- Etsy is full of accounts selling alien products that promise intergalactic healing technology.
- Some promote the conspiracy theory that 5G is harmful, claiming alien products can be protective.
For just over $50, you can buy a 30 minute Skype session on Etsy that promises access to the healing technology of the Arcturians, an alien species from the planet Arcturus.
The seller named Venus, who owns the Etsy store TheMysticalElven, says in the description she started her own journey as an intuitive energy healer when she was "astrally taken aboard starships and healed from birth issues." Thanks to the healing powers of the Arcturians, she writes, she has been able to see her own past lives, and has permission from her "star family" to invite others into the experience. The price "is decided entirely by them," she states.
Whoever buys one of these sessions will be connected with their star family, she says, and will visit one of six star ships that are currently in Earth's orbit through astral projection.
Venus' astral projection is just one of many packages available on Etsy from multiple sellers promising healing benefits through similar Arcturus connections. Etsy is also full of sellers claiming they have products inspired by Arcturus technology that can protect against electromagnetic fields and 5G waves — common fears among conspiracy theorists that have no scientific basis. This intergalactic genre is a slice of the countless products being sold that promise to ward off the imaginary negative effects of 5G — some of the more extensive sculptures that tout their cleansing powers are being sold for over $5,000.
Insider reviewed dozens of products and accounts on Etsy that claim to offer health benefits or claim to promote wealth, fertility, and other advantages. These products appear to violate Etsy's own policies on prohibited services, which state that "metaphysical services" such as distance healing, rituals and items that promise "attracting wealth" or "love" are not allowed on the marketplace. A representative for Etsy declined to comment on whether these products are in violation of the store's terms of service.
Intergalactic healing, now 20% off
Venus' healing sessions, talismans, and spells have been purchased 4,920 times, and she has an average rating of five stars on her store. "I was taken on the Arcturian mothership for healing," one review reads, stating they were able to connect to "the highest of realms" through Venus' teaching. Others thank her for healing their allergies and physical injuries.
Venus adds a disclaimer that to remain in line with Etsy's policies, she has to state that her sessions are sold "for entertainment purposes only." (Venus did not return Insider's request for comment.)
Other sellers have products that feature similar services also have hundreds of reviews under their products, such as Erika who runs the store called TwinFlameStarseed, who says her video reading "helps you to raise your vibration" which prepares the buyer for the alien "healing chambers," through "highly advanced quantum technology." In a long email to Insider, she said she personally uses Arcturian medbeds, and helps her clients access their "galactic record." Shops run by accounts named IntGalacticPriestess and StarseedsUnited have sold hundreds of their readings that will identify whether or not a customer has alien ancestry or not.
Although there is nothing wrong with believing in extraordinary things in theory, misinformation experts say there's the potential for these beliefs to overlap with extremist conspiracy theories, such as belief in QAnon and anti-vaccine falsehoods. Sara Aniano, a disinformation analyst at ADL Center on Extremism told Insider these concepts rarely exist in a vacuum. Believing that 5G is harmful, for instance, is almost always "in conjunction with pushing back against modern medicine," she said.
"I haven't seen a case where they don't espouse other conspiratorial beliefs, whether that is related to health and wellness, or related to election fraud, or anti-government conspiritism, or anti-vax stuff," she said. "It's all quite well connected."
With these beliefs at an all time high due to political instability and fears surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, opportunists are poised to make a significant amount of money.
Alien "orgonite" products that are popular on Etsy, for instance, are available for around $30 each. They are based on the pseudoscientific belief popularized in the 1940s by psychoanalyst and doctor Wilhelm Reich, which states there is a universal life force of "orgone" energy which can be collected and then used to treat physical and mental ailments. The orgonite ornaments on Etsy — blueish purple in color, and shaped like mandalas, alien heads, and pyramids — are described as being inspired by the teachings of the Arcturians. These aliens are "loving and compassionate," and "work for our highest potential for our highest good," one description reads.
This seller describes a towerbuster — a device used to supposedly collect orgone — as being "encoded and activated" with "galactic healing frequencies" and "quantum healing techniques" which "help cleanse your aura and your space."
"These pieces transmute negative energy by moving it through a dense matrix of minerals combined to create high piezoelectric activity and energetic transmutation," it says.
Conspiracy theories are extremely profitable
Samantha North, a PhD researcher at the University of Bath who specializes in disinformation, told Insider people are attracted to these kinds of products for a few different reasons. One is that they can use them as a "badge of honor" to show allegiance with those who are also "enlightened," and to mark them out from the ordinary "sheeple," she said.
"If they're true believers, then they really do feel safer having bought these products," she added. "They're likely to share them with their loved ones because they want them to be safe too."
Aniano said an individual has the right to believe in whatever they want to, but it's when other people get coerced into the same thing that issues can arise. She pointed to the case of one woman in Texas who got so concerned that 5G waves were harming her daughter, she lived in a van for a while trying to escape them.
Aniano also sees these kinds of beliefs as rife for people to financially benefit from if they wish to.
"Conspiracy theories are fascinating and they give people a lot of hope where hope may not really exist," she said. "And all of those things make these topics extremely profitable."