A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture

The first was that all world religions were fundamentally the same, arising from a single
universal wisdom tradition. The second was that said tradition was maintained by occult adepts
who were human, but through intensive spiritual practice have become all but immortal.
Each successive Initiation carries with it certain definite obligations, which must be fully
discharged before the next step can be taken. The fifth Initiation “perfects” the Man,
closing his human evolution. By that He becomes a liberated Spirit; He has “reached the
further shore.” Some of these remain on our earth, to watch over and forward human
evolution; others depart to fill the various offices needed for the helping of our own and
other planets, and for the general guidance of the Solar System. Those we call “Masters”
are among Those who remain on our earth and they form the fifth grade of the White
Brotherhood. 134
These masters held themselves aloof from the rest of humankind, revealing themselves only to
the privileged few. They secluded themselves in the wilds of the Himalayas, or Egypt, or the
Middle East or on Venus and Mars, depending upon whose version the aspirant attended to and
which of the brethren one sought congress with. One latter day and still operative religious
movement boasts contact with a series of masters that directly recalls some of the more popular
spiritualist interlocutors of the nineteenth century. Elizabeth Clare Prophet’s Church Universal
and Triumphant (itself descended from the Great I AM, more on which in chapter two) claims
contact with such major religious figures as Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Buddha as well as
spiritualist stalwarts such as Francis Bacon, King Arthur and Merlin.
The masters, collectively referred to as “The Great White Brotherhood” by Blavatsky,
influenced worldly events from afar and entered into communication only with those who were
particularly advanced in their occult studies. The Brotherhood, a conclave of “ascended
masters,” consisted of entities that resided alternately in exotic terrestrial locales (India, Tibet)
and abodes extraterrestrial (Venus in particular). The Brotherhood, according to theosophical
thought, have guided the development of humanity from the time of the latter’s emergence and
134 Annie Besant, Theosophy (New York: Dodge Publishing, 1912) 70-71.
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