Dinner as Father Yod?

Father Yod, born Jim Baker, was a decorated ex-Marine and Jujitsu expert from Ohio who hit the road to Hollywood on a motorcycle back in the 1950s with the intention of becoming a stuntman. He eventually fell in with the Nature Boys, a bunch of beats who introduced him to a cultural milieu brimming with vegetarianism, yoga, natural living, and all things spiritual. After creating his own mystical philosophy and adopting the name Father Yod, he ended up founding a highly successful vegetarian restaurant on the Sunset Strip as well as the eponymous, interconnected hippie commune known as the Source Family, famous for their liberal drug use, their sexiness as a group, their penchant for group sex, and their in-house psych rock band, sometimes known as YaHoWha 13.

People say I should start my own religion. I wouldn’t wanna do that. I mean, Dinner as Father Yod?

Dinner, born Anders Rhedin, is a celebrated ex-member of Choir of Young Believers and yoga expert from Denmark who divides his time between his hometown of Copenhagen, Berlin, and LA as he strives to become a synth pop superstar. Not unlike the dozens of beautiful, disaffected young people who abandoned their dull middle class existences to join the Source Family, Dinner comes from a background he describes as “Rather conservative. Practically 100% free of anything hippiesque.” To confront his own inner heaviness, rather than take on a boring job (or join a commune), Dinner set off on a path which has led him to develop his own brand of spirituality he terms “chaos magic”, as well as his unique musical style he has described thusly: “It’s like sexual Christian rock, really. But without all the Christianity.

As we chatted about the guided meditations he is currently leading in LA, Dinner made the above statement, rejecting any notions of becoming some kind of guru. However, the more I thought about it afterwards, the more I thought to myself, “Why the hell not?” His good looks, delightfully subdued and skewed sense of humor, and serene manner imbue Dinner with the kind of charisma that makes you want to bask in the glow of his wisdom (or at least have him teach you how to put your legs behind your head 😉 ).

Personally I’m converted.

And while he may not be a successful vegetarian restauranteur or a silver-maned demigod with a dozen-strong harem of beautiful young spiritual wives (yet), his ever-growing repertoire of increasingly compelling tunes, mesmerizing live performances, and love for a good party all have me thinking that placement at the pulpits of pop temples even bigger than Paradiso can’t be too far off. Perhaps most important of all, Dinner has at his core that typical Danish modesty and levelheadedness that reassures you he’d never actually fancy himself a deity or try to poison you and all your friends.

What more could you ask for from a spiritual leader? Personally I’m converted. The next meeting of the Amsterdam congregation takes place on Tuesday, 13 September at s105 – I look forward to seeing you there. Amen!