Order of the Thelemic Golden Dawn

The Order of the Thelemic Golden Dawn (OTGD) is an initiatory magical group that adheres to the teachings of Aleister Crowley. Originally known as The Thelemic Temple and Order of the Golden Dawn, it was founded in Los Angeles in 1990 by David Cherubim who now serves as its Frater Superior Chief. It exists to assist people in their initiation as thelemic magicians and to spread the Law of Thelema worldwide. Thelema (from the Greek word for will) is an approach to magic which attempts to assist the magician in the location of his/her particular destiny or True Will. The thelemic magician, having discovered his/her True Will is bound to identify with and follow it.

Members enter the order as a neophyte. Work is then pursued in seven successive grades beginning with Zelator. These grades or levels closely resemble the grades of the Ordo Templi Orientis, the order that Crowley headed during his lifetime. The seven grades are seen as corresponding to the seven chakras of the subtle body in the Indian tantric system, the seven planets found in traditional astrology, and the seven metals included in alchemy.

Members consider themselves a body of Free Warriors whose task is to extend the Law of Thelema as contained in The Book of the Law, the text of which Crowley claimed to have received from a preternatural entity named Aiwass in 1904. To this end members engage in occult research, practical mysticism, ceremonial magic, and tantric alchemy. Members are also expected to be thoroughly grounded in Crowley's thought as found in his many books.

The OTGD is headquartered in Los Angeles. Its website can be found at http://www.tgd.org/.

Sources:

Crowley, Aleister. Magick: Book Four, Parts I-IV. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, 1994. [Includes The Book of the Law, a brief text that has been reprinted numerous times.]

——. Magick in Theory and Practice. New York: Dover Publications, 1976.