Fr. INRI
November 8th, 2005, 10:25 PM
Since we kinda got talking about it a few other threads, I was wondering if anyone had opinions on the legacy of initiatory Thelema. Lots and lots (and lots and lots and lots) of people claim to be the "true heir" of Crowley's work. I think it would be interesting to compare and contrast a few ones in brief, and see if anybody has strong feelings.
1) The Caliphate OTO- Started up by Grady McMurty, a friend of Crowley in his later years. The "American" OTO, so to speak, the Caliphate is widely considered to be the real deal, and McMurty (and his successors) are generally believed to hold the "legitimate" OHO.
-Pros: Owns and keeps pretty much everything Crowley ever touched in mass circulation.
-Cons: Owns and keeps pretty much everything Crowley ever touched guarded by a phalanx of copyright lawyers.
2) The Typhonian OTO- Founded by Kenneth Grant, the Typhonian OTO is a small, loosely organized group of Thelemites focusing on things such as aliens and demons as well as more traditional Thelemic Ideas
-Pros: Lots of interesting ideas; influenced Setianism and other serious left hand path groups like the Ordo Draconis et Atri Adamantis.
-Cons: Founder Kenneth Grant is completely loopy. Do I need to retell the fruit-bat story?
3) Wicca- Founded by Gerald Gardner, a student of Crowley and brilliant magickian in his own right, it has been argued (in my mind, convincingly) that Wicca was begun as a "camp" of the original European OTO, to bring Thelema to the masses.
-Pros: Easily the least crazy of Thelema's many offshoots. When practiced in it's original form it is a very potent form of polarity/sex magick.
-Cons: Utter bull-honky history. Isn't really Thelemic.
1) The Caliphate OTO- Started up by Grady McMurty, a friend of Crowley in his later years. The "American" OTO, so to speak, the Caliphate is widely considered to be the real deal, and McMurty (and his successors) are generally believed to hold the "legitimate" OHO.
-Pros: Owns and keeps pretty much everything Crowley ever touched in mass circulation.
-Cons: Owns and keeps pretty much everything Crowley ever touched guarded by a phalanx of copyright lawyers.
2) The Typhonian OTO- Founded by Kenneth Grant, the Typhonian OTO is a small, loosely organized group of Thelemites focusing on things such as aliens and demons as well as more traditional Thelemic Ideas
-Pros: Lots of interesting ideas; influenced Setianism and other serious left hand path groups like the Ordo Draconis et Atri Adamantis.
-Cons: Founder Kenneth Grant is completely loopy. Do I need to retell the fruit-bat story?
3) Wicca- Founded by Gerald Gardner, a student of Crowley and brilliant magickian in his own right, it has been argued (in my mind, convincingly) that Wicca was begun as a "camp" of the original European OTO, to bring Thelema to the masses.
-Pros: Easily the least crazy of Thelema's many offshoots. When practiced in it's original form it is a very potent form of polarity/sex magick.
-Cons: Utter bull-honky history. Isn't really Thelemic.