Born January 6, 1930, in Stropkof, Czechoslovakia, Joseph Parker (originally Schwartz) was recognised as a talented artist from an early age and went on to become a visionary painter of universal spirituality. Parker's creativity was put on hold through World War II when the Schwartz family lived in a hillside bunker for two and a half years, cared for by the kindness of neighbours. Finally, when his sister died in a concentration camp, Parker lost his faith in God. After the war, Parker's family moved to Vienna, Paris and, lastly, Australia where Parker changed his name to overcome anti-Semitism. In the late 1950s, by this time a successful accountant, Parker suffered from extreme migraines and in seeking a cure he underwent hypnosis. During hypnosis, he experienced a vision: 'I flew out of my body. I was like a star - with no body. There were lights… love… yellowish like gold. I was in that light before I was born. I came from that light.'