The Forgotten Tragedy of Krishna Venta and the WKFL Fountain of the World
In the early hours of December 10, 1958, residents around Box Canyon, a quiet corner of California, were jolted awake by a terrifying explosion. Dorothy Hamm, a local, was sleeping peacefully when a powerful blast threw her out of bed. She rushed outside to find a wall of fire glowing over the hilltops about a mile away, filling the air with screams and desperate cries. Shaken, she hurried back inside and called the police, completely unaware that this explosion would expose one of California’s strangest, most tragic cults—the WKFL Fountain of the World, led by a charismatic figure named Krishna Venta.
Closer to the scene, members of the Fountain—often called Fountaineers—were roused from sleep by the blast. Among them was a young woman, known only as Sister Barbara. She’d been sleeping peacefully in her dormitory when she looked out her window to see flames painting the hillside in a surreal glow. It was, she would later recall, “positively beautiful” before realising the disaster’s gravity. Sister Barbara and others scrambled to understand what had happened, only to find their leader and much of the compound engulfed in flames.
Who Was Krishna Venta?
So who was Krishna Venta, and why had he attracted such loyal followers? Originally born Francis Herman Pencovic in San Francisco in 1911, Venta had a turbulent life long before founding his commune. Of Jewish-Russian descent, he spent his teenage years drifting around Depression-era America, picking up minor criminal charges for crimes like burglary and check fraud, and once even sending a threatening letter to President Roosevelt. After marrying a woman named Lucyle, he had two sons and worked a string of odd jobs, including stints at Oakland’s shipyards.
But in the 1940s, his life took a dramatic turn. After separating from Lucyle and moving to Salt Lake City, Venta began developing a new spiritual identity, calling himself the earthly host of “Christ Everlasting.” In April 1948, he stated: "I may as well say it, I am Christ." Krishna claimed to have been born on another planet, Neophrates, 240,000 years ago. This planet purportedly occupied the same orbit as Earth does currently. Pencovic also alleged it was humanity’s first home.
As Pencovic's canon goes, Neophrates moved inexorably closer to the sun and became uninhabitable. According to him, a fleet of great rocket ships, each more than a mile long and capable of carrying 35,000 people, then set off to colonise the dark planet that would become Earth. Naturally, their leader was the soul that would one day manifest as Krishna Venta. Along the way, Venta would bestow revelations upon such notables as Melchizedek of Salem, Kukulcan, Quelzalcoatl, Masaw, Abraham, Moses, Mohammed, the Buddha, the angels Moroni and Gabriel, and Jesus Christ.
All of this was detailed in Krishna Venta’s history of humanity which detailed a series of periodic near-extinction-level events with distinctly theosophical and Mormon overtones. In 1951, he legally changed his name to "Krishna Venta" in California.
Building the Fountain of the World Community
Venta’s charisma drew people to his teachings, especially those searching for a new kind of spirituality. By 1948, he had amassed a small group of followers who believed in his vision of a more unified, loving world. In 1949, Venta and his followers purchased a 20-acre plot in Box Canyon, surrounded by the serene yet isolated Santa Susana Mountains outside Chatsworth, California. They called this new commune the WKFL Fountain of the World—WKFL standing for Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, and Love. This rugged, natural sanctuary became their haven, where they built their community from scratch, following Venta’s Eleven Tenets of spiritual growth, unity, and love.
The group’s lifestyle was distinctive. The Fountaineers gave up all their personal possessions, grew out their hair, and wore different coloured robes to signify their roles—blue for nurses, brown for kitchen workers, and green for students. They believed in living simply and often went barefoot as a sign of service and humility. Their communal life was filled with rituals and practices inspired by both Christian ideals and Venta’s own beliefs. But the Fountain wasn’t isolated from its neighbours—in fact, the Fountaineers were known for their acts of kindness and bravery.
Part of what made the WKFL Fountain of the World so well-regarded in the area was their response to crises. Members volunteered in emergencies, aiding at plane crashes, fighting wildfires, and even parachuting into remote areas to assist in rescue missions. Their acts of service and genuine kindness led locals to see them as harmless eccentrics, if not admirable ones.
A ‘New Age’ Commune with a Dark Prophecy
But under the surface, Venta’s teachings held a darker edge. Like many cult leaders, he saw himself as a figure with insight into an impending apocalypse. Venta believed that a race war and World War III would soon break out, plunging the world into chaos. In his teachings, he told followers that only his chosen “144,000 elect” would survive, saved by their commitment to his doctrine. This core belief attracted many but also isolated some followers who struggled with Venta’s increasingly dire predictions. And although he often preached that his community would someday escape to a desert refuge and avoid the coming destruction, his own behaviour often seemed at odds with this vision.
Why Did Krishna Venta Visit Reno and Las Vegas?
Ironically, Venta, who preached simplicity and humility, frequently indulged in gambling sprees, often funded by his followers. He claimed that his ventures to Reno and Las Vegas were for the good of the commune, believing he could win big to support his community. However, he frequently lost, a fact that bothered some followers who saw these trips as evidence of hypocrisy.
In addition to his gambling habit, Venta had other controversies. His first wife, Lucyle, continued to fight him in court over unpaid child support. In 1956, his refusal to pay eventually led to his arrest, briefly disrupting his leadership. But his followers, loyal to the end, saw his arrest as persecution, and even picketed outside the courthouse with signs supporting him.
The Fatal Night: December 9-10, 1958
This growing frustration with Venta’s lifestyle and leadership boiled over in 1958. Two former members of the Fountain, Peter Kamenoff and Ralph Muller, had once been devoted followers. But they had grown increasingly bitter, accusing Venta of taking advantage of his followers for personal gain and making false promises. Disillusioned, they approached the District Attorney with accusations of sexual misconduct, embezzlement, and unlicensed medical practices. When no legal action came of it, the two men decided to confront Venta themselves.
On the night of December 9, they returned to the Fountain with a truck packed with explosives, determined to end Venta’s life and the commune itself. Just before 2 a.m., the men, who had wrapped dynamite around Muller’s body, approached Venta’s building. Brother Martin, a newer follower, witnessed an argument between Venta, his aide Cardinal Gene Shanafelt, and a stranger. Minutes later, a massive explosion erupted, ripping through the compound.
The explosion killed ten people, including Venta, Shanafelt, Kamenoff, Muller, and several others, including a young girl and an infant. The blast destroyed the main building, leaving only rubble and a lone fireplace, while the nearby dormitories caught fire, forcing other members to evacuate.
Venta’s son, 11-year-old Sharva, was among the boys who narrowly escaped the boys’ dormitory next door. Sharva recalled how the roof fell in on them, and everything began to burn, from the walls to their clothes. Miraculously, Sharva and the other boys survived and quickly set to work, trying to prevent the flames from spreading.
The Aftermath and Legacy
The tragedy left the Fountain of the World shattered. Venta’s wife, Sister Ruth, eventually moved to Alaska, where she attempted to continue Venta’s work with the remaining followers. While some loyal members stayed behind in Box Canyon to rebuild, many left, deeply disillusioned by the violent turn of events and the loss of their leader. For a time, Venta’s widow and remaining followers kept the commune going, even preserving some of Venta’s teachings, but the community would never fully recover.
The Charles Manson Connection
In the late 1960s, Charles Manson visited the Fountain’s compound. Manson, who would later become infamous for his own cult and the “Helter Skelter” murders, was influenced by Venta’s teachings on race wars and apocalyptic visions. Manson borrowed elements of the Fountain’s doctrine, incorporating them into his own twisted philosophy and eventually leading his followers down a violent path.
The Fountain of the World Site Today
The ruins of the Fountain’s compound remain in Box Canyon, outside of Chatsworth, California. While time and nature have claimed much of the commune, remnants of the buildings and scattered relics still stand, quietly marking the once-bustling spiritual community. Today, the site is mostly abandoned, but the legacy of Krishna Venta and his followers lingers, drawing the occasional visitor intrigued by the story of faith, tragedy, and fanaticism that played out on these grounds.
Comentários