- "We've got three simple rules: keep your mind open, your heart pure and your plate full!"
- — Leader Eli explains the commune's rules to Shawn and Gus
The Box Canyon Commune is a farm in California, a reasonable distance away from Santa Barbara, where some people decided to found a community to live in peaceful harmony and far away from the stress of urban life. Love abounds and any issues that might occur are resolved in a spirit of forgiving. This happens in the Barn of Truth, where you have to hold the Gourd of Transparency if you want to speak to prevent people talking over each other. The commune members do not care for material possessions and own everything collectively. This includes clothing, which is washed in a river on the property. Horses are used for transportation. The commune members hardly use any technology at all, but instead spend most of their waking hours working on the farm or relaxing at the Peace Ash or in meditation circles. Some money is made by selling the farm's produce to visitors at an organic food stand. The commune's leader is Eli, who is venerated and adored to such an extent that Shawn is worried Gus might have gotten them involved with a cult when his love interest Nicole Reed takes them back to her home. However, Eli turns out to be a swindling crook whose sole intention was to steal from the commune members by having them sign a carefully worded pledge that gives him power of attorney over everything they left behind upon joining. When he is incarcerated and it is unclear what is going to happen to this little piece of paradise, Geoffrey and Dot save the day by declaring that they plan on buying the farm now they have their money back.
Known Members[]
- Eli (leader);
- Milosh (Eli's assistant);
- Nicole Reed;
- Geoffrey;
- Dot;
- Unknown Black Beard (as can be seen on the pledge Shawn finds);
- Cynthia Cooper (formerly).
Known Visitors[]
Trivia[]
- When Shawn and Gus first arrive at the commune together with Nicole, the commune members frighten Shawn when they start surrounding the car in complete silence with creepy smiles on their faces. He tells Gus they might have landed in a "Children of the Corn" situation, referencing Stephen King's 1977 horror story where a couple land in a strange rural town where the children ritually murder any adults to ensure a successful corn harvest.
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