Brother XII and The Aquarian Foundation

©Text by John Oliphant

©Photographs by James Santucci

 

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1.  A small city (pop. 75,000), Nanaimo is a transportation hub for northern Vancouver Island. Brother XII is the area’s most notorious historical figure; his exploits are still discussed by old-timers in the district and memorabilia from the Foundation is on display in the local museum.

 

2.  A view of Nanaimo’s harbour with fishing boats at the pier. Coal shafts run beneath the ocean floor and Protection Island can be seen in the distance.

 

3.  The beach at Cedar-by-the-Sea, nine miles south of Nanaimo, location of the first Aquarian Foundation settlement. The children of the society’s members played on the sand and dug for clams during the idyllic first days of the colony.

 

4.  The Center Building, administrative headquarters of Brother XII’s organization, as it is today. It originally contained offices, an assembly hall and four upstairs bedrooms for visiting members. The building has been extensively renovated inside and out. The chimney is a later addition.

 

5.  Former residence of Maurice Von Platen, a Foundation Governor and one of Brother XII’s wealthiest supporters. Like all the houses built by the colony’s members at Cedar, this house is of excellent construction, with a stone fireplace, spacious sundeck and twin garages. The house is essentially unchanged since its construction in 1928.

 

6.  Former residence of Alfred and Annie Barley, the English astrologers who were among Brother XII’s first recruits. This house also remains unchanged since it was built. Fifty years after the colony broke up, card catalogues with the names of Foundation members were discovered in the basement (ground level door on the left) along with astrology books from Barley’s library.

 

7.  Brother XII’s House of Mystery. This one-room cabin, which has been moved from its original location in the woods to the top of the cliff overlooking the beach at Cedar-by-the-Sea, was the colony’s sanctum sanctorum, the place where Brother XII would retreat to meditate, claiming to receive instructions, while in a state of samadhi, from the “Masters of Wisdom,” who were directing the Foundation’s affairs.

 

8.  Another view of the House of Mystery. In July, 1927, Brother XII claimed to have passed the Fifth Initiation here. The term “House of Mystery” has a double-meaning relating to Brother XII’s work, which was astrologically of the Twelfth House—traditionally the House of Karma and House of Mystery. The cabin was later used as a children’s playhouse. The antlers are recent.

 

9.  Brother XII’s house at Cedar. He lived here with a Scottish woman named Elma Wilson, although the two were never legally married, Wilson having never obtained a divorce from his first wife, who he had married in New Zealand. Renovations are minor; the house is typical of the sturdy and cozy houses built by Foundation members at Cedar.

 

10.  Another view of the Von Platen residence at Cedar. After the breakup of the Aquarian Foundation, Maurice and Alice Von Platen continued to live here until shortly before their deaths. Philanthropists, the Von Platen helped local families in need, always making sure their assistance remained anonymous.

 

11.  The lagoon at the southern end of DeCourcy Island. Brother XII and selected colony members built houses on the shoreline of this tranquil cove when the Foundation expanded its properties to include Valdes Island and DeCourcy Island. The lagoon is now a marine park and a favorite anchorage for visiting American sailboats and yachts.

 

12.  Valdes Island looking towards the Strait of Georgia. A large section of this island remains Indian land, although some summer cabins have been built along the shoreline, one of which is visible in the photograph, which was taken from near the site of Brother XII’s cabin high up on the bluff. It was here that Brother XII conducted an illicit love affair with Myrtle Baumgartner, one of the events that led to the break-up of the Foundation.

 

13.  Another view of the lagoon at DeCourcy Island. This photograph is taken from the site of Brother XII’s house. There was also a fort constructed here that was entered through a trapdoor in the roof. Vessels that entered the lagoon were warned off by Brother XII or his sentries and sometimes even fired upon by patrolling guards.

 

14. The farmhouse at DeCourcy Island. This house predates the Foundation and was already there when Brother XII purchased the island in 1928 with funds provided by Mary Connally, his wealthy patron from Asheville, North Carolina. Mary lived here after the breakup of the Foundation when she was awarded the island as part of her settlement.

 

15. Another view of the farmhouse.

 

16.  The farmhouse is built at the edge of a cliff and looks out across Stuart Channel directly towards Cedar-by-the-Sea. Supplies were transported by boat from Cedar and carried up a road blasted out of the rock to the farmhouse and from there to the lagoon on the other side of the island.

 

17. The cookhouse at Cedar-by-the-Sea. This wood frame structure was where meals were prepared for workmen who constructed the colony’s buildings during the summer of 1927. It has been moved from its original location and is now used as a tool shed.

 

18.  A view of an open field at the DeCourcy Island farm, with the farmhouse in the distance to the left. The colonists worked hard at rehabilitating the original farm on the island, so that the colony could become self-sufficient. Their efforts may not be readily apparent today, but fields like this are the result of their dedicated labor.

 

19.  Another view of the same field, photographed from in front of the farmhouse. The colonists would often sing as they worked and long hours were typical, even before Brother XII implemented slave-like working conditions. The colony’s three primary locations, Cedar-by-the-Sea, Valdes Island and DeCourcy Island, with their respective tasks and duties, represented three distinct grades of discipleship according to Brother XII’s teachings.

 

20.  Field and fences. This idyllic scene belies some of the cruel practices that took place here, with colonists working twenty-hour days, lashed and goaded by Brother XII’s volatile mistress “Z” or “Madam Zee” as she was called. Though the disciples could take pride in their accomplishment, the unrelenting toil and physical abuse broke their spirits and led to their insurrection against their spiritual leader.

 

21.  Vegetable garden. Brother XII predicted the collapse of the world’s economic system; consequently, the farm was essential for his long-term plans. He called his island empire a “City of Refuge” and exhorted the disciples, “Labour in this Vineyard, and thou shalt eat of its fruit. Build thou the City of Refuge; it shall hide thee in the Day of Adversity.”

 

22.  Ottawa drag saw, built in Ottawa, Kansas, used to cut wood for the colonists’ stoves. It was usually operated by Roger Painter, assisted by Alfred Barley, and was the cause of an explosive outburst of rage on Brother XII’s part when he wrongly accused the colonists of purchasing it without his permission.

 

23.  Abandoned reaping machine with deer. Brother XII’s willful destruction and vandalizing of the farm bitterly disillusioned his disciples, who had given everything to achieve their utopian dream of universal brotherhood in accordance with Theosophical teachings.

 

24. Colony school house as it looks today. This building served a variety of functions over the years, including that of a dormitory for female members of the colony. When Brother XII vandalized the farm, desks were hurled out through the windows with such force that their cast iron fittings were broken on the ground. One former colonist claims that communal sexual activities took place here.

 

25.  Another view of the same building. On the ground level, there is a vault with a heavy concrete lid in which Brother XII may have concealed up to a quarter of a million dollars in cash and gold, an undiscovered hoard which continues to lure contemporary treasure seekers.

 

26.  The dormitory/schoolhouse photographed from the other side. The building is now used to store farm equipment and implements. DeCourcy Island is now privately owned and has been developed with numerous summer homes. The farm itself remains intact, though, in part out of respect by the current owner for the historical significance of the property.

 

27. DeCourcy Island cliffs. The steep sandstone cliffs on the western side of DeCourcy have been eroded into strange shapes by the wind and water, giving the shoreline an eerie quality. The native inhabitants of the island once buried their dead in deep crevices that run into the rock. A cruise along this shoreline is an enthralling and mesmerizing experience.

 

28. Detail of a cliff face, showing unique erosion patterns. Twisted red arbutus at the top of these cliffs lend a supernatural quality to island scenes at twilight. Brother XII claimed the energies of this site in southern British Columbia were highly conducive to occult work.

 

29.  The Point on DeCourcy Island, looking towards the white navigation aid for mariner’s entering the lagoon. Because it was so difficult to enter this natural harbor, if any government or immigration vessel approached, Brother XII had time to flee into the woods to avoid interrogation by the authorities.

 

30.  Stone fort on DeCourcy Island. This fort was one of several which were manned by colonists armed with rifles. The forts were built of rocks, logs and earth and cleverly camouflaged, with lines of sight down to the water. This is the only fort which remains standing.

 

31.  The Nanaimo Courthouse. This is the building in which the civil cases against Brother XII were heard on April 26 and April 27, 1933. Mary Connally and Alfred Barley were both awarded their claims, although Brother XII had long since vanished, fleeing to England. The bizarre testimony he heard that day caused Chief Justice Aulay M. Morrison to declare that these were “the strangest cases ever to come before a Canadian court of law.”