Ordo Templi Orientis, in cooperation with Sekmet Books, is pleased to announce the publication of Success Is Your Proof: One Hundred Years of O.T.O. in North America. This collection of papers is drawn from the May 16, 2015, North American O.T.O. Centennial Conference held earlier this year in Vancouver, along with selected supplemental essays, dedicated to Hymenaeus Beta in honor of the 30th anniversary of his governing O.T.O.
On May 16, 2015 ev, Ordo Templi Orientis celebrated its North American Centennial—commemorating the founding of Canada’s British Columbia Lodge No. 1 in 1915—with a day-long conference hosted in Vancouver by O.T.O. Canada. Prominent researchers and leaders were invited to deliver papers, which are presented here along with additional essays to enhance the utility of this collection for Order members, and other students and practitioners of Thelemic spiritual development.
Thirty years ago, on September 21, 1985 ev, Hymenaeus Beta succeeded Hymenaeus Alpha as acting Outer Head of the Order. On October 10, 2014, he was unanimously elected de jure Outer Head by a council of five National Grand Masters. Hymenaeus Beta is, thus, the first accredited OHO since the death of Frater Saturnus in 1962.
The wide range of subject matter in this book testifies to the vitality and growth of the Order. Some essays offer accounts of O.T.O. history—covering prominent figures such as British Columbia Lodge No. 1 founder Charles Stansfeld Jones (Frater Achad), violinist Leila Waddell, and book publisher Albert W. Ryerson. Others discuss more modern history, such as the development of the UK Grand Lodge. One paper describes the influence of Aleister Crowley’s magick on Malcolm Lowry’s novel Under the Volcano. Another tracks some six hundred performances of The Rites of Eleusis worldwide. There is an extensive history of the teachings and structure of the Universal Brotherhood (UB), which attracted Achad, and in which he served for three decades. A meditation on the recent past and development of O.T.O. under the leadership of Hymenaeus Beta is offered along with an essay on the development of the magical memory. Other essays consider what the writings and experiences of O.T.O.’s founders tell us about topics ranging from political and ethical considerations in the New Aeon, the early history of A∴A∴ and O.T.O. before their adoption of the Law of Thelema, and the importance of the relationship between these two allied orders.
Table of Contents
- Editors’ Introduction
- Raise high the roof beam, carpenters! Hymenaeus! —Shiva X°
- Thinking Backwards, Looking Forwards: On Time, History, and Magical Memory, with Special Reference to the O.T.O. Centennial in Canada and North America — Frater Iskandar
- The New Aeon in the New World: The Law of Liberty in the Wild West — James Wasserman
- Old Aeon Origins: The O.T.O. and A∴A∴ before Thelema— Vere Chappell
- From Amati to America—Cynthia Crosse
- Gathered Into Their Fold — Phanes X°
- Panic in Detroit: The Rise and Fall of a North American Supreme Grand Council (Almost)— Richard Kaczynski
- The Alpha & Omega of Initiation: Aleister Crowley, Charles Stansfeld Jones, and the Way of Duplexity — AISh MLChMH
- Charles Stansfeld Jones and the Universal Brotherhood— Frater Taos
- Bizarre Sons: Charles Stansfeld Jones and Malcolm Lowry— M. Dionysius Rogers
- “It Was Acceptable in the Eighties”: A Brief Account of the Reconstitution of O.T.O. in the UK in the 1980s — Clive Harper
- A Historical Overview of the Rites of Eleusis— Lita-Luise Chappell
- Notes Toward a Bibliography of Works Edited or Introduced by Hymenaeus Beta
- Contributors
This sewn 6×9 hardcover book is 200 pages long, including illustrations, and is available for $35 from Amazon.com.
