The Aetherius Society ॐΔ

The Aetherius Society ॐΔ

Jon Mayled continues his series on New Religious Movements

Jon Mayled

Founded by George King in the 1950s, the Aetherius Society can be described as a millenarian, New Age, UFO religion. Its motto is:

‘Service is the Jewel in the Rock of Attainment.’

Membership is numbered in the thousands and the society has headquarters in London and Los Angeles.

King (1919–97) was brought up as a Christian in a family that was interested in the occult. He moved from Shropshire to London where he worked as a taxi driver. He was involved in spiritual healing and was a member of several Theosophical groups in London. According to the Aetherius Society, following his practising of various forms of yoga King developed psychic powers that enabled him to learn many of the secrets of the universe.

Interplanetary parliament

In 1954 King said that a voice had told him: ‘Prepare yourself! You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament.’ A week later, a supposedly world-famous swami is said to have entered King’s locked apartment and instructed him to form a group dedicated to helping the planet. The swami taught him more about yoga, prayer and meditation, and this enabled him to receive telepathic messages from Aetherius, a cosmic master from Venus. King booked the Caxton Hall in London and claimed to have channelled cosmic masters and recorded their messages. He subsequently founded the Aetherius Society.

The society combines UFO claims, yoga and ideas from world religions — in particular Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism. Various religious figures came from different planets, including cosmic masters such as Buddha, Jesus and Lao Tzu who came to Earth to teach humanity the right way of living. Krishna is from Saturn, Jesus and Buddha are from Venus. These masters are spiritual beings in another dimension. The society teaches that they exist on a ‘spiritual level’ because they have a ‘higher vibratory rate’ which can be lowered (this explains the reported blinking in and out of UFOs).

Spiritual energy

The Aetherius Society claims that many disasters can be prevented or relieved by prayer, aided by ‘spiritual energy batteries’ which store healing psychic energy. They hold a ‘charge of spiritual energy for an indefinite period’, which can be discharged when connected to a ‘spiritual energy radiator’.

THE SOCIETY COMBINES UFO CLAIMS, YOGA AND IDEAS FROM WORLD RELIGIONS

‘Spiritual workers’ pray and chant, and focus their energy into the battery. At times of disaster the energy can be released and manipulated by the masters to the area in need. This is called ‘operation prayer power’ and the society claims that it has prevented wars and limited the effects of natural disasters.

Waiting for the master

The society says that it is waiting for the ‘next master’, a messianic figure who will descend to Earth in a flying saucer, with ‘magic’ more powerful than all of the world’s armies.

Members believe in reincarnation and the law of karma. Eventually everyone will become a master and continue to evolve. Mother Earth herself is still evolving and is in a much higher state of existence than humanity. However, this is a dualist religion and the Earth is constantly being attacked by evil alien forces that battle with the cosmic masters.

The Aetherius Society regularly has ‘spiritual pushes’. In these they pray and meditate to draw prana (life force) to Earth from an orbiting spaceship known as ‘Satellite Number Three’ which then increases the amount of spiritual energy available. This satellite is shielded from telescopes and radar.

King said that the Earth was on the verge of a new millennium of peace and enlightenment and the Age of Aquarius. With his Protestant background he believed that individual humans face the decision of whether to join the millennial kingdom.

King said that Aetherius had enabled him ‘to speak all terrestrial languages’, but he proved unable to communicate in French or Norwegian when he was challenged by interviewers.

The society says that the leading governments of the world have been contacted by the ‘space beings’ but that ‘The Silence Group’ (alien individuals) have suppressed this information.

There is also a benevolent extraterrestrial race called the Pleiadian, which is trying to help humanity by spirituality.

The Twelve Blessings

Most Aetherian services include the Twelve Blessings. These services usually last an hour and involve mystic visualisation, dynamic prayer and the chanting of mantra, as well as the practice of the Twelve Blessings itself. They also send absent healing, through mantras and visualisation, to people who have requested it.

The Twelve Blessings form a spiritual practice and are a way of expressing gratitude to the masters who ensured the continued existence of humanity on Earth. They are performed by raising the hands and visualising the flow of spiritual energy as white light.

Each blessing was received by King as a cosmic transmission from ‘The Master Jesus’ on the 12 Sundays from 27 July to 12 October 1958. The blessings are as follows:

‘Blessed are they who work for peace

Blessed are the wise ones

Blessed are they who love

Blessed are the planetary ones

Blessed are the thanksgivers

Blessed are they who heal

Blessed is the Mother Earth

Blessed is the mighty Sun

Blessed are the supreme Lords of Karma

Blessed is the great being known as the Galaxy

Blessed are the supreme Lords of Creation

Blessed is the Absolute’

In addition there is a final blessing made to ‘T Master Jesus’. he

Most of the blessings are followed by a prayer. As an example, here is the prayer for the Sixth Blessing:

‘Oh Divine Lord of all Wondrous Creation, We raise our voices and minds to You — NOW — in prayer.

Knowing even as we do, that this is answered at this moment.

Oh Wondrous God,

We ask that the hearts and minds of man Might be opened to Thy Presence,

To Thy Mighty Light.

So that they may forever Glorify Thee.

So that they may realize, that within them Beats a Spark directly connected to

Thy Wondrous Heart.

We raise our minds in thankfulness For the fulfilment of our prayer.

For this SHALL — come to pass

Upon this Earth.’

All in the title

There have been many criticisms of King’s personal claims to titles and honours. The Aetherius Society refers to him as Dr George King but has been unable to produce any evidence for this or his other titles. It says that he was ‘an author, inventor, metaphysician, occultist, prophet, psychic, spiritual healer, spiritual leader, teacher, yogi and Aquarian master’. One source says that his correct title was ‘His Eminence Sir George King, O.S.P., Ph.D., Th.D., D.D., Metropolitan Archbishop of the Aetherius Churches’ (Baron 1992).

Jon Mayled is the author of many religious studies textbooks.