A Brief Sketch of Society Ordo Templi Orientis International
(This sketch has been changed several times by several people. We submit its present form, which may have additional information at a later date. The late Frater T. started this sketch and we have corrected several minor errors to bring everyone up to date.)
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
This short introduction will mainly be of serious interest to individuals who have already accepted the Law of Θελημα, who accept ΤΟ ΜΕΓΑ ΘΗΡΙΟΝ as the Magus of the Aeon of Horus, and who further accept that Aleister Crowley (more precisely, Baphomet XI° O.T.O.) was the legitimate Outer Head of the Order (O.H.O.) at the time of his death. Individuals who do not accept these points as given may still find this material to be significant from a historical or even a theurgic perspective.
We will not enter here into a discussion of the origins of the O.T.O., nor the route by which Aleister Crowley came to the Office of Outer Head of the Order, for these facts are not in contention, are well known and are readily available to the general public. Let it suffice to say that the O.T.O. under Crowley was a genuine Initiatic Order, a repository of arcane knowledge, formulated to guard the Sanctuary of the Gnosis from the unworthy.
The "Caliphate O.T.O." founded by Grady Louis McMurtry with assistance from other corrupt individuals is nothing less than a tale of egomaniacal subversion. Grady McMurtry failed to accept the Will of Aleister Crowley in his appointment of Karl Johannes Germer as His Successor as Outer Head of the O.T.O., and subsequently took it upon himself to contest the rights of the true Heir to the Crown in a secular court of law.
While most readers will be aware that Crowley appointed Karl Germer as his Successor in the Office of O.H.O., very few readers will be aware (due to eleven years of propaganda, misinformation and treachery) that Marcelo Ramos Motta was named by Mr. Germer as His Successor in this Office. No other conclusion may be drawn from the evidence at hand. For readers unfamiliar with the works of Mr. Motta, we will here relate just a few of the more important facts of his life story:
Marcelo Ramos Motta was born June 27, 1931 e.v., in Brasil. At the age of eleven, he became interested in spiritual matters and was attracted by the writings of Edward Bulwer Lytton, specifically Zanoni. Mr. Motta's parents encouraged his open evaluation of various religious systems, an intellectual environment that was quite rare in Brasil, a nation dominated by Roman Christism. Mr. Motta attended a military high school during his youth. Eventually, he made contact with the legitimate Thelemic Current through the mediation of one Parzival Krumm-Heller, who directed Mr. Motta toward Karl Johannes Germer. Mr. Motta first wrote to Mr. Germer on April 20, 1953 e.v., at the age of 21. He was then living in the United States of America, attending college in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Soon after their initial contact, Mr. Motta traveled to Hampton, New Jersey, to the residence of Mr. Germer. At that time, he took the Oath of a Probationer in the A.·.A.·. and bound himself to Mr. Germer as his Instructor in the A.·.A.·..
While still a Probationer, Marcelo Motta was requested by Mr. Germer to visit him for important discussions that could not take place via correspondence. This was late in 1956 e.v., and Mr. Germer had relocated to Barstow, California. Mr. Motta went to Barstow and remained in that area approximately three months. During this period, Karl Germer initiated Mr. Motta directly into the IX° of the O.T.O. and pressed the important unpublished writings of Crowley on Mr. Motta as fast as the latter could absorb the information. During this period, Mr. Germer also brought Mr. Motta around to visit with the remaining members of the former Agape Lodge in California. It was during January 1957 e.v. that Marcelo Motta met Grady McMurtry, Phyllis Seckler, Helen Parsons Smith, Jane Wolfe, Ray and Mildred Burlingame, Gabriel Montenegro Vargas, Jean and Ero Sivohnen, Louis Culling and others.
After this induction into the O.T.O., Mr. Motta returned to his "normal" life, where he continued his work in the A.·.A.·. and attempted to establish himself as a writer of commercial fiction. We need not go into the details, except to state that Mr. Motta eventually reached the Neophyte Initiation of the A.·.A.·. sometime during 1960 e.v. He returned to Brasil in approximately 1961 e.v. in order to secure the small financial inheritance that had accrued to him upon the death of his mother. It was necessary for him to take his relatives to court in order to obtain his rightful share of the inheritance, a situation that provided an early lesson in the ways of the uninitiated ego. With those funds, Mr. Motta proceeded to assist Mr. Germer in the latter's publishing activities. Mr. Motta single-handedly prepared Liber Aleph for publication under the supervision of Karl Germer. The edition was printed in Brasil entirely at Mr. Motta's expense, and he never once asked for or expected any financial compensation from the Order in return.
In 1962 e.v., Mr. Motta reached the Zelator Initiation in the A.·.A.·.. He wrote of his experiences to Mr. Germer, with whom he had been in regular correspondence throughout the entire period of their association. Mr. Germer, ill and in the hospital at that time, responded with glowing praise for his star Pupil. Two weeks later, Mr. Germer died of complications resulting from a prostate operation. Before he died, he instructed his wife, Sascha Germer, to inform Mr. Motta that he was the "follower", which of course meant Head of the O.T.O. and A.·.A.·..
During the period from 1962 e.v. through 1967 e.v., Mr. Motta completed his work in the A.·.A.·. Curriculum, and a Magister Templi was born. (We should here note that before his death in 1962 e.v., Mr. Germer had informed Mr. Motta that he was already a Master of the Temple. However, Mr. Motta did not claim this Grade until he had completed the work of the Outer and Inner Colleges of the A.·.A.·..) It was also during that period that Mr. Motta's Ordeals increased in force, notably after the April Fool's Day coup of 1964 e.v. in Brasil. He, along with many other people, lost everything in that military action, and was only spared from summary execution by virtue of his acquaintance with various junta officers from his early years in military school. Mr. Motta was blacklisted in his chosen field as a writer for television, subjected to censorship by the Generals, and hounded at every turn by agents of the Brasilian intelligence organization, the C.I.A., the Vatican, Shin Beth and other unsavory members of the underworld, all of whom feared the appearance of a genuine Thelemic Initiate in Brasil. Utterly destitute, Mr. Motta once remarked that he had died during that period, and that he had failed to resurrect, having instead had his grave stomped on so hard by his enemies that he merely came out the other side. The reader who has not experienced actual physical starvation, government surveillance and persecution, and corporate black listing can have no idea of the horrific nature of those years.
Throughout the period of his isolation in Brasil, Mr. Motta noted and observed the growing popularity of books by Aleister Crowley and the flood of shoddy piracies that had appeared after Mr. Germer's death. Mr. Motta made patient and persistent attempts to ascertain the facts involved in Mr. Germer's Will, the claims of various individuals to O.T.O. Authority, and the overall situation relative to the Thelemic movement. He tested the claims of Kenneth Grant, Gerald Yorke, John Symonds, Israel Regardie, Grady McMurtry, Phyllis Seckler and many others, and eventually came to the conclusion that NONE of those individuals were properly qualified or authorized to be publishing Thelemic books or acting on behalf of the O.T.O. This may strike the reader as a self-serving assessment, but the record on this matter will speak clearly for itself as we proceed. It will indeed be seen that Mr. Motta was very reluctant to assume publicly the prime position of authority in the O.T.O., but was forced to do so by the strength of his original commitment to Mr. Germer and his commitment to the work of the Order.
By 1975 e.v., Mr. Motta had published The Commentaries of AL (The Equinox, Volume Five, Number One) through Samuel Weiser, Inc. This publication aroused a wave of concern on the part of individuals like Grant, McMurtry, Regardie and Seckler. When Mr. Motta further began demanding that McMurtry, Seckler and their cohorts start behaving like O.T.O. members, the revolt against his Authority began in earnest. From 1975 e.v. through the court battle in the mid-1980s e.v., numerous individuals banded together to fight his attempt to protect the work of the Order and the words of Aleister Crowley from pirates, thieves and frauds. Recourse should also be made to Mr. Motta's narrative in his essay, "Intelligence Services Are Not Intelligent."
After the California case, Marcelo Motta returned to his native Brasil. During the late 1970s e.v. through the mid-1980s e.v., he had published The Equinox, Volume V, Nos. 2-4, as well as The Oriflamme, Volume VI, Nos. 1-4. All these works taken together constitute the most original and penetrating commentaries upon the works of Aleister Crowley produced in the latter half of the first Thelemic Century. Just before his death of myocardial infarction (heart attack) on August 26, 1987 e.v., Mr. Motta published Thelemic Magick Unexpurgated Commented, Part One, (The Oriflamme, Vol. VI, No. 5). This book contained the publication of three letters of evidence that are absolutely crucial to a full understanding of the infamy of the California and Maine trials. .
The Declaration of Trust being Marcelo Ramos last will named three voters, (who had copyrights), who were to vote for the new follower. These three people were Daniel Ben Stone, Claudia Canuto de Menezes , and William Barden.
Instead of direct obedience to his instructions to arrange a vote one Claudia Canuto de Menezes, separated from the Declaration of Trust, legally forfeiting her copyrights and making it impossible for any vote to occur. Claudia Canuto de Menezes disappeared, apparently fed up with the O.T.O., and vanished into the profane silence.
Any members in good standing at the time of Mr. Motta's death were in a state of limbo as she had completely betrayed her obligations.
William Barden immediately tried to take the position of Supervisor General of the Order making all sorts of fool claims. The older members simply didn't want him since he was considered insane at the time of Marcelo Motta's death. He printed a few Motta Commentaries for a short time, and was found dead, apparently of a bad strain of Heroin.
Daniel Ben Stone printed one Commentary of Mr. Motta's and eventually drifted away from the Work, eventually disappearing completely. None of the older members considered him experienced enough to hold any leadership.
Frater Sphinx aka David Bersson immediately went into action communicating with those who would hear, knowing that the magick of adjustment must be awakened.
Verily, Frater Sphinx arose knowing magically what to do to bring back the Order from that horrible Limbo that the traitor Claudia Canuto de Menezes had left it by not arranging a vote as the Declaration of Trust clearly stated.
Verily and Amen, Frater Sphinx being in good standing in the A.·.A.·. and the O.T.O. at the time of Marcelo Motta's death made it his duty to continue the battle.
And Frater Sphinx in His Glory spoke that Mighty Oath where He stated he would build the Order into an Empire such as the World has never seen.
Aumgn