The Sunday Mail
Joe McGauley
Aetherius Society: Founded in the mid-1950s by a former British taxi driver, Aetherius is a New Age religion whose belief systems are built around the idea that a series of “Cosmic Masters” (mostly from Venus and Saturn) control the fate of humanity. They await the “Next Master”, a messianic figure who will descend in a flying saucer armed with “magic” more powerful than “the combined materialistic might of all the armies”.
Ho No Hana Sanpogyo: This modern Japanese sect is often referred to as the “foot reading cult” based on the claim that its founder — who also claimed to be the reincarnation of both Jesus Christ and Buddha — could diagnose followers’ problems by examining their feet, and that they would die if they weren’t examined appropriately.
Order Of The Solar Temple: This secret society’s beliefs and activities involved a mix of early Christianity, UFOs, New Age philosophy and Freemason rituals. They were a mostly peaceful organisation with some unconventional beliefs, until the infant son of one of its members was sacrificed in one of the group’s lodges because he was believed to be the Antichrist. Shortly after, a number of people in the inner circle committed mass suicide and others were found mysteriously shot or smothered to death, all dressed in their ceremonial robes.
Movement For the Restoration of the 10 Commandments: A breakaway movement from the Roman Catholic Church, the Movement was founded in the late ‘80s in Uganda, and revolved around the strict adherence to the 10 Commandments as a means of avoiding damnation in the apocalypse. Among the odder tenets were weekly fasts and the outlawing of both soap and sex.
Raëlism: Founded in 1974 by the French race car driver Claude Vorilhon, Raëlism teaches that human life was created by aliens who later sent messengers in human form to check in on things, including Jesus and Buddha. They advocate world peace, sharing, democracy, non-violence, and a liberal view of sexuality. In the late ‘90s the organisation founded a cloning company, and made the bold claim (with zero scientific proof) that they’d actually cloned a human in 2000. — thrillist.com
