João Teixeira de Faria

João Teixeira de Faria (born 24 June 1942), known also as João de Deus (John of God), is a Brazilian convicted sex offender who rose to fame as a self-proclaimed medium and psychic surgeon. He was based in Abadiânia, where he ran a "spiritual healing center" called the Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola. He has received media coverage on CNN, ABC News, and The Oprah Winfrey Show, amongst others. James Randi and Joe Nickell exposed his healing procedures as nothing more than carnival tricks, and there is no evidence that the benefits that have been reported by patients are anything more than placebo effects.

In 2018, after over 600 accusations of sexual abuse, Faria turned himself in to police. In December 2019, he was sentenced to 19 years and four months for the rapes of four women. On 20 January 2020, 40 years were added to his prison time for the rape of five additional women. The sentences add up to 63 years and 4 months.

Early life

João Teixeira de Faria was born in Cachoeira de Goiás on 24 June 1942. He has no medical training and describes himself as a "simple farmer". He completed two years of education and spent a number of years traveling from village to village in the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais as a garrafeiro, a sort of traveling medicine man.

Career

Overview

Faria says he was told by his spirit guides that he must expand his work to reach more people and spiritist medium Chico Xavier told him he should go to the small Goiás town of Abadiânia to fulfill his healing mission. Around 1978, when João first performed healings there, he just sat outdoors in a chair near the main road where people began to arrive seeking cures for their illnesses and conditions. Gradually the numbers increased to thousands per day and he developed his centre, Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola. The Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola has since been visited by millions of people seeking healing. He also owns a nearby cattle ranch, which covers about 1,000 acres and is valued at over 2 million reais.

Much of his income comes from selling passionflower preparations, the single herb prescribed by Faria to cure a variety of ailments. The company which bears João Teixeira Faria's initials, JTF Ltda., markets the drug and is registered in the name of his wife, Ana Keyla Teixeira, and his driver and employee Abadio da Cruz.

Claims of healing powers

Faria regularly prescribes meditation and walks to a nearby waterfall as part of treatment. The Casa also sells herbs, blessed items and artefacts such as magic triangles. It was estimated by 60 Minutes Australia in 2014 that these sales earn Faria over $10 million per year.

When called for a spiritual surgery by Faria, patients are offered the choice of "visible" or "invisible" operations. If they select an "invisible" operation (or are younger than 18 or older than 52) they are directed to sit in a room and meditate. Faria says that spiritual physicians can perform surgery on the actual patient via a surrogate when the actual patient is unable to make the trip.

A very small percentage of people choose a "visible" operation where Faria operates without traditional anesthetic. Instead he says he uses "energized" mineral water and the spiritual energies present, the latter of which are provided by groups of volunteers who meditate in a separate room called the "current room". These practices, such as inserting scissors or forceps deep into a nose and scraping an eye without an anesthetic or antiseptics, have been scrutinized by medical authorities and skeptical investigators such as James Randi, who has called for Faria to stop victimizing people with stunts and trickery.

Faria tells people not to stop taking their medicine and says not everyone he serves will be cured. Often the treatment includes capsules containing pure passion flower that he says carry special blessed spiritual energy to support the individual's healing process. Faria has undergone trials and scrutiny of his work. He has been arrested several times for practicing medicine without a license and has been jailed once.

Outside Brazil

Faria has traveled to other countries to perform healing ceremonies called Live Events. Gail Thackray, Casa Medium, said in her book Spiritual Journeys: Visiting John of God that the main entities that incorporate in Brazil are the same ones at Live Events, along with thousands of other entities doing healing work.

Because of the medical laws around the world, blessed water is prescribed instead of herbs. It is available for about $3 a bottle and everyone who receives a spiritual intervention must drink this blessed water.

Media coverage

ABC news report

On 14 July 2005, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) ran a news report about Faria on Primetime Live. The programme featured five people with various medical conditions, including chronic fatigue syndrome, Lou Gehrig's disease and an inoperable brain tumor. Each patient saw Faria and ABC claimed that in three of the cases there had been an improvement. A young female athlete who had been paraplegic was shown beginning to move her legs.

ABC's update on the five subjects, while not mentioning subject Mary Hendrickson, indicated that one subject is making either slow progress or none at all, two are worse, and one shows improvement. Subject David Ames died from complications on 16 July 2008. Despite undergoing Faria's psychic surgery and being declared cured, Lisa Melman's breast cancer got progressively worse. She stated the tumor had grown and became painful. She continued to suffer and died in 2012.

Skeptic James Randi spent about an hour in New York being interviewed and taped for the report. Randi later criticised ABC for having cherry-picked his comments to show more credibility for Faria than was justified. Randi gave scientific explanations for all the activities observed. Randi revealed the natural explanations for activities ranging from putting forceps in the nose, random cutting of the flesh, 'scraping' of the eyeball, the subsequent absence of infection, and other activities one by one as age old parlor tricks. However, he was dismayed that none of his critical comments were shown in the final segment. This was cut down to under 20 seconds of screen time.

The Oprah Winfrey Show

On 17 November 2010, Susan Casey wrote in O Magazine about her trip to see Faria in Brazil and was subsequently covered on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The article was entitled "Leap of Faith: Meet John of God". The show was entitled "Do You Believe in Miracles?". In both, she discusses her need to deal with the traumatic loss of her father. After he suddenly died in 2008, Casey experienced a "tsunami of grief" that she says she couldn't escape from. She wondered if Faria could help heal her grief. She met him twice and later stated, "Three hours went by like 20 minutes, and it was blissful– it was like I was floating." Casey claims she was able to speak with her dead father. "It was very real," she says. "More of a vision than I had ever had before. ... I got this feeling like I shouldn't be sad, that everything was okay."

While Casey stated that the whole experience sounds unusual, she said that she is "not a woo-woo person" and that Faria helped her find healing. Casey stated that she was a neutral observer. Jeff Rediger, a psychiatrist from Harvard Medical School in Boston, was provided as a "skeptic". Rediger was astonished to discover bleeding from his torso after "invisible" surgery. The show did not provide scientific or medical explanations for the procedures performed. In depth critical investigative reports followed the broadcast.

On 17 March 2013, Oprah's Next Chapter, Season 2, Episode 116, aired a televised show titled "John of God". Oprah traveled to Brazil to meet and talk with Faria. She also interviewed Magnus Kemppii, from Sweden, about his "surgery", and five Americans who hope to be cured from their ailments.

In December 2018, Faria was accused of sexual abuse, rape and pedophilia by more than 200 women. After the allegations became public, Oprah deleted the interviews from her site and released a note stating that she hopes justice will be served.

CNN coverage

On the 22 December 2010, episode of CNN's AC360, Sanjay Gupta interviewed two of the commentators Oprah Winfrey had sent to meet Faria. Critical investigative reports followed the broadcast.

60 Minutes Australia

Faria's first visit to Australia and a 'Live Event' scheduled 22–24 November 2014 at the Sydney Showground in Sydney Olympic Park garnered much media attention.

After visiting Faria at his "Casa" in Abadiânia, Brazil, the Australian 60 Minutes television program aired a critical investigative report on 25 October 2014, examining Faria's healing treatment practices, the amount of money being made and raising questions about sexual assault allegations against him. The two-part program hosted by reporter Michael Usher was a follow-up to Liz Hayes' 1998 investigation of Faria.

In Part 1 of the follow-up, reporter Michael Usher revealed that a woman declared as cured of breast cancer by a spirit entity channeled by Faria died in 2003. A woman in a wheelchair with multiple sclerosis, who in the 1998 report said she visited Faria with the expectation of walking again, didn't feel any effect, is still in a wheelchair, and suffered a deterioration in her condition. Her trip to the Casa cost $5,000. Usher reported that none of the other people (forty Australians) who made the pilgrimage that Hayes joined for investigation improved.

Usher's report said that some of the thousands in Faria's audience hope to receive "spiritual surgery" from him. In an extended interview, emergency medicine specialist Dr. David Rosengren personally examined and reported these practices as horrendous and barbaric, saying: "… the modern medical world could not condone this behavior in any way whatsoever". The possibility of Faria coming to Australia had also concerned the Australian Medical Association.

In Part 2 of his report, Usher stated that there were two deaths in recent years at the Casa that warranted investigations, but no one was charged. He also reported that in 2010, when Faria visited Sedona, Arizona, the police department investigated him because a woman said he took her hands and placed them on his genitals. The case never went to court; one of his associates encouraged the woman to drop the allegations.

The Catholic Church, through its representative Rev. Brian Lucas, issued a televised verbal warning, stating "John of God doesn't have any official affiliation with the Catholic Church". He cautioned all to be very skeptical of people seeking publicity with claims of miracles and faith healing, more so when there is a lot of money involved.

Montreal Gazette

On 22 July 2016, the Montreal Gazette published a report on John of God, "Brazilian 'healer' John of God leads cancer patients by the nose", by columnist Joe Schwarcz, accompanied by a video report from 'Dr Joe's' The Right Chemistry series. Schwarcz is an author and a professor at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He is the director of McGill's Office for Science & Society, which aims to demystify science for the public. The report starts by detailing Faria's life history as a medium and psychic surgeon. It then examines his practice and supposed treatments, such as the 'Up Your Nose' surgery to treat cancers. Schwarcz also criticised Faria's choices of treatment for his own health problems.

Personal life

Faria was married several times and has had an unknown number of children from his different wives and affairs.

In 2015, Faria was diagnosed with aggressive stomach cancer. A doctor of conventional medicine, Raul Cutait, extracted a 6 cm gastric adenocarcinoma from his stomach. The surgery and follow-up of five months of chemotherapy took place at the Hospital Sírio-Libanês in São Paulo. Faria did not report these facts to the public, originally saying he was being hospitalized for a stomach hernia.

Arrest and imprisonment

In December 2018, allegations of abuse by Faria were put forward by 12 women. The case was reported in media outlets in Brazil and around the world. The number of claims led to the Prosecution Office of the State of Goiás creating an email address and phone line to receive all accusations towards him. In 30 hours, over 200 complaints were received from nine different Brazilian states and two claims from abroad. Claims were reported by the prosecution's office as having potential to be the biggest sexual scandal in the history of Brazil, overwhelming the Roger Abdelmassih case. Claims included the alleged abuse of victims as young as 14 years old, as well as a woman who revealed having been abused for three days. In 11 December, four days after the Conversa com Bial show, the number of sexual abuse complaints against Faria had reached 206, prompting him to limit his appointments at Casa Dom Inácio de Loyola. Questioned by reporters, he simply said "I'm innocent" and walked away. On 12 December, the public prosecutor of Goiás called for the arrest of Faria. On 16 December, Faria surrendered himself to the police. The number of sexual abuse accusations gradually reached 600.

Faria's daughter Dalva supported the accusers, calling her father a "monster" and alleging that she was beaten and raped by him until she ran away when she was 14 years old. Faria was transferred to a hospital from prison in March 2019. On 19 December, he was sentenced to 19 years and four months for the rapes of four women. He is facing additional cases related to 10 sex crimes. He was released from prison on house arrest when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, due to his age and poor health. Those rapes occurred from 1986 to 2017.

 

Levashovism

Levashovism is a doctrine and healing system of Rodnovery (Slavic neo-paganism) that emerged in Russia, formulated by the physics theorist, occultist and psychic healer Nikolay Viktorovich Levashov (1961–2012), one of the most prominent leaders of Slavic Neopaganism after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The movement was incorporated in 2007 as the Russian Public Movement of Renaissance–Golden Age (Russian: Русское Общественное Движение "Возрождение. Золотой Век"; acronym: РОД ВЗВ, ROD VZV). Levashovite doctrine is based on a mathematical cosmology, a melting of science and spirituality which has been compared to a "Pythagorean" worldview, and is pronouncedly eschatological. Levashovism is influenced by Ynglism, especially sharing the latter's historiosophical narrative about the Slavic Aryan past of the Russians, and like Ynglism it has been formally rejected by mainstream Russian Rodnover organizations. The movement is present in many regions of Russia, as well as in Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Moldova and Finland.

Overview

Nikolay V. Levashov was educated in advanced physics and quantum mechanics. He began to practice psychic healing in Russia in the 1980s, and in 1990–1991 he held seminars on the subject. In 1991 he moved to California, in the United States, where he lived until 2006 and where he wrote his main books. In 2006 he returned to Russia where in 2007 he founded the Russian Public Movement of Renaissance–Golden Age, formally incorporating the movement of his followers. A few months before dying, Levashov ran for the 2012 Russian presidential election.

Levashov claimed to be a bearer of genuine "Vedic" sacred knowledge of the "Slavic Aryans", and called on his followers to live in rational harmony with nature following the path of evolution represented by ancient Vedic culture. Levashovism is based on the Book of Veles and on the Slavo-Aryan Vedas first popularized by the Ynglist Church in the 1990s; Levashov reworked the teachings of these books into original publications, including some — such as The Tale of the Bright Falcon — presenting such teachings in the style of the Russian fairy tale. Levashov referred to the Slavo-Aryan Vedas as carriers of the "innermost knowledge of the first ancestors".

The Levashovite worldview has been likened to Pythagoreanism by Barbara G. Koopman and Richard A. Blasband, for its being "a rare meld of science and spirituality". However, Levashovism, together with Ynglism, was condemned in a joint statement issued in 2009 by the major Russian organizations of mainstream Rodnovery, which deemed it a non-genuine doctrine detrimental to the whole Rodnover movement.

Beliefs

Cosmology of Svarog

According to Levashovite doctrine, all the universe is living matter in quantised space. The universe, all universal creation itself, is the visible manifestation of the absolute God, Rod (Род); this visible manifestation is Svarog (Сварог), the supernal God in the heights of Heaven — Svarga —, the abode of the gods — Asgard —, and the Slavic Aryan paradise — Iriy —, which correspond to the north celestial pole and its circumpolar stars, especially the seven-starred constellations of the Bear or Chariot (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the Great Chariot and the Small Chariot) at the centre of the zodiac. Svarog and the universal process of creation are represented by the swastika. The universe has three dimensions, Prav, Yav and Nav: Prav, meaning "Right", is the abode of the gods itself, from which all the right laws of nature come from; Yav is the "manifested" world of the living; while Nav is the "unmanifested" world where the dead go before being born again in Yav.

Quantised space is the cradle of all creation and is anisotropic, that is to say non-uniform or non-homogeneous in its architecture, characterized by different qualities and properties in different directions, in which matter interacts in different ways taking different shapes. Qualities and properties of space in its different regions are constantly changing. This view is strongly supported in astrophysics, and is opposed to the classical view according to which the universal space is isotropic, that is to say uniform in its qualities and properties in all directions, in which matter manifests itself in similar ways.

In the Levashovite worldview, anisotropy has a central role in all creation, both microcosmic and macro-cosmic; the process of creation unfolds through the eternal interplay, or "cosmic dance", between matter and the anisotropic space, governed by quantifiable parameters. The architectural patterns of any of the regions of space are quantised, and therefore expressible in numerical values. These architectural patterns "actually define and impose the limits within which its chaotically moving matter may exist and the degree of stability it may maintain". The architectures of quantised space, expressible in numerical parameters, are continuously changing, or fluctuating, due to perturbations exerted by electromagnetic waves, both in the microcosmic world of atoms and in the macro-cosmic world of stars, and their fluctuations are "responsible for every expression of nature that happens in the universe". Levashov left a mathematical formulation for the representation of the architectural patterns of space.

Seven primary matters

Based on the presumed ancient Vedic knowledge of the Slavic Aryans, Levashov theorised that matter itself is differentiated into seven types, or "building blocks" of creation, which he called the "seven primary matters" or "seven primordial matters" (семь первичных материй, sem' pervichnykh materiy), conventionally identified by the latters A, B, C, D, E, F and G, and by the seven colours, respectively red, violet, blue, azure, green, yellow and orange. The seven primary matters are nonphysical, or subtle matter, that is to say not perceivable to the ordinary human state of consciousness. Primordially, they move chaotically in space, "ignoring" each other, but each of them has its own distinctive properties or qualities and a specific energetic potential that allow them to respond to the ever-changing patterns of space. Red matter A is the most important, functioning as a structural and energetic foundation for all the other matters when they coalesce to form entities.

Local areas of anisotropy are created by fluctuations in the architectural patterns of space — likened to a stone tossed into water creating ripple effects —, and these fluctuations influence the relationship between space itself and the seven primary matters. When the latter find themselves in a given region of space in proportions that match the numerical parameters of that given region of space, the seven building blocks become empowered to interact and coalesce with other blocks of compatible quality and energetic potential to form structures of hybrid matter, providing endless opportunities for cosmic creation. While the fluctuations of space mould the otherwise free-flowing matter within it, simultaneously matter itself generates further fluctuations, engaging in a continuous "cosmic dance" until this dance reaches an equilibrium and creates a stable system.

In other words, when the quantity of change in spatial parameters becomes critical, a quality emerges, as matter coalesces and stable manifestations of reality are created, such as the planet Earth, also called Midgard in Levashovism, borrowing the concept from Germanic Heathenism. Contrariwise, when the balance between the architectural parameters of the surrounding space and the qualities and energetic potential of the seven primary matters within it is broken, the structures of hybrid matter that were formed lose stability and disintegrate, returning to be chaotic matter.

Sevenfold bodies

According to Levashovite cosmology, when they are organized, the seven primary matters constitute seven "layers" of reality. Each layer is composed of different hybrids of the seven primary matters and they are separated from each other by almost unpenetrable qualitative barriers; for instance, the planet Earth has its physical body — its innermost sphere —, and six other interdigitating nonphysical (invisible) spherical bodies. Any entity and the human being itself is constituted by seven interpenetrating bodies, including the innermost densest physical body and six other bodies of subtler matter, referred to as the "subtle bodies" or "spiritual bodies".

The seven bodies are, from the densest to the subtlest, the physical body, the ethereal body, the astral body, the mental body, and three supramental bodies. Each of them is constituted by different combinations of the seven primary matters, though with a different one of them being dominant in each body, each of them expressing distinctive qualities and characteristics and representing a stair of spiritual evolution; together, they constitute the spirit, or higher consciousness, of an entity. The physical body is constituted by a balance, grounded on red matter A, of all the other matters; the ethereal body is entirely of orange matter G; the astral body is dominated by yellow matter F prevailing on G; the mental body is dominated by green matter E prevailing on F and G; the first supramental body is dominated by azure matter D prevailing on E, F and G; the second supramental body is dominated by blue matter C prevailing on D, E, F and G; and the third supramental body is dominated by violet matter B prevailing on C, D, E, F and G. Orange matter G is present on all levels, as the ethereal body is the first and lowest stage in the evolution of living, conscious entities: the animal consciousness. Each one of the subtle bodies is structurally a copy of the physical body on the corresponding subtle body of the planet Earth. They all possess the same structure — cells, organs, organic systems — corresponding to that of the physical body. Most humans have developed, in addition to the physical body, only the first two subtle bodies, while all the other four are rudimentary and inactive. A human has to develop all the seven bodies to complete the cycle of evolution and break out of the reincarnation cycle on the Earth.

In the Levashovite system, the seven matters dominating in each one of the seven bodies are associated to seven energetic centres in the body — chakras in Hindu terminology —, functioning as antennas which convey the associated matter. The coccyx is the centre associated with red matter A, is the fundamental one, and red matter A corresponds to the Kundalini in the Hindu system, the fundamental cosmic force of all creation represented by the snake, which is necessary to awaken and steer for ascending towards the higher levels; the sexual organ is associated with orange matter G; the navel is associated with yellow matter F; the heart is associated with green matter E; the throat is associated with azure matter D; the forehead is associated with blue matter C; and the crown is associated with violet matter B. Levashov's seven matters and seven bodies have been compared to William A. Tiller's cosmological model, itself telling about seven levels of substances interpenetrating each other with minimal interaction until triggered by the mind; Tiller's cosmology itself was inspired by the Hindu system of the seven chakras.

Twofold time cycle

Bright Forces and Dark Forces

Belobog ("White God"), represented as a hawk in green matter E of high mental consciousness, and Chernobog ("Black God"), represented as a monster in orange matter G of low animal consciousness. In the Levashovite system, they are other names for the "Bright Forces" and the "Dark Forces", and for Yav and Nav. Between them is the swastika, the Prav law of the supreme north pole of Svarog; it is violet in color, like matter B of the highest supramental consciousness. Their eyes are red, the colour of the basic matter A. Above them are their corresponding luminaries, respectively Dazhbog ("Sun God") of the day and Jutrobog ("Moon God") of the night.

Levashovite doctrine tells that reality is orchestrated by gods, cosmic forces which can be either creative and life-giving "Bright Forces" (Светлые Силы, Svetlye Sily) or destructive and life-sucking "Dark Forces" (Темные Силы, Temnye Sily). The influence of either Bright Forces or Dark Forces and the behavior of people, and the manifestation in them of certain qualities and emotions, depend on which one of the seven primary matters prevails in a given configuration of space–matter.

Wherever and whenever — in a given region of space and in the cycle of time — primary matter E dominates, there is a "Day of Svarog" (День Сварога, Den' Svaroga), characterized by the complete development of the third and fourth subtle bodies (the astral and the mental body) of the human being, with the development of consciousness and of high spiritual and moral qualities. Conversely, wherever and whenever primary matter G dominates there is a "Night of Svarog" (Ночь Сварога, Noch' Svaroga), characterized by the hypertrophied development of the second and incomplete third subtle bodies (the ethereal and the lower astral body) of the human being, with a regression of consciousness and the expression of low destructive qualities in human beings (such as aggressiveness, cruelty, greed and envy). During the Nights of Svarog, the Dark Forces get the opportunity to influence people of G quality and through them influence all the Midgard.

While mankind and the Midgard would be fundamentally the expression of the Bright Forces, which are best expressed in history by the Russians or Aryans, some parts of humanity, notably the Jews and the Christians would be, instead, mostly — though unconsciously — prey to the Dark Forces and agents of their will.

Eschatology

In Levashovite eschatology, the "driving forces of the Apocalypse are rooted in the depths of natural being" itself. Time is a cycle alternating Days of Svarog and Nights of Svarog, depending on the movement of the Solar System in the Milky Way galaxy; the duration of each Day of Svarog and Night of Svarog is uneven, due to the uneven concentrations of the seven primary matters in different regions of the universal space. Levashovite historiosophy fixes the beginning of the latest Night of Svarog in 988 CE, with the official Christianization of Kievan Rus' orchestrated by Vladimir Sviatoslavich. Otherwise, among Levashovite followers there is no consensus about the dating of the end of the latest Night of Svarog: according to some it ended in the mid or late 1990s, according to others it ended in 2012, and yet others consider the shift from the latest Night of Svarog to the new Day of Svarog to be a gradual transition.

The Russians are called to be the first to wake up, to free themselves from the slavery of the Dark Forces, contributing to the beginning of the new Day of Svarog and to the construction of a new spiritual civilization different from both Western materialism and Eastern uncritical religiosity. Russia is explained in Levashovite historiosophy as the "Land of the Holy Race" of an ancient "Slavic Aryan Empire", which is said to have only fallen with Pugachev's Rebellion:

The name of the country – Russia, arose from another word – Rasseia, which, in turn, was formed from the name of Rassenia. Rassenia was the name of a part of the ancient Slavic Aryan Empire which lay west of the Riphean Mountains (the Urals). The lands east of the Urals to the Pacific Ocean and further from the Lukomorye (Russian North) to Central India were called the Land of the Holy Race. Foreigners called this country differently. One of the last names known in Europe until the end of the eighteenth century was the Great Tartary.

— Nikolay Levashov, The Hidden History of Russia

Healing practice

A Rodnover sacred pole representing a rose inside a heart, in Okunevo, Omsk Oblast. In the Levashovite doctrine of the energetic centres of the human body, the heart is the channel of green matter E, which is also the dominant matter in the mental plane.

Healer training

According to the Levashovites, as fluctuations in the architectural patterns of space dictate everything that happens in the cosmos, from the creation and decay of atoms to the creation and decay of stars, also the entire bio-genesis on the Midgard and the development of conscious humanity is determined by them. A Levashovite healer must master the Levashovite cosmological theory, "tune in to the eternal interplay between matter and spatial architecture", be able to "mentally navigate" the seven levels of reality, to "do what nature does": to "orchestrate the creation and dissolution of matter", "choreograph the regeneration and ablation of living matter", for healing purposes all "in accordance with natural law".

To do this, it is necessary that a Levashovite healer has activated their higher subtle bodies and has fully awoken their consciousness; however, in an ordinary person's life it is difficult for this to happen, if unaided, and it is generally a slow and unpredictable process. When this happens, there is a quantum leap in brain potential and psychic ability, and the acquisition of a new thought style free from linear and binary modes, opening to a broader perspective on reality. Sensitivity to the necessary spiritual transformation for becoming a healer varies from person to person; there are those who by genetic endowment are able to evolve almost instantaneously, and those for whom it requires years of preparatory work.

Levashov devised a technique to train would-be healers, providing them with the mental "apparatus" to develop their subtle bodies, increasing their energetic potential, thus becoming able to access and sustain a high state of consciousness and work with the seven primary matters. He created a body of disciples practicing and spreading his technique to other neophyte healers. One of the biggest hurdles for the spiritual evolution of a healer is narcissism; if the would-be healer is motivated by a desire of power and self-aggrandizement, the path turns counter-evolutionary and leads to spiritual downfall.

Healing treatment

Any mental or strictly physical illness is due to a disruption of the harmony between the seven bodies, and the latter may be due to genetic defects, infections, karma and environmental factors. To support their healing purpose, the Levashovite healer has to mobilize the appropriate quantity of energetic potential and the correct quality of primary matter, and influence the architectural patterns of the treated subject's microcosm. The healing work should take place first on the six subtle bodies, in order to influence and transform the denser physical body, since the primary matters from the subtle bodies flow down to the physical level and the structures of the subtle bodies are the architectural templates for the physical body. Healing conducted merely on the physical body may afford palliation but not a complete relief, as pathological organization remain in place on the subtle levels and eventually reassert themselves on the physical level.

The healing procedure comprises a phase of scanning and detoxification, in which the healer inspects the treated subject, finds the causes of the problem and cleanses the subject's body from the symptoms of the problem. This is followed by a phase of disintegration and regeneration, in which the healer decomposes the sick structure in the subject's subtle bodies into the constituent seven primary matters, and re-sets the numerical parameters of the target's micro-space, causing a regeneration of the structure in a healthy form. Finally, the healer restores the homeostasis of the organism, that is to say the harmonious working of all its parts in unison, or the "thermostat" of the energy flow between the brain, the nervous system and the organs, which was disrupted by the illness.

Symbolism

A symbol used by the Levashovite movement is the swastika, especially in the guise with dragons at the ends of its prongs, which was put on display many times by Nikolay Levashov himself during his conferences, and which he reclaimed as a symbol which gave him the right to discuss about the Slavic Aryan past. According to Levashovite worldview, the swastika — or kolovrat in Slavic language — represents Svarog, the supreme north pole of the sky with its circumpolar stars.

Another symbol used by Levashovites is the representation of a warrior riding a horse while slaying a dragon, featured in the coat of arms of the Renaissance–Golden Age organisation, that is a refashioning of the symbol of Saint George and the Dragon representing, in the reinterpretation given by the Levashovites, the Aryan champion of the Bright Forces triumphing over the Dark Forces. In the coat of arms of the organization, the warrior slaying the dragon is drawn over a trefoil or fleur-de-lys, which according to Levashov represents the "fighting symbol of the Slavic Aryans", with the three petals representing Prav, Yav and Nav.

Sociology

Relations with other religions

Levashovism strongly refutes the Abrahamic religions and Christianity in particular,[49] deeming its official adoption in Kievan Rus' in 988 CE as the beginning of the latest Night of Svarog of Levashovite cyclical eschatology. Christians are deemed responsible for the destruction of ancient chronicles about the true history of the Russians. The writings of Levashov also contain more general antisemitic theories. According to Levashovite doctrine, the world is dominated by Bright Forces and Dark Forces; the Jews, the Christians — especially ministers of the churches —, some politicians, and any other entity exerting some kind of control on the populations, would be unconsciously slaves of the Dark Forces and vehicle for the latters' will to dominate all Midgard.

In turn, Levashovism is rejected by other movements of Rodnovery; in 2009, two among the largest Russian Rodnover organizations, namely the Union of Slavic Native Belief Communities and the Circle of Pagan Tradition, issued a joint statement which deemed Levashovite doctrines as "pseudo-Pagan teachings, pseudo-linguistics, pseudo-science, and outright speculations" harmful to the development of the mainstream movement of Rodnovery.

Organization and controversies

The organisation of the Russian Public Movement of Renaissance–Golden Age was described by Natalya V. Prokopyuk as having a "wide public life", producing films, holding meetings, courses and seminars, holding conferences in schools and colleges, and printing newspapers including VeRa and RuAN. The purposes of the organisation, as expressed in its official documents, are:

Awakening the genetic memory of the Russian people and of the other indigenous peoples living in the territory of modern Russia;

Restoring the truth about the glorious past of these peoples, and about their role in the creation of a highly developed earthly civilization;

Showing to these peoples the way of evolution out of the dead-end to which they were led by the Dark Forces;

Saving civilization, the planet Earth, and the universe.

Two among the books written by Nikolay Levashov have been banned as extremist in some regions of Russia: Russia in Distorted Mirrors (Россия в Кривых Зеркалах) was banned in 2010 by the Obninsk City Court, while the collection of articles Abilities of Mind (Возможности Разума) was banned in 2013 by the Omsk District Court, a decision later appealed but upheld in 2014 by the Omsk Regional Court. In 2014, a Levashovite follower in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, in the Sakhalin Oblast of the Russian Far East, opened fire on the parishioners of the city's Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, after which six people were wounded and two were killed — a nun and a local parishioner.

Levashovite texts

1. The Final Appeal to Mankind (Последнее Обращение к Человечеству), 1994

2. The Anisotropic Universe (Неоднородная Вселенная), 2002

3. Spirit and Mind. Volume 1 (Сущность и Разум. Том 1), 1999

4. Spirit and Mind. Volume 2 (Сущность и Разум. Том 2), 2003

5. Abilities of Mind (Возможности Разума), 2006

6. Russian History Viewed through Distorted Mirrors (Россия в Кривых Зеркалах), 2007

7. The Mirror of my Soul. Volume 1 (Зеркало моей Души. Том 1), 2006

8. The Mirror of my Soul. Volume 2 (Зеркало моей Души. Том 2), 2008

9. The Tale of the Bright Falcon (Сказ о Ясном Соколе), 2011

10. Revelation (Откровение), 2010, by Levashov's wife Svetlana Levashova

 

Light of the World: George Feigley

 

George Feigley (June 23, 1940 – April 13, 2009) was an American church leader. He has been described as a sex cult leader. Feigley served over 32 years in prison for sex crimes against children, from 1975 to 2008.

In 1971, Feigley founded an organization he called the Neo American Church (not be confused with the more notable and unrelated Neo-American Church, a psychedelian religion founded by Arthur Kleps in the mid 1960s) and the associated Neo American School. The church and school were located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

We hold that the changes called creation and procreation are divine and that human sexuality is to humans the most available expression of that function of divinity... Sexual activity is the greatest act a human can do.

— Neo American Church Manifesto, described by Scott Portzline

Church doctrine emphasized the transcendent or mystical power of orgasm. According to police reports, it also advocated the use of children for sexual gratification. While leading the cult, Feigley authored several publications under the pseudonym G.G. Stoctay. These included a book entitled The Sale of Lillian, which described the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl, and contained graphic illustrations of such abuse.

The charismatic Feigley, who called himself "The Light of the World", gathered a small group of followers, mostly women, into his church. As of 1983, the group, which at one point had numbered over twenty persons, included about ten adults, one or two of whom were men (five children of group members were then living in foster homes where they had been placed by the state).

Imprisonment, escape, and re-capture

Feigley led the church in freedom for only about five years, as he was arrested in 1975 on multiple counts of statutory rape, indecent assault, and corrupting the morals of minors. He was found guilty of statutory rape of two teenage girls and was sentenced to 10 years to 20 years in prison. His wife was found guilty of corrupting the morals of minors.

I require total devotion to my desires. You may not have a will nor desire of your own which do not project my wishes. I expect this complete commitment from my wives, my concubines and my children... Make yourselves my delight... May my peace abide with you.

— George Feigly, Letter from prison

Notwithstanding his imprisonment, some of Feigley's followers remained loyal, roaming to follow him as he was moved from prison to prison or when he was a fugitive.

In 1976, Feigley scaled a prison wall at SCI- Rockview and fled to West Virginia. While he was on the lam he hid at a farm near Thornton, West Virginia, which he and his followers referred to as the "Aaron Farm". He was apprehended in 1978, but escaped from the Taylor County Jail in Grafton less than a month later while awaiting extradition back to Pennsylvania. He was assisted in this escape by fellow prisoner James Lee Gilbert, who joined the cult after engineering the escape. After his second escape he was free for two months before he was recaptured, hiding on another farm near Sneedville, Tennessee.

In 1981, plans for Feigley to escape from SCI- Graterford by helicopter were uncovered. In response Feigley was transferred to Western Penitentiary.

His women followers visited him regularly at the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. The organization continued to operate; a 1983 raid on Feigley's home found young children playing with sex toys and boxes of child pornography. Feigley's wife and others pleaded guilty to corruption of minors and were sentenced to prison.

In 1983, James Lee Gilbert and another of Feigley's followers, Laura Seligman, died in circumstances that led authorities to believe they were intending to break Feigley out of prison. (They drowned in a sewer line close to Western Penitentiary where Feigley was then held.)

In 1994, while still in prison, Feigley was convicted of instructing his wife and another man over a prison phone to rape a 14-year-old girl. Feigley was found guilty of conspiracy to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and sentenced. Because of problems with the search warrants, Feigley's wife and the girl's mother were able to plead guilty and receive probation.

Prisoner activism

In 1996, while imprisoned, Feigley co-founded the prisoners' advocacy website and non-profit corporation www.prisoners.com, along with his wife Sandra. He contributed to the website to the extent possible while he was in prison. Www.prisoners.com purported to be "The Voice of the Imprisoned" and criticized the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections for alleged abuses. It also provided information useful to prisoners and their loved ones.

The website also featured biographies of and works of art by prisoners, and health essays by Feigley under the pseudonym "Professor Stoctay". However in addition to this advocacy for prisoners, Prisoners.com also published some of Feigley's rationalizations for his crimes. As of April 2019, the website is defunct.

Release

Feigley became eligible for parole in 1990, but parole was denied then and at each subsequent annual review. Having served the full time for all his convictions, Feigley was released from prison on August 15, 2008, to some consternation. His convictions were not covered under Pennsylvania's Megan's Laws (his 1976 conviction preceded Megan's Law, and conspiracy to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse — his 1994 charge — isn't covered under the law), so he was not required to register as a sex offender, nor was he on parole as he had served his sentences in full.

His return home was met with a crowd of protestors. A neighbor circulated a petition to prevent Feigley's return to his home.

Death

Feigley, who left prison in poor health, died on April 13, 2009.

The Aertherius Society

The Aetherius Society is a new religious movement founded by George King in the mid-1950s as the result of what King claimed were contacts with extraterrestrial intelligences, to whom he referred as "Cosmic Masters". 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.

It is a syncretic religion, based primarily on theosophy and incorporating millenarian, New Age, and UFO religion aspects. Emphases of the religion include altruism, community service, nature worship, spiritual healing and physical exercise. 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 ridiculed. The religion may be considered to have a relatively conventional praxis, attracting members from mainstream society. 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.

Overview

The theology of the Aetherius Society is regarded as firmly based in theosophy, the Aetherius Society combines UFO claims, yoga, and ideas from various world religions, notably Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. The society asserts itself as a plural or liberal religion, stating "nor does God favor people of one religion over another – and certainly not people of one country or race over another". Stefan Isaksson notes that it has "become a complex religious belief system that includes an extraterrestrial hierarchy of various spiritual masters and such concepts as universal karma and religious healing." The religion's goal is to prevent worldly destruction by improving cooperation between humanity and various alien 'masters', and by using 'spiritual energy' to improve the spiritual calibre of the world. The society has claimed that various disasters may be prevented or relieved by prayer, often aided by "Spiritual Energy Batteries" meant to store healing psychic energy The society also believes that it is to prepare the way for the "Next Master," a messianic figure who will descend upon Earth in a flying saucer, possessing "magic" more powerful than all the world's armies. The society is named after Aetherius, a being King claims to have telepathically contacted and channeled. Aetherius is believed to be a Cosmic Master from Venus, as are Buddha and Jesus.

History

George King was born on 23 January 1919, in Wellington, Shropshire, England and brought up in a Protestant family with strong occult interests. Before founding the Aetherius Society, King had been deeply involved in spiritual healing and had joined various theosophically-based metaphysical groups in London that were a marginal part of the religious scene. In 1944, he took up yoga, allegedly mastering bhakti, gnani and kundalini yogas and attaining the state of "Samadhi" and, according to the Aetherius Society, developed psychic powers that allowed him to learn many of the secrets of the universe.

King claimed that in 1954, a voice told him "Prepare yourself! You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament." A week later, an unnamed but supposedly world-famous swami was reported to have entered King's locked apartment. King claims that the swami instructed him to form a group dedicated to helping the planet and that the swami further taught him yoga, prayer, and meditation. According to King, this training enabled him to receive telepathic messages from Venus, the first coming from Aetherius. King rented space in Caxton Hall in London, in which he allegedly channeled Cosmic Masters and recorded their messages. Based on his experiences and these messages, King founded the Aetherius Society. It appears that immediately prior to founding the Society, King was earning his living as a London taxi driver.

This version of events, however, is based solely on the Aetherius Society's hagiography, and not on external sources. Mikael Rothstein notes that a lack of objective, factual information is often a problem in studying religious leaders, even for new religious movements. The story of King, according to Rothstein, is part of an attempt (common to all religions) to portray their founder as an extraordinary individual to legitimize the religion.

According to the Aetherius Society, George King died in Santa Barbara, California, on July 12, 1997, at the age of 78. His death was not reported in major newspapers.

Belief and activities

In Aetherius Society teachings, various religious figures come from different planets, and throughout history Cosmic Masters such as Buddha, Jesus and Lao Tzu have come to Earth to teach mankind the right way of living. They are regarded by the society as Avatars. Krishna, for example, is from Saturn, which is the home of a "Cosmic Hierarchy" or "Interplanetary Council", while Jesus and Buddha are from Venus.  The society therefore claims that these religions sprang from the same source and their principles were identical. These beings are, however, spiritual beings on another dimension or plane, as the idea of corporeal intelligent life on the other planets was known to be unlikely in the 1950s. The society's concept is that these beings exist on a 'spiritual level' by maintaining a 'higher vibratory rate' which can be lowered, and this explains the reported blinking in and out of UFOs. The society also refers to the vimanas found in Vedic and Hindu texts, and to the Star of Bethlehem, as UFOs and examples of peaceful aliens that have been visiting to teach humanity throughout history.

King taught a belief in reincarnation based on the "Law of Karma" according to which humanity progresses life by life towards the goal of perfection. Everyone is destined eventually to become a Master and to continue evolving from there. The society claims that evolution also includes planet Earth, which is regarded as a living entity at a much higher state of evolution and importance than its inhabitants. They allege that because of the backward evolution of humans, the Earth has been under frequent attacks from evil forces from other parts of the universe and that the Cosmic Masters of other planets are fighting off a number of evil alien invaders.  In Aetherius Society literature, the cosmic battles with evil forces or intelligence "bear some resemblance to the fundamentalist Christian concept of 'spiritual warfare', shorn of its imminent apocalyptic content."

As in other New Age religions, alternative medicine, spiritual healing, yoga, and dowsing are also accepted and practiced by the Aetherius Society. It has also launched initiatives against pollution and nuclear power, and generally identifies with the ideals of the Green Movement. However, the society believes that environmental and societal problems are only symptoms of a much larger spiritual problem that, once solved, would cure all other problems. This is the 'spiritual energy crisis'.  King designed many items of equipment intended to contain and redirect 'spiritual energy' for such purposes.

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'. 'Spiritual workers' pray, chant mantras, and 'focus the energy' into the battery where it is 'stored'. The society's belief is that in times of crisis the energy can be released in a concentrated form and manipulated by cooperating Masters to the area in need. King named this activity "Operation Prayer Power". The Aetherius Society claims that under the guidance of the Cosmic Masters and with the aid of Spiritual Energy Batteries, they have prevented wars, and relieved the effects of natural disasters. King taught that these spiritual exercises help to prevent worldly destruction.

To help with this, the Aetherius Society regularly engages in "Spiritual Pushes" in which they pray and meditate to draw Prana to Earth from an orbiting spaceship known as "Satellite Number Three" which increases the amount of spiritual energy available. They claim that this satellite is shielded from telescopes and radar. In "Operation Starlight", between the years 1958 and 1961, King and various members climbed eighteen mountains throughout the world, so that the mountains could be 'spiritually charged' by the Cosmic Masters using King as the link. Members often make pilgrimages to these mountains where they have painted the movement's symbol, believing they receive more power than they can send out to the world through prayer.  They believe that service to mankind is the most essential yoga or religion in the modern day.

King is now regarded by the Aetherius Society as an Avatar and Cosmic Master, though he did not make any claim to being either in his lifetime. The Aetherius Society also believes that King was the only person in the society to receive mental transmissions.

Eschatology

King claimed to have been contacted by many aliens, including Venusians, Martians, Devas, and the Great White Brotherhood to spread a message to aid humanity. This message exalted the promising future humanity has should Earthlings turn to better ways of living, while warning of the possible consequences otherwise. King taught that humans had the choice of self-destruction or the enjoyment of a New Age that was coming to Earth. He also taught that the Cosmic Masters had intervened via the Aetherius Society to help humanity into the New Age.

As Zeller notes in his chapter "Apocalyptic Thought in UFO Religions," King believed there would not be a catastrophic end to the world, but that the planet was on the verge of a new millennium of peace and enlightenment and the Age of Aquarius; King believe that this would also require human effort. The Aetherius Society's teachings share the individualism of not only other New Age teachings of the era, but of the Protestantism King grew up in, i.e. individual humans face the decision of whether to join the millennial kingdom.

The society also predicts the coming of 'the next Master' from space at an indefinite time, which is said to depend on the advancement of humans and the balance of karma. It is claimed he will arrive in a spacecraft with great power, and present his credentials to the leaders of Earth. Those who engage in war or ignore the 'Divine Law', will be removed from the Earth and reborn upon another planet where they will continue their progress. Those who understand the law will be left on Earth to enjoy the new millennium.

Zeller also compares King's call to correct living (with threats of suffering otherwise) to many forms of Christian apocalypticism, with King's claimed mental transmissions replacing the Bible as the standard for what that moral living is. The Aetherius Society's eschatology is millenarian and, like Christian apocalypticism and Manichaeism, features a strong moral dualism in that the society seeks to follow the positive forces of the white magicians, rejecting the opposing evil forces.

King claimed that Aetherius enabled him "to speak all terrestrial languages"—although he seemed unable to respond when asked questions in Norwegian and French.

The Silence Group

The Society claims that the 'Space Beings' have contacted the leading Governments of the world in many ways but a rather sinister group of individuals called 'The Silence Group' (a pseudonym coined by UFO researcher Major Donald E. Keyhoe) have been deliberately suppressing this information so as to keep people uninformed, or misinformed, as to their true nature. According to King, the Silence Group uses fear and ignorance to control humanity.

Theology

The Aetherius Society's theology is theosophical and is also based on the continual evolution of all beings back to the source which is God. The society also refers to God as being "All in All, and All in All That," and the highest aspect of God as "The Absolute." The society believes that other beings exist that are so evolved compared to humanity that they are sometimes referred to as 'Gods' to distinguish them. "There is nothing but God in the cosmos, in varying stages of evolution. Everyone will eventually become a Master and will continue evolving from there." The society regards itself as a spiritual path rather than a religious movement per se. Its path contains various stages of spiritual evolution from earthly to cosmic. Karma and reincarnation are accepted by the religion as laws of nature. The society claims it is "not out to change existing religions so much as to add a cosmic dimension to them". Its religious services use both Christian prayers and Eastern mantras.

Criticism

Many of King's claims, particularly claims to various titles and honors, have been shown to be questionable at best.

Simon Smith states that the Aetherius Society has to bridge a number of credibility gaps exacerbated by scientific and technological advances, and mentions some seemingly insurmountable problems facing its world view, such as the non-existence of life on the other planets of the Solar System, and scarce evidence of spacecraft visiting Earth. The society uses the concepts of 'higher spheres of existence' to explain life on the other planets, and the 'lowly karmic position' of mankind to explain why extraterrestrials do not land openly.[84] Hence the movement, while failing to keep pace with science and technology, has tried to explain consequent incompatibilities. However, explanation has become increasingly unnecessary for adherents due to their growing acceptance of King's charismatic authority.[66]

Rothstein notes that while the Aetherius Society touts a television appearance of King's as a momentous event, contemporary media coverage of King was mostly negative

In 1958, the society's publication "Cosmic Voice" claimed to give details transmitted by the Cosmic Masters of an atomic accident in Russia, i.e. the Kyshtym Disaster, that was not known about in the West until 1976 when revealed by the New Scientist magazine. The magazine, after receiving a claim about the transmission from the Aetherius Society, entered a two-paragraph item under the title "Scooped by a UFO!", next to other news items intended to be humorous, such as a report of a "Dolphin Embassy." The Aetherius Society, however, interprets the New Scientist coverage as recognition of King's integrity, and admission by the magazine that they had been scooped by a UFO. The Cosmic Voice reported, early in its history, that King's mother was often a passenger in the flying saucers from various planets, was once in a Martian spaceship when she was introduced to a Venusian whom she recognized as "our dear Jesus", who solemnly declared of one of George King's books, "this book is now and forever will be – Holy."

George King's titles

King is referred to by the society "as an author, inventor, meta-physician, occultist, prophet, psychic, spiritual healer, spiritual leader, teacher, yogi and Aquarian master". He was also lavished with innumerable titles, degrees, and honors from unorthodox sources. According to the society, the various honors were all given to King as a "token offer of gratitude" for his work. Rothstein observes that all of this hagiographical material is primarily aimed at believers who have special, 'esoteric' knowledge about King, whereas the society's communications during publicity campaigns are angled differently.

Accordingly, many of King's titles and awards stem from obscure sources. Barrett notes that amongst King's titles are listed a Knighthood in the Sovereign Military Orthodox Dynastic Imperial Constantinian Order of Saint Georges, which was from the Byzantine Royal House in exile, and was not recognized by the College of Arms in England, as the title "Sir" might imply. King received other chivalric titles and various degrees. Barrett states that neither the chivalric titles nor the degrees were recognized by any mainstream bodies.

The Aetherius Society usually refers to King as "Dr. George King". The society does not, however, document where King received his doctorate. Barrett states that King received his doctorate from the "International Theological Seminary of California, a degree mill with no accreditation". King is also referred to as Metropolitan Archbishop of the Aetherius Churches. His consecration as a bishop was from the Theosophy-related Liberal Catholic Church.

In 1991 King was "presented Letters Patent of Armorial Bearings also known as a Grant of Arms, by Bluemantle Pursuivant, a Herald of Her Majesty's College of Arms in England." A Grant of Arms is applied for; anyone can receive a Grant of Arms if they can satisfy one of several requirements.

According to one source, King's "proper title" was "His Eminence Sir George King, O.S.P., Ph.D., Th.D., D.D., Metropolitan Archbishop of the Aetherius Churches." The knighthood is not British but from "an unspecified foreign source." American radio personality Long John Nebel had King as a guest on his show and later wrote: " 'George King of England' – is what he calls himself, and you can't be sure whether he's pausing after 'George,' or after 'King,' but it doesn't really matter because after about three minutes you get the idea strong and clear."

The society claims that King was a chaplain of the American Federation of Police. The organization's full name is "American Federation of Police and Concerned Citizens". Anyone who is a concerned citizen appears to be able to become a member for $45. Charity Navigator gives this organization its lowest ranking (0 stars). Several police organizations have warned that solicitations by the American Federation of Police are possible scams. The site does not appear to have any official way to apply for a position as a chaplain and does not provide any list of official chaplains.

According to skeptic James Randi, George King's titles of 'Reverend', 'Doctor' and 'Sir' are unverified.

Aetherius Society bibliography

Books

By George King:

The Nine Freedoms

The Twelve Blessing

Visit to the Logos of Earth

A Book of Sacred Prayers

The Practices of Aetherius

Jesus Comes Again

You Too Can Heal

Cosmic Voice - Volume I

Cosmic Voice - Volume II

Cosmic Voice Volume No. III

Cosmic Voice Volume No. IV

Cosmic Voice Volume No V

Cosmic Voice Volume No VI

Wisdom of the Planets

This is The Hour of Truth

Contact with a Lord of Karma

Become a Builder of the New Age

Operation Sunbeam - God's Magic in Action

The Five Temples of God

Join Your ship

You Are Responsible!

Karma and Reincarnation

Contact Your Higher Self through Yoga

The Importance of Commemoration - Spiritual Happiness

Realize Your Inner Potential (with Richard Lawrence)

Contacts with the Gods from Space (with Richard Lawrence)

By Richard Lawrence:

UFOs and the Extraterrestrial Message

Unlock Your Psychic Powers

Prayer Energy

The Magic of Healing

Gods, Guides and Guardian Angels

The King Who Came To Earth: A Biography (with Brian Keneipp)

Others:

The Holy Mountains of the World by Rev. Charles Abrahamson

Operation Earth Light by Brian C. Keneipp

Power Prayer by Chrissie Blaze and Gary Blaze

Workout for the Soul by Chrissie Blaze

Periodicals

Cosmic Voice

Aetherius Society Newsletter

 

James Ellison

 

James Dennis "Jim" Ellison (c. 1941) is an American white supremacist from San Antonio, Texas. In 1971, he founded the radical organization The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA). Ellison purchased a 250-acre (1.0 km2) strip of land near Elijah, Missouri, to serve as his compound. He was also a close associate of both Richard Wayne Snell and Timothy McVeigh.

Leadership

Ellison was a polygamist who spent time in federal prison with his 'high priest' Kerry Noble. Robert G. Millar, the founder of Elohim City, Oklahoma, became one of his spiritual advisers. He was also mentored by Richard Girnt Butler, founder of the Aryan Nations and Robert E. Miles, founder of The Mountain Church in Cohoctah, Michigan. Both extreme right leaders taught and practiced Christian Identity, a religion included on the FBI watchlist as an 'extremist religion'. Ellison had very close ties to the Ku Klux Klan and the Northern Idaho-based group Aryan Nations, led by Richard Butler. Miles had a very active prison ministry and newsletter, relating mostly to several violent white supremacist groups, most notably the Aryan Brotherhood. After Ellison was released from prison, he moved to Elohim City, where he married Millar's granddaughter.

Siege at CSA: April 19, 1985

The ATF set up what is thought to have been a group of around 300 federal agents in Elijah, having them pose as fishermen because the area was a common destination for anglers. On the morning of April 19, 1985, they moved in with a warrant for the arrest of Ellison and surrounded the CSA compound. Some agents stayed in fishing boats in order to seal off the lakeside area of the compound. There they waited, until a few hours later when two guards emerged from the compound. They appeared to be unaware of the presence of the officers, and they walked towards a sniper hold-out, until an officer yelled commands to return to the compound; the guards complied. Later, an unnamed individual emerged from the compound and talked with the federal agents, reporting to Ellison that the FBI agents were outside and willing to negotiate his surrender and the emptying of the compound. Ellison emerged later, and the FBI agents felt that he would not go down without a firefight. FBI negotiators convinced him that the CSA would certainly lose in a gun battle. They convinced him that they wanted peaceful cooperation, and he asked that his spiritual adviser, assumed to be Robert G. Millar, come to the compound to instruct him. The individual was flown to the area and seemed eager to convince Ellison to stand down, understanding that otherwise there would be certain bloodshed. They allowed the individual into the compound, and the FBI agents instructed him to call in every 30 minutes in order to report on how negotiations were going.

US Attorney and future Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who would later go on to successfully prosecute Ellison and other leaders of the CSA, put on an FBI flak jacket and entered the compound in order to personally join in the negotiations, ultimately leading to a peaceful conclusion to the armed standoff. After several calls requesting more time, early on the morning of the fourth day of the siege, Ellison, his command, and all of the males in the compound emerged, and surrendered themselves to authorities.

Charges

Ellison and most of his leadership were charged in federal court with illegal weapons possession, and Ellison faced the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Ellison was convicted on federal racketeering and weapons charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Ellison was released in 1987 after agreeing to testify against the leader and six senior members of the Aryan Nations, which was rumored to have been strengthened by Robert Miles during his time in federal prison. Upon his release from federal prison, Ellison moved to Elohim City, Oklahoma.

One World Family Commune

The One World Family Commune (OWFC), is a new age movement commune. It was formed in 1967 in San Francisco by 51 year old year old artist, café owner and UFO enthusiast Allen Noonan, who opened the first vegetarian restaurant in the city, completely operated by the commune's members. As a new age movement the OWFC practices the Everlasting Gospel, a combination of UFO beliefs, Christianity based themes of good and evil, but expressed through the positive & negative uses of the life force, along with new age beliefs like spirituality and higher states of being. In 1973 it was officially registered as The Universal Industrial Church of the New World Comforter (UIC). One of the primary goals of the OWF/UIC is expressed in The World Bill Of Rights written by its founder who by that time changed his name to Allen Michael. The commune was most active in Berkeley, California where it ran the One World Family Natural Foods and Entertainment Center, a restaurant, clothing store and a performance hall, while living in two large, former Greek system houses. During that time Noonan officially changed his name to Allen Michael. By 1975 the commune began decreasing in size, and relocated to Stockton, California. OWFC has been politically active throughout, taking part in the anti Vietnam War movement, promoting pacifism and rejection of capitalism. In late 1970's as an alternative to political parties the Synthesis Party was created to express universal world goals. Noonan as Allen Michael declared his running for President of the United States in 1980, 1984 and 1996 as a write in candidate. In 1982, the same year Noonan as Allen Michael was also running as a write in candidate for Governorship of California, Statements by the Synthesis Party including The World Bill Of Rights and views on World Disarmament were submitted to the United Nations Second Special Session On Disarmament. In 1988 inspired by the Synthesis Party's 1985 proposed resolution for a UN World Peace Agreement and an outline for a Global Nuclear Arms Ban Treaty (GNABT), first written in 1984 by a OWFC member, a proposed GNABT was submitted to the UN Third Special Sessions on Disarmament by The One World Family Forum On Nuclear Disarmament. Noonan died in 2010 when he was 93. At that time there were four people in their 60s living together maintaining a web site for the Everlasting Gospel.

Allen Noonan

Allen Noonan, who was later known as Allen Michael, was born in Britt, Iowa November 21, 1916. In his recollections he would say that as a child he received several angel visitations while playing alone. In high school he became a track runner and earned an athletic scholarship to Drake University which he attended for one year. He worked as a sign painter, and after being drafted for World War II he served as a conscientious objector in a camouflage battalion in Africa. After the war, he married his first wife Marian and moved to Long Beach, California where they lived with their three sons. In Long Beach he continued his work as a sign painter and in 1947 when he was thirty one years old, and just before Easter Noonan had a spiritual experience while painting a billboard. He described being enveloped by "ultraviolet light entwined with gold threads" and pulled into a spaceship, where he had a transcendental experience of being shown his entire life and made aware of spirits guiding humanity and of his own future role in that process.

Several months after the revelations Noonan's wife divorced him. He then became involved in the UFO community, going to conferences and interacting with prominent Ufologists like George Van Tassel, George Adamski, and Gabriel Green. Noonan stated that his first personal contact with alien beings happened in 1954 near Giant Rock in Mojave Desert, when he had an extatic experience interacting with three beings that exited a landed spaceship. Soon after this experience, Noonan opened a cafe-art studio in Long Beach called House of Meditation. He wrote that while successful at first he felt that it eventually attracted problematic individuals. Guided by telepathic transmission from "God Mind," Noon left for San Francisco in 1967. In 1969 he married Dian, a member of the commune, together they had two children, the two later divorced with Dian still remaining a member of the community.

One World Family Commune

Then 51 years old, Noonan formed the One World Family Commune (OWFC), shortly after moving to San Francisco. It was composed of adherents to Christianity related and religious beliefs centered on UFO – the Everlasting Gospel; he would later register it as the Universal Industrial Church of the New World Comforter. Noonan preached that he was Allen Michael the New World Comforter, channeling the plan of the God Mind or Universal Mind of ETI – Extra Territorial Intelligence "setting up the world environment into creative schools of experience, providing food, clothing, shelter, care, recreation and transportation for all of the people on the planet as one family." OFWC, like other New Age and hippie communities, was largely composed of young people, motivated by rejection of capitalism, western religion, search for closer connection to nature through macrobiotic diet and psychedelics, embracement of communal living and non-monogamous relationships. At that time OWFC actively recruited members and attained national recognition when Chip Oliver, starting linebacker for the Oakland Raiders joined the commune.

Soon after forming the commune, Noonan opened "Here and Now" in the Haight and Ashbury area of San Francisco, the first vegetarian restaurant in the city. In 1968, Noonan was arrested and served six months in jail for selling marijuana to an undercover officer posing as an astronomy teacher. The commune left San Francisco in 1969, opening Mustard Seed restaurants and communes in Marin County – Mill Valley and Larkspur; and the city of Berkeley across the San Francisco Bay. The following year, and due to the communes association with counterculture, the restaurant was evicted by the landlord of its location in Mill Valley forcing the Larkspur commune to relocate and combine with OFWC branch in Berkeley.

In 1970, the Berkeley's Mustard Seed was briefly closed, before reopening under a different name. One World Family Natural Foods and Entertainment Center was located in a large building on Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street in Southside part of Berkeley. It also included a pizzeria, "Far Outfits" airbrushed clothing store, and a performance hall; the commune also ran a bakery at a different location. In 1970, Noonan changed his last name to "Michael," telling that he was taken to planet Altamira and assigned the duties of Archangel Michael.

At that time the popularity of University of California Greek Life was decreasing with many near campus fraternities and sororities being unable maintain their leases, and were often replaced by student cooperatives and religious organizations. In 1970 the Berkeley branch rented the former residence of Acacia fraternity on Piedmont Avenue, this was followed by another move, and by early 1973 the OWFC settled at 2405 and 2415 prospect street houses, its final Berkeley location. The houses were named Novida and Altamira and in 1973 were home to 55 adults and 25 children. At one point the commune had over 100 members in the United States. With rejection of capitalism being one of their principles, all OWFC income was shared within the commune, with members performing daily 5 hour "love service" work shifts. Because they were not paid for their work at the restaurant, they received Supplemental Security Income from the federal government. At that time the commune experienced its most active period, at this stage it welcomed new members, but did not prevent members from leaving.

In 1973 the commune was officially registered as a religious organization – The Universal Industrial Church of the New World Comforter. Two books – To the Youth of The World and a vegetarian cookbook – Cosmic Cookery, were published the same year. During this period the group began practicing Natural Selection a tantric yoga group sexual activity. Participation was purely voluntary as a way for the adult members to express their sexuality and share in extended relationships if desired and agreed upon with one another. One of the members stated that: "We could see the benefit of going beyond the mortal-minded status quo programming in order to provide for one another the health benefits in exchanging hormones and energies in right sexing and the accompanying increased telepathic communication, while at the same time ridding ourselves of false programming of shame, guilt, jealousy and possessiveness."

In 1974 commune opened a smaller version of the restaurant, including an air brushed t-shirt store on Maui, Hawaii. By 1975 the commune began decreasing in size and due to financial struggle and the selling of two houses to Berkeley Student Cooperative by their landowner, the commune relocated to a twelve bedroom mansion in Stockton. That same year it released a music album – Quazar – One World Family – Extraterrestrial Music From ETI.

By 1978 group size decreased to twenty adults. Throughout its existence the commune has remained politically active, rejecting growth of capitalism and promoting pacifism. In 1980 Allen Michael ran for President of the United States, campaigning on cancellation of money debts and establishing of a system were everything is free and shared by everyone. The 30/30 was one of the key principles of the campaign where one half of the population worked for 30 days while the other rested half rested. Allen Michael ran again in 1984 and 1996. Over the years the group slowly decreased in size, moving to several locations before Allen Noonan's death when he was 93 years old in 2010. At the time there were four people in their 60s living together and practicing their beliefs.

Universal Industrial Church of the New World Comforter (UICNWC)

Like other UFO religions Universal Industrial Church combines dissimilar themes with the key principles being "reincarnation, a concept called Uni-Communism, the Hegelian dialectic (Thesis, Anti-Thesis, and Synthesis), and extraterrestrial assistance that will bring about the salvation of planet Earth." The dialectic is based on Christianity's Book of Revelation, with the Thesis being the Galactic Electic Elohim of Galactica serving on behalf of God Mind, also known as Universal Christ Consciousness Extraterritorial Intelligence (ETI) with Negative Energies created by Humanity's errors recorded in the Akashic Records acting as the Anti-Thesis.

The Galactic Elohim of Galactica are an extraterrestrial civilization, who created all life on earth and will eventually bring people of earth to a higher existence. On Earth the Galactic Elohim and God Mind are represented by Allen Michael, the Galactic Messenger and the New World Comforter. While Negative Energies acquiring for self without regard to the whole are channeled through such actions as the creation of the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve System, the CIA, the Secret World Government, and general destructive tendencies toward 'Babylonian usury' (capitalistic economic exploitation based on lending money at high interest rates). According to OWFC/UICNWC Members Synthesis will occur when this Humanity develops Higher Consciousness through Positive Affirmation of the God Force in Harmony with Nature as channeled through the Galactic Elohim, bringing all people into Galactic Membership on a higher plane of energy.

Publications

Books

Michael, Allen (1973). To The Youth Of The World. Starmast Publications.

Michael, Allen (1977). ETI Space Beings Intercept Earthlings. Starmast Publications.

Michael, Allen (1977). UFO-ETI World Master Plan. Starmast Publications.

Michael, Allen (1982). GOD – Ultimate Unlimited Mind – Speaks. Starmast Publications.

Michael, Allen (1994). Spirit God's Seven Churches. Starmast Publications.

Michael, Allen (2001). Everlasting Gospel – The New World Bilbe. Starmast Publications.

Michael, Allen (2002). Michael's Stand. Starmast Publications.

Hannaford, Kathryn (1973). Cosmic Cookery. Starmast Publications.

Antaree, Joseph (2015). The Great World Celebration. Starmast Publications.

Audio

Quazar – One World Family – Extraterrestrial Music From ETI (LP Record). 1976.