downloadable pdf of the timeline
(with Pertinent Events Regarding the O.T.O.)
updated 7/15/26 e.v.
January 1, 1915 – Aleister Crowley grants Charles Stansfeld Jones (Frater Achad) a patent to establish Agape Lodge No. 1 Ordo Temple Orientis (O.T.O.) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
April 17, 1915 – Wilfred T. Smith takes Minerval Degree in O.T.O. at Agape Lodge No. 1.
June 11, 1921 – Jane Wolfe becomes an A.’.A.’. Probationer 0 = 0 under Crowley at the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalu, Italy.
January 1932 – Smith rents 1746 Winona Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, which immediately becomes an O.T.O. Profess House.
September 21, 1935 – Smith establishes Agape Lodge No. 2 at 1746 Winona Blvd.
August 26, 1939 – Phyllis Evelina Seckler takes Minerval Degree.
June 3, 1940 – Phyllis takes A.’.A.’. Probationer under Jane.
May 5, 1941 – Crowley appoints Karl Germer as his personal representative over O.T.O. in the United States.
June 13, 1941 – Grady Louis McMurtry joins the O.T.O. and receives his first copy of The Book of the Law.
June 1942 – Agape Lodge No. 2 moves from Los Angeles to 1003 South Orange Avenue in Pasadena, California.
January 4, 1943 – Grady begins corresponding with Crowley.
November 19, 1943 – Crowley gives Grady the motto Hymenaeus Alpha 777 (IX O.T.O.); on November 25, 1943; Grady accepts it.
April 11, 1946 -– Crowley gives Grady an authorization, to be used only in emergencies, to “take charge of the whole work of the Order [Ordo Templi Orientis—O.T.O.] in California to reform the Organization … subject to the approval of [Karl Germer]”.
December 1, 1947 – Crowley dies, leaving Germer informally in charge of O.T.O., which deteriorates from that time until the Order is reconstituted by Grady and friends.
Spring, 1958 – Grady begins organizing the remnants of Agape Lodge to reconstitute the O.T.O.
July 19, 1969 – Grady, Phyllis, and Mildred Burlingame officially reactivate the O.T.O. using Grady’s emergency powers.
March 22, 1970 – Grady takes the Oath of a Probationer under Phyllis.
April 24, 1970 – Grady takes the Oath of the Abyss.
November 18, 1977 – J. Edward “Jerry” Cornelius takes Minerval Degree with Grady acting as Saladin.
May 22, 1978 – Jerry charters the Frater Achad Chapter of O.T.O.
1978 – 1983 – Jerry is publishing booklets, pamphlets, and magazines out of Brocken Mountain Lodge, O.T.O., East Haven, CT.
April 23, 1979 – Jerry’s Frater Achad Chapter O.T.O. is given Lodge status and renamed Brocken Mountain Lodge.
July 25, 1979 – Jerry joins Aleister Crowley’s A.’.A.’. as a Probationer under Grady with the motto Verite Sans Peur (Truth without Fear).
July 29th, 1982 – Jerry takes the Oath of Tiphareth, and Grady gives him his 1969 Shambhala Press copy of The Book of Thoth, Number 777, saying, “Someday that’ll mean something to you.”
April 22, 1984 – Jerry takes the Oath of the Abyss.
July 12, 1985 – Grady Louis McMurtry dies.
July 15, 1985 – Jerry assumes Head of Grady McMurtry’s A.’.A.’.
July 19, 1986 – Luis Alvarado becomes a Probationer under Jerry.
February 1987 – William Breeze tells Jerry he threw the Caliphate out of the OTO.
April 22, 1989 – Having worked the intervening spheres Jerry proclaims himself Magister Templi 8=3.
August 20, 1989 – Jerry moves from East Haven, Connecticut to Berkeley, California.
September 29, 1989 – Berkeley Police raid Thelema Lodge O.T.O., sparking a lawsuit by the O.T.O. against the City of Berkeley. The lawsuit was spearheaded by Jerry. This keeps him very busy for the next several years.
March 17, 1989 – Jerry becomes Lodge Master of Thelema Lodge O.T.O., Berkeley.
April 22, 1990 – Jerry establishes Love’s Sake Clerk House, A.’.A.’.
November 16, 1991 – Marlene Smith becomes a Probationer under Jerry, taking the motto Soror Kalil.
February 1992 – Jerry starts dating Marlene Smith.
July 6, 1992 – The O.T.O. wins its lawsuit against the City of Berkeley. He remains Thelema Lodge Master, which still keeps him busy.
July 14, 1993 – Jerry “grabs the sword” and assumes Caliph.
September 1, 1993 – Jerry steps down as Thelema Lodge Master.
September 1993 – Jerry picks Red Flame for the name of the A.’.A.’.’s new publication, to be run by himself and Marlene.
October 10, 1993 – Jerry and Marlene marry.
July 1994 – Jerry and Marlene publish Red Flame #1, The Poetry of Grady Louis McMurtry.
April 1995 – An eleven-year cycle elapses since Jerry took the Oath of the Abyss.
July 14, 1997 – Jerry takes the Motto Frater Hymenaeus Gamma 267 – Inner Head of A.’.A.’.
July 29, 1998 – Luis establishes Double-Wanded One Clerk House, the second such of Grady’s Lineage on the West Coast after Love’s Sake.
December 1998 – Jerry begins rethinking A.’.A.’. now that it has two Clerk Houses. Throughout 1999 he would begin to restructure the Order.
January 1, 1999 – Jerry determines our A.’.A.’. will “flex its muscles”.
February 19, 1999 – Christopher Reed Johnson self-signs the Probationer Oath.
October 12, 1999 – Red Flame #7, The Magickal Essence of Aleister Crowley is released.
January 28, 2000 – The OTO sends out email informing members that no one is allowed to associate with or join such groups as Hoor (Ray Eales), SOTO, TOT (Phyllis Seckler & Eshelman) or any pseudo-OTO groups or they will be expelled. Jerry wrote to a friend, “Yes, any group with whom you associate with, that doesn’t acknowledge HB’s A.’.A.’. claims will result in your immediate expulsion. Talk about crossing the planes!”
April 29, 2000 – OTO Areopagus meeting in which William Breeze discusses, nonsensically, the possible expulsion of Jerry over A.’.A.’. issues—prominently for daring to discuss the existence of multiple lineages in Red Flame #7, which was out-of-print by this time. This is a time in history when the A.’.A.’. led by J. Daniel Gunther, which controls the OTO, is attempting to suppress all A.’.A.’. branches that are independent of them. They are using OTO membership as leverage to try to force subservience.[1]
June 2, 2000 – Fed up with Breeze’s distortions and abuses regarding OTO bylaws, attorney, one of Grady’s A.’.A.’. students, and OTO Elector Ninth Degree James Graeb sends out Notice of Special Meeting of the Elector Ninths of The Ordo Templi Orientis to be held on August 5, 2000 in Concord, California. This Notice includes a packet of documents and arguments regarding illegal and immoral conduct by William Breeze and his confederates, including their attempts to silence or ban members of other A.’.A.’. lineages. Breeze, who was hiding overseas, flies back to America and personally convinces each of the Elector Ninths not to attend the meeting and to hand him their packet. But for Phyllis Seckler’s response, see June 22, 2000.
June 22, 2000 – Phyllis writes an angry, eloquent letter to Breeze condemning the OTO’s recent lawsuits against those who published Crowley books, defending Graeb and Jerry, and demanding that Breeze promise that the OTO will never sue anyone using the name A.’.A.’.
July 12th, 2000 – Breeze writes Phyllis a letter stating, “This is to affirm that neither the Ordo Templi Orientis, nor myself in any other capacity, will ever contest in a court of Law the use of the name or Lamen of the August Fraternity A.’.A.’.” The OTO’s attempt to expel Jerry over A.’.A.’. issues is at an end, and the OTO concedes that it has no business meddling in A.’.A.’. matters.
May 3, 2002 – Marlene asks for a divorce after several years of problems between them.
October 13, 2002 – Jerry finds an apartment at 2525 Durant in Berkeley. He moves out from the house he shared with Marlene shortly thereafter.
February 2003 – Marlene and Jerry finalize their divorce.
April 2003 – Jerry resigns from the OTO on his own terms.
2003 – Marlene releases Red Flame #10 and #11, Jane Wolfe: Her Life with Aleister Crowley Parts 1 and 2 by Phyllis Seckler.
2003-2004 – Three more Clerk Houses are made. (Not all survive today.)
February 11, 2004 – With the encouragement of Luis, Jerry decides to start self-publishing. Earlier that day, Jerry had written to a friend, “This year marks our tenth year publishing [Red Flame], which is quite a feat in Thelemic world. As far as other books that I’ve been working on; two are done and I’m just looking for a publisher but with no luck so far. The third on the HGA is going really slow thanks to all the grief in and around my apartment building [with electricity intermittently going out due to rewiring]. Life has truly been testing me of late.”
2005 – Jerry releases the last two volumes of Red Flame–#12 and #13, In the Name of the Beast: A Biography of Grady Louis McMurtry, a Disciple of Aleister Edward Crowley, Volume One, 1918-1962 and Volume Two, 1962-1985.
March 29, 2006 – Jerry records in his diary, “Dreams of a new publication possibly titled ‘CORNELIA, The Soul of J. Edward Cornelius’ to replace Red Flame? … RF7 released as its first issue?” The next day, citing as catalysts a troubled relationship with his ex-wife and unpublished books backing up, Jerry writes to a friend, “Yes, my new publication may simply be just that, xeroxed and possibly velo bound. It may not look the best but at least I’m in control and I can print them up as I need them and make a fair profit.” He plans to release the RF7 material in a serialized form therein, which he does.
October 22, 2006 – Marlene resigns from the A.’.A.’.
October 2006 – Jerry suffers a stroke (though he thinks it’s a heart attack until Nov 10, 2009 when tests reveal otherwise).
2007-2008 – Jerry self-publishes Cornelia #1-20, producing them out of his apartment with help from friends.
April 25, 2007 – Jerry officially opens the “Blogeria” blog on the Red Flame website, cornelius93.com, which was created a few months earlier with Luis’ help.
July 21, 2009 – Erica Peterson becomes Probationer in Grady McMurtry’s A.’.A.’.
2010 – Jerry’s The Magickal Essence of Aleister Crowley is “privately published” in a hardcover format.
2011 – Jerry’s Aletheia: Astrology in the New Aeon for Thelemites is published by The Black Jackal Press.
November 2012 – Due to problems with the Red Flame blog, Jerry starts the Facebook page Satan in Berkeley.
2013 – A greatly expanded version of Jerry’s The Aleister Crowley Desk Reference, originally Red Flame #4, co-authored with Andrew Drylie with assistance from Clive Harper and Keith Richmond, is published by The Teitan Press.
January 4, 2015 – Erica becomes Pure Joy Clerk House.
January 2015 – October 2023 — Jerry and Erica release Essays #1-#10 in addition to 16 other books authored by Jerry, 1 book co-authored by Jerry and Erica, 4 authored by Erica, and numerous reprints. Christopher edits the last several of these books.
February 9, 2015 – Jerry begins dating Erica.
August 31, 2015 – Jerry and Erica marry in Berkeley, CA. Erica becomes known as Erica M Cornelius.
February 22, 2016 – Erica takes the Oath of an Adeptus Minor.
February 19, 2021 – Christopher swears the Oath of Probationer within the Gunther lineage of A.’.A.’.
May 2021 – Jerry and Erica move to Prescott, Arizona.
January 2, 2022 – Christopher becomes Probationer in Grady’s A.’.A.’. in Pure Joy Clerk House, taking the motto Laus Priapo Deo 217.
January 3, 2022 – Christopher withdraws from the Gunther lineage while still a Probationer there.
September 13, 2022 – Jerry and Erica divorce.
September 22, 2022 – Erica arrives in Woodstock, Georgia, meeting and moving in with Christopher.
October 31, 2022 – Christopher takes the Oath of a Lover.
January 16, 2023 – Jerry instructs Erica to list herself on the Red Flame website as the Outer Head of the Order of Grady’s A.’.A.’. with himself as Inner Head.
May 23, 2023 – Christopher takes the Oath of the Abyss; he continues to work the intervening spheres.
August 2, 2023 – Jerry presents Christopher with the black stone Grady gave him during a walk along the Long Island Sound after he, Jerry, took the Oath. He told Chris what Grady told him, “This is your Path” across the pathless land. He also warned, “Don’t trip on it!”
December 8, 2023 – Jerry dies. He wills Erica The Book of Thoth No. 777. She determines to remain Outer Head of the Order. Christopher assumes Inner Head of Grady’s A.’.A.’.
December 19, 2023 – Christopher and Erica marry in Prescott, Arizona. Before Jerry’s unexpected death, they had planned a December wedding in Cobb County, Georgia. Erica becomes known as Erica Johnson.
December 27, 2023 – Christopher takes the Caliph motto Ὑμεναιος Ε.
March 20, 2024 – Christopher takes the Magister Templi motto A.A.A.A.A. He continues to work the spheres between Tiphareth and Binah.
July 18, 2024 – Christopher and Erica release their co-authored book The Joy of Dissolution, which also contains Jerry’s final long essay, “I Do Not Exist”.
[1] For details on these incidents and more, please see “An Open Epistle on the Attempted Expulsion of Frater Achad Osher 483 (J. Edward Cornelius)”. For even more detail, see the book The Cult of Aleister Crowley: Being a True Story from its Beginning until the Present by J. Edward Cornelius.