The Theory and Practice of Sexual Magic, Exemplified by Four Magical Groups in the Early Twentieth Century

THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF SEXUAL MAGIC, EXEMPLIFIED BY FOUR MAGICAL GROUPS IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY Hans Thomas Hakl For obvious reasons, sexual magic is a subject that evokes controversy and curiosity. Surprisingly, however, there exists—with the laudable exception of two works on the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor and on Paschal Beverly Randolph1—practically no critical scholarly literature that studies it as a historical phenomenon and, as a result, the information available to a wider public tends to be sensationalist, second- hand, and mostly unreliable. In this chapter we will present a factual presentation of the theories and practices of four of the most important groups and orders devoted to sexual magic in the twentieth century, based upon direct study of the relevant primary sources.2 It should be noted though that probably the most famous of these sex magical orders—Theodor Reuss’s and Aleister Crowley’s Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.)—is not included in this overview, because it is the subject of a separate chapter by Hugh Urban elsewhere in this volume. The Fraternitas Saturni3 The Fraternitas Saturni (FS), Germany’s most important magical order in the 20th century, was offi cially founded in Berlin on Easter, 1928. 1 See the article by John P. Deveney in this volume. 2 One of the main obstacles to a critical study of sexual magic is the fact that we are mostly dealing with secret societies and initiatic orders, the documents of which are largely not available to the general public or to scholarly research. The usual reti- cence about making materials intended for internal use available to outsiders is further enhanced in the case of sexual magic, due to the controversial nature of the teachings and practices. Against this background, it is important to point out that much of the present discussion is based upon documents in a private collection (referred to in the text as PC), to which the author is fortunate to have access. 3 For more detailed information in English on the Fraternitas Saturni see Flowers, Fire & Ice and a privately printed pamphlet by the same author, The Secrets of Fire and Ice. For more concise information see Hakl, “Fraternitas Saturni.” Besides books, internal magazines, and special prints, there exist seventeen mimeographed volumes of collected 446 hans thomas hakl In fact, however, the lodge had already started its workings two years earlier, in May, 1926. The founders were the bookseller Eugen Grosche (order name Gregor A. Gregorius, 1888–1964) and four brethren. The FS derived from the Pansophische Loge (Pansophical Lodge of Lightseek- ing Brethren of the Orient, Berlin), led by the bookseller Heinrich Tränker (order name Recnartus, 1880–1956). Since 1921, Tränker had also been Grand Master of the O.T.O. in Germany. In 1926, he had a falling-out with Aleister Crowley, who had demanded that all German lodges under the aegis of Tränker should submit to his world lodge A∴A∴ (Astrum Argentinum). This demand was rejected, and a majority of the Pansophical Lodge’s brethren left the order and became members of the newly founded FS. Nevertheless, the FS remained in contact with Crowley and even adopted a slightly adapted version of the well-known Crowleyan “Law” of the New Aeon, “Do what Thou wilt.” But organizationally and in their teachings, the FS remained completely independent. New members joined the order from Wilhelm Quintscher’s (1893–1954) Orden mentalischer Bauherren (Order of Mental Architects) after it was dissolved in 1928. During the National Socialist period the FS was banned, but after the war Eugen Grosche reassembled the former members and became their leader for the rest of his life. His death in 1964 was followed by the usual power struggle over succession, resulting in several schisms. The order managed to survive these troubles and in fact still exists today. It has an initiatic system consisting of thirty-three degrees, similar to the masonic Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; but, naturally, it does not belong to regular Freemasonry. Its doctrines are very eclectic, with a special emphasis on astrology, and include an enormous mass of occult and magical lore, ranging from runes to the kabbalah, and from Ancient Egypt, via yoga to esoteric cosmology. In its essence, the FS is based upon a gnostic doctrine according to which man is capable of discovering his inherent divinity by means of knowledge and self- realization. As the name indicates, the FS sees itself as placed under documents and rituals, assembled by Adolf Hemberger (1929–1992) under the title Documenta et Ritualia Fraternitatis Saturni (PC). It was through Hemberger, a professor of scientifi c methodology at Giessen University and an assiduous collector of degrees in various magical orders, that practically all the internal FS-documents became known to outsiders in the 1970’s. The fi rst details of internal teachings leaked through in Dr. Klingsor (a pseudonym of Hemberger’s), Experimental-Magie..

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