Description

THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD
MY MEMOIRS OF BEING IN ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS
Between 1989 and 1993

The Changing of the Guard covers the extremely colorful, shocking, and at times hilarious events around two basic efforts of its author, J. Edward Cornelius, between 1989 and 1993. The first effort was to spearhead Ordo Templi Orientis’ (OTO’s) successful lawsuit against the City of Berkeley, California and Alameda County, California. The OTO sued these government entities for perpetrating a police raid motivated by religious intolerance against those whom they deemed “devil worshippers.” For those who don’t remember this time period in the United States, nervous Christians imagined Satanists performing human sacrifices in every backyard and basement—and of course they identified every occult or non-Christian group as Satanic. This was a time of mass-paranoia and witch-hunting, with tragic consequences for many of the falsely accused when Thelema Lodge, OTO and other locations in the Bay Area were raided during a botched police raid looking for drugs, guns and underaged runaways. Cornelius was one of several people who was arrested and who was instrumental in fighting and winning this morally important victory. ​

The second effort that Cornelius details in this book was the OTO’s attempt to reform the Bay Area’s Thelema Lodge (formerly Grand Lodge) to be an orderly, dignified representation of Crowley’s Order. Oh, the stories Cornelius tells in this book! It all started when newly-elected OTO leader (X°) William Breeze convinced Cornelius to serve as Lodge Master of Thelema Lodge, much to the chagrin of the self-styled Bay Area “Community.” Before Cornelius even arrived in California from the East Coast he was resented and rejected by said “Community.” Hijinks and push-back ensued: crazy Masses, thefts, lice outbreaks, and in-fighting that caused—you guessed it—the most expensive lawsuit to that date in the OTO’s history (see above). Cornelius had his hands full, and then some. Unlike with the lawsuit, he failed at reforming Thelema Lodge. Unfortunately, he wasn’t alone: every Lodge Master after him similarly failed, and the historically important lodge was eventually shuttered.

Cornelius’ stories are definitely some that the OTO wishes would remain buried, but they reflect the bigger picture of which these flamboyant and scandalous events are but a microcosm. The events that Cornelius has reconstructed here from thousands of pages of contemporary documents resulted directly from the transition to the new OTO leadership’s ways of conducting business.

This book is 6×9, red cover, no dust jacket, 341 pages. Every book is a signed copy. There are only 200 hardback, signed copies available.

Overseas customers, use PayPal: To buy your copy with PayPal, use address pjch381@gmail.com and be sure to include your correct mailing address. $65.00 per copy (*$71.01 within California due to sales tax) *plus* postage & handling of $11 within U.S., $31 international.