Unfortunately our initial source was that of Ed Sander’s book about Charles Manson and the Sharon Tate murders titled The Family. Inevitably, about ten years later, I joined Crowley's OTO. Grady McMurtry loved sharing his stories of what he had discovered in the early 1970s about the Solar Lodge during his investigation into the library thefts of Germer, Regardie and Mildred Burlingame. Years later, when I began writing Grady’s biography, I obtained a full set of his unpublished research and letters where he discussed in-depth his findings with Gerald Yorke and Israel Regardie and a few others about the Solar Lodge. Most of these files are not found in the OTO archive but remained in the possession of his ex-wife Phyllis Seckler who graciously shared them with me. I found what Grady discovered to be a fascinating story but again, it lacked intimacy as to the Solar Lodge's real legacy. What I did learn was that Grady, indirectly was responsible for the information, albeit very twisted and sensationalized, that was published in The Family.  It seems Ed Sanders heard of occult connections regarding Manson and he went off to do research in this area, where he met everyone from Israel Regardie to the noted occult author Arthur Lyons who was then aiding the Riverside County Deputy District Attorney in his investigation. Lyons acknowledged that there “was absolutely no evidence that Manson or any of his followers had any contact with the Solar Lodge.” However, Lyons met Grady and Phyllis. Phyllis would later comment, “We met Lyons only once in Golden Gate Park and discussed matters on which he was working. Grady gave his version of the books stolen from Sascha (and mss). I remember Lyons was nervous about his research into black lodges and hinted his life might be at stake.” Lyons, still very paranoid, later shared all this information with Ed Sanders who then, like the old children's telephone game, distorted it in order to prove his point in The Family and thus ... legends were born. But Grady's files debunk most of Sander's book and it was too bad that they remained buried for as long as they have. This new book by Frater Shiva fills in the gaps where my biography on Grady is lacking. INSIDE SOLAR LODGE, OUTSIDE THE LAW is a remarkable account starting in the early 1960s long before the Solar Lodge was established until long after its demise. I highly recommend this book and I enjoyed it immensely. For people who are interested in the truth behind the Solar Lodge, this book is a must and for those who have never heard about this Order, you’ll discover a piece of Crowleyanity, long buried. I must remind my readers; Aleister Crowley in our day and age is everywhere and we tend to forget that at one time he almost faded into obscurity. In today's world where we have a multitude of individuals spinning off from different groups and creating ‘new’ magickal Orders, it would be to my readers best interest if they got this book, a book detailing one of the first and most serious of the Aleister Crowley spin-offs. ... You can, no, you must, buy this book ...

You can check out their webpage or write to Weisers Antiquarian Books

for further detailson how you can purcghase this book

Posted on my blog: Tuesday January 15th 2008 - 6:00pm I reveived this email from Frater Shiva regarding my Review of his book 'Inside Solar Lodge - Outside the Law' which was posted earlier today. He writes:

Hi Jerry,

Thank you for your enthusiastic review (recommendation) of my little exposé on the life and times of Solar Lodge.

I have examined your previous works on Solar Lodge ("Myths of the ..." and "Red Flame") and found them to be a strong force in helping to dispel the ridiculous glamour and outright lies that the memory of the Lodge has inherited. In fact, only your work, and that of Martin P. Starr, seems to be aimed at telling the truth of the matter. All of the other entries appear to be dedicated to rumormongering and exuberant sensationalism.

Although one review indicated that "...there's little evidence of anyone actually developing spiritually...", and although I actually implied that in the book, I feel inclined to qualify that concept further:

There was spiritual progress. I was present at the true (internal) awakening of several members (the so-called 1=10, or Ist degree, "Birth" experience). Many went on to subdue Yesod, and some even "mastered" Hod. But only a partial handful made it to Netzach, and I know of none who pierced the veil and made it all the way to Heliopolis during their tenure in the Tong. 

After Solar Lodge (implied reference to: "Escape from the Tong"), a few

Ronin reformed under Star System, and then some further progress was

made. But that's another matter.

Now that I have established that some of us were spiritual heroes, I should also say that if we were to be labeled Brigands and Pirates, well, that would be downright accurate. There is a little-used term for the procedure: "Seizing the Lodge." In world politics it's called "Coup d'etat." If you get away with it, you get to be King of the Hill. If it doesn't work, you get executed (or at least people tell bad stories about you).

Thanks,

      Shiva

Bravo! ... and I replied, "I am very humbled by your comments about my review. Thank you. I admit, although I have had more information than most on the subject of the Solar Lodge, I still always felt that I lacked a full picture. That is why I enjoyed your book. I began my defensive mode of the Solar Lodge back in the seventies thanks to Grady McMurtry. Regardless of his rants about the library thefts which infuriated him and often blinded his judgment, especially as seen in his early letters to Jean and Dick, he always turned the story around to us by saying that he admired you guys for at least having the guts to take the Thelemic reigns and running with it. He always considered you all serious magicians. That dichotomy struck me, because I believed that if he felt this way then obviously there was far more to the story than most people were aware. I am so glad that someone has finally told the true story …"

Posted on my blog: Sunday January 27th 2008 – 8:00am Shiva ... writes: "An interesting forum thread on "Inside Solar Lodge" has recently developed on lashtal.com. The direct link is: http://www.lashtal.com/nuke/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-2669.phtml. According to your predisposition, you may wish to review this rather lively discussion." .... Answer: Yes, it is rather amusing. If interested in the Solar Lodge, my readers may want to check it out. Yes, I am mentioned ...

I'd highly recoment to all my readers to add Lashtal.com,

the 'Home of the Aleister Crowley Society', to your favorite on-line listings. 

Click on the logo to go directly to this site:

-------------------------

Although there is a long and amusing thread posted on LaShtal.com I'd like to simply add what Frater Shiva posted on Jan 27, 2008 - 02:56 AM. He addresses quite nicely some of the comments, concerns and misconceptions in previous threads. He writes:

Greetings,

I have been following this thread with interest and amusement.

Bofras93 wrote: "I'm not sure what the point of this is. The 'boy in the box' stuff was

covered really well in Frater Shiva's book and he was actually there."

Thank you for paying attention to the general sweep of the True Tales as you read the book, without getting caught up in the minute details that are endlessly disputed and originated with sources that ended up recanting their testimony, including witnesses and police investigators.

loveisthelaw wrote: "What I don't understand is, according to the author, when that

first individual went to Solar Lodge to find out the boy in the box, on the assumption

that he already knew where to search (?), how could members of Solar Lodge let

this individual go there undisturbed, and find out the boy?"

Apparently, Soror Ma, who had left the Ranch for Blythe an hour before, told the deputy sheriff exactly where the boy was confined. He then proceeded to send in an informant so they would have "probable cause" for entering the property. Note: They had no search or arrest warrant. The informant walked directly to the enclosed child, had a look, and left. The deputy sheriffs arrived 45 minutes later. As it says in the book, "And the few members who were present at the ranch did nothing!"

That statement was intended to portray wonderment, in those of us who were not there, regarding the general intelligence and common sense displayed at the Ranch that morning. When I later had the opportunity to speak with some of them, they uniformly indicated that they thought nothing special about the visitor and, in hindsight, realized that they had made a great error in judgement.

"ignant666I haven't read Shiva's book & only know what's been alluded to here, but

according to the ashtal review, "he ‘wasn’t there’, for example, for the fire ..."

I note that you have not read the book  . To examine the matter even further than was revealed in the book, let me say that ... - In response to a phone call from Vidal, Jean Brayton, Frater Shem, and I arrived about 6 hours after the fire started. It continued to burn for 30 hours after that. I saw the fire in progress and heard the boy state that he started the fire in order to burn down his room that he "hated." No one actually saw him setting the fire, but surely we must assume that he did, simply because the place burned down and he freely admitted responsibility.

"ignant666"... or the chaining" where he reports at second hand his belief that all that

happened was that "One of the members, acting alone it seems, chained – yes,

chained – the boy inside a box-room made from a goat pen...

It is my understanding that one (1) member actually chained the child after he tried to set a second fire, and he admitted this to me and others. Of the 13 members who were at the Ranch, an interesting number, nine later indicated to me that they knew exactly what was happening to the boy. I never saw the other 4 members again. Frater Dys, the chain person, had been specifically assigned to supervise the boy's daily activities, and everyone else was aware of the ongoing events - but busily pursuing their own assigned duties. Anyone who was not at the Ranch knew nothing about this whole, second-fire and chaining scenario that took less than 24 hours to run its course, except the boy's father, whom Frater Dys had telephoned.

As to my personal awareness of the chaining, I don't think anyone doubts that this happened. I saw 8x10" glossy police photos that showed a chained boy. However, the length of time reported or claimed by various sources is contradictory. For approximately two months immediately prior to the arrest, I visited the Ranch at least 5 days each week, for my assignment was to supervise part of the reconstruction efforts. I lived in Vidal, only 4 miles away. This could be, and was, any time of the day or evening. This includes every day for the 7 days immediately preceding the arrest - because the construction was quite intense at that time. On every visit I always saw the boy working at his assignment: Helping to rebuild. He was never confined in any manner in my sight. So I can certainly testify that he was not "continuously' chained up. Perhaps, after I left, they chained him up again - but I very seriously doubt that.

"ignant666"... Some hours later the police arrived, released the boy and arrested the

dozen members there." That claim flatly contradicts what every single other available

source says.

All the "other available sources" tend to contradict other sources and were fuelled by purposeful disinformation. That's why I wrote the book - To dispel the Illusion. I was there. All this and more is in the book - I don't particularly care to rewrite the whole thing again on lashtal.com.

Inside Solar Lodge - Outside the Law is a trip down memory lane, with the major events carefully presented in a true, undistorted manner - It is not a full-fledged Encyclopaedia of Lies about Solar Lodge. I can easily refute multiple erroneous statements in virtually any newspaper article, police or FBI report, and witness report, line by line if necessary. But that would be another book, perhaps "Son of Solar Lodge."

The sources of the wide-ranging misinformation are generally identified in the book, it being my policy to not give the names of living persons. The three major sources of the misinformation, including the prime mover of disinformation who was not mentioned in the book, are all described and specifically named by Jerry Cornelius at http://cornelius93.com. He has been cited earlier in this thread and I heartily commend accessing his information. He has his facts quite straight and was there in the aftermath when he saw and heard the truth about how the disinformation was disseminated..

"ignant666... hippie magick cultists...

The book specifically describes how we were very far removed from the "hippie" culture.

I recently saw a definition of Cultists - "A term gleefully and fearfully used by fundamental ministers and newspaper reporters."

"ignant666This strikes me as somewhat unadmirable behavior & as lending

credibility to the claim that these are people capable of quite shocking behavior.

You are absolutely correct. We (at least "some" of us) did it all: We admitted unworthy candidates, performed burglary, robbery and battery, refused to disperse the Lodge when so ordered by the secret chief who communicated with the Grand Master, chained a child arsonist for a maximum of 10 hours while waiting for his father to arrive *(see note below), outwitted "dragnet-type" police forces and escaped across the state line, fled the scene and entered the world of international high adventure, used false identity papers, and captured an attorney and forced him through the Minerval degree. "Shock" is an element in some lineages of Tantra Yoga.

Note: Does it really matter how long the child was confined? To my way of thinking, 10 minutes would be as bad as 6 months. It is shocking behavior and illegal in the eyes of the law.

On the other hand, we never killed anyone and never held animal sacrifices. No man ever had long hair and no maiden ever looked like she just drifted in from the Haight-Ashbury district. We were monogamous. Now that's really shocking!

"ignant666...why did the father plead guilty to "imprisoning his 6-year-old son in a

wooden box for 56 days in 1969 ...

After the original 13 arrests, no additional people were captured for 3 years, simply because they couldn't find us. During this period, all court activities revolved around fugitives who surrendered, through an attorney, with the plea and the penalty already arranged via "plea-bargaining." The earlier people who surrendered, especially including the boy's father, all simply pled guilty and got a minimal punishment. Much later, there was virtually no penalty, and anyone who pled "Not Guilty," or simply requested "Dismissal of Charges," walked away free that very hour. It was all arranged beforehand - It made the problem go away for both sides, but it was not a true depiction of innocence or guilt.

The father pled guilty to California Penal Code 273a - "Child Endangerment." He did not plead guilty to "imprisoning his 6-year-old son in a wooden box for 56 days." That is the Headline version of the case.

Another point is that there "was no evidence of spiritual development." I actually implied that in the book, and added more information on lashtal.com that indicated that there was indeed such development (see "60s US Occult Scene"). But no one passed the Veil of Paroketh while they were still affiliated with the Tong.

These are all interesting points that have been raised. I am pleased to help us all take a closer look at them.

Shiva

Last edited by Shiva on Jan 27, 2008 - 02:15 PM; edited 2 times in total

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THE SOLAR LODGE

The following was posted on my blog:

Tuesday January 15th 2008 – 8:00am Here is my long awaited ‘Book Review’ of INSIDE SOLAR LODGE, OUTSIDE THE LAW, True Tales of Initiation and High Adventure by Frater Shiva (Teitan Press 2007)

When I first started to study Crowley’s magick in my High School years, back in the late 1960s, like many up & coming initiates we heard stories of the Solar Lodge. Unfortunately our initial source was that of Ed Sander’s book about Charles Manson and the Sharon Tate murders titled The Family.