Jonathan ParksRamage

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4 days ago 15 min read

Illustrations by Dave vanPatten

Jesus Was anAlien

Inside the strange theology of the Aetherius Society

In 1954, a London cabbie named George King received a telepathic
communication from an extraterrestrial intelligence named Master
Aetherius: Prepare yourself! You are to become the voice of
Interplanetary Parliament. This message, delivered from the planet
Venus, was the rst of hundreds of similar communications King
allegedly received over his lifetime some telepathically, some while in
a trance. In 1955, Kings experiences inspired him to found the
Aetherius Society, a religious group dedicated to spreading, and acting
upon, the teachings of advanced extraterrestrial intelligences.
King soon anointed himself as Primary Terrestrial Mental Channel,
and devoted his life to cultivating the unorthodox theology of his
religion. One of the core the beliefs of the Aetherius Society is that
extraterrestrial life exists, and that aliens are highly evolved spiritual
beings known as Cosmic Masters.

Occasionally, these extraterrestrials will take human form and visit us

on earth, spreading spiritual guidance across the globe. Examples of
Cosmic Masters include Buddha, Sri Krishna, Confucius and Jesus. The
spiritual work of the Aetherius Society revolves around ve Cosmic
Missions, which are rituals designed to cooperate with these Cosmic
Masters, and heal the world through prayer.
In 1959, King moved to Los Angeles to found the American
headquarters of his movement, determined to spread his beliefs in
Gods From Space, UFOs, spiritual healing and psychic powers. That
same year, King appeared on a BBC talk show to discuss his new
religion. During the program, King psychically channels the Master
Aetherius, writhing theatrically as Aetherius speaks through him.
Aetherius conrms that aliens travel the universe in ying saucers and
that the earth faces a dangerous situation because of deviation from
spiritual laws and atomic experimentation.
It may seem unfathomable that Kings ideas would gain traction, but
looking at world history during this time suggests some reasons why his
message may have resonated. The year 1955 marked both the founding
of the Aetherius Society and the beginning of the Space Race, the
famous competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for
dominance in spaceight technology. With the worlds anxieties xed
on the sky, Kings philosophy oered existential security in response to
the unknown possibilities of space, the atomic bomb and the Cold War
missile race. Gods in UFOs could help us heal the earth.
Not all of Kings beliefs were quite so fantastical. In the same BBC
interview, King says, If you are a Christian, then live the laws as laid
down by Jesus. If you are a Buddhist, live the laws as laid down by
Buddha. If you are a Hindu then be the best Hindu. This procedure is
the one true way for men of earth to save themselves from their lower
aspects. King did not use his BBC appearance to proselytize. Rather, he
insisted on the validity of other religions, and encouraged people to
stay on their own spiritual paths.
Though King died in 1997, the Aetherius Society lives on, maintaining
chapters in 11 countries across the world, with headquarters in both
London and Los Angeles. I emailed Brian Keneipp, Bishop of the LA
chapter, to see if he would allow me to study the Aetherius Society and
prole the group. After a week, a skeptical response hit my inbox:

I had a look at some of your work I am always open to getting our

message out, but am wondering how you plan on telling it in such a way to
interest your readership. That being said, I would be very happy to talk
with you over a cup of coee or tea at our Temple in Hollywood.
We arranged a date for my rst visit to the Aetherius Society.

The day of my meeting arrives. I walk up the steps of the Aetherius

Temple, and my nerves kick in. What if the Aetherius Society is a cult? I
stop at a large entry gate. Stars have been carved in its smooth iron
surface, oering glimpses of the interior grounds. There is no buzzer,
no intercom. I try the gate its unlocked.
I enter, nding the grounds completely deserted. Three pink Spanishstyle bungalows stand before me. Vibrant gardens line the perimeter of
the compound, muing noise from the street. I approach the largest
building, and open the door. Keneipp greets me inside, welcoming me
into his quaint oce. He is in his late 50s, with kind eyes and graying
hair.
Keneipp is understandably concerned about my journalistic intentions.
I assure him it is not my goal to run an expos with a headline like
ALIEN CULT TAKES OVER HOLLYWOOD. I want to learn more about
the Society and portray it as accurately as I can.
After about an hour, Keneipp agrees to the piece. He suggests that I
observe Operation Prayer Power, one of the churchs Cosmic
Missions. I agree to attend, and thank Keneipp for his time.
A week later, I receive an email from Keneipp regarding my planned
observation of Operation Prayer Power:
To give you a fuller experience, I would like to give you one or two of the
mantras so you can join in for a couple of sessions To do that, I would
need about 15 minutes of your time, prior to you coming I would prefer
it to be on a dierent day, so we can give it space. Look forward to seeing
you again!

I am slightly wary: I agreed to observe, not participate. However, I

choose to trust his intentions; I did after all, ask to be immersed in the
practices of the church. We set another time to meet.

Brian Keneipp was going to be a doctor. He had always been a devoted

student of science, which lead him to study pre-med at Southern
Illinois University in the 1970s. But he was also curious about what
science could not explain, namely metaphysics and the phenomenon of
UFOs. It was this curiosity that inspired him to attend a lecture
conducted by a member of the Aetherius Society. He found himself
enthralled and inspired by Aetherius theology, and soon began
researching their beliefs in depth.
I ask what initially attracted him to the Society, and he cites one of core
philosophies of the church: Mother Earth is a living goddess, who can
feel both the literal and karmic damage we do to her. Society members
work to heal that damage.

The biggest reason why the Aetherius Society is here, why the Cosmic
Masters came to earth, is because the Mother Earth has to change,
Keneipp says. Shed held herself back for hundreds of thousands of
years because shes providing mankind a home to evolve. Shes been
told by the karmic lords that she can no longer hold herself back. And
so the big push by the Cosmic Masters is to raise as many people up so

that they will be able to get to a point where they will enter a new age
here on earth.
Essentially, the Societys goal is to lift Mother Earths burden with love
and prayer, a task helped by descended Cosmic Masters like Jesus and
Buddha.
Inspired by his new religion, Keneipp soon abandoned the pre-med
program at SIU, deciding instead to moved to Los Angeles in 1978.
Keneipp devoted his life to the church, working directly with George
King as he expanded his religion. I ask Keneipp what it was like to work
for King during those formative years.
His response surprises me. [King] could be very hard, as you would
hear other masters of yoga would be in India. They werent politically
correct and gooey and friendly. They could be extremely harsh and
hard and pull you up. [King] expected you to give the best all the time.
I ask how this expectation manifested itself on a daily basis. If you
made a mistake on the printing press, for example then it wouldnt
be, Try better next time, its, Youre o the printing press, Keneipp
recalls. So thered be a high price to pay. That was both dicult and
exhilarating, because you had to always be on your guard, and do
everything to the best of your ability. It could be a lot of fun being with
him, but it could also be very dicult. You were living on the edge, you
were pushing the envelope, and because of that you formed tight bonds
with people who were around him as well.
Rodney is another longtime member, who rst discovered the
Aetherius Society as a teen in Los Angeles in the 70s. He eventually
came to work as Kings graphic designer, designing the layouts for
Kings many theological texts. Rodney, like Keneipp, references the
social cohesion of Kings inner sanctum and the intensity of his
demeanor.
He was trying to get as much done as he could while he was here in this
body. Rodney says. And the people who were closest to him had to
keep up with him. Everybody around him would get exhausted and he
would just keep going. George King was very driven, very intense. But
he could also be very funny, personal, caring. He was a man of
remarkable personality and talents.

The Society ourished under Kings strict guidance. Members created

deep bonds, in an intense work environment, under the auspices of an
uncommon religion. Kings methods may have been harsh, but they
were eective. This man, with his anomalous beliefs and fantastic
personal mythology, had created a following.

I return to the Aetherius Society on a Sunday afternoon. Today, Brian

will teach me two separate mantras, so I can participate in Operation
Prayer Power later that week.
We enter the sanctuary an open room, with pink walls. Framed
photos of planets hang alongside portraits of Jesus, Buddha, and
Krishna. At the front of the empty room, two folding chairs rest at the
foot of an altar. We sit.
Were fairly strict on the law of mantra, Brian says. These mantras Ill
be giving you, we ask you not to give to anyone else.
I agree to secrecy, and Brian steps behind the altar to play a recording
of George King. Kings voice comes over the loudspeaker, a dry English
tenor, slowly drawing out each syllable of the mantra, which is in
Sanskrit.
When the tutorial concludes, Brian joins me again. He recites the
mantra once more, and I parrot it back. His concentration on my speech
is intense, focused. He oers me corrections on my pronunciation. His
eyes lock with mine as I repeat the mantra again.

King left a succession plan that ensured the church would continue
after his death. But it also needed the strength of new members to
carry his vision into the future.
Ashima is one such individual. She is in her late 20s, intelligent and
passionately devoted to the church. Born in Hong Kong, Ashima
emigrated to Canada with her father and brothers shortly after
graduating from college. There, she found a boyfriend who rst

introduced her to the Society. What really attracted me to the

Aetherius Society was the emphasis on service. Its about giving back to
the world, to all those around us, to the Mother Earth and beyond.
Because were all tied together.
In 2011, she made the decision to move to Los Angeles from Canada, to
join the U.S. headquarters. Ashima is part of a dedicated group of
volunteers the Society calls the sta team members. The Society
operates with a very small budget, and depends heavily on volunteers
like Ashima to manage day-to-day operations. Ashima works a full-time
day job and volunteers at the Society from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on most
weeknights and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends.
Theres a pretty strict schedule set up, she says. Were required to
spend most of our free time to help out at the Society, doing whatever
work were needed to do. Im pretty much there seven days a week
other than the times that were scheduled to be o, or request o.
Though this may seem like an intense commitment, Ashima likens her
experience to that of her mother, a Buddhist nun living in a temple in
Taiwan. Both women have devoted their lives to their spiritual beliefs,
though Ashima sees her commitment as far less restrictive than her
mothers.
My mother has to live by typical requirements of certain monastic
orders, she explains. In some ways [my commitment to] the
Aetherius Society is almost like that, but not exactly. The Aetherius
Society has no [behavioral] requirements for example, people can
drink, smoke, eat meat. But my moms a vegetarian and its a
requirement. She cannot drink. And she has to be celibate.
Rodney is careful to note that most members of the church do not
devote as much time as Ashima does. People who really want to
dedicate their lives to this path might choose to become a sta team
nember like Ashima, Rodney explains. But its an organization which
does quite the opposite of pressuring people to increase their level of
activity. The Society only wants people who want to be there, and who
resonate with our teachings.
Karen is a young punk-rock drummer who recently joined the Aetherius
Society. She is now an enthusiastic member, but was initially taken

aback by her experience at Operation Prayer Power, the weekly ritual

where members charge a spiritual battery with prayer energy.
I came to Operation Prayer Power rst, and got freaked out a little bit.
Karen recalls with a laugh. I thought it was really weird. It took me a
long time to get more open to it.
What kept you coming back? I ask.
It just felt good. It wasnt like somebody brainwashed me or anything.
Actually, the rst time I did it, I was freaking out because I literally felt
the energy coming out of my hands. Us humans have a dicult time
believing something we cannot see, right? But after I felt it I thought,
Well, how can I not believe it, if Im actually feeling it?
Shes right that many people have a hard time believing what they
cannot see. Thats why I want to witness Operation Prayer Power for
myself.

Good evening, and welcome to Operation Prayer Power, Brian says. He

stands at the front of the Aetherius sanctuary, speaking into a
microphone. A group of approximately 40 people in red robes form a
semicircle in front of him. A dark blue light casts a glow over the
congregants.
At of the front of the room, mounted on a tripod, sits a light green box
roughly the size of a 60s-era transmitter radio. This box is the spiritual
prayer battery, and tonight we are gathered to charge this battery with
energy from prayer. This energy will be stored in the battery, and
later released to heal the world in a time of crisis.

Soft, ethereal music comes through the sound system. I stand in the
back of the room, behind the red-robed members. We lift our hands
and open our palms to the battery. Brian then leads the group in the
rapid recitation of a mantra. Faster, he encourages, as the intensity of
the chanting increases. Though I dont believe in the existence of holy
extraterrestrials, UFOs or God, it is impossible to deny the intensity of
this gathering. It feels like something out of Stanley Kubricks
imagination.
As the group continues its rhythmic incantation, three robed
individuals step forward. They form a single-le line in front of the
prayer battery. The rst a thin man in his 60s approaches the
battery. A shock of white hair is illuminated by the blue from the lights
above. He places one hand on the battery and thrusts the other
skyward.
Blessed are the planetary ones; they have left their planetary bliss to
accept terrible limitation among you, so that your passage through
experience may be guaranteed. He prays with a dramatic ourish. His
voice is a contained roar, rising above the chanting crowd.

In his book Cults: Faith, Healing and Coercion, Dr. Marc Galanter, a
professor of psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine,
avoids a sensationalized approach toward cults, oering instead a more
nuanced understanding. Galanter uses the term charismatic group as
an umbrella term that includes radical religious sects, spiritually

oriented healing groups, and even ideologically oriented self-help

groups. His book examines a range of charismatic groups, some of
which impact members positively (Alcoholics Anonymous) and some of
which do not (Heavens Gate).
According to Galanter, all charismatic groups are united by four
psychological elements: Members (1) have a shared belief system, (2)
sustain a high level of social cohesiveness, (3) are strongly inuenced by
the groups behavioral norms, and (4) impute charismatic (or
sometimes divine) power to the group or its leadership.
The Aetherius Society meets all of these qualications except for one:
Members are not strongly inuenced to adopt any uncommon
behavioral norms. According to Galanter, the norms for behavior in a
charismatic group play an inordinate role in determining how its
members conduct themselves. The opposite is true of the Aetherius
Society. Every member I speak with is careful to emphasize that the
Society never imposes behavioral mandates on its members.
George King actually talks about the importance of discernment. What
he means is you should determine what is right and wrong, Rodney
says. And thats what youre talking about when you talk about
Heavens Gate, and the teachers who said, Put on these black sneakers,
were all gonna die and jump on a comet. Dont be a fool. Discriminate
and look into any kind of an organization or activity that you involve
yourself in. Study it, investigate it. Is it right or wrong?
In that respect, the Aetherius Society doesnt seem like a cult. Yes, it is a
new religious movement formed by a charismatic leader, with an
idiosyncratic belief system. But its goal is one shared by many religions:
reducing suering in the world. While the Societys methods for
achieving this (such as charging a battery with prayer) may be
scientically dubious, the intention is genuine. In the end, Im rather
shocked to discover that the Aetherius Society doesnt shock me at all.

Operation Prayer Power comes to a close. A member guides us into a

circle for a nal prayer. After a moment of stillness, the service is over.
As the crowd disperses, a woman turns to me, with a hopeful smile.

Did you feel it? She asks. Did you feel the energy?
I did not, in fact, feel it but there is so much joy in her expression that
I cant bring myself to respond in the negative.
Yes, I say.
Though I do not feel it, I cannot deny that members of the Aetherius
Society do seem to be feeling it, and feeling it intensely. Who am I to
deny this woman her experience?
In many ways, the Aetherius Society unites all religious narratives. In
their theology, the great religious leaders (Buddha, Jesus, Krishna,
Gandhi, etc) are all the same thing: earthly manifestations of greater
Cosmic Masters. Now, your ability to believe this meta-narrative, is
dependent upon your willingness to include UFOs and Jesus in the
same sentence. But just because their narrative is a bit kookier than
some other theological stories, does that make it invalid? And isnt the
story of Jesus a man who walked on water, and cured the blind also
a bit kooky in its way?
The most important aspect of the Aetherius Society is summed up in its
own ocial literature: The Society does not regard itself as the one
and only path to enlightenment or salvation. It maintains that all the
great religions are simply dierent expressions of the one essential
timeless reality that is the Divine Source. There is no insistence that
the Aetherius Society oers the sole theological truth. Quite the
opposite: We are all struggling to understand the mystery of life, and
every path toward meaning is a valid one.
Though I will never join the Aetherius Society, I wish them the absolute
best in achieving their goals. At this moment in history, humanity needs
all the healing it can get.

Jonathan Parks-Ramage is a writer and producer in Los Angeles.

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