Editing Aetherius Society (section)

==Overview==
The theology of the Aetherius Society is regarded as firmly based in [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|theosophy]],<ref name="Rothstein 2021"/><ref name=B2011p122>{{cite book |last=Barrett |first=David V. |title=A brief guide to secret religions |date=2011 |publisher=Running Press |page=122}}</ref><ref name=LR2003p143/><ref name=Sm2003p96>Smith. Simon G. (2003) p.96</ref> the Aetherius Society combines [[UFO]] claims, [[yoga]], and [[Syncretism|ideas from various world religions]],<ref name="Landes" /><ref name="AtoZ" /> notably [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], and [[Christianity]].<ref name=B2011p128>Barrett, David V. (2011) pp.122-3, 125</ref><ref name=Sa2003p128>Saliba, John A. (2003) p.128</ref> The society asserts itself as a [[Religious pluralism|plural or liberal religion]], stating "nor does God favor people of one religion over another – and certainly not people of one country or race over another".<ref name="ASGods">[https://www.aetherius.org/god-and-the-gods God and the Gods - The Aetherius Society]</ref> Stefan Isaksson notes that it has "become a complex religious belief system that includes an extraterrestrial hierarchy of various spiritual masters and such concepts as universal karma and religious healing."<ref name=I2000Aeth>Isaksson, Stefan (2000) [http://www.anthrobase.com/Txt/I/Isaksson_S_01.htm ''New religious UFO movements: extraterrestrial salvation in contemporary America''], section: "The Aetherius Society"</ref><ref>Saliba, John A. (2003) pp.126, 128-9</ref><ref>Barrett, David V. (2011) pp.123-5</ref>  The religion's goal is to prevent worldly destruction by improving cooperation between humanity and various alien 'masters',<ref name="Landes" /><ref name=S2003p89-90>Smith, Simon G. (2003) pp.89-90</ref><ref>Rothstein, Mikael (2003), p.144</ref> and by using 'spiritual energy' to improve the spiritual calibre of the world.<ref name="OxHand72" /><ref name=S2003p89-90/><ref name=E1988pp126-7>{{cite book |last=Ellwood |first=Robert S. |title=Religious and spiritual groups in modern America |date=1988 |publisher=Prentice Hall |location=Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey |isbn=0-13-773045-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/religiousspiritu00ellw/page/126 126–7] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/religiousspiritu00ellw/page/126 }}</ref> The society has claimed that various disasters may be prevented or relieved by prayer, often aided by "Spiritual Energy Batteries" meant to store [[Energy medicine|healing psychic energy]]<ref name="OxHand72" /><ref name=LSm2003pp93-4>Smith, Simon G. (2003) pp.93-4</ref><ref name=B2011p125>Barrett, David V. (2011) p.125</ref>  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.<ref name=F2011p594>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dxCREXd3YKIC&q=aetherius%20society&pg=PA594 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Millennialism |editor-first=Catherine |editor-last=Wessinger |publisher=Oxford U.P. |date=17 October 2011 |page=594 |chapter=UFOs, ETs and the Millennial Imagination |first=Robert Pearson |last=Flaherty|isbn=9780195301052 }}</ref><ref name=B2011p124>Barrett, David V. (2011) p.124</ref><ref name=Sa2003p131>Saliba, John A. (2003) p.131</ref>  The society is named after Aetherius, a being King claims to have telepathically contacted and channelled. Aetherius is believed to be a Cosmic Master from [[Venus]], as are [[Buddha]] and [[Jesus]].<ref name=F2011p594/><ref>Saliba, John A. (2003) p.126</ref><ref>Barrett, David V. (2011) pp.120, 124</ref>