritual vibe.
So of course, some of us volunteers took on new names for the festival, like Decadence or Hate, but we were just kidding, and did our volunteer jobs faithfully. Ironically a bunch of the children of the cult were hanging out at a campfire, and one of them said "I think they are trying to kill all of us children with drugs." I'm not sure if it was a joke, maybe they were encouraged to try hallucinogens, since that is how the cult started originally, though maybe they had moved beyond them. Just as soon as the concert ended on Sunday, they got all the volunteers and the members of the cult together to very aggressively get the patrons to leave the grounds. I thought we were next, but they actually held a special show by the best band of the weekend, Flowmotion, and they were in top form, and played till late at night
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