The U.S. Grand Lodge Diversity Education team, part of our Diversity Taskforce, is pleased to announce the availability of six educational modules addressing diversity and inclusion. This important milestone is aligned with one of our core values: “We believe that a membership free from unfair discrimination is essential to accomplishing our Mission, and reject doctrines that promote bigotry, prejudice, and intolerance.”
Permanent link to this article: https://oto-usa.org/2021/04/diversity-education-modules-available/
Permanent link to this article: https://oto-usa.org/2021/01/winter-2021-issue-of-agape-available/
NOTOCON 2021 cancelled
Due to the continuing spread of COVID-19 and the slow pace of immunization, we have, with much reluctance, decided to cancel our arrangements with the Denver hotel for NOTOCON XIII this year. If all goes well, NOTOCON XIII will be held at the same venue in the summer of 2023 ᴇᴠ. We will be skipping 2022 ᴇᴠ to keep with our odd-year history and to avoid interfering with other events scheduled for the summer of 2022 ᴇᴠ.
The Conference Committee is currently investigating various alternatives for online U.S.G.L. membership events this summer. We also encourage local bodies to continue scheduling their own online events throughout the year.
Permanent link to this article: https://oto-usa.org/2021/01/notocon-2021-cancelled/
Permanent link to this article: https://oto-usa.org/2020/11/u-s-grand-lodge-2019-annual-report/
In memoriam: James Wasserman
James Wasserman, American writer and occultist, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, November 18th 2020, surrounded by family.
Wasserman was born in 1948. After attending Antioch College, he spent several years traveling the U.S. in search of spiritual teaching, studying with various teachers of meditation and other occult disciplines. He settled in New York City in 1973 and began working at Samuel Weiser’s Bookstore, then the world’s largest English language occult specialist. In 1977, he left Weiser’s to establish Studio 31, offering full-service book production and graphic design.
In 1976, he joined Ordo Templi Orientis, having explored Aleister Crowley’s system of Scientific Illuminism. In 1979, he founded Tahuti Lodge, one of the oldest continuously operating O.T.O. lodges in the world.
He played a key role in numerous seminal publications of the literary corpus of Aleister Crowley. Three of the most important examples are:
- He supervised Weiser’s 1976 edition of The Book of the Law, in which the holograph manuscript was appended to the corrected typeset text of the O.T.O.’s 1938 publication. This was executed in conformity with the book’s instructions, the first time this was done in a popular volume.
- After several years of negotiation, he successfully arranged to professionally re-photograph the Crowley-Harris Tarot paintings for an improved second edition of the Thoth Tarot deck published in 1977, to which he contributed the Booklet of Instruction.
- In 1983, he helped to produce The Holy Books of Thelema, the critical collection of Crowley’s inspired (Class A) writings.
In addition to his interest in religion and creative mythology, he maintained an ardent passion for political and personal liberty. He was a devoted student of the United States Constitution, the writings of the Founding Fathers, and Libertarianism.
For more information on James Wasserman and his works, see the James Wasserman Books website.
Permanent link to this article: https://oto-usa.org/2020/11/in-memoriam-james-wasserman/
Local body public events calendar
The Education Committee of U.S. Grand Lodge provides a Google calendar which includes public events offered by an ever-growing number of U.S. local bodies. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all O.T.O. activity is currently happening online. This means that you can attend events hosted by local bodies all over the country without leaving home.
Permanent link to this article: https://oto-usa.org/2020/11/local-body-public-events-calendar/
Permanent link to this article: https://oto-usa.org/2020/10/autumn-2020-issue-of-agape-available/
Summer 2020 edition of Agapé available
The Summer 2020 edition of Agapé, the official newsletter of U.S. Grand Lodge O.T.O., is now available online as a PDF document. This and all previous editions of Agapé can be found here.
Permanent link to this article: https://oto-usa.org/2020/07/summer-2020-edition-of-agape-available/
Agapé has a new home
Agapé is the official newsletter of U.S. Grand Lodge. All issues of Agapé are now available on a new page on the U.S.G.L. main public website, replacing the former page on the library website. This change makes it much easier to access issues of Agapé from a mobile device.
All existing links to individual issues of Agapé are still valid. Links to the old Agapé overview page will redirect to the new one automatically.
Permanent link to this article: https://oto-usa.org/2020/05/agape-has-a-new-home/
U.S. O.T.O. gatherings are still on hold
As announced on March 20 2020, all U.S. O.T.O. physical gatherings are on hold until further notice from the Grand Master. Until such notice is issued, in-person O.T.O. events remain prohibited, regardless of any relaxations of quarantine restrictions by civil authorities.
Permanent link to this article: https://oto-usa.org/2020/05/u-s-o-t-o-gatherings-are-still-on-hold/