Walter Isidor Siegmeister (1903 – September 10, 1965), also known as Raymond W. Bernard, Robert Raymond, and Uriel Adriana, was an early 20th-century American

alternative health Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices ar ...

advocate and

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

writer, who formed part of the alternative reality subculture. He is credited with the merger of the Hollow Earth theory and religious beliefs about UFOs. He also founded several fruitarian or vegetarian utopian communes in several countries.

Early life

Walter Isidor Siegmeister was born into a family of

Russian Jews The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, probably in 1903. His parents were both born in Russia. Siegmeister had a younger brother named Elie Siegmeister who was a famous American composer. Siegmeister graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1924, and received his Masters (1930) and Ph.D (1932) degrees in education from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. His Ph.D thesis was titled ''Theory and Practice of Dr. Rudolf Steiner's Pedagogy'' (New York University, School of Education, 1932). Under the name Bernard, Walter later settled in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Siegmeister went by a variety of names, including Raymond W. Bernard, Robert Raymond, and Uriel Adriana.'

Beliefs

Alternative health

Siegmeister was a natural hygiene and

raw food Raw foodism, also known as rawism or a raw food diet, is the diet (nutrition), dietary practice of eating only or mostly food that is cooking, uncooked and processed food, unprocessed. Depending on the philosophy, or type of lifestyle and resu ...

advocate. He authored many books on dieting and

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into Macronutrient, macro- ...

such as ''Meat-Eating: A Cause of Disease'' (1956), ''Super Health Thru Organic Super Food'' (1958) and ''Health Through Scientific Nutrition'' (1960). He was alleged to have practiced

breatharianism Inedia (Latin for 'fasting') or breatharianism ( ) is the claimed ability for a person to live without consuming food, and in some cases water. It is a pseudoscientific practice, and several adherents of these practices have died from starvation ...

and a

fruitarian Fruitarianism () is a diet that consists primarily of consuming fruits and possibly nuts and seeds, but without any animal products. Fruitarian diets are subject to criticism and health concerns. Fruitarianism may be adopted for different rea ...

diet. However, it was noted by

H. Jay Dinshah Hom Jay Dinshah (November 2, 1933 – June 8, 2000) was an American veganism activist and natural hygiene proponent who was the founder and president of the American Vegan Society and the editor of its publication the ''Ahimsa'' magazine (1960� ...

that he was actually living as a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

. He founded several fruitarian or vegetarian utopian communes. He led colonists of these communes to join with false promises, in one instance claiming his Brazil commune would be safe from radiation after an atomic war; this was not true. He got into trouble after he sold "questionable health products" using the US postal system, and an assistant at one of his communes admitted they would sell farm animal feed at much higher prices claiming it was health food.'

Hollow earth

Siegmeister was a proponent of the

hollow earth The Hollow Earth is a concept proposing that the planet Earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space. Notably suggested by Edmond Halley in the late 17th century, the notion was disproven, first tentatively by Pierre Bougue ...

concept and

UFOs An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

. His ideas were never taken seriously by academics and have been dismissed as

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

. He is credited with the merger of the Hollow Earth theory and religious beliefs about UFOs. Siegmeister wrote of his search for the safest place on Earth from radioactive fallout in order to build a paradise. The idea was later developed in the writings of Johnny Lovewisdom and then

Viktoras Kulvinskas The Hippocrates Health Institute (HHI) is a nonprofit organization in West Palm Beach, Florida, US, originally co-founded in 1956 in Stoneham, Massachusetts, by Lithuanian-born Viktoras Kulvinskas and Ann Wigmore. The Hippocrates Health Institu ...

. He went to Ecuador in 1941 where he met John Wierlo (pen-name: Johnny Lovewisdom, aka "the Hermit Saint of the Andes") who had arrived in 1940, where they spoke of plans for a paradisian utopia and a super-race in the Ecuadorean jungle.J. M. Sheppard
"Disaster in Paradise"
''

The American Weekly ''The American Weekly'' was a Sunday newspaper supplement published by the Hearst Corporation from November 1, 1896, until 1966. History During the 1890s, publications were inserted into Joseph Pulitzer's ''New York World'' and William Rando ...

'' in ''

The Milwaukee Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the G ...

'', December 24, 1944, p. 17. Many of his works copied from other authors, much to their chagrin.' His Hollow Earth books were published under the pen name Raymond W. Bernard.' In 1960, he published ''Flying Saucers from the Earth's Interior,'' largely basing his arguments on the works of

Ray Palmer Raymond or Ray Palmer may refer to: * Raymond A. Palmer, science-fiction writer and editor * Raymond F. Palmer, medical professor * Raymond Palmer, 3rd Baron Palmer (1916–1990), British peer and businessman * Ray Palmer (pastor), American pastor ...

; Palmer's claims about UFOs were false, and even Siegmeister included Palmer's statement that a source he had worked from had been "falsified". However, he did not include Palmer's statements about how the alleged North Pole flight within the Earth was also fake, citing it as evidence for his theories.' After the publication of the book, Palmer complained that he had been copied and stolen from, and that Siegmeister had "quoted and misquoted" him "entirely out of context and many times falsely". He also said that he owed him money for advertising fees which he had not paid, and accused him of real estate fraud; writer

Daniel Loxton Daniel Loxton (born 1975) is a Canadian writer, illustrator, and skeptic. He wrote or co-wrote several books including ''Tales of Prehistoric Life,'' a children's science trilogy, and '' Abominable Science!'', a scientific look at cryptozoology. ...

said these claims were "apparently true".' In 1964, he found a New York publisher for another book, ''The Hollow Earth'', which was based on ''Flying Saucers from the Earth's Interior''. The book describes a purported conspiracy to conceal the existence of the hollow earth and its access points at the poles. Siegmeister claims that the North Pole flight was covered up by "certain secret agencies", which is an influential theory to Hollow Earth believers.' Siegmeister's hollow earth ideas are mentioned in detail in Alan Baker's '' Invisible Eagle'', 2000. Loxton described this book as "probably the best known source on the subject".'

Later life and death

On returning to the USA, Siegmeister, now called Robert Raymond, continued to sell his books, before returning to South America. Walter moved to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 1955 or 1956, in order to buy land and create a super-race. In Brazil, he renewed his interest in aliens,

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

, UFOs, tunnels and the hollow earth concept. Siegmeister believed Brazil contained the entrances to the tunnels leading to the hollow earth. Siegmeister died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in 1965. Daniel Loxton described him as "a shady operator" and "an untrustworthy character" in his piece on Hollow Earth theories.'

Bibliography

*''Apollonius the Nazarene: The Life and Teachings of the Unknown World Teacher of the First Century''. Lorida, Fla.: New Age Publications, 1945. * ''Escape from Destruction: How to Survive in an Atomic Age''. Mokelumne Hill, CA: Health Research, 1956. * ''Super Health Thru Organic Super Food'' (1958) * ''The Serpent Fire: The Awakening of Kundalini'' (Mokelumne Hill, CA: Health Research, 1959) * ''Flying Saucers from the Earth's Interior''. Mokelumne Hill, CA: Health Research, 1960. * ''Health Through Scientific Nutrition'' (1960) * ''Meat-Eating: A Cause of Disease'' (1956) * ''The Hollow Earth''. New York: Carol Publishing, 1969

964 Year 964 ( CMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Nikephoros II continues the reconquest of south-eastern Anatolia (modern Turkey). He recaptures Cyp ...

* ''Creation of the Superman''. Mokelumne Hill, CA: Health Research, 1970.

References

Works cited

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Siegmeister, Walter 1903 births 1965 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American conspiracy theorists American male non-fiction writers American occult writers American people of Russian-Jewish descent American UFO writers Deaths from pneumonia in Florida American occultists Hollow Earth proponents Inedia practitioners Jewish American non-fiction writers Orthopaths People from Manhattan Pseudoscientific diet advocates Raw foodists UFO conspiracy theorists New York University alumni