Forgotten Templars: The Untold Origins of Ordo Templi Orientis

by Richard Kaczynski

Baltimore Privately Printed for the Author, 2012. First Edition Hardcover. Large quarto (9 x 12 inches). Cloth with gilt stamping. viii + 322 pages. Over 250 b&w illustrations. Appendices and index. First Edition limited to 777 copies. A comprehensive and detailed study of the world of late nineteenth century esotericism and fringe-masonry, that begat the Ordo Templi Orientis.

Genres: Thelema, History, Magick, Biography

330 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Richard Kaczynski is an American writer, musician, research scientist, and lecturer in the fields of social psychology, metaphysical beliefs and new religious movements. He is known for his biography Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley (North Atlantic Books, 2010), acclaimed by the Times Literary Supplement as "the major biography to date" of the Edwardian enfant terrible, and regarded by the Norwegian daily Aftenposten as the best biography of Crowley.

He has lectured internationally since 1990, and over the years his writing has appeared in magazines ranging from High Times to the Lovecraftian role-playing journal Different Worlds. He has also appeared on television in the documentaries Secrets of the Occult and Aleister Crowley: The Beast 666.

Kaczynski has also played keyboards for the progressive rock bands House of Usher, Page, and Celestial Serenity.

Dr. Kaczynski earned his Ph.D. in social psychology, with a minor in measurement and statistics, in 1993 with a dissertation on metaphysical beliefs and experiences among occult practitioners in New Religious Movements. He works professionally as a research scientist and biostatistician on studies ranging from clinical trials of psychiatric medications to program evaluation of compensated work therapy.

Reviews

[Chris Feldman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meticulously researched, engagingly written, richly documented, and lavishly illustrated, this book will be invaluable to anyone interested in late nineteenth and early twentieth century masonry and the early development of one of today's most important occult fraternities, the Ordo Templi Orientis, or O.T.O. This latest opus from historian, musician, and author Kaczynski ("Perdurabo," "Panic in Detroit," etc.) keeps the facts coming but is never boring. Highly recommended!

Limited edition of 777 copies, quarto (9×12) format on 70 pound paper, viii + 322 pages, over 250 b&w illustrations, cloth hardcover with gold-foil stamping and dust wrapper.

http://www.richard-kaczynski.com/inde...

[Jure · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book end with this last sentence: "A full and authoritative account of OTO's post-1913 history worldwide waits to be told."

After reading this exemplary researched work I can only hope that the present author will write that book as well.

[Cornissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkably comprehensive and detailed study of the weird and wonderful world of late nineteenth century esotericism and fringe-masonry, that begat the Ordo Templi Orientis. "An unlikely cocktail of actors and musicians, doctors and merchants, anarchists and sexual reformers populated the occult underground of the late nineteenth century. One by-product of this strange brew was the magical order known as Ordo Templi Orientis, or the Order of Oriental Templars, with its controversial mix of esoteric Freemasonry, yoga and sex magic. While its name is familiar thanks to its second Grand Master, Edwardian enfant terrible Aleister Crowley, its origins have subsisted as shadowy mytho-history. Until now. This revelatory study brings into sharp focus the perfect storm of personalities, movements, and circumstances that gave rise to one of the largest and most influential secret societies of our time.