Space Aliens, Mummification & Sexual Ectasy in Utah

Fledgling Utah-Based Church Melds Wine-Making,
Sexuality, Meditation

S A L T   L A K E   C I T Y, April 26 ‹ Claude Nowell
was a 30-year-old graphics salesman and practicing
Mormon who says he was just trying to relax after work
when the hairless, blue, otherworldly beings first came
to him.

The 1975 visitation lasted about 10 minutes enough time
to transport Nowell to a quiet place where an enormous
pyramid stood on a green lawn under a blue sky filled
with stars.

When he came to, Nowell immediately suspected his
druggie co-workers had spiked his late-afternoon
doughnut.

...there were more visitations from the blue beings
leading him to decide that he had been chosen to
propagate Summum, a belief system incorporating
winemaking, mummification and sexual ecstasy. His
fledgling group of adherents now meet in a
pyramid-shaped temple in Salt Lake City.

...

since Summum's establishment in 1975, 250,000 people
have received its teachings

...

The pyramid temple, made of anodized copper over steel
with sides 40 feet wide at the base, sits in a one-acre
compound in an industrial zone just off an interstate
in Salt Lake City. The temple is open to the public
each Thursday night for meditation and philosophy
instruction.

Three mummified animals encased in bronze sit in the
entryway. .... The sacramental wine is fermented in a
gleaming stainless steel vat set behind the furniture.

During the 77-day fermentation process, those who
espouse Summum meditate for the wines so they will
contain spiritual concepts. The wines are then aged
from one to 15 years.

...

Ra said at least 250,000 bottles have been given away
to people who have undergone a screening process ...

Adherents use the wines, also known as "liquid
knowledge" and "nectar publications," to enhance seven
types of meditation, including the one serving Summum's
paramount belief: the power of sexual ecstasy.

Summum's take is that copulation played a vital role in
creation of the universe, and that all progression and
evolution happens through sexual ecstasy.

With Summum, sexuality is not merely an avenue to
enjoyment. "It's there for meditation," Ra said. "But
when you have that ecstasy, that's creation itself. We
call it the state of becoming god. It's not something
you would do at a brothel or only for procreation."

The vital role of sex in Ra's beliefs is evident in
decorations in the pyramid, including candleholders
molded to look like sex organs.

Ra's assistant ... also does mummifications, which
Summum prefers over burial.

Mummification costs about $8,000 for animals and starts
at $63,000 for humans. None of the 147 people who
prepaid have died yet, Ra said.

etc

full story at:

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20020426_10.html