By Margaret Magnus

In August 2019, Meher Mount put out a call for photographs, documents and artifacts to augment it’s small – almost non-existent – archive collection. All historical items were destroyed in the 1985 New Life Fire which consumed all the buildings and their contents at Meher Mount.

A Touched and Blessed Photo of Meher Baba

One of the responses Meher Mount received was from Charles Haynes and Christopher Wilson who had been the featured guests for the 2018 Anniversary Sahavas celebrating the anniversary of Meher Baba’s 1956 visit to Meher Mount. Charles met Meher Baba several times as a young boy, and he and his husband Christopher shared stories during the anniversary event about Meher Baba and some of His mandali (close disciples).

In making a contribution to Meher Mount’s archives, they sent this email:

Dear Meher Mount Friends, 

In response to your recent email, Charles and I have a special treasure that we'd like to give to Meher Mount: a photograph of Meher Baba that He touched and blessed. Elizabeth [Patterson] and Norina [Matchabelli] kept it in in their belongings, and now it hangs in our house. The photo shows Baba in Portofino, and it was taken by Elizabeth. May this artifact, blessed with His touch, bring Baba ever closer to everyone there.

Love in Baba,

Christopher and Charles

Meher Mount followed up with this note from Margaret Magnus and Board President Sam Ervin:

Dear Christopher & Charles

This is so touching and thoughtful of you both. The provenance of this particular photo seems like it provides connective tissue between East and West – both the larger East and West of Meher Baba’s work and also the smaller east and west of His work in the U.S.

In His Love,

Margaret and Sam

This gift now graces the walls of Meher Mount’s Visitor Center and reinforces the cross-America Meher Baba connection.  

Establishing East and West Coast Centers

Elizabeth Patterson (1896-1980) and Norina Matchabelli (1880-1957) were founders of the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, SC. Meher Baba called this center His home in the West. Elizabeth described their search for a suitable site in a June 4, 1944, letter to Meher Baba: [1]

“Last September when we went to Los Angeles, we saw a number of properties with Jean [Adriel], Malcolm [Schloss] and [Alexander] Markey driving around in a car, but there seems to be a certain lack of water in this district.”

In a later letter in 1944, Elizabeth wrote to Meher Baba:

“I forgot to mention that while in Santa Barbara, we motored over to see [Jiddhu] Krishnamurti [2] at Ojai Valley. Norina knew him previously and had a good talk with him. He said it would be privilege to meet you.” [3]

Interestingly, two years later in 1946, Jean Adriel (1892-1984), Malcolm Schloss (1895-1954) and Agnes Baron (1907-1994) found the property in Ojai now known as Meher Mount – a second center for Meher Baba in the U.S.

Jean Adriel and Alexander Markey had earlier established a center for Meher Baba’s work called the New Life Foundation in La Crescenta, CA. [4]

One day, Jean received word from Meher Baba that He wished them to relocate to a place farther from the city, somewhere one or two hours from a big city. [5] Soon thereafter, they located the Meher Mount property. The 500 acres of the New Life Foundation were to be sold in order to be able to purchase the land in Ojai. Escrow closed on August 9, 1946.

Agnes Baron moved to Meher Mount in 1946 and spent the rest of her life caring for the property.

In 1943, Elizabeth and Norina obtained 500 acres on the ocean in Myrtle Beach and work began in 1944 to establish the Meher Spiritual Center which met all of Meher Baba’s criteria: “the place must have [equable] climate; virgin soil; ample water; soil that could be made self-sustaining to a large number of people; and the property should be given from the heart.” [6]

Connecting the Two Centers in America

Later, during His 1952 trip to America, Meher Baba planned to make a cross-country driving trip from Meher Spiritual Center in South Carolina to Meher Mount in Ojai, California. During that journey, on the morning of May 24, His automobile was involved in an accident in Prague, OK. Meher Baba never arrived at Meher Mount that year. (See related article, Meher Baba Sheds His Blood in America.)

Four years later in 1956, Meher Baba returned to America. With this visit, Meher Baba fulfilled His intention of coming to Meher Mount. With His Presence, He connected the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, SC, Prague, OK (now the Avatar Meher Baba Heartland Center), and Meher Mount, CA, with a coast-to-coast line across America.

Arriving at Meher Mount on August 2, 1956, Meher Baba, said through His silent gestures, “I love Meher Mount very much and feel happy here.” [7]

Among those traveling to Meher Mount with Meher Baba in 1956 was Elizabeth Patterson (see the photo below).

The Story Behind the Portofino Photograph

In June of 1933, Meher Baba traveled to the West, including a visit to Italy. Among the Westerners with Him in Italy were Elizabeth and Norina. Elizabeth had rented the Villa Altachiara overlooking the Mediterranean from atop a cliff off Portofino's main piazza. [8]

During this time, Meher Baba kept everyone busy, especially with writing, typing and other such work. The group collected and assembled Meher Baba's sayings and material about the Master in the form of questions and answers to be published in booklet form. They worked in the large library at the villa, which they were using as an office. [9]

The days spent in Portofino were also meant for play, songs, good food, and roaming about in the companionship of the God-Man. [10] During this trip Elizabeth Patterson took a series of photographs  of Meher Baba at Villa Altachiara [12]  – one of which is the photo, now displayed at Meher Mount, that was touched and blessed by the Avatar of the Age.

According to Charles:

“The photo was among papers that belonged to Norina but also had some things that probably belonged to them both. Mother [Jane Barry Haynes] left Norina's papers to me and Christopher and Elizabeth's [papers] to Wendy [Haynes Connor] and Buz [Connor]. But some items belonged to both of them, kept by Elizabeth after Norina's passing. In those days, a gift from Baba like this was likely to them both.

“So it is very likely that this photo was given to both of them, but exactly when we are not sure. I do not think it was during Baba's visits to the Center in the 1950s. It is possible that it was given when they were in India in 1947-49, but we don't really know.

“The envelope that contained the photo (which unfortunately we no longer have) was marked with a notation that the photo was touched and blessed by Baba. “

Footnotes

[1] Bhau Kalchuri, Lord Meher: The Biography of the Avatar of the Age Meher Baba, Online Edition, pg. 2411, accessed March 17, 2020. (c) Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust.
[2] Jiddhu Krishnamurti (1895-1986] was an Indian philosopher, speaker and writer. He founded the Krishnamurti Foundation – the American branch is located in Ojai, CA.
[3] Kalchuri, ibid., pp. 2415-2416, accessed online March 17, 2020.
[4] Kalchuri, ibid., pg. 2554, accessed online March 17, 2020.
[5] Kalchuri, ibid., pg. 2555, accessed online March 17, 2020.
[6] Kalchuri, ibid., pg. 2411, accessed online March 17, 2020.
[7] Kalchuri, ibid., pg. 4065, accessed online March 17, 2020.
[8] Kalchuri, ibid., pg. 1518, accessed online March 17, 2020.
[9] Kalchuri, ibid., pg. 1519, accessed online March 17, 2020.
[10] Kalchuri, ibid., pg. 1520, accessed online March 17, 2020.
[11] The photos of Meher Baba at Villa Altachiara are part of the Meher Nazar Publications collection .

Related Articles

• “I can’t imagine a better painting for Meher Mount.”

• Surprise Discovery In India of Meher Mount Photos from 1956

• A Photo Gallery of Meher Baba at Meher Mount

To Donate an Artifact to Meher Mount

As you consider the future of your collectibles and artifacts related to Avatar Meher Baba and/or Meher Mount, please consider what might be appropriate for Meher Mount.

To discuss potential gifts, their care and their use, please contact Treasurer Robert Turnage or President Sam L. Ervin.

For more information, please see:

• Meher Mount’s Treasures

• A Gift of Your Collectibles

• The 700-Year Angels