George King (religious leader)
{{Short description|British author, founder of the Aetherius Society (1919–1997)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = George King
| image = Portrait_of_George_King_(author).jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|01|23|df=y}}
| birth_place = Wellington, Shropshire, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1997|07|12|1919|01|23|df=y}}
| death_place = Santa Barbara, California, United States
| nationality = British
| other_names =
| occupation = Writer and founder of the Aetherius Society
| years_active = 1954–1997
| known_for = Aetherius Society
| notable_works = Contact Your Higher Self Through Yoga (1955)
The Twelve Blessings (1962)
The Nine Freedoms (1963)
}}
George King (23 January 1919, Wellington, Shropshire – 12 July 1997, Santa Barbara, California) was a British author, esotericist, and spiritual figure who founded the Aetherius Society, a new religious movement, during the mid-1950s.
Biography
George King was born on 23 January 1919, in Wellington, Shropshire, England and brought up in a protestant family with strong occult interests.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zuGoDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Aetherius+Society%22+%22george+king%22+%22anglican%22&pg=PT27|isbn=9781941482100|title=The King Who Came to Earth: A Biography|date=25 August 2019|publisher=The Aetherius Society}}Isaksson, Stefan (2000). "The Aetherius Society". In [http://www.anthrobase.com/Txt/I/Isaksson_S_01.htm New religious UFO movements: extraterrestrial salvation in contemporary America].{{cite book |editor-last=Partridge |editor-first=Christopher Hugh |year=2003 |title=UFO Religions |publisher=Routledge |chapter=Opening A Channel To The Stars: The Origins and Development of the Aetherius Society |first=Simon G. |last=Smith |pages=84–5}} His father (also called George King) was a school teacher and mother Mary a nurse and later small business owner. The family relocated on several occasions as his father sought better appointments, settling for a period in North Yorkshire. King was educated at Guisborough Grammar School. In 1937 King at the age of 18 left the family home and moved to London. Led by his belief in pacifism he became a conscientious objector during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Fire Service. Later he worked as a chauffeur and security officer.
As a youth and young man King studied theosophy, spiritualism, anthroposophy, rosicrucianism and yoga.{{cite news |last1=Coulombe |first1=Charles |title=Heretic of the week: George King |url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/heretic-of-the-week-george-king/ |access-date=8 December 2024 |work=Catholic Herald |date=4 April 2019}} In 1954, he claimed that a voice told him "Prepare yourself! You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament".{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Dr Christopher |title=Cults of Unreason |publisher=Harrap |year=1973 |isbn=0245518703 |location=London |pages=150}} Afterwards in 1955, he founded the Aetherius Society and published the book Contact Your Higher Self Through Yoga.{{cite book |editor-last=Partridge |editor-first=Christopher Hugh |year=2003 |title=UFO Religions |publisher=Routledge |chapter=Opening A Channel To The Stars: The Origins and Development of the Aetherius Society |first=Simon G. |last=Smith}} In 1959 he was interviewed on BBC television about his beliefs and experiences.{{cite web |title=Lifeline: Mars and Venus speak to Earth |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/e0d931fe04cb41eb8b9e0f787abfdb57 |website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC |access-date=8 December 2024}}
George King died in Santa Barbara, California, on 12 July 1997, at the age of 78, according to the Aetherius Society.{{cite book|last1=Barrett|first1=David|title=A Brief Guide to Secret Religions: A Complete Guide to Hermetic, Pagan and Esoteric Beliefs|date=26 May 2011|publisher=Hachette UK|isbn=978-1849018111|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbKeBAAAQBAJ|access-date=8 January 2018}} However, his death was not reported in major newspapers.
Reception and criticism
King has been described as a mystagogue and a religious virtuoso in the manner he formed and led the development of the Aetherius Society as a 'magico-religious' organisation.{{cite journal |last1=Wallis |first1=Roy |title=The Aetherius Society: A Case Study in the Formation of a Mystagogic Congregation |journal=The Sociological Review |date=February 1974 |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=27–44 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-954X.1974.tb00240.x |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-954X.1974.tb00240.x |access-date=11 December 2024}}
His claims have been denounced as pseudoscience by skeptics such as James Randi.{{cite web |last1=Randi |first1=James |title=Aetherius Society |url=https://web.randi.org/a---encyclopedia-of-claims.html |website=web.randi.org |publisher=James Randi Educational Foundation |access-date=11 December 2024}}
Publications
- 1955. Contact Your Higher Self Through Yoga. Los Angeles: Aetherius Society.
- 1958. Life on the Planets. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
- 1961. You Are Responsible!. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
- 1962. The Twelve Blessings. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
- 1963. The Nine Freedoms. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
- 1964a. The Flying Saucers: A Report on the Flying Saucers, Their Crews and Their Mission to Earth. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
- 1964b. Contact Your Higher Self Through Yoga. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
- 1966. A Book of Sacred Prayers. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
- {{c.}} 1975. The Five Temples of God. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
- 1979. Operation Sunbeam: God's Magic in Action. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society. [First published in 1958.]
- 1982. Operation Space Magic: The Cosmic Connection. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
- 1987. Operation Space Power: The Solution of the Spiritual Energy Crisis. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
- 1988. Life on the Planets. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society. [First published in 1958.]
- 1989. Contact with a Lord of Karma. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
- n.d. The Practices of Aetherius. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
- 1996. With Richard Lawrence. Contacts with the Gods From Space: Pathway to the New Millennium. Hollywood, CA: Aetherius Society.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Wikiquote|George King}}
- [https://drgeorgeking.org/ Official website] maintained by the Aetherius Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, George}}
Category:People from Wellington, Shropshire
Category:English religious writers
Category:20th-century English male writers
Category:British emigrants to the United States
Category:Founders of new religious movements
Category:Converts to new religious movements from Christianity