Renaissance Community
The Brotherhood of the Spirit (renamed Renaissance Community in 1974) was one of the largest and most enduring communes in the northeast United States and as such was a distinct link between the commune phenomenon of the 1960s and the current New Age movement. In existence from 1968 through 1988, its rise and fall mirrored that of its charismatic and mercurial leader, Michael Metelica. A factor that made the Brotherhood of the Spirit unique is that it underwent several distinct identity changes during its 20 year history.[1]
The Brotherhood of the Spirit: 1968–1973
Michael Metelica was born in 1950 and grew up in the small rural town of Leyden, Massachusetts. At age 15, he dropped out of high school, along with several other local boys became a California run away. Roger Desreuisseau of Colrain, Ma was the first run away with two dollars in his pocket. A national phenomena sent many young people across country to Haight-Ashbury. Michael's excuse was he left his turbulent family life after reading an article about the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, but the closest he got to the Hell's Angels was sitting on a side walk with Roger Desreuisseau, on a spot designated for observers of the Angels. Michael never dared to get up and go across the street to meet them. He was instead drawn to the 1967 hippies and love in's at People's Park Summer of Love, where he met an older enamored mentor who introduced him to mobile rooms of telephones and photo sales. Upon returning to Leyden later that year he got his GED. In May 1968, he asked a local blueberry farmer named Donnie Herron if he could build a tree-house on his land, and after receiving permission, lived there in solitary meditation, often times with Wendy Krole, working for farmers for free. He became something of a local sensation and attracted his first following from among his boyhood friends. After the tree-house was destroyed in late 1968 by suspicious locals, Metelica and his little band wandered around the many hill towns in the area, gaining more members, teaching their view of spirituality at area churches and schools until by early 1970, they numbered around 50. Rules were mandated banning drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and sexual promiscuity and members practiced to purge themselves of their imperfections through meditation and intense encounter-group confrontation tactics. By then, Metelica knew that he had the makings of a deliberate community that was based on spiritual beliefs and practice.
The group, now known as the Brotherhood of the Spirit, had as its spiritual advisor, a local farmer named Elwood Babbitt, a trance-medium in the Edgar Cayce tradition. Michael had been introduced to him as an impressionable boy while visiting Beth St. Clair's girls, along with her hypnotist cousin, Charles Hapgood. Hapgood, Babbitt and Metelica believed that the Earth was about to undergo cataclysmic changes in preparation of the Aquarian Age. Babbitt, in particular, was getting information through his spirit guides who warned that humanity’s selfish and self-destructive behavior would cause nature to literally rebel in such a way as to cause widespread death and destruction. These “Earth Changes” as they were called would be a precursor to the spiritual enlightenment of the Aquarian Age, the next step in the evolution of the human race. According to Babbitt, groups like the Brotherhood would be the harbingers of this new age, functioning as teachers of this higher wisdom to the shattered survivors of these worldwide cataclysms. There were 2000 intentional communities in the US in that generation of seekers.
In March 1970, The Brotherhood purchased a 25-acre property in Warwick, MA and the group underwent the first of its many radical transformations. Their growth coincided with a counter-cultural migration as millions of young Americans, disenchanted with the “establishment” during the Vietnam War era, dropped out of universities and cities en masse and spent that summer looking for new venues. The membership skyrocketed to 150 leading to the acquisition of an additional house in nearby Northfield, the building of a dormitory in Warwick and more stringent membership rules. Metelica became less involved with the commune, devoting most of his energy to the commune’s band “Spirit in Flesh” whose mission was to bring about the message of spirituality through the medium of rock and roll. In late 1970, Spirit in Flesh signed a contract with Metromedia records and the commune’s focus began to shift into a full-time promotion of the band forming his own record label, Corn Records and Production Company, The High Time Girls with Susan Leonard of NYC and You and Me Productions.
Veterans of the Brotherhood of the Spirit consider the Warwick era as being the closest to their ideal of a spiritual community composed of independently inspired individuals. Their youthful enthusiasm allowed them to overcome the many hardships created by an insulated environment dedicated to personal growth and spiritual reflection. For the many that came from urban backgrounds, Warwick introduced the realities of self-sufficiency through logging, house building, the cultivating and canning of homegrown food, and the ability to enjoy life without the distractions of mainstream media. Their spiritual belief system was based on aspects of Buddhism and New Age thinking mixed with an enlightened, almost Gnostic form of Christianity. Reincarnation, meditation, and the power of positive thought were considered to be major doctrines.
The years 1971-1972 were spent in frenzied activities surrounding Spirit in Flesh, including the printing of several thousand silk-screened posters that were placed all across the United States and even into parts of Europe. Because of the sluggish support from the record label, the commune devised its own marketing tactics to promote the band which included marches in New York City, mass telephone call-ins to Metromedia, and infiltrating popular national TV talk shows to announce the band’s impending success. These tactics culminated in a concert at Carnegie Hall that was sparely attended. The first album, which featured the entire membership of the Brotherhood commune on its cover, sold less than 1000 copies.
Despite the attention focused on Spirit in Flesh, the Brotherhood had developed into an efficient entity. An elaborate infrastructure that included business management, child care, auto maintenance, farming and food production had been created to service the needs of its personnel. Money was obtained by the practice of having new members sign over all these possessions in order to make a "Lifetime Commitment" to the commune which also created controversy due to its members being briefly on welfare while Metelica was gifted with a Rolls-Royce. There were also numerous run-ins with local selectmen about code violations concerning the commune’s houses and septic systems. By late 1972, the membership had expanded to nearly 300. It was during this time that the first public businesses were launched by the commune along with a magazine, the Free Spirit Press, which was sold along the East Coast from a rainbow-painted school bus. In late 1972, the commune bought the Shea Theater block in Turners Falls, a decaying working-class town next to Greenfield, and made national headlines when Metelica issued an order that all members either work a job or leave. By now, the Brotherhood of the Spirit had been featured in such media venues as the Wall Street Journal; Look, Family Circle, and Mademoiselle magazines as well as televised segments on 60 Minutes and the David Frost show.
The Metelica Aquarian Concept and Renaissance Community: 1973–1976
In 1973, the commune went through its most drastic and traumatic change, morphing into what became known as the Metelica Aquarian Concept. Metelica shifted his focus from his band (renamed Metelica) to take absolute control over the running of the commune. (Note that the band is not related to the far better known Metallica, which was formed in Los Angeles in 1981.) Every cent earned by commune members was turned over to him whereby he radically reshaped the appearance of the group. A shopping spree ensued that purchased 35 new cars (the tiny Honda 600 which got 50 mpg), three GMC motor homes and an airplane, plus several movie, video and still cameras. Metelica’s aim was to replace the image of commune hippies with that of media-savvy entrepreneurs who would change the mainstream society by mimicking its need for image and materiality. This shift in focus caused some long-term members to leave as well as causing a more negative reaction from the local community. Metelica’s demand for complete power caused a cult-like mentality to permeate the group which was divided into a distinct hierarchy with him as the unquestioned and undisputed leader. The nadir of this period was the murder of commune member Peter Luban while hitch-hiking from work, a crime which was never solved and the subsequent “Metelica Marches” whereby members vigiled on the streets of Turners Falls and Greenfield with signs proclaiming Metelica as a new religion. The Shea Theater complex in Turners Falls became the nerve center of the group while the Warwick property slowly fell into decline. It was during this time that Metelica’s drug and alcohol addiction began which would have dire consequences for the group in the near future.
The following year, 1974, gave birth to the legally recognized and tax-exempt Renaissance Church and Renaissance Community as Metelica changed his name to Rapunzel. All community properties (which now included several residences in Turners Falls) were outlandishly renovated while members worked a variety of jobs in the outside world. The foremost of these employers was at the Belchertown State School for the developmentally challenged where 50 members worked on the wards and earned a reputation for treating the residents there with care and respect. The first of many business and creative ventures were launched during this time while Rapunzel worked full-time in the Shea Theater’s recording studio with various bands. He also began a series of meetings for his followers which were mainly lengthy monologues of his philosophy and worldview. The Renaissance Church, meanwhile, opened its Sunday services to the general public featuring music and meditations with an accommodating spiritual philosophy. It also sponsored a free Christmas dinner in the Shea Theater for the next few years which was fully attended and highly popular with the outside population.
1975 was the apex of the Turners Falls era with Renaissance operating a dozen businesses downtown including a 24-hour grocery, Cucumber Grocery, Dan Pritchet Audio, a record store, an audio supply center and a stylized pizza parlor, Zapmia Pizza, catering to the airport. Notable among these were the Noble Feast restaurant which featured diversely innovative cuisine, but was never profitable. Rocket’s Silver Train which provided luxury-modeled tour buses to rock musicians (Elvis Costello, Pink Floyd, Linda Ronstadt, and Queen among others) and the forerunners of the now nationally distributed Silver Screen Design and Renaissance Greeting Cards. All of the businesses used start up funds from the working Renaissance Members and seldom were profitable. These were coupled with contracting crews specializing in high-level industrial painting, paving and excavating, carpentry and plumbing. There was also an explosion of creative talent from community members as the recording studio, video lab, darkroom and media equipment were made freely available. The Choir, an all-women chorus, was created at this time and performed both at church services and at outside concerts. The community also produced the weekly Renaissance Radio Show that attained national distribution and featured topics ranging from the spiritual to the practical. Outreach to the local community was made through a series of free public events culminating in the Renaissance Faire, a street festival that attracted about 3,000. The young people of Turners Falls flocked to the community in droves, working in the many new businesses or hanging out in the drop-in center members created. This Renaissance-inspired revitalization of Turners Falls occurred without any government grants or taxpayers’ money. The community at this point was operating several dozen businesses and was, essentially, self-supporting. Internally, the cult-like adoration of Rapunzel slowly gave way to a growing sense of personal autonomy as members practiced a variety of new skills and acquired leadership abilities of their own.
The 2001 Center in Gill: 1975–1988
At the end of 1975, the Renaissance Community purchased the rural Olde Stone Lodge in Gill and within a year decided to build a self-sufficient community utilizing a variety of alternative energy and sustainable technologies. Again, the group radically changed its identity as the focus shifted away from the Turners Falls businesses (which receded in number) to the building of several innovatively designed houses on the 80-acre Gill property, nicknamed the 2001 Center. During this time, the community began networking with other spiritual communities; especially Findhorn in Scotland, whose leaders and members exchanged visits with those of Renaissance. There was also a huge increase of children who, coupled with the work on the land, mellowed the community and led to its most relaxed and harmonious years since its inception both within and without. Despite a shaky start, due to the 1976 May Day rock concert in which 14,000 people descended on this tiny town, the community got along well with the citizens of Gill, a condition that exists to the present. This apparent harmony, however, hid some long-term resentment concerning Rapunzel’s omnipotent leadership which came to the fore in late 1980. Leading the challenge were the personnel of the greeting card company whose executives doubled as Renaissance’s financial managers and even Reverends of the Church. Rapunzel’s and his entourage were skimming money from the community to satiate his uncontrollable substance abuses, and undiagnosed bi-polar disorder. The hip recreational drugs of the 80's used by the group created a cross roads driven by the now lucrative bus company. It was a major (if unspoken) concern as were issues concerning safety and the screening of new members. Although the financial policies regarding commune members was gradually liberalized, the dispute concerning Metelica's leadership role divided the community into two hostile groups culminating in the decision by the card company to separate from the community and re-establish itself in southern Maine. In all, a large segment of core members departed, signaling the final era of decline. Added to a small but steady migration that occurred during the Turners Falls era, the population of the community was drastically reduced to about 70 adult members with an equal number of children.
For the next few years, this remnant continued to build their houses and maintain the land in Gill despite the departure of other long-term members and the influx of new ones, some of whom were violent or otherwise dysfunctional. Rapunzel’s increasingly erratic behavior caused another rebellion against his authority in 1984, this time centered around the silkscreen company. This led to a final migration of vital members from which Renaissance never recovered.
Meanwhile, reunions and newsletters of former members signaled a shift in focus toward those who had left and were trying to process the communal experience for themselves. From 1984 until 1988, the community, now down to its final dozen members, struggled to maintain some semblance of cohesion as group meetings and projects come to an end and the land itself began to deteriorate. In 1988, the remaining community leadership offered Rapunzel $10,000 to leave and never return. He accepted and moved to upstate New York for the remainder of his life.
The aftermath: 1988–2003
In 1988, the Renaissance Community as a recognizable communal entity came to an end. The Gill property was cleaned up and cooperatively managed. The year after Michael's death in 2003, the various houses were officially sold off to private ownership and the Olde Stone Lodge house was renovated into separate apartments. Several successful contracting businesses based in Gill still exist and there continue to be regular seminars dealing with meditation and spiritual practice. There have also been many well-attended reunions and gatherings of former and current members where the issue of the community’s controversial legacy remains a major topic. Those who were part of the Brotherhood of the Spirit have gone on to become teachers, artists, health-care providers, millionaire executives, and at least one ordained Buddhist monk. In May 2006, a documentary film about the community entitled “Free Spirits: The Birth, Life and Loss of a New Age Dream" was released, being produced by a former member who teaches film at the University of Massachusetts (access www.acornproductions.net for film details).
Michael Metelica Rapunzel lived out the remainder of his life in the Hudson River valley in upstate New York. There he was licensed as an EMT, attended AA to treat his addictions, was finally successful entering therapy for Bi-Polar disorder, but was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer in May 2002. The following month, a gathering in his honor occurred at the home of his long-time friend and mentor, Beth St. Clair, Bachman, Hapgood, his sister, Jacqueline, and two children, Adrian and Rachael; about 100 of his former followers. He died in February 2003 in Cairo, NY, succumbing to Colon Cancer, with his sister, her husband and daughter: "Fair Witnesses". The funeral was attended by his sibling, Nanci's children, his children who could travel at the time, and the extended Hallett/Crawford/Metelica presence who even in controversy stayed by his side throughout all his turbulent years.
References
- ↑ Sreenivasan, Jyotsna (2008). Utopias in American history. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-59884-052-5.
External links
- Gallery of images, Daniel A. Brown Collection Gallery, Department of Special Collections and University Archives of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, UMass Amherst
- The History of the Brotherhood of the Spirit/Renaissance Community: 1968-1988
- Valley Guru contains numerous first hand accounts of the commune, particularly of the Warwick era.