Hidden in the kudzu-draped forest of Georgia, just to the right of Columbus and to the left of reality, stands the surreal palace of Pasaquan. It's owner, Saint Eom, has been dead for nearly 13 years but his presence can still be felt hanging over the day glow concrete statues and walls that adorn his home.

photo by Derek Barnes

Saint Eom was born in 1908 as Eddie Owens Martin, the son of a poor sharecropping family. When he reached the age of 14 he ran away from his abusive father and began a new life in 1920's New York. There he survived by becoming a street hustler, pimp, and sometimes drug pusher. But Eddie used these jobs as an end to justify the means. When he wasn't on the street he could be found in the Museum of Modern Art or at the public library where he would search out obscure texts on lost civilizations and religions of the Far East.

But even as Eddie sought to expand his mind he still remained tied to his roots and would come back to his parent's farm every year at harvest time to help with the crops. It was during a visit to his parents in 1935 that he became deathly ill and had a vision that he later called "a spiritual journey." This vision lead him to search for a deeper truth to man's existence and proclaim himself "Saint Eom." using his name as the basis for the acronym and the sound of it as a nod toward the Hindu "Ohm."

photo courtesy of Fred Fussell

Perhaps because of this vision, Saint Eom became proficient in the art of teahouse fortune telling (or as he called it "being a poor man psychiatrist") This new found job security allowed him to move back to rural Georgia after his parents deaths in 1957 and begin building a shrine to his beliefs on their property. He called it "Pasaquan" which was a name given to him by a spirit guide. He later learned that "pasa" is a Spanish word for "pass" and "quoyan" was an oriental word that meant "bringing the past and the future together."

In between telling the fortunes for the farmers and townspeople of nearby Buena Vista, Eom would work with the material of concrete to erect sprawling walls and looming statues dedicated to the visions received from the gods. These structures would then be covered in the brightest tints of Sherman Williams paint that the local hardware store carried. Saint Eom took no favorites among the gods and he mixed the religions and cultures of Buddhism, Egyptian, Hindu, Easter Island, Mayan and Christianity with his own take on human sexuality and spiritual development.

photo by Derek Barnes

The sprawling grounds have a psychedelic whimsy about them and can be described as Dr. Seuss meets Dr Ruth on LSD. Paintings of sexual organs share space next to religious symbols. Giant statues stare at you with critical eyes. Plans for an "astronaut karmic levitation suit" fill one wall in the kitchen and after spending time in Pasaquan you may believe it possible. But Saint Eom's central belief was that a person's hair was a personal "antenna to the gods" and should never be cut. Instead it should be shaped upward as a cone to receive the messages that the gods sent down to us. Statues share this tenant with visitors with gaudy painted hair cones atop their heads. Indeed Saint Eom could often be seen with his hair plastered with rice syrup, sticking straight up into the air to better receive these divine radio waves as he painted holy hues of Day-Glo Sherman Williams onto the walls of Pasaquan.

photos courtesy of Fred Fussell

Such extreme beliefs would have had a hard time fitting in anywhere in the world but stood out especially in rural Georgia. The locals whispered stories of devil worship and magic. Rumors of specially trained rattlesnakes that only obeyed Saint Eom floated around the towns nearby and more than one person claimed to see dozens of housecats follow Eom around when he came to town.

But Saint Eom never let these tales effect his beliefs. He continued building on Pasaquan up into the 1970's and 80's. It was in the mid 80's that his hair began to fall out and he began losing his health. In 1987, distraught at his failing strength he put a loaded pistol to his head and pulled the trigger. Such ended the life of a grand visionary and self-proclaimed "Wizard of Pasaquan"

But rest assured that Saint Eom's vision lives on. After a few years of neglect a local historical society was formed and now preserves and maintains Pasaquan for the visitors and converts. For a small admission you can tour the grounds and see for yourself the artistry of its grounds and the mad genius of Saint Eom.

sources

The Pasaquan Official Website

Raw Vision Magazine #19

Visit to Pasaquan, June 23rd 2000