Editing Raëlism (section)

== Organization and structure ==

The Raëlian Movement is a strictly hierarchical organization,{{sfn|Palmer|Sentes|2012|p=173}} in which there are two levels of membership.{{sfnm|1a1=Palmer|1y=2004|1p=39|2a1=Palmer|2a2=Sentes|2y=2012|2p=175}} The majority of members are referred to simply as "Raëlians",{{sfn|Palmer|Sentes|2012|p=176}} whereas the members who are in the higher levels, which control the Movement, are referred to as "the structure".{{sfnm|1a1=Palmer|1y=1995|1p=107|2a1=Palmer|2y=2004|2p=39|3a1=Palmer|3a2=Sentes|3y=2012|3p=176}}

=== Member hierarchy ===

The Structure is divided along a six-tiered system.{{sfnm|1a1=Palmer|1y=2004|1p=58|2a1=Palmer|2a2=Sentes|2y=2012|2p=176}} Raël is at the top of the Raëlian Church, being referred to as the "Guide of Guides".{{sfn|Palmer|Sentes|2012|p=173}} Senior members of the Structure re-elect him to that position each seven years.{{sfn|Palmer|2004|p=58}} Below Raël are the "Bishop Guides", then the "Priest Guides", then the "Animators", then the "Assistant Animators", and finally the "Probationers".{{sfn|Palmer|Sentes|2012|p=176}} Those who are characterized as "Guides" are expected to be exemplars for the rest of the movement, for instance by strictly adhering to the avoidance of alcohol, caffeine, and recreational drugs.{{sfn|Palmer|2004|p=157}} Race, gender, and sexual orientation are no barrier to rising through the ranks of the group's leadership structure.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=185}} However, Palmer noted that by the mid-1990s, there were few women in leadership positions within the organisation.{{sfn|Palmer|1995|p=105}}

Members of the Raëlian structure begin as level 0 "trainees" during annual seminars. The Raelian structure was said in 2007 to have about 2,300 members,<ref name="For our pleasure...">[http://www.raelianews.org/download.php?view.202 For our pleasure...], ''Raelian Contact 331''. 7 April 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2007</ref> 170 "Raëlian guides",<ref name="Raelian Press Site">[http://www.raelpress.org/ Raelian Press Site], ''The International Raëlian Movement''. Retrieved 25 April 2007.</ref> and 41 bishops.<ref name="Rael Offers Excommunicated Archbishop Milingo to Become a Raelian Bishop">[http://www.raelianews.org/news.php?item.187.6 Rael Offers Excommunicated Archbishop Milingo to Become a Raelian Bishop], ''Raelianews.org''. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2007.</ref>

Three Raëlian Bishops sit on a "Council of the Wise", which monitors [[heresy]] and arranges punishment for transgressors.{{sfnm|1a1=Palmer|1y=2004|1p=39|2a1=Palmer|2a2=Sentes|2y=2012|2p=176}} When they seek to punish an individual, it is usually for a seven-year "excommunication". It lasts seven years because Raëlians believe that it takes this long for every cell in the human body to be replaced.{{sfn|Palmer|Sentes|2012|p=176}} In more severe cases, the council can oversee a "demarking", by which they cancel the transmission of the cellular code, believing that this revokes the individual's hope for immortality through cloning.{{sfn|Palmer|Sentes|2012|p=176}}

Members pay an annual membership fee to the Raëlian Movement.{{sfn|Palmer|2004|p=58}} Full members of the Movement are encouraged to tithe 10% of their income to the organisation.{{sfnm|1a1=Barker|1y=1989|1p=201|2a1=Barrett|2y=2001|2p=394|3a1=Palmer|3a2=Sentes|3y=2012|3p=177}} This tithe is then divided up, with 3% going to the national branch and 7% to the International Movement's central administration.{{sfnm|1a1=Barker|1y=1989|1p=201|2a1=Palmer|2y=2004|2pp=63–64}} An additional, 1% may go to Raël himself.{{sfn|Palmer|2004|p=64}} Tithing is however not enforced.{{sfn|Palmer|Sentes|2012|p=17}} In her research, Palmer found many practitioners who admitted to not paying the tithe.{{sfn|Palmer|1995|p=132}} A 1991 survey of Raëlians found that a third of respondents did not pay,{{sfn|Palmer|2004|p=209}} while in an interview, Raël suggested that over 60 percent do not.{{sfn|Palmer|2004|p=64}} It is these tithes and membership fees, coupled with the sales of Raël's books, that represent the International Raëlian Movement's main income.{{sfn|Palmer|2004|p=63}} This money is then saved toward the construction of the Elohim Embassy or spent on the production of flyers, books, videos, and other material that is used to disseminate the Raëlian message.{{sfn|Palmer|2004|p=64}}

The group initially owned a country estate in [[Albi]], France, before later obtaining one in [[Valcourt (city)|Valcourt]], Quebec.{{sfn|Palmer|Sentes|2012|p=176}}

=== Order of Angels ===

In 1998, Raël established an internal all-female group, the Order of Raël's Angels, whose members are trained to become the consorts of the Elohim.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=184}} He stated that these women would be the only humans permitted contact with the Elohim after the latter arrive on Earth.{{sfnm|1a1=Palmer|1a2=Sentes|1y=2012|1p=170|2a1=Palmer|2y=2014|2p=188}} He further claimed that they will serve as the Elohim's liaisons with human politicians, scientists, and journalists.{{sfnm|1a1=Palmer|1a2=Sentes|1y=2012|1p=170|2a1=Palmer|2y=2014|2p=188}} Raël stated that it was only women who could be Angels because men were not feminine enough for the extremely gentle, delicate, and sensitive Elohim.{{sfnm|1a1=Palmer|1a2=Sentes|1y=2012|1p=170|2a1=Palmer|2y=2014|2p=188}} [[Trans women]] were permitted entry; Raël praised one [[transgender]] member for "choosing to be a woman".{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=193}}

[[File:Raëlian Women at the Seoul, Korea Love Hug Festival.jpg|thumb|left|Raëlian women at the "Korea Love Hug" festival in Seoul, South Korea]]

The Angels are meant to cultivate their feminine and nurturing side.{{sfn|Palmer|2004|p=151}} They are tasked with pursuing self-transformation, striving to please the Elohim and to resemble them more closely by cultivating discipline, serenity, harmony, purity, humility, charisma, and both internal and external beauty.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=192}} The Angels are instructed to regularly pray to the Elohim and regularly meditate.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=191}} They are encouraged to limit their meat consumption and to avoid carbohydrates and sugar so as to maintain their physical beauty.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=193}} They have proved useful for the group's public relations and have also provided volunteers for its human cloning experiments.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=207}}<ref name="Promise of as much sex as you want and everlasting life">Broughton, Philip D. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1417263/Promise-of-as-much-sex-as-you-want-and-everlasting-life.html Promise of as much sex as you want and everlasting life], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2007.</ref> The Order has also engaged in the selling of human ova on the internet, launching a website to do so in 1999.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|pp=198–199}} Raël stated that this would help the Angels achieve financial independence.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=199}}

The Order of Raël's Angels has a six-tiered structure, symmetrical with the six-tiered structure of the Raëlian Movement as a whole.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=189}} Raël divides the Angels into three groups: the White, Pink, and Golden Ribbon Angels.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=189}} White Angels wear white feathers on a necklace, can choose human lovers, and are tasked with operating in the world to attract more women into the Raëlian movement.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=159}} Pink Angels wear a pink feather on a necklace and are considered by Raël to be the "Chosen Ones" who will become the consorts of the Elohim. They are expected to live a sequestered life, initially in the Jardins des Prophètes community, and are expected to reserve their sexual activity for the extraterrestrials.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|pp=189–190}} The Gold Ribbon Angels are characterised by a gold cord worn around the neck. They are handpicked by Raël for their physical beauty, and are described as being the first humans who will approach the Elohim on the latter's arrival on Earth.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|pp=189–190}} The Pink and Gold Ribbon Angels are expected to abstain from sexual activity with most other humans but should receive instruction in alien lovemaking from Raël himself as well as engaging in sexual acts alone or with other Angels.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=190}}

The Order was insulated from the rest of the religion, with the Angels' living quarters for instance being off-limits to non-Angels.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=201}} Access to the Angels is strictly limited for both journalists and scholars.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=205}} Gold Ribbon Angels have been demoted from this status as they have aged, on the explanation that as their physical beauty has deteriorated they are no longer suited to greeting the Elohim. These demoted individuals are then tasked with training younger replacements.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|pp=193–194}} Other individuals have been deprived of their status as Angels altogether, when they are perceived to have acted in contravention of the group's ethos.{{sfn|Palmer|2014|p=202}}

The initiation rites include declaring an oath or making a contract in which one agrees to become defender of the Raëlian ideology and its founder [[Raël]].<ref name="'Sensual seminars' and flying saucers">[http://www.religionnewsblog.com/12273/sensual-seminars-and-flying-saucers "Sensual seminars" and flying saucers], ''Agence France-Presse''. 22 September 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.</ref><ref name="REALM OF THE RAELIANS: RAELIAN NATION - Part 1">McCann, Brigitte, [https://archive.today/20040404225641/http://www.calgarysun.com/cgi-bin/niveau2.cgi?s=Lifestyles&p=78796.html&a=1 Realm of the Raelians: Raelian Nation – Part 1], ''[[Calgary Sun]]''. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 10 January 2007.</ref> A few days later, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine wrote that French chemist [[Brigitte Boisselier]] was an Order of Angels member.<ref name="Abducting The Cloning Debate">Gibbs, Nancy, [https://web.archive.org/web/20050419195141/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030113-404254,00.html?cnn=yes Abducting The Cloning Debate], ''[[Time Magazine]] in partnership with [[CNN]]''. 5 January 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2007.</ref> Around this time, cult specialist [[Mike Kropveld]] termed the Order of Angels "one of the most transparent movements" he had witnessed, though he was alarmed by the women's promise to defend Raël's life with their own bodies.<ref name="REALM OF THE RAELIANS: RAELIAN NATION - Part 1"/>

Raël has instructed some women members to play a [[pro-sex feminist]] role in the Raëlian Church. "Rael's Girls" is another group of women in the religion which are against the suppression of feminine acts of pleasure, including sexual intercourse with men or women.  Rael's Girls consists solely of women who work in the sex industry.<ref name="I-Team: Alien Nation, Raelians Moving Headquarters to Las Vegas"/> The women of Rael's Girls say there is not any reason to repent for performing [[striptease]] or being a [[prostitution|prostitute]].<ref name="I-Team: Alien Nation, Raelians Moving Headquarters to Las Vegas">[https://archive.today/20130103150401/http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6482858 I-Team: Alien Nation, Raelians Moving Headquarters to Las Vegas], ''WorldNow and KLAS''. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2007.</ref><ref name="Rael's Girls">[http://www.raelsgirls.com Rael's Girls], 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2007.</ref> This organization was established "to support the choice of the women who are working in the sex industry".<ref name="RaeL's Girls in Support of Strippers">{{Cite web|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-10-2006/0004359219&EDATE=|title=RAEL's Girls in Support of Strippers (Press release)|publisher=[[PR Newswire]]|date=10 May 2006|access-date=10 June 2007|author=The Raelian Movement|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929125249/http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=%2Fwww%2Fstory%2F05-10-2006%2F0004359219&EDATE=|archive-date=29 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>