Star people (New Age belief)


Star people is a concept from ancient cultures of the world fringe theory. Introduced by Brad Steiger in his 1976 book Gods of Aquarius, it argues that certain people originated as extraterrestrials and arrived on Earth through birth or as a walk-in to an existing human body. It is a variant of the belief in alien-human hybrids. There are many different beliefs as to the origins of star people or starseeds. The term "star people" was taken from an existing Native American spiritual concept.

Beliefs

Steiger described "Star People" in his 1976 book on contactees as "humans who come from a special gene pool linked to visits by extraterrestrials".
They claim to come into human lifeforms and suffer helplessness and total amnesia concerning their identity, origins and life-purpose. The awakening process claimed to be experienced is described as either a gradual series of realizations over time, or an abrupt and dramatic awakening of consciousness. Through the awakening process, they regain memories about their past, origins and missions An increase in intuition, psychic ability, and the sense of a more universal "self" that transcends mortal identity are also commonly reported. Some claim communication via telepathy with unearthly beings, either physical or non-physical. Some believe that life exists on other planets. Most believe they have lived on other planets, and many recount experiences they claim are memories of life on other worlds. The concepts of spaceships, intergalactic travel, psychic phenomena and sentient life forms in other galaxies are common.
Washington Post journalist Joel Achenbach interviewed people who said they were starseeds from the Pleiades for his book "Captured by Aliens: The Search for Life and Truth in a Very Large Universe", and noted the contrast with ufologists: "the starseed are precisely the kind of New Age figures the traditional ufologists can’t stand. Ufologists look outward, toward the universe, for answers to the alien enigma. New Agers look inward."

Proponents

Advocates of the concept of star people / starseeds include Sheldan Nidle, who founded the Planetary Activation Organization. There is an online following.
Steiger recounted that Philip K. Dick had written to him in the late 1970s to say he thought he might be one of the star people, and that his novel VALIS contained related themes.