XI° – Palace of Secretes
Anal Intercourse and the O.T.O.
Michael Bertiaux, William Wallace Webb, William C. Conway, Roland Merritt Shreves, Cecil Frederic Russell, Aleister Crowley, Theodor Reuss, Marc-Antoine Lullyanov, Oscar Schlag, Marcelo Ramos Motta, Kenneth Grant, Choronzon Club, Victor B. Neuburg, Patrick King, James Graeb, William Breeze, Llee Heflin, Hermann Joseph Metzger, Louis T. CullingBy Peter-Robert Koenig |
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The structure of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), like that of Freemasonry, is based on a staged series of initiations or degrees. The essence of the Order is in its higher degrees; strictly speaking only members of these degrees are considered to be members of the O.T.O. proper. English version: Synopsis of Degrees. Traduction française: Synopsis des Degrés. Sexmagical Secrets of the O.T.O.–variations. Aleister Crowley: "Of the Eleventh Degree [of the Ordo Templi Orientis], its powers, privileges, and qualifications, nothing whatever is said in any grade. It has no relation to the general plan of the Order, is inscrutable, and dwells in its own palaces." (Liber CXCIV, 1919) Crowley: "I am inclined to believe that the XIth degree is better than the IXth degree", diary entry 26 August 1916. "Oh, how superior is the Eye of Horus to the Mouth of Isis!". Diary 1913 about a boy showered with "foaming seed": "While the other in his orgasm receives the waters." "Let it be no sin to us to have buggered the virle bum." "While the priest thrusts his thyrsus between boyish buttocks, All is accomplished; come Holy Dove!" ... "may we always have a penis Both stiff and shooting semen from its rosy mouth." [http://bluepyramid.tripod.com/index/id4.html. "The Equinox" IV;2, Maine 1998, 405.] "You [Gerald Yorke] referred to XI Deg.O.T.O.: Was this ever committed to writing ? No, I [Charles Stansfeld Jones / Achad] feel very certain that it never was in any official manner. I think it was only mentioned at all with a view to indicating that A.C. [Aleister Crowley] still had "something" which even the X.Deg. Brethren knew nothing of, and which could never be discussed. That there is such a secret, beyond anything indicated in the IXth. one may well believe --or even know. But one cannot know, for sure, just what that meant to A.C. --or may mean to anyone else. Therefore I cannot be sure of anything in regard to the matter, so far as A.C. was concerned. It could be that some slight hint, or trace of what he meant was intended to be conveyed to me in certain slight passages of Liber Aleph --which, as you know, was written expressly for me as his Magical Son. I certainly did not fully comprehend his meaning at the time, and now, in the light of many further years of Initiation, I still cannot be sure that he fully understood such a formula. Silence, then, (the 4th.Power of the Sphinx) seems still to be the true guardian of any such further mystery." Charles Stansfeld Jones / Achad to Gerald Yorke March 17, 1948 |
SUMMARY OF CROWLEY’S SEX MAGICK SYSTEM
Crowley's 1914 O.T.O. system with 12 degrees: It has been suggested that the XI° may not be considered in sequence between X° and Crowley's expanded XII° of 1914 but as the position held by the Inner Head of the Order who works privately with the O.H.O. XII°. The title of the XI° is Baphomet. (XII° being similar to the X° National Heads i.e. an administrative degree.) In these circumstances the holder of the XI° would be Spiritual Head of the Order — the identity of XI° being known only to the XII° and X°'s. Prior membership of O.T.O. is not a requirement for the XI° but presumably a 0° initiation would be conducted first. Crowley allegedly wrote a longer piece on the XI° from which only an outline has survived. He explained that "the 'Child' of such a love [XI°] is a third person, a Holy Spirit, so to speak, partaking of both natures, yet boundless and impersonal because it is a bodiless creation of a wholly divine nature." [Note compiled by Cosmos Trelawney] 
[From 'Noch Mehr Materialien Zum O.T.O.'] Regarding Theodor Reuss' involvement with homosexuality, see The Early Years Of The O.T.O. It seems obvious that there is no final decision as to what the XI° is and how it is been put into the many different O.T.O. systems. See also the History of the O.T.O. in the USA. 
Regarding Crowley's antidemocratic, racist and misanthropic writings, followers point out: "The reason [...] aspects of Thelema are omitted [in public discussion] indicates the actual problem with presenting Thelema as a religion and attempting to get Thelema sanctioned by the government or approved by the public: Thelema is ultimately in contrast to and transgressive of normative society. Thelema rejects the morals and values of normative society and acts to transgress and violate these norms. From the inclusion of intoxicants in ritual, to the positive view of sexuality, which frequently is seen as promoting promiscuity, to the pro–authoritarian and Nietzschian aspects of Thelema, normative society has much to reject in Thelema and conversely, Thelema encourages its adherents to reject most aspects of normative society.". See The Templar's Reich. 
History of some Crowley-XI° linesVictor B. NeuburgFrater Lampada Tradam, Omnia Vincam (6.5.1883-1940)
In 1909, Aleister Crowley met the poet Victor Benjamin Neuburg and in December used him as his magical partner, allowing himself to become possessed by the Thelemic Devil Choronzon and receive "The Vision and the Voice". Choronzon is an angelic being first mentioned in the transcripts of conversations that took place between the Elizabethan mathematician and magician Dr. John Dee from 1582 to 1587, through the agency of Dee's hired crystal interpreter, the alchemist Edward Kelley, and the hierarchy of spiritual beings who identified themselves as the angels who had instructed the patriarch Enoch in the sacred magic of God. In 1910, Crowley produced "Bagh-I-Muattar", a book in which the joys of homosexuality were poetically extolled. The book has been widely reproduced in facsimile, for example, the Morton Press edition, although it was initially copyrighted by Marcelo Ramos Motta in his "Sex and Religion" published in Nashville in 1981. This copyright was renewed by Martin P. Starr in 1991. 
Neuburg was again Crowley's sexual partner around the end of 1913 in the "Paris Working", which was performed "to reconstitute the OTO". Based on these experiments, Crowley wrote the homosexually oriented sex-magical instructions for his branch of the O.T.O., the 'Mysteria Mystica Maxima'. For example, there was not only a Venereal version of "Liber C" (one dedicated to Venus), but also a Mercurial one. He signed the more important O.T.O. documents, such as the "Statutes", with an "XI°" as his title. Neuburg soon separated himself from his Master and died on May 31, 1940. (More on Neuburg can be found in Jean Overton Fuller's biography "The Magical Dilemma of Victor Neuburg," London, 1965, and 1990). It is uncertain when exactly the homosexual XI° became part of the O.T.O. system. In "Liber CXIV" published in 1919, Crowley wrote: "Of the Eleventh Degree, its powers, privileges, and qualifications, nothing whatever is said in any grade. It has no relation to the general plan of the Order, is inscrutable, and dwells in its own palace." Despite this, his synopsis of the O.T.O. degrees [2] stated that the XI° lay immediately below the OHO in the hierarchy. He later (on July 16th, 1944) disclosed to William B. Crow that the "XI° is only known to the X° degrees". Crowley's inconsistencies in this matter cannot be rejected out of hand. The Choronzon Club
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In November 1920, the "Cephaloedium Working" was celebrated in the Abbey, and on page 17 of this working's record, Crowley noted under the influence of ether that "that the Paris Working [was] the first model for our present Orgia." He went on about "The Devil of Lust, the Goat of Mendes, Pan, Baphomet: and spelt fully Ayin is the Erection... the Semen or fluid vehicle of the Spirit, the Elixir of Magick, the Blood..." and more in the same vein.
Crowley gave Russell instructions to form his own organization, similar to the A.·. A.·. Marc Lully, who had made some chronological notes, had the following initiation-data: Crowley initiated Russell on May 11th, 1921; [4] but by 1922 they had quarreled, and Russell left Cefalù by way of Australia for the USA. [5] In 1928 Russell was advertising for the 'Choronzon Club' (CC) in the American "Occult Digest", and in 1931, the group began using the name the 'Great Brotherhood of God'. Ray Burlingame was a member. 
Crowley and Karl Germer, however, regarded Russell's Chicago organisation with envious eyes, [6] because Russell had managed to gather a crowd of interested people around him, with his "short-cut to initiation"—abbreviated rituals. Meanwhile Crowley's O.T.O. was fading into obscurity by lack of membership. This 'short cut' method yielded 40 members in Denver, 20 in Long Beach, 75 in Los Angeles, 50 in San Francisco and 25 in San Diego. [7] Its techniques of sexual magic were based on Ida Craddock's concept of 'Heavenly Bridegrooms'. [8] Its members had to wear a special ring, which cost $15. But in 1933 a schism broke out in Russell's ranks. A meeting was held on the 8th floor of 410 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, with the object of forming a group consisting exclusively of homosexual men (the basis on which all contemporary XI° groups are founded). Eventually four groups could be distinguished as springing from Russell's initial foundation, which are hereafter enumerated as A, B, C, and D. 
[From: Noch Mehr Materialien Zum O.T.O.] [A] Ray Burlingame refused to accede to Russell's wish that he should lead the CC and left the organisation in 1935 [9]. He then joined forces with the Crowleyan 2nd. Agapé Lodge. By 1938 Russell had had enough of sex-magic, made a final break with his CC, which was now being run by one Arley Barber, and went to live in California. The ‘Neighborhood Primate’ for San Diego and Los Angeles, Louis T. Culling “Aquila” — revived this group in 1956 — even though he was a IXth degree member of the 2nd. Agapé Lodge. On Russell's orders, Culling ran the CC from 1956 onwards under the name 'The Great Brotherhood of God', though without any additional XI°. [10] Russell had previously expressed much negativity about Culling; [11] the two men never met face-to-face. According to a letter of February 22nd 1988 from Stefan A. Hoeller (Baron von Hoeller-Bertram), whom Culling had met, it was Culling, as a member of the 2nd. Agapé Lodge, who had accepted Hermann Joseph Metzger as OHO: "Louis T. Culling... showed me several letters, written by Mr. Germer," [12] which set Metzger up as the heir to the O.T.O. From 1960-63 Culling allegedly repeatedly begged Hoeller to take over as leader of his organisation. 
[Taken from "Noch Mehr Materialien Zum O.T.O."] On April 17th 1971 Culling resigned the leadership of 'his' O.T.O. and his 'Thelema Club' Lodge, in favour of Carroll Runyon Jr. [13] In February 2000, Rynon passed this leadership to Hal Von Hofe. 
Louis T Culling, preface by Carl L Weschcke: "Occult Renaissance 1972-2008", St Paul 1972. [B] The group around Russell in California, and Russell himself, turned towards the theory and ideas of Rudolf Steiner. Its teachings now became an obscure mixture of 'Gnostic Numerology', the I-Ching, and Projective Geometry (previously employed by Frieda Harris for Crowley's "Thoth" tarot-cards) — a mixture devoid of the XI°. 
[From Russel's "Znus is Znees", 1972] [Colored with AI] Franklin Thomas[C] The remaining members in Chicago, who had been an exclusively XI° group for some time, had held their meetings at 64 East Van Buren Street since 1941 independently of Russell; in the 1960s they returned to Michigan Avenue. Their rescension of the XI° was hierarchical (or magical?) in nature, and was further subdivided into degrees or grades; the XI°=0 was the highest level, and differed from Crowley's XI°.The Chicago XI° system of degrees was based on the "Blocks" of Franklin Thomas, [14] which had been produced in 1936 with the assistance of C.F. Russells "Liber B[lock] W[orking]". Thomas himself lived in California, and was initiated into the XI° by Russell on June 30th 1936. 
[From "Der O.T.O.A. Reader"] 
William C. ConwayConway "Tau Lucifer II" (supposedly born on May 15th 1885) lived at Redondo Beach, California, and was inducted into the mysteries of the XI° by Franklin Thomas on January 1st 1945. Quite how this was accomplished with Conway remains obscure, as he was not himself homosexual. Of course, if the XI° had then included the lunar aspect of female menstrual blood, or been extended to anal intercourse with women, then it would have been perfectly possible for the XI° to be transmitted by women. Conway was nominally a Mormon, but wished to unite this Christian sect with Druidism. Like the Mormon schismatic William Schnoebelen, Conway was a high priest of the Mormon priestly Order of Melchizedek. Italian researcher Massimo Introvigne has unearthed the intriguing fact that Schnoebelen "Syn" was ordained as a bishop by Bertiaux on July 23rd 1977. [15] Conway believed in Joseph Smith (the Mormon founder), accepted a fundamentalist form of Mormonism (including polygamy), and united this with a belief in reincarnation. Conway claimed to have the 'Stone of Stones' (supposedly a Mormon relic of the greatest significance), and was adopted by the Indian Zapotek tribe of Yucatan in Mexico in 1955, declaring him to be the mouthpiece of Jesus Christ. In 1958 he sent out "An Open Letter", wherein the dangers of menstruation, and the holy power of sex were spoken of; the seed of Christ. His partner was an Indian princess, who presented him with twins in 1956 — by means of immaculate conception. In the 1960's Conway's stationery still displayed the following organisations among others: "Ek-Klesian Order of the Oriental Templars, The Ek-Klesia-Hermetic Brotherhood of Light, Ancient Order of Melchizedek, Order of the Golden Dawn," while he styled himself as "Druidic High Priest of the Order of the A.·. A.·." [My thanks for this material to James D. Wardle, who knew Conway personally). "Conway was 104, in 1969 when he passed, and a tough ol' Taurus if I ever saw one" (R.M. Shreves to M.P. Bertiaux, 11.2.1972). Courtney Willis, Sovereign Grand Master of the Ordo Templi Orientis Antiqua in America, maintained that Conway as well received the XI° from Victor Neuburg. [16] [Details to follow below] 
Roland Merritt ShrevesShreves came into possession of a transmission of the XI° via Conway on December 25th 1953 (1954?). Shreves got his "Sex training" from Conway's "woman Priestess, as she was a expert" (William W. Webb, letter of 19.3.1991), and an initiation on January 1st 1954 from "Franklin Thomas, I think. But it was the XI° in the X° of the CC tradition" (Bertiaux on 10.3.1991). By way of Anthony Fisher "Nemo" (d. 1974?) the XI° then reached W.W. Webb "Damon", who has already been mentioned frequently on this website. On August 21st 1962 Webb and Shreves exchanged "consecrations". Nowadays, Mr. Shreves suffers from "a lapse of memory" concerning his past with the XI° and the OTO. [17] William Wallace Webb"I was born on 11th May 1919 in Seattle, Washington, at 6.57 a.m. On 7th April 1941 I entered the Marines, and served as forward observer for the Artillery. I took part in operations in the Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal, and other Second World War events. On 4th November 1944 I married Margaret Tinnin in Ramona. In 1950, five years after I left the Marines, my mystical life began." [18]. In California he gathered a study group of 17 members. On April 1, 1960: Webb formed the Hermetic Alchemical Order of the QBLH with Earl Lonsberry and Anthony Fischer. He received the ordination to Priest of the American Catholic Church (befriended by Archbishop L.P. Wadle and Dr. Stephen Hoeller). Together with his wife Mary-Ann, Anthony Fisher and Shreves, he founded the 'Philosophic Gnostic Hermetic Society' (PGHS), at Joshua Tree in 1963; it was a kind of Californian XI° offshoot of the Choronzon Club (although independent of Russell) [D]. Fisher and Webb had previously founded the 'QBL Alchemist Church'; Webb then passed responsibility for the PGHS over to Shreves. "The Qabalistic Alchemist Church of April 1, 1960 — was founded by over 20 people. High Masons and Ethiopian Alchemest [sic] Church — 10000 of years old, and Eastern Orthodox Catholic. (Arch Bishop Theodotus of New York and Society of Rosicrucians in America...)" [19] 1964 November: Dispensation granted by the High Council of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia to open a Ruby Rose Study Center. Following George Plummer's death, Webb was asked to head this Order, but declined. On 24 November 1973 he received the Honorary Seventh Degree O.T.O. signed by Kenneth Grant of the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis. In 1981 he started to co-operate with the O.T.O.A. Webb, as a bishop, remained loyal to the officially incorporated 'Qabalistic Alchemist Church' and his own 'Ordo Argenteum Astrum' (its English version published the "Equinox Magazine"). He was an astrologer and artist until he passed away on October 15, 1997. 
The Gnostic Catholic Church Boast or How William Breeze lost his Apostolic Succession.
Marc-Antoine Lully[anov]Born on January 5th 1949 in Chicago, in 1966 he became a minister of the 'Spiritual Church', as well as joining the Martinists, and the Vice-President of a Theosophical Lodge in Chicago. [20] [ More about Lully: History of the Gnostic churches and History of the O.T.O.A. ] 
Michael Paul BertiauxOn March 31st 1966, Bertiaux moved from Chicago to live at Wheaton in Illinois. In time the Chicago group [C] grew older, and shrank to barely a dozen members, or so it appeared to Bertiaux. As reading-material they used some books left to them by Ruby Jones (Charles S. Jones's widow). These books were later bought up by Marc Lully[anov] "Tau IV". The XI° people in the CC went to see Bertiaux's course of Theosophical lectures, where the youngest member Marc Lully made Bertiaux's acquaintance in January 1966, and became a member of '"La Couleuvre Noire'. 
[ More photographs related to Michael Paul Bertiaux. ] Bertiaux also visited Golden Dawn-inspired groups, various Martinists, and the 'Achad Society', which Ruby Jones ran. In his taped "Historical Reflections" of 1978, Bertiaux described the atmosphere of depression and boredom that these cults emitted, traits which their respective leaders seemed to possess in person. The meetings of the CC were held naked, and without female participation; most of the participants were black, for instance from boxing circles. The teachings of C.S. Jones, Russell, and Crowley were not favoured. Bertiaux thought that it had all got very "demonic". In January 1966 Bertiaux was initiated into Lully's CC. [21] January 18th 1967: Marc Lully became a member of the Ecclesia Gnostica Spiritualis under Bertiaux. August 10th 1967: Marc Lully assisted at the exchange of consecrations between Bertiaux and Shreves. November 4th 1967: Marc Lully and Shreves became bishops of the QBL Alchemist Church through Webb. The "charter... is XI°, only." [22] Bertiaux believed that Shreves represented the 'authentic' O.T.O. [23] December 22nd 1967: Lully and one George Adams exchanged "initiations" at the 'Spiritual Church' (previously mentioned in association with Lully) at Chicago's Hyde Park. [24] December 25th 1967: Marc Lully initiated Bertiaux. January 18th 1972: Lully was ordained through the offices of Hector-François Jean-Maine. Later in the 1970s H.P. Smith was frequently seen with W.W. Webb. Bertiaux and Lully made enquiries to Shreves's PGHS [D] in California about Franklin Thomas's "64 Blocks". In 1977 Lully became the 'Imperator' of the OTOA, and supposedly had an alliance with the OTO run by Hansen "Kadosh" in Copenhagen. Bertiaux thought that the Scandinavian O.T.O. was of Theodor Reuss' and 'Papus' origin, which then appeared in the OTOA's publicity. In September 1978 Lully disappeared; it seems that he ended up "in a Roman Catholic Monastery." [25] It was later stated that Bertiaux's "Choronzon Club has no link to Russell's organization: Russell told me so and wrote me so." [26] Bertiaux's XI° system went much further than what Crowley had done so little to elaborate in Kabbalistic or practical terms. [28] It was proclaimed "The next Aeon will be male homosexual (Typhon) and lesbian (Ma'at formula) strongly." [28] In Michael Bertiaux's 16 degree system of the Ordo Templi Orientis Antiqua sexmagick starts with the VIII° (swords), IX° (cups), X° (wands), XI° (coins). Then there are the higher secrets related to the tattwas and the elements: XII° (prithiwitattwa), XIII° (apastattwa), XIV° (vayutattwa), XV° (tejastattwa), XVI° (akashatattwa), these latter four grades being purely homosexual degrees. 
Michael Paul Bertiaux' AIDS table. Context: My Own O.T.O.A.. Women may also be admitted [collage]: 
But one of the proponents of the Aeon of Maat (proclaimed by C.S. Jones in 1948) Maggie Ingalls "Andahadna, Nema" does not believe this; she believes that sex-magic is overvalued, and no longer places an image of Baphomet (which exhibits both male and female sexual organs) at the centre of her rituals — instead she uses a Gynander, which is itself concealed. [29] Bertiaux said of Ingalls that "She was asked to accept my authority in the name of AIWAZ, and she refused." [30] Bertiaux, Kenneth Grant and Ingalls had all committed themselves to 'Achad's' Aeon of Maat, but none of them could agree on which of the three was its Prophet. 
Lee Heflin
Llee Heflin (b. 1939) had joined the 'Caliphate' under McMurtry, later resigned and wrote his book "The Island Dialogues — Liber ALAL" (Level Press 1973) then went to live on Ibiza, an island off the coast of Spain. Heflin was instrumental in the Publication of the Thoth Tarot book and cards now so popular and which have played so important a role in the birth of the 'Caliphate'. Let's hear Llee Heflin: "One night in a camp ground on Mount Shasta he 'happened by chance' to meet Mildred Burlingame (I think that was her last name). She, like Grady, had been active in the OTO associated with Jack Parsons and Cameron. She in turn introduced him to Grady and his wife Phyllis. He wanted me out there to meet them. It seemed like a logical next step. So I flew the SF [in 1969]. Having come from the Magickal experiences I had had in London and Italy, I found Grady and Mildred very disappointing. They appeared to me not to be very magickal people in their own right. Had it been me alone I probably would not have gotten involved with them. But C. was more far sighted in that respect than i was and was more willing to deal with the Magickally disadvantaged than was I at that time. So one night in some camp sight somewhere Hymenaeus Alpha (wearing a bath towel for a turban) and Soror (whatever) initiated C., me and two others into the OTO. the whole thing seemed pretty farcical to me but i went along with it going along with C. C. and I were made 9th degree that night. [taken from http://777lleeheflin.org/939393/index2.html Llee Heflin's on-line biography, URL now defunct] Llee Heflin added in personal emails (July 2000): "My Magickal partner C. and I did all the work and then Grady took the credit and the money and ran (so to speak). When I saw what was coming down the pipeline I called Yorke and asked him to renege on his agreement with Grady and turn the job over to C. and me. He said that, although he personally would like to do so, he had already made the agreement with Grady and that Grady did have some basis for his claim to be in control of the project and therefore he could not do it. So with that I withdrew from the project my self." [Negotiations between Llewelyn and Grady McMurtry to publish the Tarot Cards started in May of 1970. Carl Weschcke probably made the decision to go for Llewelyn around the end of July 1970, the contract was signed 6th October, 1970. McMurtry was notified by Llewelyn that the printing was complete and the decks were in stock 9th December 1971.] 
Gerald Yorke/Volo Intelligere (10.12.1901–29.4.1983). 
Gerald Yorke to Helen Parsons Smith, 17 October 1971. Heflin about being the first person who was initiated by McMurtry: "Now about what I said about the OTO not existing as an active organization at the time Grady initiated me and my friends. Absolutely nothing was said by either Grady or Mildred Burlingame about the existence of an active OTO organization. Sure there were Grady and Mildred, and a few other individuals left over from the old Pasadena/LA days of Agapé Lodge. But to the best of my knowledge they did not themselves constitute an active organization or Lodge. It was my very strong impression from everything that was said during that period, and from the ludicrous nature of the actual initiation 'ceremony' (Grady was so nervous he could hardly talk) that that was quite likely the first time he had ever 'initiated' anyone. Afterwards he conferred the IXº on us and that was that. I don't remember that we really ever talked about the OTO after that. It was my impression that Grady had done nothing about trying to reactivate the organization until that time when he initiated us. And as far as I was concerned we had not formed an active Lodge of the OTO by virtue of that initiation. As far as I was concerned that event was a 'non-event'. It was a charade, a travesty of a Magickal initiation. There was nothing Magickal about it at all, as far as I was concerned. What we went on to do (i. e. the publishing of LIBER ALEPH and the preparation for the publishing of the Thoth deck) we did as a group of individuals mutually interested in the work of AC. We were not acting as a manifestation of the OTO. I am fairly certain that this understanding was that of my friends as well. But I cannot say how Grady interpreted the situation. He may indeed have thought of us collectively as his OTO. But if that was the case that was certainly not how events unfolded. C. and I pretty much called the shots about how things were being done. And Grady and Mildred pretty much went along with it. I designed the layout of LIBER ALEPH and C. and I did all of the additional writing published with it if I am not mistaken. I was aware that Grady was not particularly happy with the situation as it was, i. e. that we 'youngsters' were not sitting at his feet etc. But he had no apparent Magickal 'fire' and no apparent Magickal 'vision' by means of which to be the 'leader'. C. and I and the others in our band of 'hippies' had experienced too much real Magick already to acquiesce to such a 'non-leader' as leader. Grady never once said, ' I am the Caliph! I am the OHO! We will do things my way!' We weren't the OTO. In reality there was no active OTO at that time except maybe in the minds of Grady and Mildred. I could have renounced my initiation, but I could not have resigned from the OTO since there was no organization to resign from. I hope this makes the situation clearer." Today, Llee Heflin lives in Eureka Springs Arkansas. He is the head chef at a little restaurant there. Patrick KingPatrick King's selfs-styled initiation into the XIth degree mode of working came about after reading "The Island Dialogues" and meeting its author, Llee Heflin in 1974 "in the Haight/Ashbury". Consequently, Heflin's booklet had been added to King's XIth instruction papers, alongside with the collected works of William S. Burroughs, the collected works of Arthur Rimbaud, the Symposium of Plato, the works of Edward Carpenter and his own diaries.
In 1977, Patrick King (b. 1955) joined the 'Caliphate' and was immediately made the Official Representative in the City of San Francisco and personal 'Herald of the Caliph in the Outer'. Grady Louis McMurtry was a very well known opponent to Llee Heflin and the Level Press, also he didn't much like "weak sisters" or in other words — homosexuals (according to King's entries in his diaries). "Encouraged by ATHANATOR, I undertook the adventure of re-creating Ex Nihil Lux the lost Councils of the XIth degree once again within the recognized body of the Order. First I secured the aid of most of the influential members of the Order to support (at least passively) my enterprise and then presented the Caliph with documents announcing the advent of The Rite of Shiraz XIth degree Ordo Templi Orientis. This was in 1978 the night before I was to take the 1st degree of the Order. I had already determined to leave the organization if Grady did not sign the documents and could not produce legitimate objections to them. My previously mentioned co-conspiritors anxiously awaited my corpse to be brought out the front door of Grady's house. No one expected me to escape expulsion from the Order, let alone my success. The Caliph signed the documents after only a few questions thus vindicating my certainty in the Order and incidentally raising me to the rank of a Supreme Grand Master of the XIth degree. I must note that the Caliph did not hold (nor did he want to) this degree. Nor did he bestow it upon me. I re-created the eleventh degree O.T.O. based upon my own research and experiment — the Grand Lodge then "recognized" the new Rite of Shiraz and myself as the legitimate representatives of that Current. I immediately formed the Council of the Degree around 4 members including myself and this was known as the Z'tuch Qadosh." Eventually he wrote Liber Qadosh (his diaries) and Liber Adonis as XI° instructions. Together with James T. Graeb (Ceril Grey) from the 'Caliphate', King planned a fun-magazine called "JIHAD!" and started a flaming correspondence with Timothy Leary about its name. "JIHAD!" was mainly a project of Patrick King and his lover Waldo Pasquala Wilson (aka Fr. Dionysus). 
 James Tiberius Graeb The 'Caliphate' has several times changed its views of the XI°In his office of 'Caliph', Grady McMurtry reactivated the mysterious Eleventh Degree on July 28th 1978, when he put his signature to the XI° rituals drafted by Patrick King. King "Meithras" named these rituals 'The Rites of Shiraz', and incorporated the already-mentioned "Bagh-I-Muattar" [31] into his teachings, as well as Crowley's diaries, two chapters of "Liber Aleph", the Tower Card from the Book of Thoth, the 16th & 14th Aethers from Liber 418", Crowley's "Confessions", the "Cephaloedium Working", Chapter XI of "De Arte Magica" and "Liber Agape". His branch of the 'Caliphate' consisted of just three members at that time.[32] 
There was a whirl of confused activity. On October 12th 1980 'Marashti' and 'Valkyrie' founded the 'Rite of Mitylene'; meanwhile others were busy with the 'Adonis Workings', and soon afterwards a Sister 'Egeria' from New Zealand made futile attempts to get in touch with King. One 'R. Tristan' wrote an enthusiastic report on the innovations taking place, and another character called 'Shaun' from Salt Lake City went skiing again. The attempt by the German branch of the 'Caliphate' to revive an XI° was stillborn. In the summer of 1991 an Australian 'Caliphate' Lodge devoted to the problems of AIDS became active. 'Heather' was made an XI°, and made many of the OCEANIA TRIBE and the latter 'Caliphate' OCEANIA OASIS O.T.O. of Sydney Australian members. ... and there are a couple of them still around. [35] Michael Bertiaux from the O.T.O.A. commented: "the Caliph had no authority to give the XI° as he never got it from AC or anybody," [33] to which McMurtry responded: "the question has arisen as to whether Crowley ever made any homosexual advances to me. The answer is no." [34] Bertiaux, though, had his own opinion: "We are not a history club or a nostalgia-buffs' coffee shop... We are out for sheer power & good times — fuck the goody-goody worship of the Goddess — shit in her face — I say — CHORONZON! The purpose of the Choronzon Club is to destroy the OTO + to make sodomized mutes out of its members!" [37] 
['The Magical Link', Berkeley 1982.06.04, 1985.02.05., newsletter of the 'Caliphate'] In Patrick King's groups were a "Invocatio Astrum Occultum", the "XI° Emblems" and the extensive use of rubber stamps like "Grand Master Meithras" etc. Allegedly, William Breeze wanted King to give him the XI°, but King refused. Breeze was furious, since he allegedly considered the XI° to be the "Inner Head". It escalated to the point where King knew he was getting expelled, for not giving this degree to Breeze. Two days before the expulsion, James Graeb and Patrick King met in a bar in San Francisco, called the Rose and Thistle. King gave Graeb all his papers, and the scribble authority on the napkin. This looked to be the only way to "save the day", and keep the degree from Breeze's hands. However, according to Laura Deerfield, a close friend of Patrick King, Patrick may not have remembered passing his authority to James Graeb and in fact considered himself to be the Grand Master of the XI° until his death. The controversy is whether or not Patrick King passed such authority to Graeb. Evidence says yes and no. Letters clearly point this out because Graeb admitted that King handed out charters for Head of the XIth for money to a lot of people. 
[From: 'Noch Mehr Materialien Zum O.T.O.'] Excerpt from the Rites of Shiraz and Mitylene This quote is from Laura Deerfield (Potnia Theron) who is not a member of the XI° of the 'Caliphate'. "The female fluid is acidic, corrosive. What happens when you combine the contents of two vessels of acidic fluid? The combination of any two fluids may produce a reaction, so that they become a third substance, and elixir. Now a dramatic corrosive chemical reaction may then cause a reaction with the very material of the vessels, corrupting them each according to the manner in which the elixir reacts to the material of each. Note that the shape of the vessel matters very little in this case, especially as, in a dramatic enough reaction the mutually corrupting fluids will become highly unstable and melt down not only the core but the entire outer structure of the vessel. There may be a chain reaction throughout the being containing the vessel and perhaps beyond it. In keeping with the 'undulatory' female pattern, as the structure of the vessel begins to break down pulses go out, smaller explosions which trigger a series of larger explosions rather than a single event as per the 'catastrophic' male pat tern. While perhaps rarely reaching the level of impact or radiation of the latter, the female pattern creates less interference with itself and is therefore generally more sustained." Patrick King died of complications due to a beating of the Czech police as the result of a dispute with his landlord. His head wound never stopped bleeding and there was reason to suspect that he was bleeding internally. In fact he died when an electric radiator caught fire and filled the room with smoke. It may be considered a complication of the beating, since the only reason King and his friend staying at the little artist-collective-to-be (the building was still being fixed up) was because they had been locked out of their apartment. Laura Deerfield: "Pat died Sept. 29th 1997, he was cremated by the Czech authorities and his ashes sent to the person listed as next of kin on his passport—Pasq Wilson. Patrick had long since lost nearly all of his things, and what little we had left was locked in the apartment that we had the dispute withthe landlord over. I later broke in to the apartment (and was arrested, but with the help of a translator was allowed to go back in to collect a few personal items) and picked up a few things such as his record and a few photographs. There were a few other personal possessions that I gave to the U.S. Embassy with the understanding that they were going to have his next of kin pay to ship them back to the states. As it turns out, they are pickier than the Czechs about that person actually being kin and wouldn't ship it to Pasq. Neither of his brothers would pay for it, and they would not let me take it back. While Czech law recognized me as his common-law wife, American law does not. As far as I know these items (one small backpack worth) are still at the American Embassy in Prague. When we left for Prague, the box of his papers (which he gave to Graeb and later had sent to him) was in the possession of Pasq. Last time I spoke with him, he was unsure if he still had it. Periods of homelessness, including a year in Prague, meant that Pat did not have many possessions left. He had sold nearly all of his wonderful library long before I met him to a book dealer in S.F., including come Crowley ephmera such as the "Dragon Papers." King's surviving magical records (starting in 1973) have entries like "Anus quite excited at the intrusion of hostile alien solar-phallic object, the penetration of her secret soul by the radiant wand of its rightful lord. Anal fluid mixed with the substance of the sun produces a vital reaction in women and men. Her Yoni and backside completely "oozing" with the passionate breath of ineffable release — extremely horny girl. Elixir — consecrated to redemption of her slimy hole, quite lost in its depths." Another one: "Note — I am a magician. However in the world of men of this earth I am "gay". Thus as a self-defined individual I am free from the definitions of the troglodyte world. Because I accept one of them, I am free to function in that role (at least in most quarters of S.F.) without hindrance. But the truth of the matter is quite different — for as I said — I am a Magician — I have "sex" with sexes that don't even exist within the accepted biological realm of this world we call the earth. Thus it does sometimes occur that an earthling will catch a glimpse of one of my "alien" opera. This is often a source of great disquiet and concern to them."
Between 1985 (McMurtry's death) and 1989 (or thereabouts) the homosexual version of the XI° was not very well accepted i.e. it was "unacceptable because homosexuals cannot generate children or astral beings". Because the new "Caliph", William Breeze, was member of Bertiaux' collection of Orders and was consecrated by a close friend of Bertiaux, it is thought by the current Sovereign Grand Master of the OTOA, Courtney Willis, that the transfer of the XI° to Breeze "has been PHYSICAL so Breeze is linked more closely to Crowley than would be thought". [36] But Bertiaux: "William Breeze does have valid initiation but it is irregular.". In addition, in the 'Caliphate' Breeze has adopted the XI° and is known to favour the title Frater Superior in preference to 'Caliph'. He also adopted the XII°: Outer Head of the Order, and added a sentence to the Statutes: "Possession of the Eleventh Degree confers no additional authority within O.T.O.." "The O.H.O. has the sole and exclusive authority to initiate from the Eighth Degree (VIII°) to the Eleventh Degree (XI°)". It is rumoured that Breeze is expelling anyone giving or receiving Patrick King XI° initiations. 
In April 2004, the lawyer James T. Graeb expelled the 'Caliph' and sent a letter to William Breeze and David Scriven, which can be downloaded as a zip-file. Meanwhile, Breeze has changed the meaning of the XI°. Under Crowley, it was considered an "inscrutable" degree, while under Breeze, it has become a "technical" degree. This difference is significant enough to cause further confusion. James Thomas Graeb, who was born on February 6th, 1954, passed away on July 26th, 2012. His body was found on August 8th, 2012. He was only 58 years old. The brazilian Marcelo Ramos Motta developed different ideas about the XI°:Initially, Motta believed that the XI° could not be held by the OHO at the same time, as the XI° was considered the magical link to the A.·. A.·. However, Motta later changed his mind and assumed both the XI° and the OHO positions.Based on Crowley's Liber LXV and his Comments, where the Adept is instructed to "assume the woman's part", communication with the Holy Guardian Angel (H.G.A.) is mostly seen in the context of the XI°. Motta: "I should worship the Phallus more (identify myself with Him, or It): ... and I should fuck more and learn more ... I should visualize the Sigil of My H.G.A. while fucking." "I must practise the sex act a lot, until the necessary muscular knowledge sinks into the unconscious and I can concentrate on the will." "First, the Angel is just as female as He is male; indeed, It is omnisexual. Second, we do not know if a woman could reach the Knowledge and Conversation aiming at the thirsting cup of her Goddess, rather than at the pelled wand of Him ...; in other words, going a Path in which the Man-Symbols are not ... But this we do know: that for her that should identify herself with her Angel as a woman, there would still be left the task to identify herself with Him as a man." 
[ Photos of M.R. Motta by Oscar R. Schlag. ] Hermann J. Metzger's version of the XI°The Swiss O.T.O., in its own 13-degree system, does not include any references to sexuality.
III° — V°: Blue Masonry, Craft Masonry. VI° — VIII°: Red [or Royal Arch] Masonry. F.R.A. [Illuminati degree]. X° — XII°: Mystical Masonry, O.T.O. [Illuminati degree]. XIII°: Patriarchate, Areopagus, Illuminatus. The degree system had been changed into nine "Working Divisions": IO [Illuminati Order], O.T.O., Fraternitas Rosicruciana Antiqua, Masonic tradition, Gnostic Catholic Church, the "Thelema Free Spirit and Life School," the Psychosophical Press, the "Labor Thelema," and the "Thelema Restaurant Management." In the Swiss version of Crowley's "Magick in Theory and Practice", there was an additional chapter called 'Philosophy for All' in which Metzger took action against ubiquitous genitalia in a moralising tone. This chapter also expressed concerns over "growing call-girl rings, homosexuality, prostitution and their abuse in orgies." [Metzger's "Oriflamme" Nºs 27 & 28, Zurich 1963, pp. 318-333; and in "Magie als Philosophie für alle", Zurich 1964, pp. 357-405.] The XI° in the Typhonian-O.T.O.The T.O.T.O. (or Typhonian Order) is based on intercourse during menstruation and is considered by some as the true reversal of the IX° i.e. being a part of the same cycle.The Typhonian O.T.O. is concerned with effective transmissions and communications from 'outerspace' for the purpose of opening Gateways. The Typhonian 'deities' denote specific operations of psycho-physical alchemy which involve essences or elixirs secreted (thrown out and/or considered unclean) by the human organism. The Typhonian XI° involves specific kalas that are entirely absent from the masculine organism. XI° = The magical use of the sexual energies via anal sex. [ A collection of Material can be found here. ] 
Crowley's dream of giving birth to a foetus per anum, "... a mass of blood & slime" ? There is no comparison to other O.T.O. versions, essentially because there are no group rituals or ceremonies of initiation at any stage of the degree structure. The basis of initiation is the assimilation of direct magical and mystical working. It follows that all initiation is in effect self-initiation. There is a small amount of set gradework in the Typhonian O.T.O. However, the emphasis is on the initiate charting his or her own course. There is of course the experience of others to draw upon. TransgenderThe term gender denotes the male or female variations of a species, especially as differentiated by social and cultural rôles and behaviour; the term sex represents the biological aspect of the sexes, also including the context of semen and spermatozoon.Increasing awareness of the often clichéd occult tropes of sexuality, gender, male, female (and indeed the entire esoteric topography of the sexes and their various representations, together with spermo–gnosticism and sex–magic) have recently come under closer scrutiny in connection with transgenderism.(The term transident is mostly used in the psychiatric fields of the USA). Besides the various O.T.O. groups getting more public attention in new media, new mindsets and guidelines on gender–specific issues have emerged ro affect the traditionally rigid rôles still often inherent in occultism. Here the O.T.O. stands out, because on the one hand it propagates a type of religious transcendence, while on the other it still mimics traditional clichés in its rituals. Crowley’s Gnostic Catholic Mass (Liber XV Ecclesiae Gnosticae Catholicae Canon Missae) poses some knotty questions over the status of sperm and transgender people. Some Crowley adherents simply transfer the biological aspect of semen and sperm, as well as the question of gender, to the symbolical level, where everything can — theoretically — be easily resolved. Whether the semen contains spermatozoa or not, whether the priest or priestess is transgender, certain modern–day participants in the Gnostic Catholic Mass maintain the only thing that really matters is what the congregation (regardless of their sexual organs), really experiences (or wants to experience) during Mass. This has opened up a huge can of worms, for a symbolic Mass ceases to be a catholic one. There are already numerous discussions in progress on this thorny subject, with no sign yet of a resolution in sight. 
Within the Fraternitas Saturni the intricate topic of sperm is certainly not the key point round which lodge debates revolve; instead there appears to be a tacit agreement to leave all such matters safely inside a general social context. In 2005 a 36–year–old FS member ‘came out’ by revealing they’d had a male–to–female gender reassignment, despite knowing all about the "homophobic attitude of some of my brothers." She went on to say, "How can I make people understand the great joy and happiness it was for me to be allowed to be as I feel? My special thanks go to my dear sisters who accepted me with amazing honesty and openness and who are now helping me adjust to being a women in comfortable surroundings. I am aware just how unusual it must seem to some of my brothers and sisters — mainly to my brothers — how threatening it must seem to those who, perhaps, are afraid of feeling these same impulses in themselves, which contradict social norms. But I am not deceiving myself." Sadly, personal problems in the outside world cast a shadow over her membership, and since 2006 she has had to take time away from the Lodge. NOTES TO CHAPTER NINETEEN OF "DAS O.T.O. PHÄNOMEN" (1994)
Translated, adapted and enlarged from a chapter of the German/English "Der O.T.O. Phänomen RELOAD" (2011) by Mark Parry-Maddocks — Short German original online. Russian translation of this article. David King discusses his brother Patrick King, self-styled XI° of the 'Caliphate' (with photos). "Der OTOA-Reader" contains XI° texts of Bertiaux' OTOA. XI° Experiences by Runar Karlsen in Oslo. Jack and Jill Party in Russia: faked XI° charters with a faked signature. Eugen Grosche: Das Goettliche Negative Prinzip. |
