Worldtheories

Ordo Templi Orientis Phenomenon
Birth of the new American O.T.O.

Charles Manson and the Solar Lodge of the O.T.O.
P.R. Koenig
1999



New O.T.O. groups in the US

Although Charles Manson was never a member of any of the many O.T.O. groups, the tabloid press often rehashes the story of his brief contact with Georgina Brayton's 1960's 'Solar Lodge of the O.T.O.' The 'Caliphate' (the new American O.T.O. founded in 1977) has frequently described this earlier O.T.O. lodge 'irregular', but Phyllis Seckler, one of the 'Caliphate's' main protagonists (she was the wife of its founder, Grady L. McMurtry) has recently admitted that the 'Solar Lodge' was a genuine O.T.O. body. To exaggerate a little, one could say that without Manson the 'Caliphate' would not exist at all. Let's unfold a bit of the history.

During Crowley's lifetime there was only one active O.T.O. lodge in the US - the so-called 'second Agapé lodge' in California. Crowley was never really satisfied with the Agapé group's membership and activities; he called them "fans", and stated in his diary on March 9 1945: "I place the Californian Lodge under INTERDICT." [He added: "Jack's NLT came just in time to stop me doing this".] So to one member of the group, the aforementioned McMurtry, Crowley gave special instructions: in the event of an "emergency", McMurtry was to take over the running of Agapé, subject to the approval of Crowley's heir-apparent in O.T.O. matters, the German Karl Germer.

The trouble was that Germer had a very low opinion of McMurtry, calling him a "Minus", and saying that in his opinion the US was a "spiritual desert"; Germer closed the Agapé lodge on September 7 1953, and favoured the H.J. Metzger from Switzerland as heir to the O.T.O. At about this time, McMurtry completely lost any interest he might have had in the O.T.O., and this is probably the main reason why O.T.O. activities in the US were continued by others.


Intro

In the mid-1950's two ex-members of the defunct Agapé lodge called Ray and Mildred Burlingame started working together with one Georgina (or Jean) R. Brayton (b. December 29 1921), and her husband Richard Montgomery Brayton (b. 1911), a lecturer at the University of California, on performing some of Crowley's O.T.O. rituals. After Germer's death in 1962, the Brayton group started calling itself 'The Solar Lodge of the OTO', or else the 'Riverside Lodge of the OTO'; it was effectively the illegitimate orphan offspring of a dissolved lodge. Neither the Burlingames nor McMurtry (who was later to reappear) had permission to either initiate candidates into the O.T.O., or to found new O.T.O. lodges; indeed, accoring to the O.T.O.'s statutes, it is expressly forbidden to initiate or install lodges without the express permission of a superior in the Order. Members of the Solar Lodge acquired a dubious reputation when some of them were accused of breaking into the homes of Germer's widow Sascha, Israel Regardie, and Mildred Burlingame to steal O.T.O. documents. When Phyllis Seckler (a former member of the defunct Agapé) came to hear of this, she contacted another ex-Agapéan, Grady L. McMurtry, in January 1969; the two were soon to marry, and become the founding nucleus of the 'Caliphate' [see below]. Years later, Solar Lodge member Robert Duerrenstein denied that any member of the Solar Lodge had been involved in the burglaries of Sascha Germer and the others, for the simple reason that Ray Burlingame had told them there wasn't any O.T.O. material worth stealing at their houses.


original solar lodge materialoriginal solar lodge material


Report by a member of the Solar Lodge of the O.T.O.

Date: August 1999, compiled from several emails

I am a former member of the Solar Lodge of the O.T.O., in Los Angeles, from
September 1967 to February 1968.

I was looking for an apartment and ran across one owned by Georgina (Jean)
and Richard Brayton, as they had advertised such for rent. They had at least
three properties in the USC neighborhood. I only know about the houses and
apartment in the USC neighborhood. This was at the beginnning of the time
when they were building their empire. Jean encouraged me to attend a meeting,
gave me the manifesto of the O.T.O., and a privately-printed copy of the Book
of the Law.

There were approximately 15-20 members as I recall at the time. I have
forgotten most of their names. The house where they lived is no longer there.
They seemed very organized, and quite dedicated. Los Angeles at that time was
immersed in the same social ferment as San Francisco. Remember the summer of
love? I had just come down from Haight-Ashbury. We were all still using LSD
and looking for utopian groups. The news was only just beginning to
sensationalize and distort what we were doing. But we were easy targets for
the more experienced, sinister people who wanted our money, souls, etc. The
O.T.O. looked like a cool group of people, at first, because they had all the
right words. They were very welcoming, and wanted us to join in with their
rituals. They practiced all the rituals you read about in the Equinox.
They began initiating more and more people during the months I was involved,
because they wanted to increase their numbers. Jean was clearly in charge,
but was often absent. But she supervised the dismantling and reassembly of
buildings in the desert.

Her husband was a teacher at the University. Several of the lodge members
were students. Many kinds of drugs were available. One or two of the members
were making them. The house had a main temple on the top floor, but members
had individual temples in their rooms, some quite elaborate.

I left in order to go to Vietnam. This was before the affairs with the
newspapers and the stories about Charles Manson. You can imagine the chills I
felt in 1969, hearing about Charles Manson's beliefs in race wars, building
retreats in the desert, hearing messages in Beatles songs, using drugs,
talking about "man is god" and "Do what thou wilt" philosophies.
Nevertheless, I did not know about the Solar Lodge scandal until I ran across
it in an obscure book in a second hand bookstore in 1988! Now of course with
the Internet there is all kinds of information and misinformation.

The only thing I have read in the press was the book, The Family, by Ed
Sanders. Some of his information seemed about right, but some of it was just
plain wrong, I think. There was never a lodge in San Bernardino. They are
confused with San Bernardino county, which is where Blythe is.

Remark about a factual error. Blythe is located in Riverside County, not San Bernardino County. Vidal is located in San Bernardino County, with the county line being approximately 2 miles south of the town. The Sheriff's Deputies that was actually involved in the "Boy in the Box" case said the reason that the Riverside County Sheriff's Dept. took the case, rather than the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dept. was because their office in Blythe was far closer than the SB County Sheriff's Office in Needles.




* * *


To my knowledge, the Solar Lodge of the O.T.O. started in late 1966 - early
1967. The construction of the Ark began in summer of 1967. We used materials
from quonsett huts we purchased and disassembled, then took them out into the
desert, near the Colorado River. The exact spot was near the small town of
Vidal, Calif.

We were headquartered in an old house in Los Angeles, near the USC campus. We
were building the "Ark " in the Mojave desert, near Blythe, California.

There were about 15 to 20 other members of the Lodge at that time; men and
women, all ages. A few were students at USC, but there were also
professionals, house wives, and assorted others. No one as crazy as Manson at
that time. Where did Charles Manson come from? I guess I'm not surprised,
though. There were some pretty far-out types circulating between Haight
Ashbury and L.A. in those days.



Excerpt of "Ordis Templis Intelligentis" by Alex Constantine, 1996:

The O.T.O.'s Solar Lodge in San Bernardino was founded by Maury McCauley, a mortician, on his own property. McCauley was married to Barbara Newman, a former model and the daughter of a retired Air Force colonel from Vandenberg. The group subscribed to a grim, apocalyptic view of the world precipitated by race wars, and the prophecy made a lasting impression on Charles Manson, who passed through the lodge. In the L.A. underworld, the O.T.O. spin-off was known for indulgence in sadomasochism, drug dealing, blood drinking, child molestation and murder. The Riverside O.T.O., like the Manson Family, used drugs, sex, psycho-drama and fear to tear down the mind of the initiate and rebuild it according to the desires of the cult's inner-circle.

Morris McColley was not the head of the group, and he did not have a place in
San Bernardino, but in Vidal, which is in the very large county of San
Bernardino. Actually I don't think it was his place, either. And part of the
reason in my opinion for the location may have been that it was close to
Parker, AZ, which was the location of one of Jean Brayton's teachers. Morris
was a barber, not a mortician, as I recall. I don't remember Barbara. Yes,
the order did have apocalyptic views when I was there. That is why the "Ark"
was built. This was a temple in the desert, built from
disassembled quonsett huts. What is a quonsett hut? It is a temporary
structure built in wartime. Made from large pieces of corrugated steel, it's
like taking a big pipe, laying it on the side, cutting off the bottom half,
putting doors on the ends, and windows in the sides. The group believed that
"it was all going to come down" that is, a repeat of the Watts riots
(remember, this was LA in 1967) not unusual. This was a time of revolutionary
fervor among the young in many places including Germany, China, Paris,
England, and of course peace and protest marches everywhere! We were caught
up in a mixture of drugs, anti-war, and anti-establishment. The Order was
powerful because it embodied these things. Interestingly, the racist
attitudes were not made evident at first, but only hinted at. This was Jean's
way ... she often would obliquely hint at things. We would listen to the
Beatles albums and hear special messages. There were messages everywhere, if
you could hear them. Hearing them often involved drugs. All kinds of drugs.
Jean wanted converts, while the "gates of initiation" were wide open. She
began putting on "profane parties" to bring in the masses, and people were
attracted to the idea of a special, semi secret organization with rituals,
sex and strange doings and good drugs and groovy people!

The group did not have a single, cohesive world view. There may have been
some members who believed in hollow earth. Jean was very interested in Mei
Ling's world prophecy, which, among other things, dicussed a predicted world
deluge. There were all kinds of ideas flying around the place! People were
trying out different kinds of thoughts.

Question: Were the rituals and initiations para-masonic?

Indeed they were, in fact, prior to taking the first degree, we were asked if
we had ever had any contact with the masons.

Question: What were the ceremonies, and into which degrees were the initiations?

The only ones I know about for sure were the minerval through the third. I
believe others may have been conducted in the desert. I suspected the sex
magick, which is one of the reasons I left ... the women weren't all that
attractive!! They didn't tell you everything right at first But as I hung
around the house, I picked up bits and pieces. Especially after I visited the
ark. And of course, when everyone was high.

Jean often referred to Ray Burlingame, and mentioned Parker, Arizona, which
is possibly where they had lived for a time. I got the feeling that their
contact had been a few years previously, but I don't know exactly.

They sure had a lot of old books and other artifacts. I was in Jean and
Dick's bedroom a few times (snooping) and besides being really messy, there
was a lot of stuff. The only theft I knew about was when two members visited
a house in the neighborhood that was for sale, and they took something from
it, stating that it belonged to them anyway. I was put off by this, and it
was another one of the reasons I felt distanced from the group. The only
other illegal activity I knew of was drug use, but then, it was the 60's !

Question: Did Jean Brayton really think she was the reincarnation of Aleister
Crowley?

She never said this to me.

Question: Did she claim she was head of the O.T.O.?

No, just that lodge. Jean never claimed to be OHO, or any grade, for that
matter. And indeed, there was one other person who I met who might have had a
leadership role, but I don't recall his name.

I knew there were other groups, They were seen as rivals. But the lodge did
not consider _all other groups to be rivals, nor did it consider freemasonry
to be antithetical. I do not know the exact identity of the groups it
considered to be enemies, I just know they existed. I do know that some of
the lodge members considered black people to be enemies. This made me
uncomfortable.



My memory of Jean Brayton is that she was a good person. I believe her
iron-fisted rule descended after my time, or else she hid it from me. In my
experience, she was authoritarian, but not tyrannical. There were no children
at the lodge when I was there, so I did not get to see how they were taught.




To be continued below



In August 1969, Charles Manson's 'Family' committed their 'notorious' murders; at the same time the Solar Lodge was at the centre of a scandal. Here's a newspaper-clipping from the 'Washington Post' for October 31 1969:

Boy Tells Of Chaining By Cultists
INDO, Calif, Oct. 30 (UPI)
- Anthony Saul Gibbons, 6, sitting on a pillow
on the witness stand so he could be seen, tes-
tified Wednesday he was burned with matches and
imprisoned in a packing crate at a desert com-
mune for starting a fire.
The small boy was barely audible as he relatd
the events that led to his being chained inside
the sweltering box for 56 days during the sum-
mer on the farm commune operated by a cult called
Ordi Templar Orientialis.
Eleven members of the commune, including the
child's mother, are on trial for felony child
abuse.
Anthony, now a ward of the court, said his
fingers were burned with matches after he started
the fire which destroyed a house and injured a
group of goats June 20.
He testified he was placed in the packing crate
with his legs chained and let out only to do his
"chores."
The boy was questioned repeatedly before he took
the oath as Defence Attorney Keith Blazer attempted
to establish if the boy knew what a lie was. The
boy said he understood that he would be punished if
he told a lie.
After Anthony testified, the prosecution rested
its case.




Candace Reos, a former member of the Solar Lodge, was questioned by the police in 1969. She stated that Brayton practised thought-control on the Lodge's members; one member, she remembered, was ordered to curb his sexual desires by cutting his wrists every time he was aroused. Mrs. Reos told the police that when she herself became pregnant, Brayton was outraged, and told Reos that she would have to train herself to hate the unborn child.

Reos went on that the children of the group's forty-three members were kept apart from their parents, and received special "training" that was given in "very severe tones." She added that "there was a lot of spanking involved, and a lot of being enclosed in dark rooms." The teacher's punishments "left welts", and the Order parents themselves were sometimes ordered to beat their own children.



The FBI files on the Solar Lodge

[Parts which have been blacked out by the FBI censors are marked XXX. It should be noted that Charles Manson is not memtioned anywhere in these files. A facsimile reproduction of these files may be found in my Materialien zum OTO ]

Date: 8/15/69
TO: DIRECTOR, FBI ATTN: Identification Division
FROM: SAC, LOS ANGELES (88-16511)
SUBJECT: GEORGINA R. BRAYTON, aka Jean Brayton - FUGITIVE;
RICHARD MONTGOMERY BRAYTON - FUGITIVE;
ROBERT ALLEN DUERRSTEIN - FUGITIVE;
EDSON FRANK DUNLAP - FUGITIVE;
JAMES HERBERT GIBBONS - FUGITIVE
UFAP - CHILD ABUSE

OO: Los Angeles

The following information was furnished 8/14,15/69 by XXX Riverside
County Sheriff's Office, and XXX Riverside County District Attorney's
Office, Blythe, California. These agencies requested Unlawful Flight to
Avoid Prosecution (UFAP) assistance for captioned subjects:

This case involves an organization or cult known as O.T.O., which
letters stand for Ordo Templi Orientis (Order of the Temple of the
Orient or Oriental Templars). It is also known as the "Eye of Horus"
and has had book stores under this name. The aims of O.T.O. are the
teaching of hermetic science or occult knowledge, the pure and holy
magic of light, the secrets of mystic attainment and yoga of all forms.
According to cult literature entitled "Manifesto of the O.T.O.", it
embodies the whole of the secret knowledge of all Oriental orders and
"has existing branches in every civilized country in the world."

The O.T.O. maintained book stores in Blythe, California, and at 1918
West Eight Street, Los Angeles, which later moved to 1241 West 30th
Street, Los Angeles. These "Eye of Horus" book stores were managed by
subject ROBERT ALLEN DUERRSTEIN.

A group or commune of the O.T.O. based in Los Angeles, California, at
1241 West 30th Street and 2627 Menlo Street, approximately one and one
half to two years ago began building a retreat or commune on 20 acres
of land located in a remote desert area, 38 miles north of Blythe,
California, on Highway 95. According to tax records, this property is
in the name XXX. During the period of construction, the cult members
worked in Los Angeles and travelled to this property on weekends.

About three to four months ago, a large part of this group moved to
this desert commune and several obtained jobs in Blythe. The buildings
consisted of a Quonset type building and "houses" made out of "piano
boxes" and "A" frames. They maintained livestock such as cows, goats,
and horses on this property. The O.T.O. also listed a run-down tavern,
motel, store, and station at Vidal, California, approximately two miles
from their commune.

Among persons moving to this commune were five children, two of which
were ANTHONY SAUL GIBBONS, also known as Saul Gibbons, age 6, XXX.
Their mother, BEVERLY JUNE GIBBONS, a white female, age 36, and xxx
APPROX. father, JAMES HERBERT GIBBONS, an employee of the Los Angeles
County Probation Department at Camp David Gonzales, were members of
O.T.O. Witnesses state that according to rules of the cult, the parents
were not to have direct control over their children and the children
would be in effect wards of the O.T.O.
[Remark P.R.K.: This sounds like Reuss' concept of a social utopia,
somehow tried out by Crowley at his Abbey of Thelema at Cefalú]

On 7/26/69, XXX went to the commune to look at some horses which were
for sale. At this time, they observed a child chained inside of a large
shipping crate and thereafter notified the Riverside County Sheriff's
Office.

Riverside County Sheriff's Deputies proceeded to the commune, where
they found SAUL GIBBONS sitting on a mattress in a 6' by 6' box. A
heavy metal chain was padlocked to his left leg and the other end of
the chain was locked to a large metal plate. The box also contained a
No. 10 can partially filled with human waste and swarming with flies.
Also, the box contained an uncovered plastic jug with drinking water, a
food encrusted plate, and a small washtub filled with dirty water. The
stench was nauseating, the flies were swarming, it was hot, and the boy
could not recall how long he had been in the box. The recorded
temperature in Blythe since 7/1/69 reached 117 degrees with 12 days
raching 110 degrees or more.

Investigation determined that on 5/20/69 the Quonset hut at the
commune, with many of the cult's belongings, burned down. This fire was
not reported to authorities.

Cult members determined that SAUL GIBBONS set the fire and about three
days later, GEORGINA BRAYTON, RICHARD BRAYTON, and ROBERT DUERRSTEIN,
as well as other cult members, proceeded to the commune from Los
Angeles.

XXX former O.T.O. members, stated that GEORGINA BRAYTON is the leader
of the group and ROBERT DUERRSTEIN is second in command. The group is
strictly disciplined and JEAN BRAYTON finalizes all decisions.

Upon arrival at the commune in May, JEAN BRAYTON is alleged to have
held lit matches to the hand of SAUL GIBBONS as punishment for burning
the Quonset down and for killing two goats which were destroyed by the
fire. She allegedly made SAUL bury the goats after which he was "beaten
all day" with bamboo sticks by the adult members of the commune while
the BRAYTONS and DUERRSTEIN watched. SAUL was then put in an "A" frame
building by the "cow pens" and chained to the heavy metal plate. He
allegedly stayed in the "A" frame two weeks, during which time he was
fed only bread and water. Thereafter, he was transferred to the 6' by
6' wooden box in which he was found on 7/26/69.

A week or two after SAUL's original punishment at the commune, a
meeting was held at the O.T.O. Temple, 2627 Menlo, Los Angeles. JEAN
BRAYTON told those present that as punishment for setting the fire she
had burned SAULS's hands with matches, made him dig the grave and bury
the carcasses of the two goats. and then chained him in an "A" frame,
where he was to sit in Asana, a yogie position. She then said that when
it was convenient, she was going to give SAUL LSD and set fire to the
structure in which he was chained and give him just enough chain to get
out of reach of the fire. She asked if anyone had any objections or
better ideas. No one, including SAULS' mother, BEVERLY GIBBONS, who was
present at the meeting, had any objections. ROBERT DUERRSTEIN suggested
they kill the child, but JEAN BRAYTON said this would not be necessary.
BEVERLY GIBBONS allegedly remarked during these conversations that it
was "sacrificing one to save many".

SAUL GIBBONS, age 6, was apparently chained in the above condition from
about 5/23/69 to 7/26/69.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Office arrested the following cult
members after SAUL was found and they were subsequently booked 8/13/69
on Riverside County Grand Jury indictments charging child abuse. They
are currently out on bond:

CLIFFORD ALAN REOS, white male, age 21, 5'10", 160 pounds, brown hair,
and green eyes;
MICHAEL JOHN FOXWORTH, white male, age 20, 6'20", 175 pounds, brown
hair, and brown eyes;
GARDNER HERBERT REYNOLDS, JR., white male, age 22, 5'11", 180 pounds,
brown hair, and hazel eyes;
JAMES EDWARD HUNGERFORD, white male, age 22, 6', 175 pounds, brown
hair, and blue eyes;
VIRGINIA CELESTE MICHEL, white female, age 21, 5'3", 110 pounds, brown
hair, and blue eyes;
PATRICIA ANN MOSHER, white female, age 26, 5'3", 105 pounds, brown
hair, and blue eyes;
JACK REVEL NEECE, white male, age 22, 5'8", 140 pounds, brown hair, and blue
eyes;
JOHN FRANCIS NICHOLSON, white male, age 21, 5'8", 148 pounds, brown hair, and
blue eyes;
JUIDH LYNN OSTER, nee Angelson, also known as Julie Oster, an employee of the
Bank of America;
BEVERLY JUNE GIBBONS, white female, date of birth 5/13/33, 5'4", 105 pounds,
brown hair, and brown eyes;
JEFFERY FLYNN

As previously stated, the above listed persons have been charged with felony
child abuse and are currently out on bond.

On 7/28/69, XXX Riverside County District Attorney Investigator, interviewed
XXX who were all together at Blythe, California. He also talked that date by
phone with XXX. Warrants were not outstanding for these persons at this time
and they were not arrested. All of these people disappeared thereafter and
their whereabouts are currently unknown.

XXX Vidal, California, advised the Riverside County Sheriff's Office 8/4/69
that XXX disappeared after the above arrests and that she had seen a letter
from RICHARD BRAYTON to XXX , which was postmarked in Arizona, city unknown.
While JULIE OSTER was in the Blythe jail, conversation was overheard between
JULIE and O.T.O. friend in which JULIE said that if "she (JEAN BRAYTON)
couldn't come back in the stat, someone else would have to administer the
business enterprises at Vidal". Also, that the BRAYTONS "weren't safe in the
United States".

On 8/13/69, the Riverside County Grand Jury returned a true bill charging 19
members of the O.T.O., including all five captioned subjects, with violation
Section 273(a), California Penal Code, Child Abuse, a felony.

This case was discussed with Assistant U.S. Attorney DAVID P. CURNOW, Los
Angeles, by SA XXX on 8/14/69. He authorized prosecution of all five captioned
subjects for violation Title 18, Section 1073, U.S. Code, UFAP - Child Abuse.
He recommended $25,000 bond for each subject.

On 8/15/69, complaints were filed by SA XXX before U.S. Commissioner JOHN
MORGAN, Riverside, California, and warrants were issued. Fugitive Form Letters
submitted.

GEORGINA R. BRAYTON is a white female; born 12/29/21, possibly in England;
5'5", 135 pounds; brown hair dyed red; green eyes; California driver's licence
F553407; and Social Security Number XXXX. She allegedly has claimed to be the
reincarnation of Sir ALEISTER CROWLEY, who wrote "Book of Lies" published in
London in 1913. CROWLEY, since deceased, was an alleged leader of O.T.O.

RICHARD MONTGOMERY BRAYTON is a white male; born 1911 in Ohio; 5'10"; 165
pounds; black hair, graying; brown eyes; Social Security Number XXX, California
driver's licence B240125, and Criminal Identification and Investigation (CII)
Number XXX. He was arrested for burglary by the Los Angeles Police Department
9/28/68, their number XXX. BRAYTON is alleged to have become addicted to
percodan.

ROBERT ALLEN DUERRSTEIN is a white male; born 9/23/39; 6'3"; 160 pounds; brown
hair; blue eyes; California driver's license F819421; and with address 1241
West 30th Street, Los Angeles.

EDSON FRANK DUNLAP is a white male; born 10/10/30; 6'2", 180 pounds; brown
hair; hazel eyes; address 1241 West 30th Street, Los Angeles; and California
driver's license F324970. DUNLAP, a dentist and graduist of University of
Southern California (USC) Dental School, is reportedly a high cult member and
has worked for XXX has a bank account at the Bank of America, 1255 Sartori
Avenue, Torrance.

JAMES HERBERT GIBBONS is a white male; born 8/22/32 in California: 6'1"; 160
pounds; brown hair; Social Security Number XXX and was employed by the Los
Angeles County Probation Department. He also has degrees in theology and made
application to teach at the Palos Verdes Junior College, Blythe, California.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Office also has felony warrants for charging
child abuse in connection with this matter for DENNIS CASTINEREZ, also known as
Paul Masters, Steve Quilly, a white male, 25 years of age, 5'7", muscular
build, dark hair, and tan complexion. CASTINEREZ allegedly may be avoiding the
draft. They also have felony warrants to B. APPORX. Lorna FLYNN, a white
female, and GEORGE CHRISTIAN SCOTT, a white male. The Riverside County
Sheriff's Office to date has not located these persons. UFAP process is not
outstanding for CASTINEREZ, LORNA FLYNN, or GEORGE SCOTT at this time.

XXX

The O.T.O. leases and operates the Richfield Service Station at 3401 South
Flower, Los Angeles, which is run by cult member XXX. Other cult
members work at the station.

XXX




Comment by a former member of the Solar Lodge -- see above

Robert Allen Duerrstein, "Bob" as I knew him, was in the dentistry department
at USC, and got us all kinds of drugs. Edson dunlap, aka "Big Ed", I knew
little about, except that I think he had a lot of power in the organization.
He was a former race car driver. James Gibbons "Spud" as we knew him, was a
friendly man, a good soul, so I thought. I cannot imagine that he would
subject his child to this thing.

It troubles me to learn the identity of the parents whose child was the "boy
in the box". Of all the people I knew in the group, I would have guessed them
to be least likely to do such a thing. But I also understand how such a thing
could happen.

The "Order" promised a "short cut across the spirals of evolution to true
enlightenment." Many of the people involved at that time had experimented
with mind-altering drugs. Remember, this was in the time of Haight Ashbury
and Timothy Leary and a rediscovery of Asian philosophy. I myself had just
come from Haight Ashbury to Los Angeles in the summer of 1967, when I was
introduced to the Solar Lodge. Many of us had tried LSD, and after a while,
realized that it only took us a little way. We wanted to know if there was
more, and the Solar Lodge promised us that there was. They used mind-altering
drugs to help the process, but they were not the first. Certain branches of
yoga use "arshti", which is a practice of giving drugs to acolytes to help
them open up their perception.

In addition, they were a kind of communal group, also very attractive at that
time. I saw this when I first met them. They were renting apartments in South
Central Los Angeles, and I rented from them, and eventually took the oath of
the Minerval Degree from them. There appeared to be about 15-20 members then.
Many lived in the same house with Jean and Dick. Some were students at the
nearby University of Southern California. The core group members appeared to
be a bit older, from mid 20's to 40's. Most new members were younger.

The atmosphere at that time was enthusiastic, mystical, and a bit unsettling,
because of the feeling that many things were not being revealed to newcomers.
But this also attracted people to become more involved, in order to find out
more. Jean began the practice of putting on "profane parties" in order to
attract newcomers, because she said that it would only be possible for a
limited time to gain new members.

They held ceremonies, including initiations in the third floor of one of the
houses they owned. They taught yoga, Kabbala, and various forms of
divination, such as Tarot reading. They also had an extensive collection of
books, some of which appeared to be very old.

They were also building a retreat in the Mojave Desert. They called it the
"ark", because it was where we would all go when rioting began again in Los
Angeles. (Remember, the Watts riots had happened two years before.) They
built this desert temple near Blythe, CA from Quonset huts dismantled from
old warehouses in southeast Los Angeles. The temple was in the shape of a
pyramid, because of the power in that shape, because the location was roughly
at the same latitude as Cairo, and for various other reasons. This
apparently was the building that was burned, although I am only guessing.

As one spent more time with the group, and advanced in the grades, more was
revealed, and more demands were made. To paraphrase a passage from the Bible,
"on the tongue, it was sweet, but in the belly it became bitter." But we were
also instructed from the very beginning that part of the test of our
worthiness would be our willingness to follow instructions that seemed
unusual. Because we had to subdue the ego, which was very tricky, and would
find any way it could to preserve itself.

At the time I was involved, there was no illegal activity that I was aware
of, other than the use of drugs and some petty theft of statues from
neighbors' property. Most of people's energy was devoted to the practices we
were assigned.

Sometimes a few of us would spend long hours into the night talking
philosophy, but we were discouraged from talking about our practices or about
what we knew about the organization. This was a time when we questioned all
values: our president had been assassinated a few years previously, our
religions had become irrelevant, we were against the war in Vietnam, an many
of the terrible things we had been told about drugs we felt were untrue. So
we were throwing out the old ideas and reinventing ourselves. The Solar Lodge
beliefs appeared to have answers to our dissatisfaction with traditional
values, and they made us feel special, superior.

But after a few months, I began to find the group a bit boring and
narrow-minded, particularly in their views about Black people. Their racism
was one area where they were out of touch with the mood of the times. But the
racism was very subtle, and there was not preaching about white supremacy or
aryanism.

Most of what I have read about the group varies from sounding fairly true to
being wildly inaccurate. I doubt very much that Jean Brayton was a CIA
operative, as was Cinque and other members of the SLA. She certainly was not
a daughter of an Air Force Officer, as some say! She actually had a slight
English accent and enjoyed making marmalade and tea. Maybe she was channeling
Crowley! She never in my presence claimed to be Crowley's reincarnation,
however. She did have many opinions about world events, but on close
examination, her understanding of those events was shallow, incomplete. She
chose to pay attention to what reinforced her somewhat apocalyptic views.
This became tiresome to me eventually. She would, from time to time, say
things that had a curious ring of truth. I remember in particular her saying
that in order to truly change, one had to cut ties from old acquaintances.
She once pronounced the family "public enemy number one", because it kept
individuals from cutting the bonds of conformity. She loved to find greater
truths in everyday observations, and many of the members extended this to
looking for hidden meanings, notably in song lyrics, especially Beatles
lyrics.

All of what I have read about the group completely ignores the aspect of
human aspiration that the group harnessed. The group members were not devils.
They were ordinary people who were seeking. Since that time, we have seen
many other examples of what can happen when ordinary seekers fall under the
spell of a charismatic leader. Some can do much good, and some, such as the
followers of Jim Jones, can do much ill. We would do well to spend some time
not simply vilifying these people, but trying to understand what in human
nature is attracted like the moth to the flame.

The Solar Lodge followed the OTO motto that "Man is God". But I would modify
that to add that it is true insofar as any human can understand a supreme
being. Therefore, the "men" of the OTO are gods. And not all gods are great,
or benign. It was this hubrid, I think, that led to the unfortunate decision
to put a child in a box. This is what happened to the Braytons and their
Solar Lodge.

What happened to me? I was forced to leave because of Vietnam. I joined a
much more powerful and deadly cult, the U.S. Army.


* * *


I am fearful of having my name associated with the group, and being contacted
by any of the old members of the group. I'll tell you a story:

In 1972 I revisted the meeting house to see if any of the people I had known
were still there. the windows of the house were papered over so that no one
could see in. Finally, a person who I recognized answered the door. He was
extremely guarded, and looked as though he had aged considerably in the 4
years since I had seen him (he couldn't have been over 25) He asked me if I
had heard the news about the group (I hadn't. I knew nothing of the
associations with Manson) Then, fixing me with a very sinister scowl, he told
me never to return unless I was rejoining the group. "This is not a
bullshit organization", he said.

The more I am finding out about this group, the more I realize I did not know
very much about them. and I would imagine that some of the former members are
still around. And right now here in the States is a bit of fear about what
crazy person might be loose with a gun!






It seems that the accused parties came before a judge in December 1971.
In January 1972, Jean Brayton's periodical 'Midnight Press' published a "Special 'COMICS' Issue", from which it was plain that the Solar Lodge was now calling itself the "Velle Transcendental Research Association, Inc." In this issue of the magazine (Vol. 1 Nº 4), mention was made of the first trial as a "farce", and that a higher court than the Indio Superior Court would be bound to accept the group's evidence of "the existence of the psychological report which confirms that [the boy in the box] Anthony [Saul Gibbons] was not harmed emotionally or physically." The magazine also complained about the numerous delays to the group's defence caused by recalcitrant attorneys, claiming that they were the victims of perjury, that "confidential material" had been witheld from them, and that they had not been provided with court transcripts. It also adduced the "fact" that the six-year old Anthony Saul Gibbons had emerged from the box on July 26 1969 "in good health as confirmed by a doctor's examination."

Jean Brayton gave her own opinion of the local justice system: "The Riverside Railroad Injustice System supports judges and prosecutors who are neighbours, who belong to an in-group clique of socialites, who golf together, who evaluate trial action according to political pressure, who exchange functions of the judicial system indiscriminately, who ignore welfare and probation recommendations to inflict jail terms in their warehouses of perversion, who have professional witnesses and intimidated witnesses perjure themselves in order to unjustly malign those who endeavor to bring true freedom and love into the hearts of all mankind."

The members of the Velle Transcendental Research Association, Inc. called themselves "Velleans", and the group claimed that it was a "True, Universal Brotherhood" which paid homage to Freemasonry. The Velleans said that they had magically invoked the Egyptian god Tahuti (otherwise called Thoth) to call forth a tribunal before "Horus! Lord of the Aeon!!" where "The Grand Inquisitor [i.e. the judge] and Prosecutor" were compelled to "Swear that we will never again hinder our [illegible] man in his search for true freedom and understanding. We also swear to strive ever stronger in our search for truth and knowledge of our true selves!"

Rumour has it that Jean Brayton escaped to Ensenada in Argentina, when she was just on the point of being arrested. Some say she's dead by now.




The birth of the "Caliphate" as a consequence of Charles Manson's involvement with the Solar Lodge of the O.T.O. ?

In January 1969 Phyllis Seckler told Grady McMurtry about what had been happening in California. On 29 April 1969, McMurtry moved from Washington to California, and started an unsuccessful campaign to recruit former Agapé members to his cause. In a letter dated June 9 1969, one of these ex-members called Jean Shivonen replied to McMurtry: "I'm not interested." Nonetheless, McMurtry and his wife Phyllis formed a group callled "the Continuum" and started to publish reprints of Crowley's writings. It was this Continuum group that formed the nucleus of five members that was eventually to become the 'Caliphate' O.T.O., a new O.T.O. founded in 1977 for the purpose of getting tax-exempt status as a religious association, and to benefit from an alleged claim on Crowley copyrights worldwide.

An intriguing sidelight is cast on these pretentions by Crowley's Last Will and Testament, which makes no mention of McMurtry at all, naming the Englishman John Symonds as "Literary Executor" to the Crowley estate.

While the Solar Lodge may not have believed that Sascha Germer had any worthwhile O.T.O. material, McMurtry certainly toyed with the idea of filing a legal claim to force her to hand her archives over to him. However, the local police cautioned him against this. On March 20 1973 McMurtry and Seckler publicly copyrighted Crowley material for the first time.

The list given below provides some evidence of 'Caliphate' involvement with the Solar Lodge, in the form of certain letters held in the 'Caliphate' archive. When it was revealed that Manson had been an occasional visitor to Jean Brayton's O.T.O., McMurtry promptly informed on Brayton to the FBI, almost certainly to avoid his own affairs being investigated too closely. He also furnished the journalist Ed Sanders with information about Brayton and the Solar Lodge; in return for this favour, Sanders made no mention of McMurtry in the first edition of his book on the Manson affair "The Family". More recent editions of "The Family" also exclude any mention of the O.T.O. as well.
Earlier, Sanders reported that at least five separate sources informed him that Manson was involved with the Solar Temple Lodge, both at the Lodge's desert ranch, and at one of their houses in L.A., located near the USC campus. Also, Sander's claimed that a house owned by Brayton at 1251 West Thirtieth Street in Los Angeles was supposedly frequented by Manson.

to
Yorke, Germer, McMurtry, Grady L., IX°, 10/17/1969
Gerald Sascha Regardie, Break in, Braytons,
Names

McMurtry, Yorke, Letter regarding the 11/21/1969
Grady L. Gerald beginning of the California
O.T.O. Thelemic dates,
Berkeley days.

Brayton, Burlingame, Letter re. accusations of 12/23/1969
Jean Mildred robbery.

Brayton, McMurtry, Letter re. accusations of 12/23/1969
Jean Grady L. & robbery.
Burlingame,
Mildred

McMurtry, Yorke, ltr. re. Heflin, Thoth, Diary 03/08/1970
Grady L. Gerald of a Drug Fiend, Degree
papers, Solar Lodge,
Caliphate papers.

McMurtry, Notes Handwritten notes re. the n.d.
Grady L. towards the investigation of the
recovery of 1966-1969 thefts and the
the Crowley acceptance of the Caliphate.
Library (3/8/70)

Hughes, R. McMurtry, Correspondence regarding 5 - 9/1970
Glenn Grady L. & groups in L.A. in 1970
Phyllis Braytons, Morlochs, Stars of
the O.T.O., and the notorious
O.T.A.

McMurtry, Yorke, Letter re. Braytons, Arthur 08/10/1970
Grady L. Gerald Lyons, Abramelin Squares,
Book of Thoth, Astral Travel.

McMurtry, Crammer, Ltr. re. West Point robbery, 10/11/1970
Grady L. Thomas with details of the other
Lt. thefts, 1966-1969.

McMurtry, Lindstrom, Ltr. outlining the 1966-1969 10/17/1970
Grady L. Ray E., FBI thefts, their connection with
the "boy in the box" case,
and the role of the Braytons
in both.

McMurtry, Germer, Ltr. re. Brayton gang, Stella 10/25/1970
Grady L. Sascha Secker's innocence, West
Point police, investigation
of thefts 1966-1969,
Caliphate. 3 copies.

McMurtry, Brayton, Letter to Jean Brayton et 02/02/1971
Grady L. Jean al., informing them of his
awareness of their actions,
charging them to come and see
him at their earliest
convenience

Brayton, McMurtry, Letter responding to GLM to 05/01/1971
Richard Grady L. JB 2/2/1971, suggesting
Mildred Burlingame as a
go-between

McMurtry, Lindstrom, letter re. Brayton case. 05/12/1971
Grady L. Ray E.,
F.B.I.

McMurtry, Crammer, Letter re. Braytons, & Dick 05/13/1971
Grady L. Thomas, Lt. Brayton letter of 5/1/1971.

McMurtry, Hayes, Henry Four letters re. the 05/--/1971
Grady L. C., Sgt. Braytons, "A Plea for
Religious Toleration", and
the Abramelin/Enochian
squares.

McMurtry, Letter to Draft of a letter to the 05/--/1971
Grady L. Jean Brayton Brayton group, prob. not
et al. of mailed. Declares them falsely
the falsely named as O.T.O.
named "Solar
Lodge -

McMurtry, Seckler, list of items sent re. 07/25/1971
Grady L. Paul Braytons, Caliphate, Art
Lyons.

McMurtry, The Brayton List of members of the n.d.
Grady L. Group Brayton Group culled from
newspapers and personal
knowledge by GLM.

Velle Midnight Partisan rag of the Brayton 10/--/1971
Trancendental Press group, immediately following
Research Vol. I, No. the "boy in the box" case.
Assn. 3 Excellent examples of occult
agit-prop.

McMurtry, Notes on the Notes on the investigation of 06/13/1973
Grady L. Brayton Case the Braytons and relevant
dates and certain events
prior




Brayton's Solar Lodge of the O.T.O. had existed well before the 'Caliphate' did; now McMurtry had somehow to dispose of this unwanted rival, and proclaim himself as self-styled head of the O.T.O. with worldwide supremacy while flying in the face of the historical facts. He therefore founded a new Agapé Lodge, called it a 'Grand Lodge' with an implied superior status, and set about silencing or activating other O.T.O. lodges or memberships according to their willingness to accept his claimed supremacy. Thus, he described Brayton's group as "irregular", stating that the Burlingame's original powers to initiate had been invalid - yet at he same time conveniently accepting the "powers" of those other former members of the defunct 1950's Agapé Lodge who supported his claims - people like his own wife Phyllis Seckler, and Helen P. Smith. Not only were the Burlingame's powers denied, but also those of figures like Kenneth Grant, Marcelo Ramos Motta, and H.J. Metzger, who undoubtedly had some prior claims and seniority in the O.T.O. A carefully orchestrated propaganda campaign of disinformation did the rest of the work in upholding McMurtry's fairy-tale.

The fact is that either both Brayton's Solar Lodge and the 'Caliphate' are 'regular' O.T.O. offshoots - orphan satellite offspring of a defunct O.T.O. group dissolved in 1953 - or neither are anything of the sort. Since McMurtry's day, some of the more discriminating 'Caliphate' authorities have acknowledged the existence of this uncomfortable dilemma, and now admit that the Burlingames "performed limited O.T.O. activities" to get themselves off the hook - though they don't specify just what these activities were.


'Caliphate' and Solar Lodge: Irregular?

K = Koenig S = Scriven, Xth of the "Caliphate", email correspondence in late 1996 K: I also would like to see any such paper [= charter to initiate] for individuals like Seckler, H.P. Smith and the Burlingames (who, according to Heidrick, did initiations in the late 1960s) (Heidrick to me194@delphi.com). If you can't show such paper I would like to hear your explanation why any initiations done by above mentioned individuals should be "real" initiations? (the "emergency" argument does not count because it does not mention/assert "initiations"!)--- S: By McMurtry's recognition of them. K: Therefore, the Solar Lodge is a "real" OTO lodge or is McMurtry's recognition haphazard or selective? K:---Heidrick told that some members of the Solar Lodge now are members of the "Caliphate". (Heidrick to me194@delphi.com, 9 Oct 1994) Is that true? If yes: Since when? And why? I thought that members with a criminal history are excluded ... S: I am aware of the initiation of the son of a former Solar Lodge member. We also have members who were once members of the "Order of Thelema," a later successor organization to the Solar Lodge. I do not believe we have any members who were members of the original Solar Lodge who would have been involved in the Germer/Regardie/Burlingame thefts or the "boy in the box" scandal. People with criminal histories are not _necessarily_ excluded from membership. The nature of the crime, the age of the individual when the crime was committed, and the individual's behavior during and after civil punishment are taken into consideration. Brayton's initiation occurred before McMurtry's implementation of the Caliphate, which was, according to my current reckoning, in 1969; or according to your reckoning, in 1977. K: In other words: there is uncertainty as to why Mildred B's initiation of the Brayton woman should have been not valid because Mildred had no charter to do initiations - while McMurtry's initiations should have been valid although he never had such charter. S: This is a good point, but I believe I have answered it above. K: But M.Burlingame's initiation of Brayton is not denied! S: She did perform the initiation, but we do not recognize its validity, because it was performed in 1963 or 1964; both after Karl Germer's death and before McMurtry's activation of the Caliphate. McMurtry could have recognized it retroactively, but he did not do so. [ Nevertheless, Phyllis Seckler openly admitted: They were an O.T.O. Lodge. ] [ AFTERWORD, 1997: Not after the "boy in the box" scandal, understandably - he tried to put as much distance between himself and the Solar Lodge as possible in the FBI's eyes! It begs the question: does "Caliphate" recognition of an initiation rest upon moral grounds, i.e., can it be "retracted" later if the "Caliphate" doesn't like/ approve the initiate? Another double standard is operating here: according to S's own criteria, Burlingame was actually entitled to be "performing limited OTO activities" alongside McMurtry, Seckler and Smith. Otherwise the "Caliphate" would simply have been McMurtry by himself "holding it in trust", just as Motta could have been said to have done with Motta's SOTO. ]


Manson and the O.T.O. ?

Before Charles Manson (b. 1935) visited the 'parties' open to outsiders held at Solar Lodge meetings, he had had a rather chequered occult history. He is supposed to have first become interested in Scientology while he was incarcerated at the McNeil Island Penitentiary in Washington (Scientology has prison recruiting programmes). There it is said that Manson received about 150 hours of Scientology counselling. After his release from prison, he went to Los Angeles, where it is claimed that he attended several Scientology events where Hollywood stars were guests, including possibly the dedication ceremony for Scientology's first 'Celebrity Center'. Manson was undoubtedly eager to meet celebrities to further his musical ambitions and find someone to produce his guitar-playing; it is known that he contacted one of the Beach Boys, and Doris Day's son.

There are hints that not long after this he became involved with the Solar Lodge, and may also have had links with 'The Process', a Satanist-oriented group which had originally broken away from Scientology; Scientology itself had early connections with Crowley's O.T.O., in the form of L. Ron Hubbard's association with Jack Parsons.
More on Parsons in Nikolas and Zeena Schreck: Demons of the Flesh

So what exactly did Manson do in the Solar Lodge? As witnesses have reported (see above), Brayton began putting on "profane parties" to draw in recruits from the public, attracting people to the idea of a special, semi-secret organisation which performed magical rituals, and which involved "sex and strange doings and good drugs and groovy people." About fifty outsiders were involved, including Hollywood figures like Jerry Kay, who had been the art director on the film 'Easy Rider'. Kay left the Solar Lodge around August 1967, having done little more than take the 'Oath of a Probationer' [an A.'.A.'. "degree"]; the one thing he took with him on his departure was a copy of the 'Book of the Law', which he decorated with illustrations, and later sold.

The most famous guest at Brayton's parties was Manson, who, like Brayton, believed he was the reincarnation of Aleister Crowley.

The scandals surrounding the Solar Lodge happened at the same time as the Manson 'Family' was committing the murders of Sharon Tate and her friends - seven people in all - in August 1969; and both sets of events took place within a few miles of each other. This, and the similar occult backgrounds of Manson and Brayton, made the tabloid press leap to the conclusion that there must be a direct connection between the Manson murders, and the O.T.O.'s 'boy in the box' scandal - a highly tenuous connection, to say the least.

But there is one more dependable, if unusual link between the characteristics of the 'Family and Brayton's Solar Lodge, and other O.T.O. groups. One member of Manson's 'Family' called Robert (or Bobby) Beausoleil lived together with celebrated underground film-maker and occultist Kenneth Anger. Before he became embroiled in the Manson affair, Beausoleil had acted the rôle of Lucifer in Anger's film 'Lucifer Rising'. While imprisoned as a result of the murders, Beausoleil occupied his time in composing a musical score for the film. Kenneth Anger was also instrumental in founding Anton LaVey's 'Church of Satan' - and allegedly LaVey played the rôle of Satan in Roman Polanski's film 'Rosemary's Baby' (wich is in fact not true); Sharon Tate, one of the Manson murder-victims was Polanski's wife.

Today, Kenneth Anger is a close friend of William Breeze, the 'Caliph' or leader if the 'Caliphate', the new O.T.O. group that was founded largely as a result of the Solar Lodge and Manson affairs; Anger is a member of the 'Caliphate' IX° and as a member of the VIII°-Aeropagus has a say in this Order's fate.


Books on Charles Manson and the Solar Lodge:
Ed Sanders: "The Family", New York 1971
Phyllis Seckler's magazine "In the Continuum", Oregon
Court transcript Marcelo Ramos Motta vs. Samuel Weiser Inc. 1985
Marcelo Ramos Motta: "Oriflamme" VI;5 Rio de Janeiro 1987
Sandy Robertson: "Aleister Crowley Scrapbook", London 1988
Vincent Bugliosi: "Helter Skelter", New York 1988

Source:

http://user.cyberlink.ch/~koenig/sunrise/manson.htm