ET in Brazil? Friday Talk to Focus on New ‘Third Millennium’ Religion

Descendants of a race of extraterrestrials, sent to Earth to advance humanity’s spiritual evolution in preparation for a Third Millennium, are living in Brazil.

Such are the beliefs of “The Valley of the Dawn,” a new religion that synthesizes elements of Christianity, Hinduism, spiritualism and Afro-Brazilian religions. The religion will be the subject of a talk Friday at the University of Virginia by Kelly E. Hayes, an associate professor of religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis.

The free public talk, “Intergalactic Space-Time Travelers: Envisioning the Third Millennium in Brazil,” will begin at 1 p.m. in Nau Hall, room 211. It is being presented by the Virginia Center for the Study of Religion and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, and co-sponsored by the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African American and African Studies and the Department of Religious Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Hayes is the author of “Holy Harlots: Femininity, Sexuality and Black Magic in Brazil” (University of California Press, 2011) and numerous articles. Her academic interests include Afro-Brazilian and Afro-diasporan religions; women and religion; gender, sexuality and religion; possession religions; and ritual studies.

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