The Lineage of Ordo Astri There is much talk in occult circles of lineage and contacts, but how does a magical Order get started? An examination of the history of the Hermetic Tradition reveals that new Orders are periodically established to replace their predecessors. Aleister Crowley formed the Order of Argenteum Astrum after the break-up and schism of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, of which he was an Initiate. By publishing the rituals of the Golden Dawn in his journal of The Equinox he effectively ensured the survival and continuation of this knowledge for future generations. Dion Fortune (Violet Firth) formed the Fraternity of the Inner Light as an outer court to a post-schism faction of the Golden Dawn called Stella Matutina (Morning Star). Before long she claimed to have received the necessary spiritual contacts, and founded her own organisation, the Fraternity of the Inner Light. She then dropped much of the old Order teaching and replaced it with that which was inspired directly through her own work and experience. Dion Fortune died without having trained a magical successor to continue her work; the Fraternity of the Inner Light ceased then to function as an Initiatory school. Her legacy has nonetheless continued to inspire the imagination of subsequent generations of occultists. In the final years of his life Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) accepted a young chela, Kenneth Grant. Grant, who took on the magical Order name of Aussic Aiwass 718, absorbed the magical current that surrounded Crowley. His Order became known as the Typhonian O.T.O. At the dawning of the 21st century the 93 current of Thelema once again sounded inner changes. The Maatian current has given birth to strange magical children. Members of the O.T.O. created Ordo Astri to continue the story of magical Initiation and Apocalypse.   Copyright © Ordo Astri

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