HISTORY

Claude Vorilhon was born in Ambert, France in 1946.

Vorilhon was born out of wedlock and abandoned by his father, who died in 1961.

Vorilhon dropped out of school, went to Paris and became an entertainer under the name Claude Cellar.

Vorilhon met and married the first of his three wives in 1971.

Between 1971 and 1974 Vorilhon published Autopop, a sports car magazine.

Vorilhon experienced a Close Encounter of the Third Kind (CEIII) during a walk in the Clermont-Ferrand Mountains of Central France in 1973.

In the first of several meetings, Yahweh, a member of the Elohim (“those who come from the sky”) revealed himself as Raël’s biological father and gave Vorilhon the name Raël.

Raël founded the Movement to Welcome the Creators of Humanity (MADECH) in 1974.

In 1975, Raël was taken to the Elohim home planet where he met his half-brothers (Jesus, Muhammad and Buddha) and was given the mission of spreading the Elohim message.

In 2003, Raël appointed Brigitte Boisselier as his organizational successor.

MYTH

There is no Creator god, and human beings cannot be explained by Darwinian evolution.

22,000 years ago the Elohim developed the ability to create life and sought planets on which to experiment. Three worlds were created, of which Earth was one.

Life is the product of intelligent design. The first humans were implanted on Earth by Elohim scientists over 22,000 years ago.

These scientists created humans from their own DNA as well using biotechnology to “terraform” all flora and fauna.

It was intended by the scientists that humans be kept ignorant about advanced technology and how to extend their lifepsans. However, some rebellious scientists revealed enough knowledge that humans discovered their true capacity had been withheld.

Humans’ ability to gain more knowledge was terminated and the entrance to the creators’ residence placed under armed guard.

Some Elohim who had been exiled to Earth took human wives and sought full knowledge.

The Elohim decided to destroy Earth with nuclear weapons.

The exiles built a spaceship that protected humans but created a gigantic flood.

The Jews subsequently a spaceship that traveled to the Elohim home planet. The Elohim then scattered intelligent people randomly to prevent additional technological development.

The creators periodically sent prophets to Earth with normal human powers. For many centuries Yahweh selected women to impregnate whenever the planet needed a new prophet to point humanity.

Biblical history is allegorical rather than factual

The Creator God refers to the Elohim.
The “Tree of Good and Evil” refers to advanced technical knowledge.
Serpents refer to alien creators who believed that humans should have full knowledge.
The Tree of Life refers to the Creators’ residence.
Termination of access to advanced knowledge refers to expulsion Eden.
Noah’s ark refers to a spaceship.
Tower of Babel refers to a spaceship.
Sampson’s hair functioned as antennae for telepathic communication.
The Ark of the Covenant was a nuclear device.
Jonah’s great fish refers to a submarine.

Claude Vorilhon first encountered the Elohim in 1973 while walking in an area of inactive volcanoes. A spaceship descended and an Eloha named Yahweh introduced himself as Vorilhon’s biological father. He gave Vorilhon the name Raël. The true meaning of the Creation myth in the Bible was revealed to Raël.

In 1975, Raël was taken to the Elohim planet where he met his half-brothers (Jesus, Muhammad and Buddha) and was given the mission of being the prophet of the “Age of Apocalypse” (the era since the detonation of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima), the one who will reveal the true origins and nature of human beings. This revelation will lead humanity away from the destructive abuse of science and technology (which threatens nuclear annihilation and environmental catastrophe) to a more positive and loving social system.

Raël’s is to establish an embassy in Jerusalem that prepare the way for the arrival of the Elohim.

The success of the Raelians will bring a return of the Elohim and 39 immortal prophets to Earth to share a technology that is 25,000 years in advance of human technology.

This will lead to the development of

A single, world government
A single, world language
A single, world currency

This advanced technology that will enable humans to

Fly in space
Exist as virtually immortal
Create new life forms in the image of humans.

Raël describes Raelianism as the first atheistic, scientific religion.

RITUALS

The primary ritual is the Transmission of the Cellular Plan (or “Baptism”).

Prior to initiation, the initiates must first sign an “Act of Apostasy” renouncing their baptism in their former church as well as draft a will bequeathing their assets to their local Raelian Movement.

Raelians must also sign a contract with a local mortician so that their “third eye” (a chunk of frontal bone considered an essential ingredient for the recreation process) can be cut out upon their death, packed in ice and stored in a bank vault in Switzerland. Through this process the new member’s genetic code is telepathically transmitted to the Elohim by a Guide, ensuring the possibility of the member’s recreation after death on the Planet of the Eternals.

Raël or one of his Bishop guides dips his hand in water and place it on the initiate's forehead in order to transmit his/her genetic code to the Elohim's machines.

The genetic code is then stored for the future cloning process, if the aspirant is deemed worthy.

“Baptisms” are performed four times a year

August 6 marks the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.
December 13 marks Raël’s first CEIII.
October 7 marks Raels voyage to the Elohim’s planet.
The first Sunday in April marks the day of the Elohim’s creation of Adam and Eve.

Rael claims that during his visit to the planet of the Elohim he was instructed in “sensual meditation,” a sensory awareness technique that activates psychic abilities and stimulates the growth of new neural pathways.

Moreover, sexual activity and a more general cultivation of sensuality are understood to be a path to mystical awareness of/oneness with the universe and telepathic communication with the Elohim (Rael 1980).

He shared this technique with his followers in his 1980 book, La Meditation Sensuelle.

Raelians are advised to meditate daily to the instruction tape in order to cultivate telepathic communication with the Elohim and to cultivate a state of harmony with the universe through the daily ritual of “sensual meditation.”

First Activity: Harmonization with Infinity
Second Activity: Becoming Aware of Our Life
Third Activity: Body Awareness
Fourth Activity: Meditation with Symbol of Infinity
Fifth Activity: Another Universe - Our Partner
Sixth Activity: Eroticism and Mutual Excitement

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

Rael’s charismatic authority has continued to grow.

In his 1974 book he identified himself as a contactee
In his 1976 book he described being taken to the Elohim planet.
In his 1979 book he described meeting his father, Yahweh.
In his 2003 book he announced that he is the Maitreya, or incarnation of the Buddha.

The organizational goals of Raelianism are to spread the Elohim message and to construct the embassy.

There are two levels of membership

Rank and file - loosely-affiliated, baptised members with varying degrees of commitment loosely-affiliated, baptised members with varying degrees of commitment

The "Structure" - This group consists of the six-tiered leadership ranks, descending from Rael who is the "Guide of Guides," through the Bishop Guides, the Priest Guides, the Animators, the Assistant Animators, and the Probationers at the bottom. The committed guides make up the “Structure” and assist Rael in his mission.

Members of the Structure must choose between breeding or gaining personal immortality through the cloning process.

Membership Rules

All members are expected to donate a tenth of their income to the fund for the construction of the Embassy and one percent to support Raël, but there is no enforcement mechanism.

Raelians are not permitted to drink alcohol, caffeine, to smoke cigarettes, or to use recreational drugs.

Members are encouraged to pursue sexual pleasure with many partners of either sex, since pleasure is believed to increase the individual’s intelligence.

Since freedom of choice is highly valued, rape and pedophilia are strongly condemned and are punished by excommunication.

Homoerotic love is valued, and birth control, abortions and sex change operations are condoned.

The marriage contract is not valued, and Raelian culture is neither sentimental concerning motherhood, nor child-friendly.

Raelian Organizations

The organizational goals of Raelianism are to spread the Elohim message and to construct the embassy.

The organizational headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland.

There are no Raelian centers as the group rents but does not purchase space.

The Raelian Movement claims over 50,000 members in over 80 nations.

The Raelians organize “Stages of Awakening” seminars during the summer in rural settings in various countries. They feature daily lectures by Raël , sensual meditation, fasting and feasting, testimonials and avant-garde therapies. The campers discard clothing, in emulation of the Elohim, who are nudists on their planet.

Raël created the Order of Rael’s Angels in 1998.

The women who volunteer are personally trained by Raël to please the Elohim and the 49 prophets on their return.

Only Raël’s Angels will be allowed into the Embassy when the extraterrestrials land on earth, to act as ambassadors, negotiating between the Elohim and the world’s politicians and journalists.

Consistent with Rael’s commitment to women’s sexual rights, he also formed Rael’s Girls, a group of women who work in the sex industry and lobby against restrictions on women’s sexual activity.

Raël founded the Raelian Association of Sexual Minorities (ARAMIS), an association of men and women who are homosexuals, transsexuals or transgendered.

Raël founded a political party in France, “la Géniocratie” (rule of geniuses) that was modeled on the Elohim system of government.

Raël founded a human rights organization, la Fédération Internationale des Religions et Philosophies Minoritaires (FIREPHIM) in Paris in October 1992 to protect the rights of members of France’s religious or philosophical minorities.

CONTROVERSY

The Raelian Symbol

The symbol of the Raelian Movement, which Rael reports he first observed on the hull of the Elohim’s spaceship, is a swastika inside the Star of David. It is intended to connote the unity of infinity and eternity.

In 1992, Rael announced that the original symbol was being replaced by a daisy-shaped swirling galaxy symbol, representing the cycle of infinity in time out of respect for the victims of the Nazi holocaust.

Conflicts in Europe

The Raelians are political and social activists on issues such as women’s rights, gay rights, anti-racism, the promotion of genetically modified foods, and the ban on nuclear testing.

In 1995, a parliamentary commission in France issued a report that categorized the Raelian Movement as a “secte.”

In 1997, a parliamentary commission in Belgium issued a report that categorized the Raelian Movement as a “secte.”

The Raelian Movement officially disbanded in France and went underground due to pressure from the French tax department that ruled that all tax-exempt “associations” must pay tax on commercial sales.

The Baby Eve Controversy

In 1997, shortly after the successful cloning of a lamb called “Dolly,” Raël set up a cloning company called Valiant Venture that offered cloning services (“Clonaid”) for investors. For $200,000 grieving parents, infertile and gay couples could apply for cloning services from Clonaid.