Unarius Academy of Science


Unarius is a non-profit organization founded in 1954 in Los Angeles, California and headquartered in El Cajon, California. The organization purports to advance a new "interdimensional science of life" based upon "fourth-dimensional" physics principles. It is recorded that in 2003–4 Unarius centers existed in Canada, New Zealand, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and in various locations in the United States. Membership figures are unknown.
Unarius is an acronym for "Universal Articulate Interdimensional Understanding of Science". The founder, and subsequent "channels" and "sub-channels", have written books filled with channeled dissertations from alleged advanced intelligent beings that exist on higher frequency planes. Over 100 volumes have been published since 1954.

History

The group was founded in February 1954 in Los Angeles, California by Ernest L. Norman and his wife Ruth E. Norman.
From the period of 1954–1971, when Ernest Norman still controlled the organization, the organization defined "the mission" as the explanation and promotion of an interdimensional science of life in the books he wrote. He said that he had channeled the material via his psychic connections with extraterrestrial intelligences.
Between 1972–1993, while Ruth Norman guided it, the organization experienced renewed growth and public awareness. "The mission" became bringing Unarius to the masses. Ruth Norman granted interviews, appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and The David Susskind Show and kept very up-to-date technologically with a video production studio built in the late 1970s, when such equipment was still in its infancy. Unarius video productions began appearing on Public-access television cable TV stations all over the United States. In 2000, Diana Tumminia stated that in several cities in Southern California, the local public access channels carried weekly showings of Unarian films.
Unarius has been featured in countless newspaper and magazine articles as well as radio and television spots.
After Ruth Norman's death in 1993, Charles Louis Spiegel became director, a post he retained until his death on December 22, 1999. Since Ruth Norman's death in 1993, the organization has struggled, particularly since 2001, when a space-fleet landing predicted by Charles Spiegel in 1980 failed to occur.
Unariuns believe in immortality of the soul, and that all people have reincarnated many times. They also believe that our solar system was once inhabited by ancient interplanetary civilizations.
The aliens are said to be "human beings" who have lived on Earth and on other planets outside our solar system. They are said to be more advanced than humans, spiritually and scientifically.
While the group seems to have similarity to the Aetherius Society or to Raëlism, as they emphasize "space brothers" who will come from the stars in 33 spaceships to improve humanity, these beliefs are not held by all Unariuns and in fact, are discounted by many as contradictory to true Unariun principles.
In his book, The Truth About Mars, Ernest Norman claimed that the Chinese evolved from ancient interstellar migrants who began colonizing Mars a million years ago. They are reported to have returned to Mars, where they live in underground cities, after being attacked by natives of the Earth. A group which had become separated did not return with them and this group branched off and formed the various Asian racial genotypes.

Founders

Ernest Norman claimed to have been a child prodigy, having read all his father's books eagerly, self-educating himself alongside his formal schooling. He also claimed that as a child, he performed to family, neighbors and teachers unexpected feats such as moving a heavy rabbit hutch using Archimedean principles and small logs, building radios and winning arguments with parents and teachers at an early age. According to Unarius, Ernest Norman was a scientist, and an aeronautical engineer from whom the idea of the television tube was stolen.
Claiming to possess psychic ability, he began his metaphysical career reading palms and also claimed to have told women of their loved one's whereabouts and often deaths during the World War II years of 1942–1945. When this practice of describing fatalities allegedly lowered morale at war plants where he worked, he left and started to give lectures of his own philosophy in theosophical churches during the mid to late 1940s. Previous to meeting Ruth and the beginning of their mission, Ernest Norman gave psychic readings at spiritualist churches.
Ruth Norman was the oldest of eight children, born in 1900. She took many jobs early on to help support her family, and worked as a fruit packer, and at other various jobs, including as a live-in maid. Her first marriage produced a daughter. After this she worked at many jobs including store clerk, nanny, short-order cook, waitress, ran a real estate office and eventually owned and managed some property. She had purchased a motel, run a restaurant, worked at a cannery and worked in numerous other professions during her first fifty years.
Both Ernest and Ruth had experiences in Spiritualism before the UFO theme became common in the late 1940s. By the early 1950s, mystics at a psychic convention she attended told her that she was being followed around by long-bearded wise men carrying books and that she would help bring in these books in her future. This same thing had been told to Ernest by other mystics at this same convention and when the two met and later married. Books date their marriage to 1954, and their anniversary is celebrated by Unarius on February 14. Tumminia states that their union brought forth their "mission".
Within weeks, Ernest began to produce, by channeling, the first Unarius book, The Voice of Venus. Ruth was later known within the group as both "Ioshanna" and "Uriel".

Early years

Ernest Norman became a "channeler", the process by which he "wrote" his books. Unarian channeling is a process of relaxed contemplation in which the practitioner closes the eyes and enters into a composed state, allowing thoughts and images to flow freely, as he or she voices "messages" received from a supposedly higher consciousness, or "other beings" which speak to or through him or her. Coupling "channeling" with "past life" readings, the Normans developed a devoted following.
Ernest Norman's first books contain themes similar to those of other metaphysical American religions and early 1950s contactees. While the Normans had dealings with other early contactee groups, initially Ernest Norman concerned himself with the "spiritual nature" of planets and their supposed history. He briefly mentioned flying saucers, saying that residents of more "spiritual" worlds were concerned about Atomic testing and responded by making their spacecraft visible and increasing contact with Earth people in order to attract attention.
Ernest Norman claimed to receive ‘transmissions’ from Mars and Venus, the homes of ‘great teachers’ and Ascended Masters who described their cities to him.
Altogether, channeled descriptions of seven spiritual planets including Venus, claimed to be ‘advanced teaching centers’, comprise the set of books known as the "Pulse of Creation Series".
The Normans operated out of their home, and in the 60s and early 70s, they moved to different cities in California, eventually settling in Escondido. During that time, Norman and Ruth claimed past lives as Jesus and Mary Magdalene respectively, as well as other famous people. In 1970, Norman channeled his prime lesson book for a student of the science, "The Infinite Concept of Cosmic Creation".
The formation of the mission in February, 1954 by Ernest and Ruth Norman, led to the publication of the "Voice Series" of books. The first book, ‘Voice of Venus’, concerned a psychic trip to Venus and described the advanced wonders of that civilization. Now known as ‘the Moderator’, he explained the existence of ‘healing wards’ on that planet where troubled souls go to recuperate from traumatic experiences. He explained this book was not channeled in the usual type of meditative, trance-like state or in a darkened room, but spoken normally and recorded on tape. Norman generally held modern spiritualist and theosophical movements and practices to be backwards and less enlightened. The work describes communication from Mal-Var of Venus who gives a tour of the Venusian capital. In the work, Venusians are described as having "energy bodies" and living in a higher vibratory plane that would be invisible to a human were he to stand in the middle of the capital city known as Azure. The planet Venus and its culture are said to be more spiritual than that of the Earth and that more advanced Earth-dwellers visit and study on Venus when they sleep. Healing wards for human suicides, alcoholics, the mentally impaired and similar human wreckage exist in Azure and these souls are treated with positive energy and light to help them reincarnate with greater integration.
The Voice Series consists of seven books:
The seven books describe the seven planes of Shamballa, which are claimed to exist outside the conventional atomic spectrum and are spiritual or non-physical worlds. Each plane has a specialty in the teaching of advanced principles, for the betterment of an individual's progressive evolution from life to life.
The planes' specialties are:
These books authored by Ernest Norman, along with The Infinite Concept of Cosmic Creation, which were a series of 13 lectures given in 1956 and later compiled into book form with seven advanced lesson courses, constitute the early teachings and beliefs of Unarius. The Voice Series books are written with famous past Earth denizens acting as the tour guides for these various planes.

Origin of name

Unarius is an acronym which stands for "Universal Articulate Interdimensional Understanding of Science".

Classification as a religion

Unarius, as an organization, is strongly opposed to its common classification as a religion. Unarians consider their teaching or beliefs as a science and not a religion and assert that they practice a science that teaches the 'spiritual' understanding of high energy-physics and reincarnation.
Saliba points out that Unarius lacks the main elements that one normally associates with religion, e.g. a hierarchical structure, priests and clergy, initiation rites, weekly services or ceremonies. Neither do the members offer prayers to God or higher entities. Unarius feels more comfortable with the world ‘spiritual’, and admits that its teachings are ‘spiritual’ and that human beings have a spiritual nature. Notwithstanding, the beliefs of Unarius do satisfy many religious criteria in that spiritual reality is taught: humans develop their spiritual potential over lifetimes; the concept of the Space Brothers is basically a supernatural assumption as they seem different in kind, and are empirically unprovable; it involves a western concept of good and evil and an eastern concept of karma; higher entities are channeled; the texts read like sacred scriptures; its system of beliefs can explain or dispel all phenomena, and thus satisfy all questions of meaning for adherents.. Because of this many writers regard it as a religion.
Ernest Norman presents the case against religion in several books, most notably The Infinite Contact, copyrighted in 1960, which describes in detail the origins of Christianity as rooted in Mithraism, Zoroastrianism and assorted ancient belief structures. Norman agreed with Karl Marx that religions were "the opium of the people", and yet also claimed to realize that many individuals were still at such a point in their evolution where religions still served a positive purpose and kept them from harming their fellowmen. Unarius calls its content and activities teaching "interdimensional science".

Principles and beliefs

Unarius was established to teach the 'fourth-dimensional science’ aka "the Science of Life" which incorporates harmonic frequencies, karma, reincarnation, past-life memories, channeling, and an elaborate cosmology of ‘spiritual planets.’ Central tenets of the belief system include contact with the ‘Space Brothers’ and a millenarian prophecy that predicts a mass landing of starships.
"The Science" asserts that everything is energy: atoms, higher knowledge, our bodies and our experiences. This energy ‘vibrates in frequencies and wave forms’. ‘Understanding’ these vibrational energies allows contact with all things: higher intelligence, the ‘advanced teaching centers’ and our ‘past lives’. By being ‘in tune with spiritual frequencies’ we can heal ourselves of mental and physical illness.
Saliba summarises Unarian belief under four basic themes: intelligent life on other planets/galaxies; an infinite creative intelligence ; that human beings are developing into an advanced state of consciousness; the millennial hope of the advent of a landing. According to Unarius, the purpose of the research institution is "to awaken the individual to previous life encounters, the clairvoyant aptitude of the mind, and the reality of one's spiritual connection."
Practicing Unariuns hold the following beliefs:
These are the primary principles as explained by Norman in The Infinite Concept of Cosmic Creation, Copyright 1956, 1960 Edition.
For the practicing Unariun these are the most important aspects of Unarius. Although the group is generally known for its predictions regarding flying saucers landing on Earth, Ernest L. Norman stressed these scientific core understandings as the key to personal development and mastery over material circumstances and in one instance derided flying saucer chasers as just another manifestation of people pursuing an "escape mechanism".

The 1970s

With the death of co-founder Ernest in 1971, the mission was continued by his wife and partner Ruth. New Sub-Channels now authored the books with her. The two sub-channels, Thomas Miller and Louis Spiegel, are credited on a number of the organization's books starting in 1972.
After a channeling revealed a lifetime lived in ancient Atlantis with the name Ioshanna, she adopted the name Ioshanna during this period.
Altogether she claimed over 200 previous lives. Much of Unarian cosmology and lore revolves around the past lives of Uriel.
From 1954–1974, meetings were held in Ruth Norman's home or at public meeting facilities. In 1972, the channeled messages referred to "33 worlds of an interplanetary confederation". These worlds all had various problems and by communicating with Ioshanna, many of their hang-ups were solved or on the way to resolution.
Ruth became an exuberant visionary, and with help rapidly increased the ‘messages from space’. In 1973, she became known as ‘Uriel the Archangel’ said to be her ‘higher self’ and to stand for Universal, Radiant Infinite Eternal Light.
In November 1973, Uriel purchased 67 acres in Jamul, California, for a proposed landing site for the Space Brothers.
In 1974, in the "Tesla Speaks" volumes, Uriel completely redefined the Unarian mission by introducing the concept of the Interplanetary Confederation and the prophecy of a 33 vehicle spacefleet landing, in which she began to play the role of cosmic emissary uniting the confederation. The media joined in, the landing date was revised, and eventually pushed back to 2001. All unfulfilled prophecies were explained as being a reliving of Unarian past lives in the Isis-Osiris cycle.
In 1975, the organization moved its base from Glendale, California to El Cajon, California where a store front center was opened. Unarius was also incorporated as a non-profit, tax-exempt, educational foundation. In El Cajon, Uriel became well known for driving a blue 1969 Cadillac Coupe d’Ville adorned with airbrushed depictions of spaceships with a large metal flying saucer on the roof; the car remains with Unarius and is driven every year in the annual El Cajon Mother Goose Parade.
In 1976, ‘past life’ therapy became formalised as part of the curriculum, eventually became the main activity of students, and was regarded as a healing practice. The content of Unarian belief increased as these revelations evolved into collective biographies of members who are believed to have acted under Uriel on Earth and many other planets throughout millennia. Tumminia comments that this type of collective weaving of past-life narratives as a regular practice of intersubjectivity may be unique to Unarius.
Most Unariuns were skeptical about the future predictions of a spacefleet landing, also channeled by Louis Spiegel. Many Unariuns felt that these predictions undermined the original mission of Ernest Norman and a falling out occurred. Circa 1980, Thomas Miller, the primary sub-channel, left the organization, leaving Louis Spiegel as the only sub-channel. From this point forward, ever more activities revolved around these predictions. Ruth Norman, now 80, participated less and less in the goings on at the center and so Unariuns turned primarily to Louis Spiegel for guidance and instruction.
In the early 1970s, a "Conclave of Light" celebration was staged at the U.S. Grant Hotel in San Diego, California and repeated yearly at different venues, and after 1975, at the Unarius center in El Cajon, California. Every October, they stage their "Interplanetary Conclave of Light", which will include a visit to the Jamul landing site, the release of white doves, and 90 minutes of "mental communication with the Space Brothers."
In the late 70s, Unarius started to make films and videos.

Schism

Unarius generally has two types of students: the followers of Ernest Norman's original texts and works and those who believe in every channeling that occurred after his death. The latter group is often blamed by the former for the ridicule and mockery the organization has received by the general public since the early 1980s and more so in the Internet age for the conversion of the group to a "flying saucer group."

The 1980s

The Unarius center reached its heyday in the 80s.
The early eighties brought about the development of a video production studio and the marketing of Unarius videos through public-access television cable TV channels all over the nation. From a public relations standpoint, Unarius made big inroads during this period, with new centers being opened up in the United States, Canada and Nigeria. During this period, the public identity of the organization changed from one which was teaching a "metaphysical science of life" to that of a "flying saucer group."
In 1984, Uriel declared Spiegel to have overcome his past negative karma as the Fallen Angel, Satan, and renamed Him Antares. Subsequently, he channeled elements of the millenarian prophecy, including a new planet Myton which would send a spaceship in the year 2001 In 1984, Unarius also held its first annual Interplanetary Confederation Day, which commemorates the ‘union of the planets under the guidance of Uriel'.
Altogether, Uriel directed the organisation for two decades and published over 80 books.
Uriel broke her hip in 1988 and the next year her health began to slip.

The 1990s

Ruth Norman, after several falls and surgeries in the late eighties, had more limited physical contact with the students and members but said she was "psychically" communicating with them on a day-to-day basis.
Uriel became bedridden, rarely visiting the center herself, and let members know that her work was over. She died in 1993. Her death disconfirmed a long-held prophecy that the landing would take place in her lifetime. Her will stated that she would return with the Space Brothers in 2001. Louis Spiegel assumed leadership in the organization.
As director, Spiegel wrote many books on reincarnation and consciousness. Unlike the Normans, he did not claim to have made ‘psychic/mental voyages’ to other planets. He has been known to claim he's channeling Uriel herself.
After Ruth's death and into the 1990s, some long-term students left over disagreements with Antares. These members wished to return focus to the original teachings of Ernest Norman and the more scientific aspects of Unarius. Some students disputed the importance of Uriel and prophecies concerning her.
Spiegel died in December 1999, and in 2000, a board of directors formed to guide the center. The board legitimated its cooperative authority through channeled messages, in particular from Uriel and Antares, who are now ‘Space Brothers’. Channeling ‘explained’ that the Space Brothers are actually guiding the world invisibly and cannot become visible until the world becomes less warlike. Routinisation of charisma in this organisation thus proceeded smoothly, 'channelled advice' and the invocation of 'past-life memories' confirming the need for cooperation.
Students also left or became home-study students because they disagreed with the channelings of Louis Spiegel, particularly one which claimed that it was time for Ruth, then quite ill but still living, to return to the unseen world. This was in complete opposition to previously expounded Unariun principle, wherein members, no matter how far advanced, never engaged in interfering with or predicting future human activities. Many Unariuns perceived this as a power-grab against Ruth Norman. In the belief system of the school, this was related to a "negative reliving" of a previous existence, creating false, negative messages.
Ruth Norman has been criticized for her flamboyance and costumes worn in later years. Alex Heard, in Apocalypse Pretty Soon: Travels In End-Time America, quipped of her that she was, "a true American original who combined the couture sensibilities of a drag queen with the joie de vivre of a Frisbee-chasing Irish Setter."
Tumminia stated in the year 2000, that the local public access channels carried weekly showings of Unarian films in several cities in Southern California.

2001

With 2001 having come and gone, and no space fleet landing having occurred, Unarius as an organization demonstrates both a returning to its roots and the principles, books and works of Ernest Norman, while simultaneously demonstrating a belief in a future landing by extraterrestrials to assist humankind. With the passing of Louis Spiegel in late 1999, the organization has formed a small council which shares leadership and management responsibilities.
Unarius continues to be active both in the US and in several European countries.
According to Zeller, the millennial aspect of Unarius reverted to a more privatised rapture-oriented mIllennialism after the death of Uriel. He stated that this more individualised approach confirms the quasi-rapture orientation of Ernest Norman.

Footnotes

Sociological examinations