George King was born on 23 January 1919, in Wellington, Shropshire, England and brought up in a Christian family with strong occult interests. Before founding the Aetherius Society, King had been deeply involved in spiritual healing and had joined various theosophically-based metaphysical groups in London that were a marginal part of the religious scene. In 1944 he took up yoga, allegedly mastering bhakti, gnani and kundalini yogas and attaining the state of "Samadhi" and, according to the Aetherius Society, developed psychic powers that allowed him to learn many of the secrets of the universe.