Aetherius Society

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The Aetherius Society is an organization founded by George King in London in 1955 as the result of what King claimed were contacts with advanced extraterrestrial intelligences. Its guiding principle is service to humanity, through the manipulation of subtle energies, through prayer, healing and other, technology-based, means. Its teachings combine the spiritual teachings of yoga, with others received through the yogic mediumship of King in the channelling of advanced extraterrestrial beings. It has been described as a UFO religion.[1][2][3]

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Founding

Aetherius Society's view

In 1954 George King, then in London, England, claimed he was contacted by an extraterrestrial intelligence who used the pseudonym Aetherius and claimed to represent a Cosmic and Solar Hierarchy referred to in this contact as "Interplanetary Parliament." He later described Aetherius as being one of the Cosmic Masters. The contact is described as having taken the form of a loud and apparently physical voice.

King maintained he was contacted a week later, while he was attempting to enter a state of deep meditation in order to discover the truth about this mysterious contact, by a well known, though unnamed, Indian yogi. King claimed that the yogi entered by walking straight through a locked door and proceeded to dispel any lingering doubts he harboured. King indicated that the being initiated him into a yogic exercise "the careful practice of which brings about an ability to travel from the physical body in such a way that full memories of all the experiences gained are retained by the traveller". He stated that a group of willing helpers would be brought into his orbit and that he would receive a letter from a school of yoga in London which he should attend for some months and diligently practise the exercises he learned there.

King said the letter arrived as predicted and he spent hours practising the exercises and pranayama and as a result was able to tune and telepathically receive the kind of extraterrestrial communications the Society calls "Cosmic Transmissions." These are said to come from an extraterrestrial intelligence code-named Aetherius as well as other advanced intelligences from within this solar system.

Prior to purportedly receiving the "Command", King had had a varied career. During the war he had served with distinction in the National Fire Service. He subsequently threw himself into the practice of yoga, which he studied diligently for many hours a day. He held a number of jobs, including being a professional driver (for which he had a passion).

Following his initiation he decided to put his former life behind him and claimed that he began to be used as a channel for "Transmissions" from the various communicators, often in public, in the Caxton Hall. Because of the sensitivity of the trance condition employed, King said that this condition was a very dangerous one.

He founded the Aetherius Society in London in August 1955 as a vehicle through which "Cosmic Transmissions" could be disseminated to the rest of humanity.

Beliefs

The society's beliefs are similar to Theosophy and the Ascended Master Teachings. Both share, in part at least, the occult traditions of both East and West. A major point of divergence from Theosophy and most other spiritual movements is that the Transmissions, which form the basis of the society's teachings, show a marked concern with the dangers of atomic experimentation and of humanity's inability to monitor all of its effects or to control it. The energy contained within the atom is seen as the fundamental energy of creation, and humanity's meddling with it as a perversion of a holy energy, and very dangerous indeed – more so than we realise, since all radioactivity is said to exist on at least seven octaves of manifestation, all of which affect us, but are not, for the most part measurable.Template:Or

Atomic energy was a recurring theme in many of the early Transmissions. The society claims that the atomic accident in the Urals in 1958 was reported in one of them. This Transmission was published in its journal, Cosmic Voice, at the time. Other than that, details of the accident remained secret until the publication of information in New Scientist in 1976, through an interview with the exiled Soviet scientist, Dr. Zhores Medvedev. The magazine, after reviewing evidence submitted to it by the society, subsequently admitted in print that it had been "Scooped by a UFO!"Template:Citation needed

The society also claims that approximately four hours before the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, King received from his extraterrestrial contacts advance warning of an imminent, major catastrophe.[4] It is a matter of record that the society activated its Spiritual Energy Radiators in order to radiate power to mitigate this disaster, four hours and 23 minutes before the event itself,Template:Citation needed and that this unprecedented period of such activity continued for three days. It was only after this activity ended that the catastrophe became public knowledge. Radioactive particles from the incident were detected on Swedish nuclear power workers on April 27, one day after the incident.[5]

Another major divergence from Theosophical and other spiritual teachings is the emphasis on the already mentioned extraterrestrial concerns, including life on other planets (including those within this Solar System), sightings of UFOs in the skies of Earth and the reason why extraterrestrial life should be concerning itself with this planet at this time.Template:Citation needed

The following is a list of core beliefs, drawn from the society's literature:Template:Citation needed

Structure

The group's membership, although international in composition, is not very large, consisting of approximately 650 members as of 1993. There are three principal levels from "Subscription Member" (known in America as "Friends") to "Full Member." Full Members may also be admitted into the Society's Temple Order and become "Member-Initiates".

The Society has headquarters in Hollywood, California, which is the administration center for America and Australasia, and Fulham Road, London, England, which deals with affairs for the rest of the world. The Society has Branches around the world, as well as smaller official Groups (or Twelve Blessings Groups, which meet for the purpose of holding services together).

The various activities of the Society are run worldwide by three bodies: the Board of International Directors takes all executive decisions; the Synod is responsible for the religious aspects of the Society's work; and the Senior Engineering Officers are responsible for the Missions of the Society.

The group's tax exempt status was recognized by the US in 1960. This was three decades before the recognition of the Church of Scientology and a decade before Raëlism existed. In the UK the Society is an unincorporated association.

Aims and Objects

The Spiritual Aims and Objects of The Aetherius Society include:[6]

There are various Aims and Objects aimed at performing and promoting the various Missions of the Society, including Operation Prayer Power, Operation Sunbeam, Operation Starlight, and Operation Space Power.

Missions

The society is committed to service to humanity, through the radiation of spiritual energies. King believed that such energies could be manipulated using physical equipment, using the principles of shape power and radionics.

Following his initial contact in 1954, King designed many items of equipment for this purpose. Probably the best known of these is the Spiritual Energy Battery. Its precise design and composition are not in the public domain. Its purpose is to hold a charge of spiritual energy for an indefinite period. When connected to a Spiritual Energy Radiator (again designed by King), it can be discharged.[7][8]

The principle behind this modus operandi is simple, but significant: it takes a lot longer to charge the battery than it does to discharge it; consequently the spiritual power can be radiated in a stream that is much more concentrated, and hence more powerful, than it would otherwise be.

This is the basis of Operation Prayer Power, in which spiritual energy is directed to help in world situations of war, disaster, etc. As an example, 1,000 Prayer Hours (basically, a Prayer Hour is the amount of prayer energy which one person could invoke during one hour of concentrated and directed dynamic prayer) could be released from the Battery in 100 minutes or possibly less. The Society believes that this can be directed to anywhere on the planet. Effectively this is healing prayer energy on a global scale, that alleviates suffering and hardship in stricken areas. The Aetherius Society believes that Operation Prayer Power and other such "missions" have averted, and helped to bring relief to, many disasters.[7][8]

Criticism

Many skeptics think the society's ideas are peculiar and even more implausible than the beliefs of many other new religions. It follows what most scientists would deem an irrational belief in UFOs. Historically this has led them to encourage governments to release information they feel they are hiding on UFOs. Added to that the group claims to use physical equipment for the manipulation of spiritual energy. Finally the group claims that most of the planets in this solar system, and the Sun itself, are inhabited by life forms that are much more advanced than life on Earth.

Conservative Christians are at times offended by the society's view of Jesus. King's announcement that Jesus is living on Venus in the British press in the late 1950s caused the largest controversy in the Society's history. The group was accused of blasphemy or being in service to Communists. Most Christians would have found the idea offensive at that time, especially as King claimed to channel the voice of Jesus. Added to this, some of the Aetherians' statements on life on Mars or Venus are suspiciously like those found in C. S. Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet trilogy. For example, Jesus being on another planet and the beings on other worlds being invisible due to "living on higher vibratory planes" (Theosophists also believe that some beings on other planets, including Venus, are normally invisible because they dwell on the etheric planes of those planets, but they can appear to us if they so desire. Some Theosophists such as Benjamin Creme believe these beings travel in flying saucers which can oscillate between the etheric and physical planes.[9][10])

According to skeptic James Randi the titles George King later claimed are unverified.[11]

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See also

References

  1. Partridge, Christopher Hugh (ed.) (2003) UFO Religions. Routledge. Chapter 4 Opening A Channel To The Stars: The Origins and Development of the Aetherius Society by Simon G. Smith Pgs: 84–102
  2. James R. Lewis (ed.) (1995), The Gods have landed: new religions from other worlds (Albany: State University of New York Press),ISBN 0-7914-2330-1. pp.28
  3. John A. Saliba‌ (2006). The Study of UFO Religions, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, November 2006, Vol. 10, No. 2, Pgs. 103–123.
  4. http://www.cosmicwarrior.com/proof.htm
  5. Template:Cite book
  6. http://www.aetherius.org/index.cfm?app=content&SectionID=40&PageID=47
  7. 7,0 7,1 Out Of This World UFO contactee documentary, BBC May 1977
  8. 8,0 8,1 http://www.aetherius.org/index.cfm?app=content&SectionID=80&PageID=55
  9. Creme, Benjamin The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of the Wisdom London:1980 Tara Press Page 205
  10. Template:Cite web
  11. James Randi Educational Foundation

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