A magical organization or magical order is an organization created for the practice of ceremonial or other forms of occult magic or to further the knowledge of magic among its members. Magical organizations can include Hermetic orders, Wiccan covens and circles, esoteric societies, arcane colleges, witches' covens, and other groups which may use different terminology and similar though diverse practices.
Ordo Templi Orientis is an occult initiatory organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of the O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner, Theodor Reuss, Heinrich Klein and Franz Hartmann. In its first incarnation the O.T.O. was intended to be modelled after and associated with European Freemasonry and as such in its early years only Freemasons could seek admittance. Founder and first head of the Order Carl Kellner desired to create an Academia Masonica wherein various rites of high-degree Freemasonry could be conferred within German-speaking countries. During the course of his esoteric studies across the globe and from many traditions, Kellner believed that he had discovered a "key" which offered a clear explanation of all the complex symbolism of Freemasonry and of nature itself. Kellner intended for the O.T.O. to preserve and confer this "key". Arguably of less interest to Kellner but of importance to co-founder Reuss the O.T.O. was also intended to be a revival of Adam Weishaupt's Bavarian Order of Illuminati.
The Typhonian Order, previously known as the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis (TOTO), is a self-initiatory magical organization based in the United Kingdom that focuses on magical and Typhonian concepts. It was originally led by British occultist Kenneth Grant (1924–2011) and his partner Steffi Grant, and is now believed to be led by their deputy Michael Staley.
Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse, whose esoteric pseudonyms were Papus and Tau Vincent, was a French physician, hypnotist, and popularizer of occultism, who founded the modern Martinist Order.
Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), or the Gnostic Catholic Church, is a Gnostic church organization. It is the ecclesiastical arm of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), an international fraternal initiatory organization devoted to promulgating the Law of Thelema.
Carl William Hansen was a Danish dairy farmer, Luciferian, wandering bishop, and occultist. Born in Copenhagen and first initiated into Martinism in 1898 by Alphonse Wallen, Hansen used the pseudonym Ben Kadosh to publish Den ny morgens gry: verdensbygmesterens genkomst in 1906.
William Breeze, also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Tau Silenus, is an American writer and publisher on magick and philosophy. He is the Sovereign Patriarch, or supreme governing cleric, of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), the liturgical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), of which he is the current Outer Head of the Order (OHO), also known as Frater Superior, as well as caliph, the order's international leader. In this capacity he is a leading editor of the occult works of Aleister Crowley, the founder of the philosophy and religion of Thelema, who is regarded as its prophet.
Carl Kellner was a chemist, inventor, and industrialist. Born in Vienna, Austria, he made significant improvements to the sulfite process and was co-inventor of the Castner-Kellner process.
Albert Karl Theodor Reuss also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Carolus Albertus Theodorus Peregrinus was an Anglo-German tantric occultist, freemason, journalist, singer and head of Ordo Templi Orientis.
Franz Hartmann was a German medical doctor, theosophist, occultist, geomancer, astrologer, and author.
The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor was an initiatic occult organisation that first became public in late 1894, although according to an official document of the order it began its work in 1870. According to this document, authored by Peter Davidson, the order was established by Max Theon, who when in England was initiated as a Neophyte by "an adept of the serene, ever-existing and ancient Order of the original H. B. of L."
The Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraïm is a masonic rite founded in Naples, Italy in September 1881 by the merger of two older rites; the Rite of Misraïm and the Rite of Memphis. Although founded in 1881, its predecessors have their origins in the 18th century. The system is sometimes known as "Egyptian Freemasonry" due to the invocation of hermetic-derived esoteric symbolism referencing Ancient Egypt in its system of degrees.
The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light was a Fraternity that descended from the Fratres Lucis in the late 18th century, and was the seed from which Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) was created.
Leah Hirsig was an American schoolteacher and occultist, notable for her magical record diary, The Magical Record of the Scarlet Woman, which describes her experiences and visions as an associate, friend, and victim of occult writer Aleister Crowley. She was the most famous of Crowley's "Scarlet Women".
The Stella Matutina was an initiatory magical order dedicated to the dissemination of the traditional occult teachings of the earlier Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Originally, the outer order of the Stella Matutina was known as Mystic Rose or Order of the M.R. in the Outer. When occult writer Israel Regardie released documents of the Golden Dawn to the public it was the teachings of the Stella Matutina that he revealed, not those of the original order. The Stella Matutina was one of several daughter organisations into which the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn fragmented, including the Alpha et Omega led by John William Brodie-Innes and Macgregor Mathers, the Isis-Urania Temple led by A.E. Waite, and others.
Michael Paul Bertiaux is an American occultist, known for his book Voudon Gnostic Workbook (1988), a 615-page compendium of various occult lessons and research papers spanning the sub-fields of Voodoo, Neo-Pythagoreanism, Thelema and Gnosticism. Long considered by occultists one of the underground classics of 20th century occultism, the book was out of print for many years and fetched increasingly high prices in the antiquarian market before it was reprinted in paperback by Red Wheel/Weiser in 2007. Note that the unique spelling of "voudon" is an innovation of Bertiaux's,. Bertiaux also coined the term vudutronics to refer to his idiosyncratic interpretation of this religion.
Richard Kaczynski is an American writer and lecturer in the fields of social psychology, metaphysical beliefs and new religious movements. He is known for his biography of the occultist Aleister Crowley, Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley, described by The Times Literary Supplement as "the major biography to date", and by Didrik Søderlind in the Norwegian daily Aftenposten as the best biography of Crowley.
English Qaballa (EQ) is an English Qabalah, supported by a system of arithmancy that interprets the letters of the English alphabet via an assigned set of values, discovered by James Lees in 1976. It is the result of an intent to understand, interpret, and elaborate on the mysteries of Aleister Crowley's received text, Liber AL vel Legis, the Book of the Law. According to Jake Stratton-Kent, "the English Qaballa is a qabalah and not a system of numerology. A qabalah is specifically related to three factors: one, a language; two, a 'holy' text or texts; three, mathematical laws at work in these two."
English Qabalah (alternatively English Cabala(h)) refers to several different systems of mysticism related to Hermetic Qabalah that interpret the letters of the Roman script or English alphabet via an assigned set of numerological significances. The spelling "English Qaballa," on the other hand, refers specifically to a Qabalah supported by a system of arithmancy discovered by James Lees in 1976.
James Wasserman was an American writer and occultist. A member of Ordo Templi Orientis since 1976 and a book designer by trade, he wrote extensively on spiritual and political liberty.
