Alfred and Bernice Ligon Aquarian Collection

Alfred and Bernice Ligon were the founders of the Aquarian Spiritual Center, metaphysical studies scholars and teachers, owners of the longest running black owned book store in the country at the time of its closing, and community leaders. Alfred was born on April 5th 1906 in Atlanta, Georgia, and moved to Chicago at the age of ten. There he worked as a printer, performed as a clown, and managed a Theater and school. Alfred’s interest in the metaphysical began in the 1920s listening to Evangeline Adams radio show on astrology, and he later founded the Society of the Circle of Nine focusing on divine science and philosophy. In 1936 he moved to Los Angeles to study with The Brotherhood of Light and Esoteric Studies and Marc Edmond Jones’ Sabean Assembly. In Los Angeles he worked as a railroad porter and managed a dancing school with his sister Jeni Le Gon. Around this time he read a version of the bible called The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ, which became the foundation for his philosophy and the inspiration for the name of the book store. In 1941 he opened the Aquarian Book Store and Library on East Jefferson Ave in Los Angeles with $100 he saved working as a railroad porter.

Bernice Ligon was born on October 6th 1912 in Riverside, California. She developed an interest in metaphysics as a teen and is quoted as saying “metaphysics, to me means mind above matter.” When she moved to Los Angeles in 1942 and met Alfred, their mutual interest in the esoteric brought them together and she began working at the book store. They married in 1948.

The Aquarian Book Store stocked books on the occult, metaphysics, and black history and culture that could be purchased or borrowed for a few cents a day. Though he continued to work for the railroad alongside the book store (putting in 30 years before he retired), Alfred continued to develop his passion for metaphysics. He started giving lectures and astrology classes in 1943, became a Doctor of Metaphysics in 1950, and started The Aquarian Spiritual Center in 1952. Though the financial viability of The Aquarian waxed and waned over the years, and was never the couple’s main source of income, they saw the book store and center as way to enrich the community and felt obligated to be there for those in search of knowledge.

In 1957 the Ligon’s moved the Book Shop and Spiritual Center to 1302 West Santa Barbara Ave (now Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) and the Civil Rights Movement and Black Consciousness Movement emerged as focal point for the store’s inventory and outreach. With this, the shop came to prominence within the black community as it sought knowledge of itself. They hosted the first black history classes offered in Los Angeles; led by the Afro-American Study Association, the founding of the US organization, Community Theater, occult philosophy lectures, and black authors’ autograph parties. Through the book store, the Ligon’s provided books by and about African Americans and Africans which were not available elsewhere in Los Angeles at the time.

From the 1960s to the 1990s the Shop and Center held many classes, events, and conferences. In 1969 Alfred and others from the Spiritual Center began to develop and study what became Black Gnostic Studies. They concentrated on the connections between metaphysical thought and Ancient African cultures including Egypt and Ethiopia. From these studies came the concept of Blacks as “Seed People” (the source of life and culture). In addition to flyers and pamphlets about metaphysics and Gnosticism, the Aquarian Spiritual Center circulated a newsletter, and from 1977-1983, a journal called URAEUS.

In 1991 the store celebrated its 50th anniversary. Unfortunately, a year later riots erupted in Los Angeles after white police officers were found not guilty in the beating of a black man, Rodney King. The book store was caught in the struggle and was burned to the ground with over 7,000 books inside. A group of independent book store owners organized donations and a benefit featuring Maya Angelou and Alice Walker to raise more than $70,000.00 for to reopen the store. The rebuilt store was short lived however, and closed again in 1994 when Bernice was diagnosed with liver cancer.

Bernice was also active in the community outside of the Book Shop, including as the President of the District Council of the PTA in the early 1950s. Her contributions to the community were honored in several ways including as the subject of a documentary film in 1992 by Erma Elzy-Jones called Continually Turning the Pages: The Life of Bernice Ligon. She was also awarded an honorary doctorate of Humanities from the Inner Circle University of Los Angles and received an award from the City for “raising the consciousness through literature.”

Both Alfred and Bernice had children from previous marriages. Bernice’s daughter Zandra passed before her, and Bernice passed in 2000 of liver cancer at the age of 88. Alfred had a son Alfred Lloyd Ligon, a daughter Jeni Terrell, six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren at the time of his death in 2002 at the age of 96.