George King (1919-1997) was born in Wellington, Shropshire. His family considered itself Christian, although his mother also claimed to be a psychic, clairvoyant and healer, and encouraged young George to develop his own talents of this kind. As he grew up, King explored all the various alternative spiritualities London had to offer – theosophy, spiritualism, anthroposophy, Rosicrucianism, yoga and much else besides.
By 1954, the fertile mental ground created by this preparation was ready to receive a message – from outer space. King declared that a voice said to him: “Prepare yourself ! You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament!” Shortly after this, a swami appeared in his life who taught him various spiritual practices which he maintained allowed him to communicate with Venusians. One of these was a “Cosmic Master: named Aetherius” – and, as it happened, King’s new acquaintance revealed that Buddha and Christ had also been Venusians. Armed with the wisdom given him by the Master from Venus and his prior studies, King founded the Aetherius Society that very year.
Eventually moving his headquarters to Hollywood – where the pink-coloured buildings of the Society’s headquarters still grace Afton Place – King carried on a worldwide planetary defence against evil and disaster, routinely “charging” various mountains and other spots as “psychic batteries”. These serve to stave off both natural disasters and invasion from extraterrestrial enemies. (In the latter respect, they have been entirely successful so far.) At the same time, prayer, healing and various other arcane disciplines are observed.
The Society numbers only a few thousand, primarily in Britain, New Zealand and Southern California. But while King – an inveterate collector of titles, orders and degrees – transcended this worldly dimension in Santa Barbara, his faithful cadre soldiers on.
