Raël facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Raël
Raël in 2001
Born	Claude Maurice Marcel Vorilhon (1946-09-30) 30 September 1946 (age 78) Vichy, France
School	Raëlism
Main interests	Universal morality
Notable ideas	Geniocracy Raëlian cosmology Message from the designers

Raël (born Claude Maurice Marcel Vorilhon on September 30, 1946) is a French journalist. He is known for starting and leading the Raëlian Movement. This is a worldwide group often called a UFO religion.

Before becoming a religious leader, Raël was known as Claude Vorilhon. He worked as a journalist writing about sports cars. He also tested cars for his magazine, Autopop. In December 1973, he said he met an alien. After this, he started the Raëlian Movement and changed his name to Raël. He wrote several books about his meeting with a being he called Yahweh. For over 30 years, he traveled the world to share his books and ideas.

Raël's Early Life and Music

Claude Vorilhon was born in Vichy, France. He grew up in Ambert with his grandmother, who did not believe in God. His father was Jewish, and his mother was also an atheist. He went to a Catholic boarding school. There, he caused a stir by taking part in communion without being baptized. His parents took him out of that school and put him in a school in Ambert.

At 15, Vorilhon ran away from school. He hitchhiked to Paris. For three years, he played music on the streets and in cafes. He met Lucien Morisse, who directed a national radio show. Vorilhon signed a music contract and became a rising teen pop star. He used the name Claude Celler. He released six songs, including a small hit called "Le miel et la cannelle" (Honey and Cinnamon). He loved the songs of Belgian singer Jacques Brel and tried to sing like him.

Vorilhon later decided to become a sports journalist. This allowed him to get into the world of car racing. He met Marie-Paul Cristini, a nurse. They moved to Clermont-Ferrand. There, Vorilhon started his own publishing company. He created a sports car magazine called Autopop. The first issue came out in May 1971. Part of his job was testing new cars, which helped him enter the motor racing world.

The Raëlian Messages

According to his book Le Livre qui dit la vérité (The Book That Tells the Truth), Vorilhon had an alien visit him. This happened on December 13, 1973. In a quiet area inside a French volcano, an alien came out of a craft. The alien told him, in French, that it had come only to meet him. Raël said this alien gave him a message. He was told it was his job to share this message with people on Earth.

The book says that very smart human scientists from another planet created all life on Earth. They did this using DNA changes. These scientists, Raël said, were first called Elohim. This means "those who came from the sky." He wrote that about 40 prophets in Earth's history were sent by the Elohim. But their messages were changed by humans. This was because of the big difference in how advanced the alien race was compared to early Earth.

Raël said he was given the job to tell the world about humanity's beginnings. This was to prepare for the aliens' return. He was told to build a special building called an embassy in a neutral territory. He also said that some mysteries were explained to him. These were based on new ways of understanding old religious books like the Bible. He claimed that on October 7, 1975, one of the Elohim contacted him. This being took him to another planet. There, he met Buddha, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. He stated that his second book, Les extra-terrestres m'ont emmené sur leur planète (Extraterrestrials Took Me To Their Planet), shares what he learned from these people. In this book, Raël describes peaceful beings who do not have money, sickness, or war.

In 1974, Raël decided to stop publishing his car magazine, Autopop. The last issue came out in September. Raël then focused on the task he said was given to him by his "biological father," an alien named Yahweh. After his first public talk, Raël started MADECH. This was a group of people who wanted to help him. Later, it became the International Raëlian Movement.

Raël's Marriages

Raël has been married three times.

His first wife was Marie-Paul Cristini. Raël later focused on sharing his message in Japan in the 1980s. By 1987, he met Lisa Sunagawa. Sunagawa soon started traveling with Raël. In a 1990 TV show, Raël was seen with four women, including Lisa.

Raël and Sunagawa separated between 1990 and 1992. Around that time, Sophie de Niverville became convinced of Raël's messages. Her mother and aunt were both Raëlians. Sophie received a Raëlian baptism at age 15. When she turned 16, she married Raël in Montreal. Even after their divorce, they continued to live together for a time.

Raël's Racing Career

In 1994, some wealthy Japanese Raëlians rented a race car. They showed it to Raël. They thought if he raced it, it would help the movement get attention. Raël agreed, but only if the money for racing did not come from member donations or embassy funds. Money for Raël's races came mostly from wealthy people in Europe and Japan. He raced in the 1990s and early 2000s.

His best finishes included:

• A 3rd place finish in GT1 at Lime Rock Park with the Mosler Raptor in 1997.
• A 7th place finish at Watkins Glen International with a Viper GTS R in a 1999 FIA GT race.

Raël also took part in the 1999 BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series. He raced in the 2000 Speedvision GT Championship. In November 2001, Raël announced he planned to stop professional car racing. He said he still enjoyed racing in video games.

Ideas on Future Technology

Raël believes that humanity is slowly moving towards a future where people will not need to work. He thinks this is because of human technology. He has said that work is for machines. Humans, he believes, are meant to create, think, and grow.

Many of Raël's ideas about future technology are in his 2001 book, Yes to Human Cloning. He supported human genetic engineering. This would help avoid diseases passed down through families. It would also reduce costs for society. He said that no special focus was needed for any race or religion.

In his book, he also talked about nanotechnology. This is technology that works with very tiny things. He thought it would allow for small power plants in every house. He also imagined self-cleaning furniture that looks like fur. These would have tiny fibers that move on their own. He also talked about biological robots. Since nanostructures control biology, Raël expected that meat and salads could one day be grown in a machine. This would happen through building them molecule by molecule.

Raël believed that genetically modified food is the only way to stop hunger worldwide. He saw a future where different food qualities could be combined. This would be done through direct genetic changes. In his book, Extraterrestrials took me to their planet, he said that plants could be brought to life using nanotechnology. He claimed he saw genetically modified flowers on another planet. These flowers swayed and changed colors with music.

Music Released by Raël

• 1966: "Sacrée sale gueule"
• 1966: "Dans un verre de vin"
• 1967: "Le Miel et la cannelle" (Honey and cinnamon)
• 1967: "Madam' Pipi" (Mrs. Toilet attendant)
• 1967: "Quand on se mariera" (When we'll get married)

See also

In Spanish: Rael para niños