A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture

one was privy to cosmic secrets, with the primary secret being the source and timing of perhaps
the most momentous occasion in history since the rise of the bipedal hominid—the “next thing.”
Not only was one privy to such imminent events, one was an active participant in them.
Thus, in short, all of the basic elements of the Space Brother contactee appeared in the
case of Dorothy Martin: elements of continuity with earlier occult traditions found in members’
beliefs, in the content of messages, and in the messages’ modes of communication; intimations
of the cosmic importance of both message and recipient; warnings of imminent disaster based
upon negative human affect (hatred, violence, greed, selfishness) and/or the rapid pace of
technological development (particularly atomic weaponry); and lastly the promise of the
potential for accelerated evolutionary growth - moving to the “next level” of
consciousness/existence. As noted earlier, the millennialism of the space brothers was an odd
amalgam of secular and religious modalities. Clearly the mindset of those who followed the
space brothers was one prone to magical thinking and the prevalence of occult themes clearly
indicated a predilection for matters spiritual. But just as Spiritualism strove toward framing the
afterlife as a material phenomenon, so did the space brother religions attempt to materialize the
spiritual. They did so by the use of pseudo-scientific jargon—the alcetope and the earling
timer—and by making outer space the spiritual realm. Ascended masters lived on Venus and
Mars or Clarion and Cerus. Christ was still present, only his ascension was not into heaven, but
to another planet. His centrality to Earth’s fate was still understood, he was “Lord Jesus
Sananda, Earth’s Christ Teacher during this time of the Planetary Ascension in his Mission to
reclaim Earth as a Planet of Light.” 235 But he did so not as the only Son of God, but as member
of the galactic command. Martin and her followers exemplified the tendency in post World War
235 Rev. August Star, “About the Ashtar Command” in 11:11 Ashtar Command Ascension Network,
(www.staresseenia.org/About/abt.ashtr.com.htm)
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