Academia Ordo Templi Orientis Conference at Monte Verità, Switzerland

This passed Saturday, August 26, marked the occasion of Academia Ordo Templi Orientis conference at Monte Verità in Ascona, Switzerland, mounted in cooperation with the OTO Grand Lodge of Italy. The site was chosen to honor the centennial of the O.T.O. “Anational Congress for Organizing the Reconstruction of Society on Practical Cooperative Lines,” organized by Doctor Theodor Reuss and held on August 15–25, 1917 at Monte Verità.

The program included:

9:00-9:15, Opening remarks, Gordan Djurdjevic

Session 1, Moderator: Gordan Djurdjevic
9:15-9:45, Henrik Bogdan, “The Anational Congress on Monte Verità at Ascona, August 15-25, 1917”
9:45-10:15, Stephen J. King, “Temple Mount: The Oriental Templar crusade for Verità”
10:15-10:45, Robert Buratti, “The Artist as Prophet and the Mountain of Truth; Ascona and the path of Creative Consciousness”

Session 2, Moderator: Henrik Bogdan
11:00-11:30, Patrizia Ebner, “The Man, the Mystery, and his Legacy – Carl Kellner”
11:30-12:00, Keith Cantú, “The ‘Mystic Anatomy’ of Theodor Reuss”
12:00-12:30, Gordan Djurdjevic, “’The Bird Fights Its Way Out of the Egg’: Hermann Hesse, Ascona, and the Thelemic Zeitgeist”

14:00-14:15, “Dance of Light” (Dance Solo in conference room. Performing artist: Silvia Berti. Music: J. S. Bach)

Session 3, Moderator: Richard Kaczynski
14:15-14:45, Chris Giudice, “’We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place’: Spiritual Communes as an Escape from the Modern World”
14:45-15:15, Manon Hedenborg-White (guest student speaker), “Mystery Translated: Tradition, Transmission, and the Gnostic Mass in German”
15:15-15:45, William Peters, “The Therion File”

Session 4, Moderator: Stephen J. King
16:15-16:45, Jesper Petersen, “’I believe in as much as possible’: The reception of A. Crowley in late 1960s Danish counterculture”
16:45-17:15, Richard Kaczynski, “Leon Engers: A Life in Art”
17:15-17:45, William Breeze, “Conflict, Disinformation and Intolerance on All Points of the Triangle: The OTO at War in World War One.”

18:00-18:45, Marco Pasi (guest speaker), Keynote Lecture: “Liquid Magic: Materials towards a cultural history of bodily fluids.”

18:45-19:00, “Dance of Darkness” (Dance Solo in the park. Performing artist: Silvia Berti. Music: Luca Pancaldi)

Here’s video of Marco Pasi’s presentation recorded and posted by Massimo Introvigne: https://www.facebook.com/massimo.introvigne/videos/pcb.10214177521615191/10214177465413786/?type=3&theater

Founded in 2011, Academia Ordo Templi Orientis (AOTO) is a learned society consisting of initiate members of Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) and academic affiliates. The goal of AOTO is to foster interdisciplinary research on OTO and the religious doctrine of Thelema that the Order promotes, as well as on broader subjects related to esoteric traditions, both historical and contemporary. Membership in AOTO is by invitation only. AOTO convenes biennial conferences and issues periodic transactions. For more information contact academia@oto.org.