Occult Societies
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Ordo Templi Orientis
The Typhonian OTO
The Process Church of the Final Judgement
The Church of Satan
Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth
The Industrial Music Connection
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
(1888 - 1914)
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded in 1888 by William Wynn Westcott, William Robert Woodman, and Samuel Liddel MacGregor Mathers.
19th Century Occultism, Eliphas Levi
The Theosophical Society, Helena Blavatsky
The man who was certainly the Golden Dawn's most infamous member was Aleister Crowley. Aleister was born Edward Alexander Crowley in 1875 into a household of Plymouth Brethren, a severely strict Xtian sect.
One realm of research that was of particular interest to The Golden Dawn was Enochian Magic. Enochian Magic is another name for the system of angelic magic developed by John Dee and Edward Kelly in the late 1500's A.D.
There is a song by the industrial metal group Ministry called "Golden Dawn", which features a sample from a phonograph recording of Aleister Crowley chanting "The Call of the Second Aeythyr" in the Enochian angelic language.
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Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.)
(1895 - Present)
Ordo Templi Orientis was founded in 1895 by Theodore Reuss.
The Order was at one time headed by the Aleister Crowley. Later, leadership was claimed by one Karl Germer, then by Grady McMurtry, and it is presently claimed by one William Breeze.
Ordo Templi Orientis is often associated with Thelema, the only religion begun by an Englishman, Aleister Crowley.
In 1903, Crowley experienced transmissions from a praeternatural being known as "Aiwass", the result of which was a philosophical system known as "Thelema", which is Greek for "will" or "desire". Today, Thelema is a recognized religion under Federal Authority in the United States, and the "Caliphate" OTO has become the "official" body for the Thelemic philosophy.
The Aeon of Horus.
In correspondences and conversations among members of OTO, you will run across the greeting "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law", and the closing "Love is the law, love under Will". The greeting is an expression of the concept of "Thelema", while the closing is an expression of the concept of "Agape", which is Greek for "love", specifically universal or divine love. Since there are no written numbers in languages like Greek and Hebrew, the letters of the alphabet are assigned numerical value, which results in numerical values for words in those languages. The numerical, or "gematric" value for both "Thelema" and "Agape" is 93, hence there are 93 chapters in Crowley's "The Book of Lies" and members of the OTO use the number to abbreviate their salutations.
Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, or The Gnostic Catholic Church, which was founded in 1907 by Jean Bricaud, Gerard Encausse (aka "Papus") and Louis-Sophrone Fugairon, and was eventually absorbed into the OTO as its ecclesiastical arm.
I have personally visited the Black Sun Lodge of OTO, which is based in Akron, Ohio. I attended a lecture on the Gnostic Mass, and then personally participated in the Gnostic Mass ritual.
The band Coil is known for its experimental sound and its connections to the occult; connections so powerful, in fact, that William Breeze, the man who is today in the position that Aleister Crowley once held at the head of Ordo Templi Orientis, plays the electric viola for Coil.
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The Typhonian O.T.O.
(1955? - Present)
Letters have surfaced that were written by Aleister Crowley, in which he appoints Kenneth Grant as his successor as the head of Ordo Templi Orientis. Due to confusion and politics, Kenneth Grant was not only denied the position of head of the order, but was expelled from the order altogether, possibly without any merit.
In spite of these setbacks, Kenneth Grant continues to write and talk about a peculiar type of magick and the loosely organized group that performs it, known as the Typhonian OTO.
LAM, aliens, sex-magick
The progressive rock band Tool include concepts from the works of Kenneth Grant and the Typhonian OTO in their music and artwork, and, apparently, the members have had personal contact with Grant.
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The Process Church of the Final Judgement
(1964 - 1974 [Present?])
The Process Church was founded in 1964 by a group of British freethinkers while they were in a small village in Mexico. The major proponent of the Process Church was Robert DeGrimston, who authored most of the published works on Process philosophy.
The Process Symbol
After dissolving in 1974, the members went their seperate ways; but it seems most of them continued their interest in charity and causes. A number of the members rejoined to form Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a large-scale animal shelter in Arizona.
William Morrison, a long-time associate of the band Skinny Puppy, is apparently the webmaster of the website "process.org". This is the nearest thing to an official Process Church website, and it is currently under construction.
The industrial band Skinny Puppy have, from their very conception, been interested in animal rights and strange philosophy; so it was only natural that in the early 90's their focus turned to the Process Church, with a nudge from Genesis P-Orridge of T.O.P.Y.
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Church of Satan
(1966 - Present)
Anton LaVey, Boyd Rice, Marilyn Manson
Dada, Carnivals, Esthetics
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Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth (T.O.P.Y.)
(1981 - Present)
Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth was founded in 1981 by Genesis P-Orridge, Peter Christopherson, David Tibet, and Geoff Rushton. Today it is a loosely organized group of researchers and practitioners.
Genesis P-Orridge and Peter Christopherson are best-known as members of the experimental industrial band Throbbing Gristle from the mid-70's, and the founders of Industrial Records, which was the first use of the word "industrial" to describe music.
The T.O.P.Y. Cross, the main symbol of T.O.P.Y., appears to be at least somewhat based on the cross found on cans of Zyklon B, a poisonous gas that was used in the gas-chambers at Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. These events inspired the Throbbing Gristle song "Zyklon B Zombie". The cross is actually the corporate logo of Degesch, the company that manufactured Zyklon B gas for use as a pesticide. Today, there is one Degesch pesticide manufacturing plant in the United States, in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. It appears they no longer produce Zyklon B.
23, Cyber-Sex-Chaos Magick
Psychic T.V.
Black Sun Lodge - Ohio
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The Industrial Music Connection
Throbbing Gristle, Psychic T.V., Coil, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Tool, Marilyn Manson
Experimentation, musical and otherwise;
nihilism;
patterns;
angst...
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