This excerpt is taken from Sky Gods and the Recipe for Immortality: the concealed influence of psychoactivity on science, society, and the supernatural.

Can we explore the supernatural beyond the realms of the psychoactive, spiritual, or psychological? Growing scientific, governmental, and academic interest is attempting to tackle this provocative issue. In 2023, researchers from the University of Virginia declared:

> “UFO SURVEY FINDS 19% OF ACADEMICS SAY THEY’VE HAD STRANGE SIGHTINGS… whether UAP exist is no longer the question. The question is: What are they?”

NASA has recently revealed plans for a UFO research initiative, while Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb has initiated the Galileo Project to investigate supernatural phenomena. Loeb has proposed the provocative idea that extraterrestrial visitors may have come to Earth, particularly through the analysis of an object called Oumuamua:

> “Oumuamua’s apparent shape — resembling a 100-meter-long cigar or pancake — did not align with any known asteroid or comet. Its brightness indicated Oumuamua was at least ten times more reflective than typical space rocks — shiny enough to suggest polished metal. Most intriguingly, as it sped away from the sun, the object accelerated faster than could be attributed solely to the sun’s diminishing gravitational pull.”

In a recent piece, Loeb references Nobel laureate Francis Crick’s panspermia hypothesis:

> “The seeding of life on other worlds could also be overseen by an advanced technological civilization that creates a variety of synthetic life forms and chooses to match each seed to environments where it can thrive, akin to a gardener planting in different soils.”

While respectable scientists are stepping forward to address otherworldly inquiries, much of this research has been conducted in secrecy for decades.

During the 1960s, notable scientist and UFO investigator Jacques Vallée was instrumental in the so-called Invisible College, a group of scientists studying UFO phenomena. Vallée once suggested a groundbreaking idea:

> “I believe that a powerful force has influenced humanity in the past and is currently doing so. Does this force arise solely from human consciousness, or does it involve alien intervention? This is the foundation of the Invisible College’s work.”

Vallée collaborated with Dr. Hynek, who served as a consultant for the Air Force’s investigation into UFOs known as Project Blue Book. Both Vallée and Hynek inspired Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In a 1977 interview, Dr. Hynek stated:

> “I began as a staunch skeptic, relishing in debunking what seemed to be puzzling cases. I was the adversary of those who desperately wanted UFOs to be interplanetary. My understanding of those groups was primarily based on what I learned from Blue Book personnel: they were all crackpots and visionaries.

> My transformation was gradual, but by the late sixties, it was complete. Today, I wouldn’t devote another moment to UFOs if I didn’t sincerely believe the phenomenon is real… The entire Blue Book operation was a disaster, built on the assumption that the extraordinary reports couldn’t possibly have any basis in reality.”

As interest in UFOs surged during the 1960s, a Director of the Central Intelligence Agency remarked through the New York Times:

> “Behind the scenes, high-ranking Air Force officials are seriously concerned about UFOs. However, through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe these unknown flying objects are mere nonsense… To obscure the truth, the Air Force has silenced its personnel.”

Interestingly, the term "Invisible College" originates from a Renaissance-era secret society of alchemical scholars. Diana Pasulka, a religion professor at the University of North Carolina, elaborated on a physics podcast called Theories of Everything:

> “Many members of the Invisible College are indeed Rosicrucians… This mystical tradition within European history identifies scientists who are also alchemists and are intrigued by non-human intelligences, angels, and entities…”

The Invisible College emerged from a mysterious Masonic organization known as Rosicrucianism in the 1600s. A Nature article noted that Paracelsus inspired this scientific and mystical cult. The legendary alchemist also created an opium tincture — which transformed the British Empire, alleviated immense suffering, and ravaged continents.

Similar to their Freemason counterparts, Rosicrucians drew from ancient wisdom and maintain a significant yet secretive influence on contemporary society.

Research from Oxford University Press has indicated how secret societies have evolved over time:

> “Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism were pivotal in establishing the nineteenth-century Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn — a central organization associated with the modern magical revival.”

From the Hermetic Order arose psychoactive heretics like Aleister Crowley, aerospace engineer Jack Parsons, and prolific science fiction author, L. Ron Hubbard — who established the controversial Church of Scientology.

Crowley’s notorious sex magic was anticipated, however, by a Rosicrucian mystic named Paschal Randolph, who was of mixed race. The Public Domain Review reported:

> “…he taught curious students a type of DIY occult practice that employed their own bodies — through study, sex, and drugs — to connect with the spirit world. However, the gospel of hallucinatory, cosmic sex magic was a difficult path for anyone in the late nineteenth century, particularly a Black man…”

> “Better-remembered occult organizations like the Theosophical Society… and the Hermetic Society of the Golden Dawn emerged in the late 1870s and 1880s and drew heavily on Randolph’s ideas.”

Rosicrucianism and Hermeticism have profound alchemical roots in Renaissance figures such as John Dee, opium pioneer Paracelsus, and supernatural philosopher Giordano Bruno.

Like Galileo, Bruno was condemned as a heretic by the Catholic Church for asserting that stars were distant suns. Bruno also posited that the universe is infinite and that distant solar systems could potentially harbor extraterrestrial life. He believed in the immortality of the soul but was brutally executed by the Church.

With shared origins in Renaissance alchemy and hereticism, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and the Hermetic Order have influenced notorious modern UFO cults like the Order of the Solar Temple and Heaven’s Gate. A researcher for the Encyclopedia of Religion and Society noted:

> “Masonic and Rosicrucian ideals and rituals have appeared in some early groups, most recently within the Order of the Solar Temple… The most controversial groups combining UFO beliefs with variations of contactee assertions are the Order of the Solar Temple and Heaven’s Gate. Both are distinctly apocalyptic and believe that suicide would grant them immortality in the (literal) heavens through their connection with extraterrestrial beings.”

> “Groups claiming to have contact with aliens who share wisdom often blend into the popular New Age phenomenon of purportedly channeling messages from higher, more advanced entities…”

Modern members of Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism would likely distance themselves from controversial sects like Crowley’s Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, yet the shared roots are notable.

Regardless of the underlying intentions or concealed technologies — secrecy inherently breeds public skepticism. At the same time, many competing psychoactive cults have been forced underground by dominant religious authorities throughout history. Nevertheless, the influence of Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism endures in significant ways today.

An architectural symbol of contemporary Rosicrucian influence is the large museum of ancient Egyptian artifacts located in Silicon Valley. The Rosicrucian Museum was established by H. Spencer Lewis, a follower of Aleister Crowley’s psychedelic cult.

A Bay Area journalist once reported that upon visiting the museum, guests are encouraged to join a cult that traces back to the Renaissance, ancient Egypt, and possibly beyond:

> “While it houses the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts on the West Coast, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum is not solely about archaeology. It aims to inspire acolytes, yes, but budding spiritual philosophers rather than archaeologists. This isn't merely a repository for dusty old relics — it is the dynamic core of the Rosicrucians, a secret society that believes the ancient Egyptians possessed knowledge about the universe that could unravel the mysteries of humanity…”

> “Those who remain committed to their weekly lessons, however, may achieve incredible results within just five years, including — allegedly — the ability to communicate with others and move objects purely through the power of the mind.”

Given these extraordinary and supernatural assertions, Jacques Vallée and Dr. Hynek (the leading researchers in UFO history) were influenced by Rosicrucian concepts — and were reportedly members at some point. In an interview conducted by Rice University, Vallée once invoked the famous alchemist Paracelsus, stating:

> “Dr. Hynek and I arrived at the same conclusion independently, that if you want to know more, you know where to look. It's not in a book, you see. And I've always cherished the image of the Rosicrucians when asked how they learned all this. They would say you must purchase the book of nature.”

> “You need to acquire the book of nature and study it. Naturally, people would inquire about the cost and where to obtain it. The book of nature surrounds you. That is the book. However, there’s a particular way to perceive it, which differs from what most people do.”

Are the advocates for supernatural transparency still engaged in secret societies like Freemasonry or Rosicrucianism today?

Lue Elizondo, the former director of the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, has echoed Rosicrucian ideas. In the spirit of Hynek and Vallée, Elizondo once illustrated a diagram resembling a key Rosicrucian symbol during a podcast interview.

The iconic triangle within a circle or square aligns with the mythical Philosopher’s Stone of ancient lore. According to another source, the Rosicrucian symbol signifies:

> “Humans are believed to be divine in origin, yet have forgotten their true source. The path of transfiguration, as proposed by the Lectorium Rosicrucianum, aims to discover and awaken the divine spark (the rose of the heart, i.e., the remaining divine aspect of every human) and to guide humanity back to its original state.”

In an uncanny visual synchronicity, the Rosicrucian symbol also resembles a modern physics concept known as the octonion.

New Scientist magazine recently highlighted the strangely analogous illustration:

> “A paper published this year by John Baez of the University of California, Riverside, has sparked considerable online discourse among string theorists. It all boils down to one remarkable realization: the number 8 is no longer just a number. It’s our key to the Universe.”

Continued: Octonion Odyssey: Higher Dimensions in Science and Spirit — Mathematics, shamanic healing, and supernatural reality.