According to information recently received from England, Mr. J.C. Ellis, ex-English Director of the Society Ordo Templi Orientis International, committed suicide during the Summer Solstice of 1983 e.v.
Mr. Ellis had an extensive police record when he first came to the O.T.O. Since he had also requested Probation in the A.·.A.·., he was received and treated with complete openness in spite of his record and potential vulnerability to official pressure. In time it became clear that besides disregarding O.T.O. directives and being instrumental in the relay of information about Order business to Intelligence contacts in Canada and Australia (and hence, by the inevitable networking, to the United States and Brasil), Mr. Ellis, who had been passed from Probationer to Neophyte, was failing his Neophyte ordeals. He persistently neglected his training, and his correspondence indicated that he was in deadly fear of the Dweller.
When funds became available to sue the copyright thieves, the Supervisor General had already concluded that Mr. Ellis would be unable to withstand the magickal and material pressure of prolonged litigation. Mr. Ellis was, therefore, requested to resign his Directorship. Legal proceedings, for lack of reliable English representation, were started in the United States of America.
Being compelled to resign did not sit well with Mr. Ellis's inflated Ego, and he dropped his A.·.A.·. training, no doubt with relief. Then a clumsy attempt to involve the Supervisor General in felonious behavior in Britain was made through taped transatlantic telephone calls. The Supervisor cut contact with Mr. Ellis altogether. Next a phony and absurd plot to blow up warehouses of Crowley-pirating publishers was contrived and, naturally, "exposed" and publicized. The situation still failed to interest the Supervisor General, who by then had regretfully given up on Mr. Ellis altogether and was quite busy suing the principal thieves in the United States.
When it became clear that the O.T.O. would not rise to his bait, Mr. Ellis lost his usefulness to his manipulators and was summarily discarded: a callous but usual procedure in clandestine intelligence work. In a fit of depression aggravated by his lack of proper initiatic training, he did away with himself.
It must be remarked that this news, based on information from an unreliable source (another failed Probationer who, despite explicit warning to the contrary, had kept her personal contact with Mr. Ellis), may not be entirely correct. We are thus publishing the late Mr. Ellis's photograph here. As well advertised, resurrection is very common in the Christist world. Should therefore some of our readers see Mr. Ellis risen from the dead and attempting to speak for the O.T.O. or for Θελημα, or even for himself, we would appreciate being informed of this holy miracle. At the same time, let it be known that any O.T.O. patents received from this individual, either prior to his demise or after it, are totally valueless to the O.T.O. See. At present, the O.T.O. has no representation in the British Isles or in Canada. There have been many applicants, but so far they have all exhibited that weakness of character which has become standard trait in the country (and her associated Commonwealth) who ridiculed and persecuted her greatest Prophet. Karma tells!
We regret to inform the general public that an individual calling himself Richard Gernon (a.k.a. Richard Gurney) is apparently misrepresenting himself as an O.T.O. member in New York City. Data gathered implies that Mr. Gernon is working in cahoots with the late unlamented James Wasserman and Herman Slater, of "Magickal Childe" disrepute. They seem to be selling "Abramelin Oil blessed by the O.T.O." and charging morons fees to participate in "Gnostic Masses".
Gernon, or Gurney, was at a time a bona fide member of an O.T.O. Lodge in Nashville, Tennessee. He had gone to Nashville at the instigation of James Wasserman. He became an A.·.A.·. Probationer and was eventually passed to Neophyte. After some serious intriguing he became for a while Lodge Master of the Menthu Lodge; but on learning that the Supervisor General was coming to the United States to look into things, and realizing that going to bed with his immediate superior had not, as he had hoped, turned her into his unquestioning admirer, he left Nashville, telling one of his gullible brethren that he was "afraid of Magick".
Arriving in Nashville, the Supervisor General ascertained that Mr. Gernon had left behind an abandoned wife, an abandoned retarded child, and an abandoned five thousand dollar debt to his lodge brethren. He had also left behind an expensive wardrobe, no doubt purchased with some of the loot; and this was appropriated by the main creditor, who was fortunate enough to be of Mr. Gernon's height and girth. Correspondence was exchanged in which Mr. Gernon soulfully complained of the appropriation; but upon being invited to either pay his debts or return to Nashville and recover his wardrobe personally, he declined.
Two things Mr. Gernon did not leave behind, however, were his patents of Lodge Member and Lodge Master. There is evidence to the fact that Mr. Gernon claims to still be "a member of Motta's O.T.O." According to the rules however, Mr. Gernon was automatically excluded for non-payment of dues three months after he fled Tennessee: he has thus been out of the Order for over four years. Should he be exhibiting those now worthless documents as "evidence" of O.T.O. authority, we would welcome information to the effect. There is, furthermore, reason to believe that Mr. Gernon claims to "know and communicate the Rituals of Motta's O.T.O."; we would welcome information on this point too; and especially as to what kind of "rituals" Mr. Motta may be supposed to have provided Messrs. Gernon, Wasserman and (who knows?) Slater with. Should the information come in the form of affidavits it will be very well received.
Again, we regret to inform the general public that Mr. Jose Antonio Queiroz of Ribeirao Preto, Brasil, has been formally expelled from the O.T.O. Mr. Queiroz held the position of O.T.O. Director for his home state in Brasil for over three years and was a Probationer under Marcelo Motta. From the beginning, Mr.Motta was aware of the possibility (almost infallible in C.I.A.-manipulated Latin American countries) that Mr. Queiroz was an agent of the Brasilian Roman Catholic-Military Junta; but accepted him with the openness which is the duty of the A.·.A.·. Instructor towards the candidate, at the same time testing his capacity to work for the O.T.O. Mr. Queiroz repeatedly failed to produce a Probationer Record, albeit allowed to renew his Probationer's Oath three years in a row. At the same time, he persistently overstepped his authority as Director, providing Patents for individuals in other states than his own, contriving his own printed matter without official permission, and finally expelling two brethren of the local Lodge for "scandalous behavior": they were going to bed with each other. The fact that the two were his mistress and - as Christist tradition almost demands - his "best friend" may explain his excessive zeal; but since only the Supervisor General has authority to expel members from the Order, it was felt that Mr. Queiroz's zeal went too far in some directions and not far enough in others.
Mr. Queiroz was and is, of course, not only a member of the intelligence network of the Brasilian Junta of Cardinals and Generals but also an agent of "Opus Dei", the ferocious Roman Catholic secret society which, according to Covert Action, is behind most of the torturing and political murder in South and Central America. His mission was to infiltrate, to name members of the secret Junta intelligence service to positions of responsibility in the O.T.O. hierarchy, to learn the passwords and signs and make it possible for clandestine false Lodges to be established and run by "Opus Dei" members. Leftists and other "discontented" persons would be encouraged to join, be watched and, if necessary, be "accidented" - the modern world really needs this verbal form.
Not all such people are "accidented". Sometimes they are openly and horribly slaughtered, and the details publicized in order to intimidate the opposition and discourage liberal dissent. The pious United States press coverage of the El Salvador atrocities, for instance, serves a double purpose. (Incidentally, "El Salvador", very appropriately, means "The Savior" in Spanish. We understand this is one of Ronald Reagan's nicknames.)
The serious reader may wonder why, knowing that people such as these in the displayed photographs are traitors, thieves, or spies (and sometimes all three simultaneously) we still accept them and deal with them. But the rule is absolute (AL ii 42): we can refuse no candidate on a priori considerations. We cannot refuse them even when we know that they are consciously and deliberately lying to us; for their "conscious" is the least part of their constitution. We never know beforehand where a flower shall bloom. We have the duty to teach; but also, fortunately, we have the right to make severe the ordeals and the right to withdraw contact from those who disobey a direct order. In Mr. Queiroz's case, the disobedience and treachery went on for two years before measures were taken.
The rule of none refused pertains to A.·.A.·. training; but the O.T.O. , also, does not automatically exclude people just because they are intelligence agents, no matter from what country. The O.T.O. only excludes people when they consistently behave in a manner unnacceptable to the O.T.O.
Which brings us to this last piece of news: The O.T.O. does not regret to inform the general public that Mr. Grady McMurtry has finally succeeded in being expelled from the Order for claiming Grades, titles and authority he repeatedly proved incompetent to hold and even to apprehend. No one connected with this individual has any claim to O.T.O. membership. Let all be warned, furthermore, that O.T.O. Names and Symbols are now registered trademarks of the Society Ordo Templi Orientis in America, and infringement of our rights will be unfailingly and rigorously prosecuted. If necessary, the attention of local police forces will be brought to bear on offenders.