Can you speak Venusian?

I heard about the Aetherius Society already as a teenager. They are mentioned in one of Patrick Moore's entertaining books about sects, cults and doomsday prophets. The group was founded long ago by George King, often described as a "taxi driver who met aliens".

"Contacts with the gods from space" is a book by an actual member of the society, Richard Lawrence. To give the book more clout, George King is mentioned as the main author at the cover, but the foreword reveals that the book was written by Lawrence alone. It gives a general overview of the worldview, teachings and activities of this New Religious Movement.

Many of the ideas of the Aetherius Society are obviously derived from Theosophy. Others are more original. King claimed to be in telepathic contact with a wide variety of Cosmic Masters, including Master Aetherius, Master Jesus and a being called Mars Sector 6.

The central belief of the society is that humanity's spiritual development is overseen by a group of highly advanced aliens from other planets. Jesus himself was an alien, originally from Venus. To us, the other planets in the solar system look dead, but actually they are inhabited, but since the aliens exist on a different vibration frequency, we can't see them. Humanity originally lived on a planet called Meldek, situated in between Mars and Jupiter. Unfortunately, humans destroyed Meldek through the misuse of nuclear power, and the souls of humanity were transferred through reincarnation to Earth, where they founded the lost civilizations of Lemuria and Atlantis (who also destroyed themselves by nuclear bombs). Indeed, a large part of King's message was to warn humanity against the dangers of nuclear weapons and nuclear power. The society claims that King received forewarnings of nuclear accidents from the aliens, including a serious accident at Sellafield, long covered up by British authorities.

Other familiar themes include the idea that UFOs are mentioned in the Bible. The Merkabah seen by Ezekiel was a UFO, as was the fiery chariot that took Elijah to heaven. The vimanas of the Hindu scriptures are also mentioned in this context. King claims to have visited the mother ships and satellites of the aliens currently engaging with humanity, and he is apparently also the Voice of the Interplanetary Parliament. The aliens were somehow involved in the building of the Egyptian pyramids, the creation of the Aztec and Maya cultures, and so on. (Graham Hancock's "Fingerprints of the gods" is mentioned in the reference section.) The Aetherius Society also believes that Earth is a living being, which they call the Logos or Mother Earth. Worship of the Earth is an important part of society ritual.

When the book was published, the Aetherius Society speculated that 1999 might the date of the apocalypse, when a new Master shall reveal himself openly to humankind. (Presumably, this Master is the Maitreya Buddha or some similar being.) The prophecies of Nostradamus and Mother Shipton are referenced. When the Master appears, all people who arent't sufficiently spiritually evolved, will be transferred to "the planet X", a planet beyond Pluto to continue their spiritual evolution, but under less hospitable circumstances. Wisely, Lawrence writes that the date 1999 might be postponed by the Masters to give humanity more time to evolve. (Nothing happened in 1999, as we all know, nor will anything happen in 2012, except perhaps the re-election of Barak Obama!)

A more distinctive idea of this group, is its claim to operate a kind of batteries charged with cosmic energy. During "Operation Prayer Power", the energies of these batteries are discharged in order to bring peace and healing to a selected area. Thus, the Aetherius Society claims to have stopped a war between Greece and Turkey in 1974. Apparently, both the Greek military junta and the coup plotters at Cyprus were overthrown due to this cosmic energy. During another "operation", the society stopped two earthquakes in Turkey from causing fatalities. The cosmic energy is also said to have stopped a number of tornadoes, hurricanes and ecological disasters. The Prayer Batteries are connected to an invisible alien craft known as Satellite 3, which is currently in orbit around our planet. Or so George King says. King also claims to have personally charged a number of mountains, mostly in Britain, with spiritual energies, and these are frequently visited by pilgrims from the Aetherius Society. There is a certain "scientism" in the message of this society, "scientism" in the sense of borrowing the terminology of science while rejecting its method. Mechanical devices, belief in physical space ships and the claim that quantum physics have or will confirm Eastern religious teachings are examples of this.

Two interesting facts about King emerge from this book. First, he was definitely not a weird taxi driver, as implied by the sceptics, although Lawrence admits that King did indeed work as a taxi driver for a period. King was interested in Eastern religion and meditation already before founding the Aetherius Society. The author further implies that King's noble title (he was called Sir George King by followers) was bestowed upon him, not by the British crown, but rather by the Imperial House of Byzantium in exile. A descendant of the last Byzantine emperor knighted George King in 1980.

"Contacts with the gods from space" isn't a particularly well written book. It gives a somewhat confusing impression, and could have needed better editing. Nor does it contain much information about King's visits to other planets. Still, it does give an overview of the curious ideas and actions of the Aetherius Society.