GOD-DAMN HIPPIES
SO, a few days ago before the snow fell I was silently kicking ass in the A/V department of the Jones Library, looking at the documentary flicks. I picked up a couple, one of which is called Free Spirits. It was about a 60s and 70s hippie commune.
Regularly readers will know I have absolutely no interest in this subject, but for SOME REASON, I decided to pick the disc up anyway.
Turns out it is not about just "a" commune, but a commune that was located here in good ol' Western Mass. It was called "Brotherhood of the Spirit" - it's also a damn fun documentary.
The commune was started by one Michael Metelica (yes, that is his real name, although ever time I read it, I subconsciously replace his surname with the metal band) who, like a lot of hippies in the mid 60s, was searching for some meaning in life.
Born in Turners Falls right here in good ol' Western Mass, Metelica dropped out of school at the age of the 16 and went in search of... something. He claimed he had visions and divine experiences from an early age (which clashed with his parents' strict Christian belief) and he sought "true brotherhood" and spiritual understanding and awakening. So, like I said, he dropped out of school and went out into America, traveling all over. He was particularly drawn by the Hell's Angels motorcycle club but found that they were far too violent for his tastes, even amongst one another. Apparently, he ran into some early pioneers of the Jesus freak movement in the Haight and set off back home to Western Mass to live simply and in seclusion in his own homeland. To that end, he built a tree-house in a tree up in Leyden, Mass, but his likewise restless friends decided they wanted in on that as well, so it went from being a simple home for one man to being a home for a group of individuals. Naturally, once the other drop-outs, bohemians and hippies learned of this guy, they ran off to him and he had to find better digs.
The documentary doesn't speak much of his life pre-commune, and for good reason. It isn't a documentary on him (although he is the center of it in a lot of ways) but on the commune, and it traces the history of the commune from a few friends to a large group of individuals in New England who wanted a new life, far away from the corruption of society. The commune was originally somewhat puritan, as Michael (the de facto leader) instructed his followers to avoid drugs, alcohol and free-love. Instead, they were told to use Eastern mysticism to achieve 'natural highs.' Michael's own spiritual guru was a gentleman by the name of Elwood Babbitt, a medium who also has written some books that I will now be forced to seek out (they ought to be around here in Umass library though, as they apparently have a 'special collection' of Brotherhood of the Spirit photos and ephemera).
After the Kent State student murders by the pigs, even more people flocked to the Brothers of the Spirit commune. Naturally, what began with probably good intentions to help people spiritually quickly became a cult of personality. With Metelica as the leader, he became more tyrannical and demanding of money from his followers. He also relaxed his restrictions of drugs and alcohol, as he had begun to smoke, snort cocaine and drink alcoholic beverages. Between his antics (including changing his name from Michael Metelica to Michael Rapunzel (!) and claiming that he was the reincarnation of Robert E. Lee and Peter the Apostle (!!) ) and discomfort among followers with the communal structure (which was apparently rather sexist and homophobic), the community started to break apart, slowly but surely until it finally pretty much dissolved in 1989.
Another aspect that split apart the commune was the ignorant rednecks, 'authorities' and seniors in Western Mass that started all manner of trouble with the group, including torching their home with a kerosene bomb. There was even a murder of member Peter Luban (though whether the murder was in fact the work of ignorant rednecks, etc. is impossible to know since the case remains unsolved).
The documentary is very interesting and features both archival footage of the commune members and modern-day footage of ex-members. The entire film is basically devoted to the various members speaking about the commune as it progresses from one form to another. It was created by a professor at Umass and was screened out in Noho, a few years back. It's highly unlikely that you'll find the DVD outside of this area, though, as the website only sells copies to libraries, schools and community groups. It is listed on amazon.com but is not actually for sale there and there's nothing on Netflix or anything. With that in mind, I managed to track down some links on these crazy kids and their crazy commune:
The official website for the documentary is here: http://www.acornproductions.net/index.php
A rather critical profile on Metelica is here: http://www.geocities.com/bstateob/guru.htm and further into the site are testimonies from former members and more info about the film.
Another review of the film, as well as an interview with the director can be found here: http://shuffleboil.com/tag/michael-metelica-rapunzel/
And finally, images of the commune from Umass WEB Dubois collection: http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/galleries/brown/index.htm
Metelica and some commune members also had a band, called Spirit in Flesh but there's precious little out there about them and I cannot find anything about from my usual sources aside from rateyourmusic. I spoke to Cindy at the Mystery Train about the band and while she had heard of them, she said the LP sells for a lot since it is so very rare - I haven't come across it in my usual weirdo-hippie-music internet haunts either. She hadn't seen the documentary though, so when I go to return it, I am gonna send her an email on facebook and let her know so she can get her hands on the disc.
Oh, I also found a couple LJers who posted about it: yellowwarbler and jacs-metelica (probably have to look in their archives for the info tho). It seems jacs was a child born into the commune.
And now, I am tired and up way too late but I had to post about the documentary cos I totally dug it. See you all tomorrow.
Regularly readers will know I have absolutely no interest in this subject, but for SOME REASON, I decided to pick the disc up anyway.
Turns out it is not about just "a" commune, but a commune that was located here in good ol' Western Mass. It was called "Brotherhood of the Spirit" - it's also a damn fun documentary.
The commune was started by one Michael Metelica (yes, that is his real name, although ever time I read it, I subconsciously replace his surname with the metal band) who, like a lot of hippies in the mid 60s, was searching for some meaning in life.
Born in Turners Falls right here in good ol' Western Mass, Metelica dropped out of school at the age of the 16 and went in search of... something. He claimed he had visions and divine experiences from an early age (which clashed with his parents' strict Christian belief) and he sought "true brotherhood" and spiritual understanding and awakening. So, like I said, he dropped out of school and went out into America, traveling all over. He was particularly drawn by the Hell's Angels motorcycle club but found that they were far too violent for his tastes, even amongst one another. Apparently, he ran into some early pioneers of the Jesus freak movement in the Haight and set off back home to Western Mass to live simply and in seclusion in his own homeland. To that end, he built a tree-house in a tree up in Leyden, Mass, but his likewise restless friends decided they wanted in on that as well, so it went from being a simple home for one man to being a home for a group of individuals. Naturally, once the other drop-outs, bohemians and hippies learned of this guy, they ran off to him and he had to find better digs.
The documentary doesn't speak much of his life pre-commune, and for good reason. It isn't a documentary on him (although he is the center of it in a lot of ways) but on the commune, and it traces the history of the commune from a few friends to a large group of individuals in New England who wanted a new life, far away from the corruption of society. The commune was originally somewhat puritan, as Michael (the de facto leader) instructed his followers to avoid drugs, alcohol and free-love. Instead, they were told to use Eastern mysticism to achieve 'natural highs.' Michael's own spiritual guru was a gentleman by the name of Elwood Babbitt, a medium who also has written some books that I will now be forced to seek out (they ought to be around here in Umass library though, as they apparently have a 'special collection' of Brotherhood of the Spirit photos and ephemera).
After the Kent State student murders by the pigs, even more people flocked to the Brothers of the Spirit commune. Naturally, what began with probably good intentions to help people spiritually quickly became a cult of personality. With Metelica as the leader, he became more tyrannical and demanding of money from his followers. He also relaxed his restrictions of drugs and alcohol, as he had begun to smoke, snort cocaine and drink alcoholic beverages. Between his antics (including changing his name from Michael Metelica to Michael Rapunzel (!) and claiming that he was the reincarnation of Robert E. Lee and Peter the Apostle (!!) ) and discomfort among followers with the communal structure (which was apparently rather sexist and homophobic), the community started to break apart, slowly but surely until it finally pretty much dissolved in 1989.
Another aspect that split apart the commune was the ignorant rednecks, 'authorities' and seniors in Western Mass that started all manner of trouble with the group, including torching their home with a kerosene bomb. There was even a murder of member Peter Luban (though whether the murder was in fact the work of ignorant rednecks, etc. is impossible to know since the case remains unsolved).
The documentary is very interesting and features both archival footage of the commune members and modern-day footage of ex-members. The entire film is basically devoted to the various members speaking about the commune as it progresses from one form to another. It was created by a professor at Umass and was screened out in Noho, a few years back. It's highly unlikely that you'll find the DVD outside of this area, though, as the website only sells copies to libraries, schools and community groups. It is listed on amazon.com but is not actually for sale there and there's nothing on Netflix or anything. With that in mind, I managed to track down some links on these crazy kids and their crazy commune:
The official website for the documentary is here: http://www.acornproductions.net/index.php
A rather critical profile on Metelica is here: http://www.geocities.com/bstateob/guru.htm and further into the site are testimonies from former members and more info about the film.
Another review of the film, as well as an interview with the director can be found here: http://shuffleboil.com/tag/michael-metelica-rapunzel/
And finally, images of the commune from Umass WEB Dubois collection: http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/galleries/brown/index.htm
Metelica and some commune members also had a band, called Spirit in Flesh but there's precious little out there about them and I cannot find anything about from my usual sources aside from rateyourmusic. I spoke to Cindy at the Mystery Train about the band and while she had heard of them, she said the LP sells for a lot since it is so very rare - I haven't come across it in my usual weirdo-hippie-music internet haunts either. She hadn't seen the documentary though, so when I go to return it, I am gonna send her an email on facebook and let her know so she can get her hands on the disc.
Oh, I also found a couple LJers who posted about it: yellowwarbler and jacs-metelica (probably have to look in their archives for the info tho). It seems jacs was a child born into the commune.
And now, I am tired and up way too late but I had to post about the documentary cos I totally dug it. See you all tomorrow.