Unarius Academy of Science

[[File:Dr Norman Recd1970.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Ernest Norman in 1970]]
{{newage}}{{cult}}
{{Sources needed}}
The '''Unarius Academy of Science''' is a [[New Age]] religious movement. Its headquarters are conveniently located behind the [[Salvation Army]] thrift store in downtown El Cajon, [[California]]. It is some wacky cocktail of [[theosophy|theosophist]] ideas, [[New Age]] philosophy, [[ufology]], and ''[[Star Trek]]''. The one thing that the Academy does not, in fact, teach is [[science]].

==In the beginning==
The movement got its start in 1956, when a man named Ernest L. Norman published a series of books detailing his [[clairvoyance|clairvoyant]] trips to the planets [[Venus]] and [[Mars]]. After proclaiming that [[China|Chinese]] people were descendants of the Martians, Norman (1904-71) — aka, "Raphael", "Archangel Raphael" and/or "The Moderator"{{efn|Wikipedia also lists "Ioshanna" as a ''nom de culte''.}} — and his wife Ruth (1900-93) — aka, "Uriel" or "Archangel Uriel" — began focusing on their budding cult. After Ernest died, Ruth started appearing in videos wearing outfits that even Louis XIV would consider decadent. They also purchased some land in southern California, where they believe that [[Extraterrestrial|aliens]] (or "space brothers") will come and invite Earth into some mystical federation and solve all our problems.

==Schism==
According to [[Wikipedia]], Unarius had a schism after Norman's death. There are the hardliners who only accept what he taught in life, and those who accept "revelations" that occurred afterwards. So even tiny cults can have their [[Roman Catholic|Catholic]] vs. [[Protestant]] and [[Sunni]] vs. [[Shia]] divisions.

==Possible meaning of "Unarius"==

The opening credits of their video ''The Arrival'' shows that "Unarius" may be an acronym for '''UN'''iversal '''AR'''ticulate '''I'''nterdimensional '''U'''nderstanding of '''S'''cience. Whether they came up with that at the beginning of their little group or later on is anybody's guess.

==It could be worse==
Even if the Unarius Academy is a bit out there, they are still better than some alternatives. They don't [[Scientology|sue at the drop of a hat]], they aren't going to [[Heaven's Gate|kill themselves to hitch a ride on a comet]], they won't [[Raëlism|clone humans]], and they certainly won't [[Branch Davidians|have a shoot out with the government]]. In short, they just add to [[United States|America]]'s religious diversity; we should all be thankful (to God, the gods, the Dharma, the "space brothers" etc.) for the [[First Amendment]].

==External links==
*[http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=127393&title=Pity-The-Fuel Their appearance on a fake news program], c. 2000
*[http://www.unarius.org/ Unarius Academy of Science] homepage
*[http://www.unariuswisdom.com/ Unarius Wisdom] Homepage
*[http://www.unariusunited.org/ Unarius Community] Homepage
*[http://www.unarius.com/ Unarius Info] Homepage
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TphNS93ebqU Jello Biafra did a long video interview with the Unarius members in 1992]. The video was lost until 2014.

==Notes==
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[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Cults]]
[[Category:Misnomers]]
[[Category:New Age]]

Categories: California, Cults, Misnomers, New Age