~ MYTHS OF THE SOLAR LODGE REVISITED ~

by J. Edward Cornelius
from The Scribe, Vol.1 No.7 1997, New York

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. AL I:40

Many religious groups have captivated readers in the last thirty years with their bizarre antics.
Yet I have never understood the fascination which some authors have with the group calling itself the
Solar Lodge, prompting them to dredge its story from near oblivion into their articles or books. These
authors usually begin by discussing legitimate O.T.O. history, a bit sensationalized but nevertheless
true, then immediately confuse the facts by bringing up the Solar Lodge. Readers are often left with the
assumption that these are one and the same organization, which is far from true. The mere idea of
connecting legitimate O.T.O. leaders like Wilfred T. Smith or the legendary Jack Parsons with a group
of wanna-be's like the Solar Lodge is ludicrous. Authors who do so are comparing apples with oranges.
Just because a group of individuals, like the Solar Lodge, 'lifts' the name of a real organization, like the
Ordo Templi Orientis, that organization should not be held hostage by every sensational journalist who
can not determine the difference.
The most common misconception about the Solar Lodge that authors love to foster is the
connection with Charlie Manson. Contrary to what some would like readers to believe, this is a
misconception. He was not a member, nor is there any strong evidence that he ever visited the group.
The sole source of these stories is found in Ed Sanders' book The Family published in 1971. Here
Sanders wrote that at “least five separate individuals have claimed that they were told by a member of
Brayton's rebel O.T.O. Lodge that Manson was involved with the Lodge.” (1) These allegations have
never been substantiated and appear to be only second hand gossip told to a third party who then talked
to Sanders, hardly the type of evidence which would stand up in a Court of Law. The only tenuous
connection to the Manson murders is that the Solar Lodge problems occurred two months before the
Tate-LaBianco murders. The paranoia of the general public dictated that since, both incidents were
committed by hippie drug cults in the Los Angeles area they must be connected. Many researchers
have spent years in their quest to tie these two groups together but to no avail. There was no vast hippie
conspiracy. Still, with all the information available on the Solar Lodge we find authors like Alex
Constantine whose article recently appeared in Paranoia Magazine titled “The False Memory Hoax” (2)
along with Peter Levenda, the author of The Unholy Alliance, (3) promoting the same old, tired
misconceptions, if not creating new outright lies.
Some writers, like myself, strongly believe these authors simply think it's plausible to attach all
the evils of society from drug trafficking, sexual promiscuity, satanic murders, child abuse and
kidnapping onto the Ordo Tempil Orientis. Unfortunately anyone with half a brain, or capable of doing
the simplest of research, quickly uncovers that this is not the case. The above mentioned travesties are
totally foreign to the O.T.O.'s thinking and have absolutely nothing to do with the practices taught
within its hallowed halls. However the Great Beast is the man whom everyone loves to hate and is
often called, wronly so, the father of modern Satanism. To these idiots it is only logical that if Crowlev
was once the world leader of the O.T.O., then of course this organization would continue practicing his
personal proclivities rather than following its own Rules, Regulations and Bylaws. The facts are clear;
the O.T.O., before Crowley and after Crowley, does not advocate the Beast's peculiar habits. This is
where trash authors often hit a brick wall. How can they make the quantum leap from fantasy to reality,
from a man who died almost fifty years ago and the modern day practices of the Ordo Templi Orientis?
After all, how can you write about the evils of an organization if such evils don't exist? The only
logical solution is to get a shovel and dig up a dead horse whose name is the Solar Lodge. By doing
such these authors can bring up Charlie Manson, drugs and murder while tenuously dropping the name
O.T.O.
Most tragic is that the reason for the Solar Lodge's longevity in history will be its ties to Aleister
Crowley Crowley, but not in the waythat most authors think. To fully understand the real connection
we must begin with the death of the Beast himself on Monday, December 1st 1947. That was when
Karl Germer became the O.H.O. or Outer Head of the Order of the Ordo Templi Orientis. Grady Louis
McMurtry, a IXth Degree O.T.O. member at the time, summed up Germer's reign when he wrote that

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during “the mid'50's -- I came to realize that the Order was dying because Germer wasn't initiating
people. So I brought this up in one of my periodic visits up to West Point to see him. His reply, which I
have in writing, was that, and I quote, “I consider all that to be lower magick.” Well, lower or not, and
human mortality being what it is, you still have to have a supply of new members if an Order is to
survive. (4) Although Grady and Karl had known each other for many years this issue strained their
friendship and slowly they drifted apart. Grady left California and took a Job in Washington DC. Still
more tragic is that the Agape Lodge closed its doors, which meant that there was no official O.T.O.
Lodge left in America.
A year after Grady McMurtry moved into seclusion Karl Germer died of prostate cancer in West
Point, California on October of 1962. Few members in the O.T.O., knew of his death - even Grady was
unaware. According to Germer's Last Will & Testament he left “the whole of my property and
possessions to my beloved wife Sascha Ernestine Andr -Germer as sole heir.” (5) He did not, as some
historians believe, leave the O.T.O. property to her. To further quote his will, “As regards the property
of the Order Ordo Templi Orientis, of which I am the Head, I direct that this is passed to the Heads of
the Order, but that, my wife, Sascha E. Andr -Germer, has to be the executor of this part of my will,
together with Frederic Mellinger IXth Degree of the O.T.O.” (6) The executors' basic job was to make
sure that the O.T.O. property ended up in the hands of the 'Heads of the Order.' We know that
Mellinger, then in Germany, was eventually notified to assist Sascha in concluding the administration
of the will. However his earlier treatment by both Karl and Sascha made him cautious and so he
refused to help. Sascha was left on her own to decide what to do with Crowley's library and his
possessions, something she was incapable of doing due to her increasingly fragile mental state. She
distrusted everyone, especially the old Agape Lodge members, most of whom were not even contacted
regarding Germer's death. In the end Sascha decided to keep all the possessions and leave everything
basically as it was.
Thanks to Germer's restrictive reign and lack of leadership, the O.T.O. slipped into near oblivion.
After his death only a small handful of initiates remained active in the entire World. The main tragedy
of Germer's death was that although he dictated where the O.T.O. property should go, he never
officially named a successor. This is contrary to what some individuals, like Alex Constantine, would
have us believe by claiming that “Germer, on his death bed, had insisted that Matta (sic) succeed him
as the Outer Head of the occult order.” (7) Constantine should have done better homework. If he had he
would have realized that it's Marcelo Motta, not Matta; further he would have discovered that this false
claim of succeeding Germer was fostered by Motto himself, a man who lived in a paranoid delusional
world believing himself a Napoleon when in fact he was little more than a school teacher baked too
long in the Brazilian sun. Anyway, since most of the O.T.O. initiates were never notified of Germer's
death there was no conclave called of IXth Degree Members to vote upon a new OHO. This meant, for
all practical purposes, the O.T.O. was dead.
It took almost five years for the news of Germer's death to slowly trickle down to southern
California. Sascha Germer decided not to contact anyone in Southern California partially based on the
advice of another old O.T.O. Agape Lodge member in 1962. Sascha didn't need much prodding in this
direction as she was always suspicious of anyone from the old Agape Lodge, just as her husband was
when he was alive. Unfortunately this advice, which was later regretted, was given by Soror Meral who
had joined the Agape Lodge on August 22, 1939. At the time Soror Meral felt that something was
wrong in southern California with certain Agape Lodge members and she feared that if they discovered
the O.T.O. archives were being guarded by one helpless widow something dreadful might occur. She
was obviously privy to some inside information but what she felt was wrong she has never explained.
Still, time proved her fears to be right.
What occurred next would require a rather lengthy book to explain all the graphic details, but it
can certainly be summed up as regrettable. A group of individuals, believing the O.T.O. was dead,
took it upon themselves to break into certain homes and steal the Crowley libraries -- just as Soror
Meral had feared would happen. Their intent was to preserve what they felt was rightfully' theirs and to
re-establish the O.T.O. This sounds like a noble gesture but, regardless what these individuals thought,
they had no right to other people's personal property. Wanting to jump-start the O.T.O. was one thing,
but their methods of obtaining Crowleyanity was felonious and nothing less than pure thievery.
The first break-in occurred in the summer of 1965, the second in1966. Both were at Mildred
Burlingame's house, an old Agape Lodge member whose husband had died shortly before the first
incident. The third break-in occurred shortly afterwards and was at Israel Regardie's house while he
was away. The fourth house which was ransacked was at West Point, Califomia, the home of Sascha
Germer. Soror Meral's fears had come true. This break-in occurred over the Labor Day weekend of
1967. Again, contrary to the 'great' research done by Alex Constantine. I must remind the reader that
Germer did not, and I stress did not “settle in Dublin, California.” (8) He lived in West Point.

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 Unlike the earlier cases, Sascha Gerrner was home during the theft. It began when someone
knocked at her front door. She asked who it was and a reply was heard that it was a member of the
O.T.O. Unfortunately when she opened the door she was immediately sprayed in the face with a gas,
knocked to the floor and overpowered. A drug was then injected by a syringe which knocked her out
cold. When she came to she found that her house had been ransacked and that many books in the
second floor library had been stolen. Aleister Crowley's personal robes, many O.T.O. documents and
ritual papers were also missing. Sascha tried to call the police but found that the phone lines had been
cut. When she finally did notify the local Constable, he took her story, along with a few photographs,
but no fingerprints were taken or any serious investigation was done. Soror Meral has stated that it was
obvious that “they put her story down to the wanderings of the demented mind of a lady who had been
alone too long.” (9) In other words, they didn't believe her. Her house was dirty, being normally in
disarray, and they weren't sure she was actually burglarized.
A strange twist to the story occurs when Sascha's phone lines were finally fixed. The first thing
she did was to call Western Union and send Soror Meral's daughter a telegram on September 15th.
Sascha claimed that upon opening the door, just before being gassed, she saw a woman standing there
and although she couldn't really identify the person, she 'knew' it was Soror Meral's daughter. The
telegram stated, “I request that all stolen goods, stolen books papers are returned without delay. I
accuse you of long time conspiracy toward me getting entrance to my person under false pretension
Sept. 3. Attacking me personally harming me impairing my eye sight enduring. Robbing with help of
three other men the library completely. Destroying willfully all library furniture. Breaking open
wooden strong boxes cleaning out their contents. Being held against my will but one man under
sedatives against my will during the whole time bound of hand and feet.” (10) The telegram was
simply signed, Mrs. Germer. When Soror Meral heard about these accusations she was totally
flabbergasted stating, “You can imagine my extreme shock when this was read to me over the
telephone (by her daughter). When I recovered, I wired back that she (Mrs. Germer) was mistaken and
that no one person in my family would touch one hair of her head.” (11) In reflecting back Soror Meral
has further stated, “Naturally, I was alarmed that my daughter, an innocent person if there ever was
one, and completely uninterested in Crowley literary remains, would be harmed by these insane
accusations.” (12) In truth, the woman whom Sascha saw has never been identified.
Soror Meral immediately began a personal investigation to discover the identities of the real
thieves and to clear her daughter's name. One of the people who responded to her letter of inquiry was
an Agape Lodge member named Mildred Burlingame. It was during a visit with Mildred that Soror
Meral learned that her house, like Sascha's, had been burglarized. She was quick to learn that Mildred
had her own suspicions as to who was responsible for the thefts. She believed that it was a former
student of hers named Georgina 'Jean' Brayton. The first time Mildred's house was broken into it
showed absolutely no signs of forced entry. Since Jean had keys to her house, she became a suspect.
Mildred decided to change the locks and because of such, the next time her house was burglarized a
back window was jimmied open.
How the student-teacher relationship of Mildred and Jean broke down cannot be pinned on any
one incident. We do know that shortly after Mildred's husband died Jean Brayton approached her with
the idea of starting up an O.T.O. Lodge in hope of reviving the Order. Mildred declined the offer
claiming, rightfully so, that she had no authorization to do such. Upon hearing this Jean Brayton was
not deterred. She decided to go ahead with her plans and create a new lodge. She called it The Solar
Lodge of the O.T.O. It was also known as the Velle Transcendental Research Association Inc., a non-
profit California charted religious organization. It is very important to state at this point that although
Jean Brayton was the student of a real O.T.O. Initiate, her lodge was never officially chartered by the
Ordo Tempil Orientis. It was definitely unauthorized and time would prove that the four previous
burglaries had been done by members of Brayton's organization to gain Crowley information needed to
begin their organization.
Once established, the Solar Lodge grew and prospered, from owning two houses on West
Thirtieth Street in Los Angles, to another on South Menio. Soon it acquired a ranch near Blythe,
another in Ensinada Mexico. It also operated two bookstores, both called The Eye of Horus. One of the
bookstores was near USC campus on West Eighth Street and the other was in Blythe. Jean Brayton also
owned a Richfield gas station No.1087 and applied for a liquor license to open a magic bar-cafe near a
motel they were running in Vidal. It was no secret that the Solar Lodge was thriving, but in time
trouble was knocking at the front door as if karma was catching up with them.
The stories are very conflicting depending on who one's listening to. Either, or, the bottom line
was that a single incident led to the downfall of the Solar Lodge. It all began with the actions of a six
year old boy named Saul Anthony Gibbons on June 10th 1969 at the ranch owned by the Solar Lodge
outside of Blythe. The young boy and his sister, Kathy, were sent to the ranch by their parents who

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were recently separated. A Solar Lodge member later stated that they began having trouble with the
kids right from the start. Being the product of a broken home it seems the children were always seeking
attention and were extremely difficult to handle, especially without their parents nearby. On the day in
question, June 10th, young Saul decided to burn down his own quonset hut or bedroom dwelling in the
hope that it would force the adults to allow him and his sister to stay in the main house. A Solar Lodge
member has publicly stated this was because the children “liked to listen to the adults talking instead of
sleeping as they should.” (13) The building which was set on fire was not a “school house” as the
author Mr. Colistantine claims in his article. Regrettably, the fire got out of hand and within moments
explosions occurred. The entire ranch was soon ablaze and, in the end, it was reduced to rubble and
debris.
Solar Lodge members tried in vain to return the children to their natural parents, both of whom
were living in Los Angeles. The arents simply declined to accept them. The mother claimed she could
not take the children due to financial difficulties. The father thought it best “for Saul to remain at the
retreat center and assist in the rebuilding project so he could learn from his mistake.” (14) It was
decided that Kathy should be separated from her brother. She was moved to the motel in Vidal which
was also owned by the Solar Lodge while Saul remained at the ranch under the supervision of a
member named Steve Quilley. Then came the final straw. After months of rebuilding, on July 25th,
Quilley was shocked to discover Saul in the main kitchen trying to set another fire. He immediately
called Saul's father and related the incident. This time the father agreed that Saul had to leave the ranch.
Unfortunately Saul's father couldn't drive to Blythe that evening since it was already late. He asked if
there was some place that Steve could put the child until he got there the next day, claiming “Do
anything you have to do to keep him and everyone out of danger. Tie him, chain him if you have to.”
(15) in other words, the child was considered a threat to everyone, including himself, because of his
fascination with fire. Saul had to be put somewhere which could guarantee his safety and isolation.
Regrettably there weren't too many buildings left standing from the previous fire. So, although it
might sound like a bizarre solution, young Saul was placed in a wooden storage shed, measuring 36
square feet, for his own protection. Tragically, few authors bother to read the state's star witnesses'
testimonies where he described the shed as “a little A-frame building”. (16) Somehow authors feel it
sounds better if sensationally referred to as a 'wooden crate' or as Mr. Constantine claims that Saul was
placed in “confinement in a locked shipping crate left in the desert.” (17) For the record, the entire
ranch was in the middle of the desert and the shed was simply on the property. So, in an odd way, you
can sensationally say that the crate was in the middle of the desert and you wouldn't be lying, but it's
not an accurate portrayal of the facts. Still, my view is that, whatever the real facts might have been,
placing a young six-year old child in a wooden shed even for one night could be construed as abusive.
There is no need to fabricate the story to the extent that most authors do.
Anyway, the following morning and I stress morning not “two months” (18) as Mr. Constantine
and others want us to believe, is when everything seems to have unraveled. All it took was a 21 year
old police informant already “in trouble with the law” and a story being blown way out of proportion
for the police to be called in to rescue an abused child. A child, whom the informant claimed, had been
chained in the box for a whopping 56 days.
With things getting blown out of proportion the Braytons immediately fled but within hours
many members were arrested and dubbed 'Wicked monsters', 'animals' and, of course, 'religious
maniacs.' This sensational story of child abuse shocked the country and nineteen people were quickly
indicted by a Riverside Grand Jury, with twenty-three John Doe warrants being issued in all.
Conflicting stories quickly started to surface in the papers. The police and news media immediately
believed the informant who claimed that contrary to what lodge members were saying, the boy was
'not' placed in the box for 'his safety'only the night before, but insisted that members statements were
an alibi fabricated to escape child abuse charges. Everyone believed the lying snitch. The informant
further claimed that cult members wanted to punish the child by putting him in a box in the middle of
the desert to show him how it felt to 'burn.' Making further allusions to the tragic death of two goats
who were burned alive in the fire Saul started. Other stories even had youny Saul being forced to bury
the remains of the charred goats as his punishment. Some papers even claimed Jean Brayton held a fire
under the child's hand to show him what it must have felt like for the poor goats to die such an
unfortunate death. The stories go on and on, whether true or not, at this stage it is very difficult to
ascertain.
The police informant's testimony was a side show. Stones flowed like water from his lips to save
his skin. According to one report the informant said that one day young Saul was temporarily removed
from the box and taken into the main house and he “seemed very weak and unable to move around. He
was extremely dry in the mouth - having a lot of trouble speaking. He was dirty, and the pupils of his
eyes were extremely dilated. (he) kept reaching for a glass of water on the table but was unable to grasp

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it.” (19) These types of comments insight anger and fed the flames of times but, like everything, there
are always two sides to a story. Court documents plainly show that the doctor who examined young
Saul when he was originally rescued by the police stated the boy was “quite bright and oriented, alert ...
appeared like a healthy kid.” (20) He continued stating there was no “signs of dehydration” ...
“malnutrition's nor “any medical treatment required in any respect” (21) when he was originally
rescued by the police. This is hardly the image of a child who had been chained inside a “shipping
crate” in 110 degree desert temperature for a whopping 56 days. In all honesty that would have killed
the child as anyone with common sense should have realized. Obviously the child was not abused. The
doctor's testimony plainly contradicted the police informant when he stated. “I don't think his (Saul's)
condition would correspond with one who had been kept in a box that length of time.” (22)
The truth is these ludicrous claims were fabricated to allow child abuse charges to be filed
against everyone at the ranch. Mr. Constantine, like many authors, falls to point out that the police
informant, whose testimony was integral in prosecuting the defendants, later recanted his entire story in
a television interview. The informant publicly stated that he was forced to make up most of the graphic
details simply to obtain immunity from prosecution. He feared that if he didn't prejure himself in court
he would go to jail, facing other more serious charges filed against him. Once he gained immunity from
those charges he publicly recanted everything. He even admitted that yes, “the boy was only kept in
the box one night to prevent him from starting fires at the ranch.” (23) This was exactly like lodge
members originally claimed. Unfortunately, the man whose outrageous and fabricated stories everyone
originally believed now found that no one was taking him seriously. The damage was already done.
The Manson murders had now occurred and southern California was gripped in the fear of hippie
communes. The Solar Lodge became a victim of the times. This was the true conspiracy which Mr.
Constantine and others failed to uncover. Instead of reporting the facts these writers decided to use the
lies spewed forth by a police informant while under threats of prosecution as the single source of their
information about the Solar Lodge.
There is much more to the story regarding what really happened at the ranch in Blythe California
which this short article cannot address. The main idea behind bringing up the story was not to defend
the antics of the Solar Lodge but rather to point out the differences between it and the legitimate O.T.O.
Something most authors have difficulty in ascertaining. The O.T.O., a worldwide organization, has not
been involved in what Mr. Constantine describes as an “indulgence in sadomasochism, drug dealing,
blood drinking, child molestation and murder.” (24) This remark is simply libelous. Other modern
allegations are equally groundless, as when Mr. Constantine writes that the O.T.O. is a 'cult' being
'influenced' by the CIA, this too is totally baseless and deserves a round of hearty laughter. The O.T.O.
is neither a cult nor is it being controlled by anyone other than itself and even then that's debatable.
To digress for a second, earlier I had mentioned that Soror Meral did her own investigation of the
Solar Lodge. During her quest she contacted another old Agape Lodge member named Grady Louis
McMurtry who was living in Washington DC. They began a correspondence from December 1968
until April 1969. Much was discussed and through one of these early letters Grady learned of Karl
Germer's death. At this point Grady Louis McMurtry left his job in DC and arrived in California on
April 29th 1969. He did not, as some conspiracy theorists believe, come out to California to investigate
the 'Solar Lodge' for either the US Government or the CIA. The truth is that Grady, being a legitimate
IXth Degree Member of the Sovereign Sanctuary of the O.T.O., came to California to pick up the
pieces of the O.T.O. in hopes to reestablish the Order using the authorizations which had been given to
him by Crowley during the war. He also wanted to investigate the stolen Crowley library for the
O.T.O.'s sake.
However, I guess there will always be authors like Mr. Constantine, or Peter Levenda, who will
write nothing less than sensational dribble on this subject in an effort to sell their articles and books. To
begin with, if one researches the Solar Lodge the stories become extremely conflicting depending on
who one is reading, or which tainted source you choose to quote. Mr. Constantine picks only the best of
the tainted versions coming from none other than the Riverside police department and a lying
government informant. Peter Levenda, also known as Simon the author of the Necronomicon, uses Ed
Sanders chapter on 'The Solar Lodge of the O.T.O.' which is legendary for utilizing every
unsubstantiated rumor he could find. Levenda casually points out that if anyone is interested they
should seek out “the first edition of Ed Sander's The Family for more detail on the so-called Solar
Lodge of the O.T.O. and other ancillary information.” (25) By specifically mentioning the first edition
he shows that he is aware that future editions of The Family omitted this chapter from publications.
This was done by Sanders himself after realizing the gross inaccuracies that the chapter contained, but
does Levenda point this out? The same can be said for Francis King (1934-1994) who first wrote about
the Solar Lodge in his book The Magical World of Aleister Crowley long before the truth became
common knowledge. At least when he re-released his book in 1987 he too pulled all the information

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about this incident not to further the falsities he had earlier written. Most authors with common sense
and intelligence, unless they're propagating 'sensationalistic dribble', have done likewise.
Even more ludicrous is Mr. Constantine's highly doubtful claim that the Solar Lodge was a mind
controlled cult originally founded by the CIA. What better place to make this claim than in a magazine
called Paranoia! To make such a claim as the author does, based simply on the fact that Jean Brayton
was “the daughter of a ranking Air Force officer” (27) is rdiculous! I wonder how many businesses,
religious organizations or readers have fathers who were ranking service men? Does Mr. Constantine
expect us to believe that we are being 'controlled' by the CIA simply because we had parents in the
military? It is my belief that some of these conspiracy theorists need serious therapy to over come their
paranoia.
In Peter Levenda's book there is another more twisted blurb to government connections with the
Solar Lodge. He briefly mentions L. Ron Hubbard's claim of being Naval Intelligence and infiltrating
the O.T.O., another dead horse being beaten which is definitely not true. However, Levenda then drops
a bombshell from out in left field by asking if the late Grady Louis McMurtry was on a “similar
mission ... this time for the army or for some secret, frantic faction thereof?” (28) He continues by
wondering if McMurtry, while working for the government, was “reactivated at the time of the Manson
killings to investigate the possible involvment of the group called itself the “Solar Lodge of the
O.T.O.”?”” (29) This is nothing less than pure fabrication and the delusions spewed forth by someone
who needs a reality cheek after invoking Cthulhu while writing the Necromonicon! For the sake of an
argument let's ask, which version is true? If we acknowledge Constantine's version as well as
Levenda's it implies that the wanna-be O.T.O. Solar Lodge CIA experiment was being investigated by
another “frantic faction” of the Federal Government using a legitimate O.T.O. member named Grady
Louis McMurtry as a spy. Are you as confused as I am?
It is true that Grady McMurtry was a Major in the Army Reserves while he was living in
Washington. He was pulling special Reserve Duty one night a month with the Mobilization
Designation Detachment No. 26, Office of Comptroller of the U.S. Army at the Pentagon.
Unfortunately, due to typical Pentagon red tape and paper shuffling, somehow Major McMurtry failed
to complete all the appropriate forms in triplicate or get all the signatures required by December 12th
1962. This meant he was forced to take permanent retirement by 'Special Orders 46, 15 Feb. 63, HQ
XXI US Army Corps, Indiantown Gap, Pa, Paragraph 177.' Therefore on February 15th 1963 Grady
found himself a 'real civilian' for the first time since 1941. Having absolutely no military attachment,
Grady left the Army in 1963 and was never reactivated. This is hardly the image that conspiracy
theorists want us to believe but the facts are all there. However, creating an illusion that Grady
McMurtry was some top secret spy, infiltrating and working behind the scenes of the O.T.O. for our
government in 1969 sounds much better. To these authors I say, enough with these fictitious 'US
Government-O.T.O.' connections, stick to the facts. I personally knew Grady, he was no government
stooge.
The list of books which create further myths about the Solar Lodge are numerous. Michael
Newton's Raising Hell (30) is another recent example using scare tactics rather than facts to sell its
pulp. He comments on the O.T.O. by stating that although it “officially denies any link with criminal
activity, various lodges and individual members have been tied to crimes ranging from child abuse and
drug running to ritual murder.” This is slanderous lies with no basis in reality. Newton himself offers
no proof to these outlandish allegations outside of attempting to link the O.T.O. to “One 'renegade'
faction, the so-called Solar Lodge” (31) and the Manson Family. He makes the connection simply by
throwing around the term 'renegade' thus implying the Solar Lodge had forsaken its parent
organization the O.T.O., and gone its own way. However, you can't quit and become a renegade of
something which you were never a member of in the first place.
Sadly, even the official FBI report, declassified in March of 1979, (33) reveals the same mis-
information spread throughout the media of the times. It included nothing informative or revealing, it
simply portrays the lack of incentive that many government branches have when investigating occult
groups. In other words, it accepted the public's hysteria and failed to look for the real truth. Hopefully
this article shows that there were, and still are, many stupid comments being made about the Solar
Lodge. However, the real conspiracy, one which most authors fall to uncover, has nothing to do with a
strange murderous drug cult. It's the conspiracy fostered by themselves when they stretch the facts of
the Solar Lodge in order to sensationalize their own twisted theories about Aleister Crowley and the
Ordo Templi Orientis. The bottom line is this, the antics at the Solar Lodge occurred over seventeen
Years ago - let it die in peace, or at least get the facts straight.

Love is the law, love under will. - AL I:57

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Notes:

1. Ed Sanders, The Family, Chapter Ten, The Solar Lodge of the O.T.O. (NY: E.P.Dutton and Co., Inc.. 1971) pg.
159.
2. Alex Constantine, The False Memory Hoax, Paranoia magazine, Vol, 3, No.4, Issue 11, Winter 1995/96, pg.32.
In particular the section titled The Riverside Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientis
3. Peter Levenda, Unholy Alliance (NY: Avon Books, 1996).
4. Fr. Achad Osher 583 VIIIø OTO, The Warrior-Troubadour, The Life & Times of Grady Louis McMurtry, an
unpublished biography. A 40 page excerpt was published in RED FLAME, A Thelemic Research Journal No. 1,
1994, although this story was not included.
5.-6. Last Will & Testament of Karl Germer. OTO Archives.
7. Alex Constantine, The OTO & the CIA, Ordis Templis Intelligentis. (Internet 1996) pg. 1.
8. Ibid. pg. 1.
9. In The Continuum, Volume 11, No.2, 1978, pg. 10
10.-12. Ibid. pg. 10-11
13. Ed Hoffman, The Case of the Boy Chained in the Box, Los Angeles Free Press, September 17th 1971, pg. 18.
14.-15. Ed Hoffman.
16. Dorothy Watson, 'Box Boy' Defendant Testifies for State, Daily News, Indigo Ca., Oct. 23, 1969.
17.-18. Constantine pg. 35.
19. Daily News, Indigo Ca., Oct. 23, 1969
20.-22. Ed Hoffman.
23. 'Boy in Box' Case Arrests, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, September 10, 1971.
24. Constantine pg. 35.
25. Levenda pg. 273.
26. Francis King, The Magical World of Aleister Crowley (NY: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. Inc. 1978) The
Solar Lodge is mentioned on pages 185-188, but was pulled from the later British edition (Arrow Books Limited,
London 1987).
27. Constantine pg. 35.
28.-29. Levenda pg. 273.
30.-31. Michael Newton, Raising Hell (New York: Avon Books 1993) pgs.283-284.
32. Misc. lnfo Concerning the Ordo Templi Orientis, United States Government Memorandum Director FBI,
February 10th 1971.