[4][5][6] 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.
[9][10][11][12][13] Emphases of the religion include altruism, community service, nature worship, spiritual healing and physical exercise.
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 questioned.
[13][25][27] 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[13][28][29] 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.
[30][33][34] The society's founder George King was born on 23 January 1919, in Wellington, Shropshire, England and brought up in a protestant family with strong occult interests.
[35][22][36] Before founding the Aetherius Society, King had been deeply involved in spiritual healing[4][37] and had joined various theosophically-based metaphysical groups in London that were a marginal part of the religious scene.
According to King, this training enabled him to receive telepathic messages from Venus, the first coming from a Cosmic Master named Aetherius.
King rented space in Caxton Hall in London, in which he allegedly channeled Cosmic Masters and recorded their messages.
[47][54][55] 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.
[58]: 92–93 [59][60]: 73 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.
"[61]: 132 As in other New Age religions, alternative medicine, spiritual healing, yoga, and dowsing are also accepted and practised by the Aetherius Society.
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.
[28][29][63] 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.
[29][58]: 89 [67] 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.
[62]: 121 [68] 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.
[32][69][70] 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.
[74]: 329, 333–334 The Aetherius Society claims that 'space beings' have contacted the leading governments of the world in many ways, but a group of individuals described by UFO researcher Donald Keyhoe in The Flying Saucer Conspiracy as "the silence group"[75] have been deliberately suppressing this information so as to keep people uninformed, or misinformed, as to their true nature.
[citation needed] The Aetherius Society's theology is theosophical[16][18][47] and is also based on the continual evolution of all beings back to the source which is God.
[84][85] 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.
[29][88] 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!
"[88][dead link] 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.
"[90] King claimed that Aetherius enabled him "to speak all terrestrial languages"—although he seemed unable to respond when asked questions in Norwegian and French.
Barrett states that King received his doctorate from the "International Theological Seminary of California, a degree mill with no accreditation".
[84] 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.