Timeless Voyage
 Cover of the 1982 French edition | |
| Author | Appel Guery |
|---|---|
| Original title | Voyage Intemporel: Terre ciel connection |
| Illustrator | Sergio Macedo |
| Language | French |
| Publisher | Editions Glénat |
Publication date | 1982 |
| Pages | 86 |
| ISBN | 2-7234-0283-5 |
| OCLC | 16908750 |
Timeless Voyage: Earth Sky Connection (French: Voyage Intemporel: Terre ciel connection) is a comic book, illustrated by Sergio Macedo and written by Appel Guery. It was published in 1982 by Editions Glénat. An English translation was published in 1987 by Transtar Pacific. The book's author, Appel Guery, was the leader of the UFO religion Siderella. Siderella was deemed a cult by a French government report in 1995. The comic carries the beliefs of the movement. It follows a group of UFO believers, who are picked up before a great cataclysm by a flying saucer.
The book later received attention for its connections to a different religious group, the Order of the Solar Temple, who committed mass suicide in Switzerland in 1994. Commentators highlighted its perceived similarities to the OTS's actions and beliefs, with some saying that it had predicted the suicides.
Plot
[edit]A realm of advanced beings watch the evolution of mankind, which initially is inclined towards psychological and mental evolution. However, after the fall of Atlantis, humanity was subject to corrupting influences, and becomes more inclined towards war, death, and evil.
The alien beings are displeased by this, and they intervene and create an individual named Yogan. Yogan is predestined to spread their message and becomes enlightened. He astral projects, meeting the cosmic beings, who tell him of his mission on earth, and how he can resist the negative influences that plague the Earth. He eventually forms a cult of UFO believers. They are eventually taken away to Vessel-Earth by a flying saucer before an event called the great mutation destroys the earth.
Background and publication
[edit]The comic was published in France in 1982 by Editions Glénat, as Voyage intemporel.[1][2] It was written by Appel Guery and illustrated by Sergio Macedo.[3] An English translation, Timeless Voyage: Earth Sky Connection, was published by Transtar Pacific in Tahiti in 1987. This version has 103 pages.[4][1] It sold 30,000 copies in France with 3 editions, and was published in four other countries; the publisher estimated its readership in all countries at about 150,000.[2]
It was written by Appel Guery, who then lived in Tahiti. In writing it, Guery claimed he was inspired by "a source more extraterrestrial than human".[3][5] Guery (real name Jean-Paul Appel) was the founder and leader of a UFO religion called Siderella. The group's activities centered around preparing for contact with aliens, and group sex.[1][6][a] Macedo had joined this group in 1980; after which he supposedly received visions of extraterrestrials, which would feature more prominently in his works from then on.[7] The group was listed as a cult in the 1995 report of the Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France.[1][6] The comic artist Mœbius used to live near him, and described him as "a man of superior intelligence".[3]
In the introduction of the English version of the book, Guery states that it was not "just a comic strip just a little out of the ordinary. But rather, it’s a true story, a strange as that may seem, that has been lived in majority by a certain number of people".[7] In creating the work, the text was given to Macedo, but the comic scenario was created by him as the supplied text was very literary and was based directly on Guery's life. He said that in creating the work, he had enjoyed the challenge both spiritually and graphically, and that he had been attracted to the project because of its positive ending.[8] The title of the story refers to the astral journies of the protagonist.[8]
Themes and reception
[edit]Religious historian Jean-François Mayer called it not "merely a comic strip", as it was a message of the beliefs of Siderella.[1] He compared it to the apocalypse in the Book of Revelation, put into New Age terms.[9] The fictional parts of the story are mixed with the group's beliefs, and also parts from Guery's life.[7] The Swiss magazine L'Illustré called it a "very strange comic strip", saying it was full of "magnificent beings in search of a luminous beyond."[3]
Matheus Silva viewed the comic as carrying more intense cosmic themes than previous works of Macedo, attributing this to his influence by Siderella. Silva viewed it as continuing the formula from a previous work of Macedo, Caraïbe, and argued the story represented the visions of "expanded states of consciousness".[7] The plot contains the basic message of the Siderella group, of the background of reality and Earth being a "place of psycho-mental evolution"; Silva interpreted the message as having a visionary quality, like Macedo's other works, which was embodied by Yogan. Silva argued Yogan appeared as a "kind of spokesperson for the universe" in the work, who mirrored Guery's actual group.[8]
Solar Temple
[edit]It later received some attention for its connection to the Order of the Solar Temple.[3] After the comic came out, the religious group (often called a cult) bought hundreds of copies and distributed it within the movement as recommended reading.[3][5] The comic was also sold at one of the OTS leader's (Luc Jouret) seminars, who used it as a visual for many of the speeches he gave on topics related to the apocalypse and contact with aliens.[5][6] The Solar Temple would later go on to commit mass suicide in Switzerland in 1994, thinking that by killing themselves, they would not die but "transit"; one possible method for this transit was that they would be picked up and taken to another world by a flying saucer.[5]
A researcher of the group, Jean-François Mayer, noted their interest in the book as showing the members of the group were familiar with the concept, and a sign that they had perhaps initially interpreted the suicide as being saved from disaster.[5] Discussing it in the aftermath of the Solar Temple suicides, the Swiss magazine L'Illustré said that it took on a "particular resonance" and was "fiercely premonitory" in light of the OTS's interest in it. They also argued that, given the themes of the work, it was not surprising that the group had approved of it.[3] Following the publication of L'Illustré's article on the comic, Guery's publishing agent from Transtar denied any contact with any members of the OTS, and said the work told a fictional story. He said Guery denied any responsibility for the OTS's usage of the work, and disapproved of what he called tragic events.[2]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Also known as Isozen, Futura, Galacteus, Euro-Culture, Italia, Résonances nouvelles, Azur Mieux-Ëtre, and les Voyageurs intemporels.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Mayer 1999, p. 195.
- ^ a b c Laplau, Jacques (21 February 1996). "Mise au point" [Clarification]. L'Illustré (in Swiss French). p. 78. Retrieved 28 October 2024 – via Scriptorium.
- ^ a b c d e f g David, Marc (10 January 1996). "Jouret et Di Mambro la recommandaient: La BD qui annonçait le massacre" [Jouret and Di Mambro recommended: The comic book that foretold the massacre]. L'Illustré (in Swiss French). pp. 26–27. Retrieved 5 September 2024 – via Scriptorium.
- ^ Melton & Eberhart 1995, p. 311.
- ^ a b c d e Mayer 1999, p. 181.
- ^ a b c Abgrall 1999, p. 95.
- ^ a b c d Silva 2017, p. 108.
- ^ a b c Silva 2017, p. 109.
- ^ Morath & Lemasson 2023, 42:00.
- Sources
- Abgrall, Jean-Marie (1999). "Sectes Ufologiques". Les sectes de l'apocalypse: gourous de l'an 2000 (in French). Paris: Calmann-Lévy. ISBN 978-2-7021-2954-8.
- Mayer, Jean-François (April 1999). ""Our Terrestrial Journey is Coming to an End": The Last Voyage of the Solar Temple". Nova Religio. 2 (2). Translated by Siegler, Elijah: 172–196. doi:10.1525/nr.1999.2.2.172. ISSN 1092-6690.
- Morath, Pierre; Lemasson, Eric (8 February 2023). La Fraternité. Episode 1 (in Swiss French). Radio Télévision Suisse.
- Melton, J. Gordon; Eberhart, George M. (1995). "The Flying Saucer Contactee Movement, 1950-1994: A Bibliography". In Lewis, James R. (ed.). The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from Other Worlds. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-2329-5.
- Silva, Matheus Moura (19 December 2017). "Quadrinhos visionários de Sergio Macedo" [Sergio Macedo's visionary comics]. Art&Sensorium (in Portuguese). 4 (2): 97–116. doi:10.33871/23580437.2017.4.2.097-116. ISSN 2358-0437.
Further reading
[edit]- Scott, Randal William (2002). "Timeless Voyage". European Comics in English Translation: A Descriptive Sourcebook. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-1205-1.