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{{Short description|Polish UFO religion}}
{{Infobox religion
| name = Antrovis
| image = Antrovis symbol.svg
| alt =
| caption = The Antrovis symbol
| abbreviation =
| type = [[New religious movement]]
| main_classification = [[UFO religion]]
| orientation =
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| polity =
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| associations =
| area = {{hlist|[[Poland]]|[[Germany]]}}
| headquarters = [[Wrocław]], Poland
| founder = Edward Mielnik
| founded_date = 1980s
| founded_place = Wrocław
| separated_from =
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| defunct = 1994
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| other_names = International Centre for the Restoration of Mankind and Earth "Antrovis"
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}}
The '''International Centre for the Restoration of Mankind and Earth "Antrovis"''' ({{langx|pl|Międzynarodowe Centrum Odnowy Ludzi i Ziemi „Antrovis”}}),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Niezgoda |first=Tomasz |url=https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/xmlui/handle/item/271657 |title=Międzynarodowe Centrum Odnowy Ludzi i Ziemi Antrovis |date=2014 |isbn=978-83-64275-95-1}}</ref> commonly known as '''Antrovis''', was a [[new religious movement]], referred to as a [[UFO religion]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marchwicki |first=Piotr |date=2000 |title=Nowe ruchy religijne |url=https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/495566.pdf |journal=Seminare |volume=16}}</ref> active in the 1980s and 1990s in [[Poland]]. It was founded in [[Wrocław]] by an [[energy medicine]] practitioner Edward Mielnik.

== History ==
Edward Mielnik worked as a high-pressure boilers stoker. He started practicing energy medicine and founded the Antrovis cult in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gorostiza |first=Magdalena |date=2025-06-03 |title=Słowianie z planety Atlanta. Czy polska sekta zabijała ludzi? |url=https://www.onet.pl/styl-zycia/kobietaxl/slowianie-z-planety-atlanta-czy-polska-sekta-zabijala-ludzi/xzh95g1,30bc1058 |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=onet.pl |language=pl}}</ref> The provincial court of Wrocław registered Antrovis as a religious association.<ref>{{Citation |last=Ramet |first=Sabrina P. |title=The Functions of Pluralism, the Dysfunctions of Populism: An Introduction |date=2024-12-02 |work=East Central Europe since 1989 |pages=1–37 |url=https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003312031-1 |access-date=2025-07-14 |place=London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-003-31203-1}}</ref>

Aside from Wrocław, Antrovis was also active in the cities of [[Warsaw]], [[Kraków]], [[Katowice]], [[Poznań]], [[Szczecin]], and [[Polanica-Zdrój]], and among [[Poles in Germany|Polish diaspora]] in [[Germany]].<ref name="zadworny">{{Cite web |last=Zadworny |first=Adam |date=2016-05-28 |title=Przekonywali, że spotkali kosmitów i odlecą w kosmos. Sekta sprzed lat się odradza? |url=https://szczecin.wyborcza.pl/szczecin/7,34939,20146188,przekonywali-ze-spotkali-kosmitow-i-odleca-w-kosmos-sekta.html |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=szczecin.wyborcza.pl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Szałkowski |first=Artur |date=2010-08-10 |title=Wałbrzych: Straszą ludzi końcem świata i kosmitami |url=https://gazetawroclawska.pl/walbrzych-strasza-ludzi-koncem-swiata-i-kosmitami/ar/292576 |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=Gazeta Wrocławska |language=pl}}</ref> Antrovis started publishing their periodical ''Nowy kosmos'' in 1993. They also published books.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-10-26 |title=Antrovis: Gwiezdne wojny (page 1) |url=https://religie.wiara.pl/doc/471812.Antrovis-Gwiezdne-wojny |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=religie.wiara.pl}}</ref> By 1994, the cult numbered 42 official members, but its courses were attended by about six hundred people.<ref name="zagorska">{{Cite journal |last=Zagorska |first=Anna |date=1998 |title=Sharing the Power: The Growth of Non-Traditional Religions in Poland |url=https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol18/iss2/1/ |journal=Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=8}}</ref> Among members and associates of Antrovis were politician [[Barbara Labuda]], journalist {{ill|Zygmunt Broniarek|pl}}, and actors {{ill|Emilian Kamiński|pl}} and {{ill|Krystyna Sienkiewicz (actress)|pl|Krystyna Sienkiewicz (aktorka)|lt=Krystyna Sienkiewicz}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sielezin |first=Jan Ryszard |date=2012 |title=Destrukcyjna rola sekt i związków wyznaniowych w XX i XXI wieku — problem cywilizacyjny i polityczny |url=https://open.icm.edu.pl/handle/123456789/18899 |journal=Wrocławskie Studia Politologiczne |language=pl |volume=13 |pages=195 |issn=1643-0328}}</ref>

The Antrovis association was officially dissolved in 1994,<ref name="zadworny" /> following Mielnik's disappearance.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2000-10-18 |title=Sekty. W poszukiwaniu prawdy |url=https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/religia/sekty-w-poszukiwaniu-prawdy/w4p2kg |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=wiadomosci.onet.pl |language=pl}}</ref> Despite this, it was alleged by the press and organizations monitoring cult activities that Antrovis did not cease its activities, and that it was still recruiting new members as of 2016.<ref name="zadworny" /> In 2000, a personal development coach in [[Częstochowa]] was accused of trying to recruit people into Antrovis under the guise of a self-development seminar.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gradek |first=Violetta |date=2000-11-06 |title=Powrót apokalipsy |url=https://czestochowa.naszemiasto.pl/powrot-apokalipsy/ar/c1-5231861 |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=czestochowa.naszemiasto.pl |language=pl}}</ref>

== Ideology ==
Antrovis combined "faith in the sanctity of Slavic nations" with [[ufology]] and [[Christianity]]. Edward Mielnik's ideas were influenced by [[Helena Blavatsky]]'s writings, the theory of [[ancient astronauts]], [[science fiction]] literature, [[millenarianism]], and [[Christ of Europe|Polish messianism]].<ref name="iwanicki" /> He also held [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] sentiments.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nowak-Bończa |first=Rafał |date=2025-02-06 |title=Religia Raelian: Kosmici, eksperymenty genetyczne i zagłada Atlantydy |url=https://www.radiokrakow.pl/audycje/kosmici-eksperymenty-genetyczne-i-zaglada-atlantydy |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=radiokrakow.pl |language=pl}}</ref> The cult's beliefs were noted to be similar to that of the [[Heaven's Gate (religious group)|Heaven's Gate]] movement.<ref name="zagorska" />

According to Mielnik, [[Slavs]] from the planet of Atlanta settled in the territory of modern Poland about eight billion years ago. The Slavs were guardians of the "canon of twelve universal laws". At the same time, [[Hebrews]], referred to as "guardians of free will", also came to [[Earth]] from the planet of Hebra. The conflict between the Slavs and the Hebrews lead to a "destruction of the current world structure based on the twelve universal laws". The current civilization was the seventh and last of Earth civilization. In 1999, the era was supposed to end with a series of cataclysms.<ref name="iwanicki">{{Cite journal |last=Iwanicki |first=Juliusz |date=2017 |title=Sprawozdanie z IX Ogólnopolskiej Konferencji Naukowej „Religia a kultura popularna” |url=http://humaniora.amu.edu.pl/sites/default/files/humaniora/Humaniora%2020/Sprawozdanie_Hum_4_17.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Humaniora. Czasopismo Internetowe |volume=4 |issue=20 |pages=122 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802070816/http://humaniora.amu.edu.pl/sites/default/files/humaniora/Humaniora%2020/Sprawozdanie_Hum_4_17.pdf |archive-date=2019-08-02}}</ref> 144 thousand [[Poles (people)|Poles]] would survive the catastrophe and be taken from the [[Ślęża]] mountain to the planet of Mirinda by alien spaceships.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pawleta |first=Michał |date=2017 |title=Past in the present: Mount Ślęża according to pierre nora’s “sites of memory” (lieux de mémoire) concept |url=https://pressto.amu.edu.pl/index.php/fpp/article/view/13610 |journal=Folia Praehistorica Posnaniensia |language=en |volume=22 |pages=168 |doi=10.14746/fpp.2017.22.08 |issn=2450-5846|doi-access=free }}</ref> By the start of 2000, nations would unite under the leadership of Poles.<ref name="iwanicki" />

The cult also claimed that [[Pope John Paul II]] would be assassinated and that the growth of [[Cosmic ray|space radiation]] would spread skin disease. Both of those events were supposed to happen in 1994.<ref name="zagorska" />

== Controversies ==
Antrovis's activities sparked considerable controversy, and the movement was labeled a cult. It recruited young people, including teenagers, much to the outrage of parents and the public.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paleczny |first=Tadeusz |url=https://www.uj.edu.pl/documents/3337228/86fad7e3-4a88-44a5-b1d9-f669630c9084 |title=Kontestacja: Formy buntu we współczesnym społeczeństwie |publisher=Uniwersytet Jagielloński |year=1997 |location=Kraków |pages=86 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917161554/https://www.uj.edu.pl/documents/3337228/86fad7e3-4a88-44a5-b1d9-f669630c9084 |archive-date=2020-09-17 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In August 1993, a sixteen year old boy went missing after Antrovis members presumably convinced him of an ongoing evacuation into space. According to [[Police of Poland|Polish Police]], two more people connected to the cult also went missing.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stradomska |first=Marlena |date=2017 |title=Psychologiczne predyktory zachowań autodestrukcyjnych u dzieci i młodzieży – aspekt suicydogennych sekt |url=https://open.icm.edu.pl/handle/123456789/17010 |journal=Humanum. Międzynarodowe Studia Społeczno-Humanistyczne |language=pl |pages=94 |issn=1898-8431}}</ref> There were also cases of "mutilations and refusal of treatment" by members of Antrovis, according to the [[Ministry of the Interior and Administration]]'s report.<ref>{{Citation |title=Raport o niektórych zjawiskach związanych z działalnością sekt w Polsce |date=2000 |pages=7 |url=https://www.msw.gov.pl/ftp/pdf/raport_o_sektach.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205053127/https://www.msw.gov.pl/ftp/pdf/raport_o_sektach.pdf |archive-date=2015-02-05 |url-status=dead |place=Warszawa |publisher=Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych i Administracji}}</ref>

One follower of Antrovis was found dead with his genitals missing. It was alleged that he was murdered by the cult, as they believed "human organs will be needed by aliens as spare parts" and that "genitals are batteries that will power the evacuation vehicles". The police investigated the murder, but had no success in identifying the killers.<ref name="zadworny" /> The media also accused the cult of organ harvesting.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-10-26 |title=Antrovis: Gwiezdne wojny (page 2) |url=https://religie.wiara.pl/doc/471812.Antrovis-Gwiezdne-wojny/2 |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=religie.wiara.pl}}</ref>

In 2006, {{ill|Ryszard Nowak (born 1953)|pl|Ryszard Nowak (ur. 1953)|lt=Ryszard Nowak}}, leader of the National Committee for Defense Against Cults, published a "Report about cults", where he placed Antrovis on a list of sixteen sects active in Poland. The report was criticized by information centers on cults and new religious movements, noting that Antrovis has not been active for several years.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-04-03 |title=Oświadczenie Ośrodków Informacji o sektach i NRR dotyczące działalności Ryszarda Nowaka |url=https://www.ekumenizm.pl/ekumenizm/oswiadczenie-osrodkow-informacji-o-sektach-i-nrr-dotyczace-dzialalnosci-ryszarda-nowaka/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=ekumenizm.pl |language=pl}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:New religious movements established in the 1980s]]
[[Category:UFO religions]]
[[Category:Religious organisations based in Poland]]
[[Category:Apocalyptic groups]]

Antrovis - Revision history

imported>OAbot: Open access bot: doi updated in citation with #oabot.