LAVA offers Maja tour and Sunday Salon July 30 and 31

LAVA's July wild weekend spans the Southland with unique cultural programs

WHAT: On Saturday, July 30 and Sunday, July 31, members of LAVA (The Los
Angeles Visionaries Association) present a pair of eclectic cultural
happenings ­ Esotouric's annual Maja's Mysteries: Rapture & Release
spiritual L.A. bus and walking tour and LAVA's 17th monthly Sunday Salon
featuring Brian Kaiser's history of artistic tile in Southern California and
Maja D'Aoust and Paul Nugent in conversation on the history of Los Angeles
as a center of offbeat spirituality.

COST: Maja's Mysteries tour costs $63, LAVA's Sunday Salon is always free

LOCATION: Both events happen at Clifton's Cafeteria, 648 S. Broadway, Los
Angeles, CA 90014.

MORE INFO: http://lavatransforms.org and the individual links below

Have you heard about LAVA? The Los Angeles Visionaries
Association is a creative consortium of artists, musicians, writers,
storytellers and filmmakers who since February 2010 have come together on
the last Sunday of the month for a free cultural lunch Salon at Clifton's
Cafeteria, in addition to sharing their far-flung activities on a community
calendar.

Created by Richard Schave and Kim Cooper‹the busy married couple who lead
historical bus tours under the Esotouric flag ("The Real Black Dahlia,"
"Raymond Chandler's L.A."), successfully campaigned to save the endangered
76 Balls, Charles Bukowski's house and L.A.'s Public Libraries, put the
Downtown Art Walk into a non-profit, and most recently assembled a
collective of the region's best independent tour guides at www.7DaysinLA.com
-- LAVA is fast establishing itself as one of the city's most intriguing
arts collectives, with a calendar packed with compelling, offbeat urban
events and a growing list of notable Visionary contributors.

And during the last weekend in July, the LAVA calendar shines with a pair of
fascinating events reflecting the group's eclectic diversity, with something
to delight and inspire anybody looking for a memorable outing. The events
play out in this order...

1) The once-a-year Esotouric bus adventure "Maja's Mysteries" Rapture and
Release," Saturday 7/30, 11am-3pm, $63, departs from Clifton's Cafeteria,
648 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014.
Info and additional links at http://lavatransforms.org/maja711

MAJA'S MYSTERIES is a guided excursion to some of the city's most
fascinating spiritual sites hosted by Maja D'Aoust, lecturer and librarian
at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz, in association with Kim
Cooper and Richard Schave of Esotouric. Come join us on an Esotouric bus
adventure into the hidden realms of Los Angeles spirituality, with stops at
some of the most unique and compelling worship spaces in the Southland.

TOUR THEME: This tour explores the fundamental contradiction in the two
primary paths to salvation: Grace or Karma. The concept of Grace sees
salvation and the Messiah (rapture) as imminent and tangible. Karma is
predicated on reincarnation, the cycle of many, many lives lived through
selflessness and right action as the soul strives to achieve release. These
two notions, while irreconcilable, both inspire real and profound
relationships with God in Los Angeles, from the church basements where
believers speak in tongues, or in brightly light congregation rooms praying
over gigantic crystals. Join Maja as we explore tantric Vedic practices, the
Pentecostal rapture, the channeled Venusian stylings of an alien entity and
other fascinating paths to salvation.

TOUR LOCATIONS: The Aetherius Society. A center for cosmic consciousness and
healing founded in 1955 by UFO contactee Dr. George King, where we will hear
actual recordings of an extraterrestrial voice conveying significant
messages. Krotona Apartments. A former Theosophical retreat founded in 1914,
where we will have a rare opportunity to visit the central courtyard and
view the Rosicrucian window of this now-private residence. Parsonage of
Sister Aimee Semple McPherson. On the northern edge of Echo Park lake is the
rock upon which Sister Aimee Semple McPherson built her Foursquare Church.
One of Los Angeles¹ most charismatic characters, Sister Aimee spread her
technologically-inspired Pentecostal gospel from the Angelus Temple, while
enjoying quiet moments in her adjoining Parsonage home. Recently restored,
the Parsonage is now a museum of her life and work, which to this day
contains to ring clear to millions of believers worldwide. The Vedanta
Society of Southern California. Founded in 1930 to bring sacred Hindu
philosophy to the West, where we will be given a presentation on the
Society¹s history and programming, and browse in its fine gift shop.

2) LAVA's monthly Sunday Salon, Sunday 7/31, 12-2pmpm, Free, Clifton's
Cafeteria, 648 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014.
Info and additional links at http://lavatransforms.org/salon711

On the last Sunday of each month, LAVA welcomes interested individuals to
gather on the third floor of the historic Clifton's Cafeteria for a loosely
structured conversational Salon featuring short presentations and
opportunities to meet and connect with one another. This month's Visionary
presentations include:

Preservationist, tile historian and newly appointed LAVA Visionary BRIAN
KAISER will give a talk on Artistic Tile in Southern California. The main
body of the presentation is a slide tour of the house that Rufus Keeler
built for himself in South Gate in 1924. Mr. Keeler was founder, plant
manager, and sole ceramist of the Calco (1923-1932) and Malibu potteries
(1926-1932). His house is tile from start to finish, and was made from Calco
Tile, a pottery that preceded Malibu Tile. Meant to be a showcase for the
use of clay products in home construction and decoration, the house still
stands as a magnificent example of one of the finest ceramists in all of
California during the 1920s and 1930s.

€ LAVA Visionaries MAJA D'AOUST, Librarian at the Philosophical Research
Society and host of the July 30 Esotouric bus adventure "Maja's Mysteries:
Rapture & Release," and REV. PAUL NUGENT of The Aetherius Society will host
a joint presentation / conversation on the history of Los Angeles as a
magnetic spiritual center: a place where people of all faiths and
backgrounds have come to seek enlightenment since the turn of the last
century. Maja will introduce us to some of the major esoteric groups and
thinkers that have made Los Angeles their home, revealing the shared aims
beneath a seemingly disparate collection of seekers. These will include The
Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), Manly P. Hall and his Philosophical Research
Society and The Theosophy Society, to name a few. Then Paul will give a
brief history of The Aetherius Society, the spiritual organization which was
brought to Los Angeles by Yoga Master and extraterrestrial contactee Dr.
George King in 1959, as part of his mission to help humanity raise itself
from universal suffering and ignorance. Dr. King's initial communication
with the Cosmic Master Aetherius occurred in 1954, spurring Dr. King on to
found the Society in England the following year (he ran it until his death
in 1997; Paul Nugent was a personal assistant to Dr. King and is a current
Director of the organization's American headquarters). Part of the work of
The Aetherius Society is predicated on Prayer, and the mental direction of
positive energy towards the world's trouble spots in a manifestation of the
concept that consciousness can impact objective reality. The presentation
will provide an overview of the Southland's fascinating spiritual history
and ongoing role in the development of new religious thought and action.

Interested Angelenos are encouraged to come out and be part of some or all
of these LAVA events celebrating the city and encouraging connections.

ABOUT LAVA: Through participation in LAVA, a select group of creative
professionals come together to promote cultural programming that speaks to
the urban experience while promoting positive public space. LAVA's creative
partners share a love for L.A. and unique ideas for exploring it in their
work. Formed by social historians RICHARD SCHAVE and KIM COOPER --
proprietors of Esotouric bus adventures and the 1947project time travel blog
series (including On Bunker Hill and In SRO Land) -- LAVA brings together
L.A.'s most visionary promoters, artists, writers and thinkers.

Applications from prospective LAVA members are being taken at
http://lavatransforms.org/apply

To learn more about LAVA, please visit http://www.lavatransforms.org