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Aetherius Society
 | |
| Formation | 1955 |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California and London, England |
| Membership | unknown |
Founder/President | George King (1919–1997) |
| Website | www |
The Aetherius Society is a new religious movement founded by George King in the mid-1950s[1][2][3] as the result of what King claimed were contacts with extraterrestrial intelligences, whom he referred to as "Cosmic Masters".[4][5][6] The main goal of the believer is to cooperate with these Cosmic Masters to help humanity solve its current Earthly problems and advance into the New Age.[7][2][8]
Mikael Rothstein describes it as a syncretic religion, based primarily on theosophy[9] and incorporating millenarian, New Age, and UFO religion aspects.[9][10][11][12][13] Emphases of the religion include altruism, community service, nature worship, spiritual healing and physical exercise.[14] Members meet in congregations like those of churches. John A. Saliba states that, unlike many other New Age or UFO religions, the Aetherius Society is for the most part considered uncontroversial, although its esoteric and millenarian aspects are sometimes questioned. The religion may be considered to have a relatively conventional praxis, attracting members from mainstream society.[15] The society's membership, although international, is relatively small. David V. Barrett suggested in 2011 that the worldwide membership was in the thousands, with the largest numbers in the United Kingdom, United States (particularly Southern California) and New Zealand.[16][17]
- ^ Saliba, John A. (2003). "The Earth is a dangerous place: the world view of the Aetherius Society". In Lewis, James R. (ed.). Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO religions. New York: Prometheus Books. p. 124. ISBN 1-57392-964-6., also in the "Marburg Journal of Religion": link to the article
- ^ a b Lamy, Philip (6 July 2000). "Aetherius Society". In Landes, Richard Allen (ed.). Encyclopedia of Millennialism and Millennial Movements. USA: Taylor & Francis. p. 2. ISBN 9780203009437.
- ^ Chryssides, George D. (15 April 2006). The A to Z of New Religious Movements. Scarecrow Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780810855885.
- ^ Rothstein Mikael (2003) p.143
- ^ Smith, Simon G. (2003) p.84
- ^ Barrett, David V. (2011) p120
- ^ Saliba, John A. (2003) pp134-138
- ^ Barrett, David V.(2011) p124-6
- ^ a b Rothstein, Mikael (2021). "The Aetherius Society: A Ritual Perspective". In Zeller, Ben (ed.). Handbook of UFO Religions. Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion. Vol. 20. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 452–471. doi:10.1163/9789004435537_023. ISBN 978-90-04-43437-0. ISSN 1874-6691. S2CID 238055182.
- ^ Rothstein, Mikael (2003). "The idea of the past, the reality of the present, and the construction of the future: millenarianism in the Aetherius Society". In Lewis, James R. (ed.). Encyclopedic sourcebook of UFO religions. New York: Prometheus Books. pp. 144–145. ISBN 1-57392-964-6.
- ^ Smith, Simon G. (2003). "Opening A Channel To The Stars: The Origins and Development of the Aetherius Society". In Partridge, Christopher Hugh (ed.). UFO Religions. Routledge. pp. 84, 90–91.
- ^ Saliba, John A. (1995). "Religious dimensions of UFO phenomena". In Lewis, James R. (ed.). The Gods have landed: new religions from other worlds. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 28. ISBN 0-7914-2330-1.
- ^ Wojcik, Daniel (17 October 2011). "Avertive Apocalypticism". In Wessinger, Catherine (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Millennialism. Oxford U.P. pp. 72–73. ISBN 9780195301052.
- ^ Pasztor, Annalise. "Talking to Aliens Is Their Religion". www.nytimes.com. New York Times. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ John A. Saliba (1999). Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies. The Institute. p. 169.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
B2011p122was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Melton, J. Gordon (1996). Encyclopedia of American Religions (5th ed.). Detroit, MI: Gale Research, Inc. p. 677.
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