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