William Breeze
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- This article is about a Thelema personality
William Breeze (born 1955), also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Tau Silenus, is an American writer and publisher on magick and philosophy. He is the Sovereign Patriarch, or supreme governing cleric, of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), the liturgical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), of which he is the current Outer Head of the Order (OHO), also known as Frater Superior, as well as caliph, the order's international leader. In this capacity, he is a leading editor of the occult works of Aleister Crowley, the founder of the philosophy and religion of Thelema, who is regarded as its prophet. Under the name Hymenaeus Beta he is the second caliph to lead the traditional, orthodox, or "Caliphate" OTO (as opposed to the derivative organizations the Typhonian Order (formerly known as the Typhonian O.T.O.) of Kenneth Grant and the Society O.T.O. of Marcelo Ramos Motta, and is the direct successor of Grady McMurtry (Hymenaeus Alpha), who was the first of the caliphs and second of the overall leaders, or Outer Heads—directly after Crowley's immediate successor Karl Germer—to follow after Crowley in his role as leader of the order. McMurtry served as Caliph from 1978, when he reestablished the defunct O.T.O., until 1985, and Breeze has served as Caliph from 1986 to the present. The title of Caliph was given to McMurtry by Crowley concerning the ongoing office of OHO of O.T.O. [citation needed], of which Crowley was the ultimate religious leader after he took over from the order's founder, Theodore Reuss, in 1923. According to Crowley, the Caliph is the elected spiritual and organizational leader of O.T.O. worldwide and is his successor. A lineage of Caliphs, each carrying religious and organizational significance, were designated by Crowley. The Caliphs, as successors to Crowley, lead the order after his death.
Early life and career
Breeze came from a military family. As the son of a US Army serviceman, he was born in Paris, France, while his father, Colonel Breeze, was on a tour of duty. Breeze spent his childhood accompanying his father, who had a distinguished military career, on many tours of duty across the United States, residing with him at various US military bases. These included Fort Meade, where a remote viewing program occurred; Nellis Air Force Base, which is close to Groom Dry Lake Air Force Base in Nevada— a highly classified remote detachment located 83 miles (134 km) north-northwest of Las Vegas, closely associated with UFO phenomena; Fort Bragg, where "Project Jedi" was conducted by Special Forces; and Montauk Air Force Station, at the eastern tip of Long Island, which later became linked to alleged time travel experiments as part of the Montauk Project. In the 1970s, Breeze studied literature at Harvard University.
In the late 1970s, Breeze helped publish Aleister Crowley's Magical and Philosophical Commentaries on The Book of the Law; he was co-owner of the publishing company, 93 Publishing.
O.T.O. succession
In 1979, when Breeze was 24 years old, he met Grady McMurtry. Ten years earlier, McMurtry and his wife, known as Soror Meral, had re-established Ordo Templi Orientis by invoking the emergency orders from Crowley given to McMurtry in the “Caliphate letters," which granted McMurtry authority (subject to the previous OHO's approval) to "take charge of the whole work of the Order in California to reform the Order." In 1982, McMurtry granted Breeze a charter to establish an Ordo Templi Orientis lodge in Canada. In 1983, Breeze founded Phoenix Lodge in Montreal, becoming its Master.
McMurtry served as the head of Ordo Templi Orientis until his death in 1985. That year, Breeze succeeded McMurtry as Acting Outer Head of OTO after all active IX-degree members convened to elect McMurtry's successor. He was nominated by Helen Parsons Smith, the widow of Wilfred Talbot Smith, one of the founders of Agape Lodge. Upon his election, Breeze took on the responsibility of elevating the O.T.O. and reconstituting the A∴A∴, aiming to restore the two orders as Crowley originally envisioned. Unfortunately, Breeze was a failed Probationer and lacked the authority to "reconstitute" the A∴A∴ in any capacity. In the following decade, Breeze focused on establishing International Headquarters and chartering new Lodges. By the end of the twentieth century, the organization had expanded to several thousand members.
Gnostic Catholic Church
Apostolic succession
In 1986, Breeze succeeded McMurtry as the Patriarch of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, the liturgical arm of O.T.O. As a contemporary occult church, it serves as an integral part of O.T.O. During McMurtry's governance of O.T.O. in the 1970s, the Gnostic Catholic Church and O.T.O. operated as separate organizations. In 1986, Breeze united the separate Gnostic Catholic Church with O.T.O. Under his leadership, the Church has significantly expanded, growing in several countries.
E.G.C. lineage
Breeze was consecrated by E.G.C.'s Bishop Jack Hogg as Tau Silenus on August 12, 1974. Hogg was a bishop of the Gnostic Church of Thelema, with a lineage traced directly to J. Doinel, one of the founders of the Gnostic tradition, who also consecrated Aleister Crowley.
International work
Starting in 2005, Breeze began chartering new international Grand Lodges, including those in Australia and the United Kingdom, the latter encompassing England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, along with the British Crown Dependencies. Despite the O.T.O. formalizing itself with regulations and policies, Breeze granted local leadership the freedom to explore different strategies for growing the organization.
In England, several new O.T.O. and E.G.C. bodies were chartered by the United Kingdom Grand Lodge, including lodges and camps in Bristol, Hastings, and Leeds.
On October 10, 2014, Breeze was unanimously re-elected de jure Outer Head of the Order by a council of Grand Masters. On May 16, 2015, the organization celebrated 30 years of his governing of OTO.
A∴A∴
Motta's A∴A∴ movement was first formally announced in early January 1976 when his edition of the Commentaries of AL, with an introduction by James Wasserman, went to print. Motta was a disciple of Karl Germer, whom he met in 1953, and Germer also supervised his A∴A∴ work. [citation needed] Motta took on his own students, including James Wasserman and J. Daniel Gunther, who were later expelled from the order.
After his election as the Outer Head of the O.T.O. in 1985, Breeze sought to rebuild the A∴A∴ so that both orders could operate again as Crowley intended. Having devoted the years immediately following his election primarily to O.T.O. activities, Breeze, in the summer of 1992, collaborated with J. Daniel Gunther, who was focused solely on the A∴A∴, and other students of Marcelo Motta to revitalize the A∴A∴ activities, which had become dormant at that time.
The revived A∴A∴ began to grow with the subsequent publications of The Equinox journal, which was newly typeset in authorized format and underwent exhaustive editorial work by Breeze himself, along with assistance from other O.T.O. and A∴A∴ members. This journal was issued jointly by the O.T.O. and the A∴A∴, starting with The Equinox Vol IV, Nos. 1 and 2, published in 1996.
The Holy Books of Thelema
Under his title as Frater Superior of the O.T.O., Hymenaeus Beta, Breeze is recognized as the leading editor of The Equinox journal, published jointly by the O.T.O. and the A∴A∴, along with the commentaries on the Holy Books of Thelema.
On April 10, 1982, Breeze and McMurtry started working on a new edition of The Holy Books of Thelema, which Weiser Books released in April 1983. Breeze managed the design and editorial tasks, while James Wasserman handled typesetting, layout, production, and proofreading. The Holy Books of Thelema were first published in 1909 by Crowley under the title "ΘΕΛΗΜΑ" in three small volumes that Crowley had privately distributed to A∴A∴ members. The previous edition by Israel Regardie was published in 1972 by Sangraal Press but had since gone out of print.
The 1996 edition of The Law is for All (a compilation of Crowley's commentary on The Book of the Law) edited by Breeze is based on the original manuscript of Louis Wilkinson and features an introduction by the material's original editor. This edition includes annotations, reading lists, and indexes that are not present in the earlier version.
In May 2013, Breeze made his research available, undertaken for the definitive edition of Liber Legis.
The Equinox
During the summer of 1982, Equinox Vol. III, No. 10, edited by Breeze, went to press, showcasing the core O.T.O. documents. Breeze also included several A∴A∴ papers, along with letters from Magick Without Tears, the text of The Book of the Law, and various other writings by Crowley, Wilfred Talbot Smith, and Frater Achad, as well as James Wasserman's essay on the history of the O.T.O. Breeze wrote an extensive introduction and highlighted a group of contemporary Thelemic poets and artists, along with a section on Kenneth Anger's films.
In 1996, Breeze's edition of The Equinox Vol. IV, No. 1: Commentaries on the Holy Books and Other Papers went to press. It included several previously unpublished pieces in the Equinox series, including Liber LXV's commentary and a color reproduction of Crowley's illumination of Liber Pyramidos. Its main feature, Liber Cordis Cincte Serpente (Liber LXV), is considered one of the Holy Books of Thelema. It includes Crowley's commentary, which, unlike in earlier editions, was positioned opposite and facing the corresponding text of Liber LXV. Breeze's edition also includes other works by Crowley and shorter commentaries that had not been published before, including Charles Stansfeld Jones' commentary on Liber A'ash (written by him as an A∴A∴ assignment and subsequently annotated by Crowley), along with other commentaries Breeze included to aid aspirants within the magical Order of the A∴A∴ in attaining Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel and the grade of Adeptus Minor. It contains reprinted documents important for defining the A∴A∴ training system, including Crowley's works such as One Star in Sight, Liber XIII, and Liber CLXXXV, to which this book adds An Account of the A∴A∴ introduced by Crowley's essay titled Occultism, published for the first time, including an unpublished version of the A∴A∴ Student Examination. It also features a large color plate section containing a color reproduction of Crowley's original illuminated manuscript of Liber Pyramidos and paintings by J. F. C. Fuller that address A∴A∴ teachings. These paintings were used as covers for the edition.
In 1998, Breeze's edition of The Equinox Vol. IV, No. 2 went to press. It contains the fourth major edition of Liber 418 (The Vision and the Voice), which Crowley considered second in importance only to The Book of the Law. This text established the religious system of Thelema. The previous primary edition of The Vision and the Voice was published by Israel Regardie in 1972 and had been out of print. Breeze's 1998 edition, which includes Crowley's commentary as footnotes, made the material of Liber 418 accessible to a larger audience for the first time.
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:William_Breeze ]
Sources
| Ordo Templi Orientis | |
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| Outline of spirituality ● List of occult terms ● List of occultists ● Outline of spirituality |
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- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:William_Breeze ]
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