May 12th, 2008 | 
Author: As I mentioned in my last post, Christopher Partridge writes the first chapter of the book he edited (UFO Religions). The introductory chapter is called “Understanding UFO Religions and Abduction Spiritualities.” Partridge begins by briefly overviewing “the emergence of contemporary ufology” (pp. 4-7), a discussion that traces the emergence of mass UFO sightings to 1947, with the famous Kenneth Arnold and Roswell cases. He then transitions to how post-1947 UFO sightings began to take on a distinctly religious interpretation — something that was not the case prior to that date.1 As Partridge notes, “The overall point is simply that, whilst there are claims to ‘contact’ with beings from other planets prior to the Arnold sighting, they are not the principal focus of such belief systems and UFOs per se are absent . . . [F]rom the perspective of religious and cultural studies. the systematic religious interpretation of UFOs (i.e., flying saucers) and alien beings and the emergence of specific UFO religions has followed the general rise of interest following the Arnold sighting.”2
Although not specifically a UFO Religion for Partridge, theosophy and its connections to UFOs are important. Indeed, the connections between the two are transparent. In order to process these connections, we first need a brief review of the basic history and tenets of theosophy.
According to one definition, “Theosophy is a doctrine of religious philosophy and metaphysics originating with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. In this context, theosophy holds that all religions are attempts by the ‘Spiritual Hierarchy’ to help humanity in evolving to greater perfection, and that each religion therefore has a portion of the truth.”3 The principal religious tenets of theosophy are as follows:4
1. To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color.
2. To encourage the study of Aryan and other Scriptures, of the World’s religion and sciences, and to vindicate the importance of old Asiatic literature, namely Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Zoroastrian philosophies.
3. To investigate the hidden mysteries of Nature under every aspect possible, and the psychic and spiritual powers latent in man especially.
Blavatsky claimed that her theosophical teaching came from a long line of enlightened masters, including Jesus and Buddha, as well as “masters who dwelt on Venus and with whom she was in contact.”5 Blavatsky called these ascended masters from Venus “Lords of the Flame” and “Lord of the World.” These masters were:
“[L]iving persons who had fully evolved through many reincarnations, had acquired and become the custodians of ‘ancient wisdom,’ and now sought to impart that wisdom to humanity in order to lead it into a new age of peace, spirituality, and global community. The masters introduce new scientific ideas into the history of human thought, they warn of potentially harmful developments and catastrophes and ‘having themselves solved and mastered the problems of human living, they make a periodical effort to bring more enlightenment to mankind’. . . . The masters have ‘direct insight into the spiritual, psychic, and physical workings of our solar system,’ and communicate these insights through specially chosen intermediaries.”6
As Partridge notes, “Whilst there are some differences between the theosophical masters / mahatmas of wisdom (who were usually thought to reside in Tibet),7 and the early accounts of aliens, in actual fact the similarities between the two are striking and the differences fairly superficial.”8
Striking indeed. Anyone who has read more than half a dozen pages of contactee material can see the connections already (and we’ll get more specific). One wonders how Msgr. Balducci could have missed this kind of information. No … no occult connections to UFOs and alien contact here. Maybe he just doesn’t want to see the connections. After all, here’s what the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia has to say about theosophy (emphasis mine):
In of a Christian ethical phraseology, theosophy in reality is a form of pantheism
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I’ve noticed an increase in UFO or science-religion type stories in the news lately. There were the Texas sightings, the drone, a story about Einstein’s view that religion is childish (from a recently discovered letter), and a more recent announcement from the Vatican that it is OK to believe in aliens. Add to that a German archaeologist’s search for the Ark, genetic modification of human embryos, and some strong criticism of Ben Stein’s film. Is it my imagination or is there more mainstream news stories about these kinds of subjects? And if so, I wonder what it means in relation to the subject of UFO religions?
I was first acquainted with this when I was a teenager through reading my father’s copy of G.H. Pember’s Earth’s Earliest Ages.
Aeneas – it ain’t your imagination.