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FIRE & ICE: MAGICAL TEACHINGS OF GERMANY'S GREATEST SECRET OCCULT ORDER |
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INTRODUCTION
The Fraternitas Saturni (FS), the Brotherhood of Saturn, has become known to English readers through fragmentary descriptions which emphasize the sensational, sex-magical aspects of this lodge's work or else its darker, more Satanic, side. [1] This is understandable in light of the fact that the FS is (or was) the most unabashedly Luciferian organization in the modern Western occult revival, and its practice of sexual occultism perhaps the most elaborately detailed of any such lodge. The FS represents a unique blend of astrological cosmology, neo-Gnostic daemonology, sexual occultism, and Freemasonic organizational principles. This grand synthesis was originally the vision of one man, the long-time Grand Master of the FS, Gregor A. Gregorius.
This book is probably the first attempt ever made in any language to present a comprehensive view of the history, organization, doctrines, rituals and practices of the most powerful and influential magical lodge in modern Germany. The "compendium" of FS material cited in Richard Cavendish's Encyclopedia of the Unexplained is an enormous, but sometimes disorganized, trove of documentation which was collected by Prof. Dr. Adolf Hemberger of the University of Giessen, West Germany. [2] Other recent treatments of the FS in German have also made use of the mountains of documentary evidence, but have made little attempt to organize it comprehensively. [3] Here, I will try to present an organized and comprehensive outline of this magical lodge. The reader should be advised that the author is not an initiate of the FS. However, I had the advice and consultation of the Brotherhood, as is cited in the Acknowledgments. I hope that this combination, coupled with my longtime experience in the history and practice of magic, will provide a sense of objective sympathy.
The FS is an organization that has undergone several transformations during its most recent manifestation (from about 1927 to the present). Most of the material used for this book and the ideas discussed in it have been drawn from the period when Gregorius was Grand Master, or shortly thereafter (to about 1970). Therefore, it cannot be assumed that doctrines or practices discussed in these pages are in fact still a part of the current doctrines and practices of the FS in Germany.
In these pages there is, however, a complete vision of the lodge, including many of its most secret doctrines and ritual practices from that earlier period. A comprehensive overview of its organizational structure of thirty-three degrees of initiation is one key to the understanding of the lodge's work and purpose. The chapter on the doctrines of the FS is concentrated on what is perhaps the three most unique aspects of FS doctrine: 1) the astrosophical teaching of Saturnus as the Demiurge ruling over the present stage of cosmic evolution, 2) the strongly Luciferian aspect of this doctrine, and 3) the teachings of sexo- cosmology and sexual occultism—the Yoga of the Dark Light—as it is tied up with these theories.
The rituals presented here are complete treatments of rites found in archival material. They amply demonstrate the liturgical scope of the Brotherhood, and provide further significant insights into their philosophy that are inaccessible in theoretical discussions.
After studying the doctrines of the FS for almost a decade, and after significant experimentation with a number of its formulae, I believe that the Brotherhood of Saturn indeed holds a unique place in the history of the revival of the Western magical tradition. For too long, the English-speaking magical forum has been ignorant of the exact nature of German occultism and magic. Although a great deal of "English occultism" is actually, or supposedly, derived from sources in her Continental sister nation (e.g. Rosicrucianism, the Golden Dawn [cf. cipher manuscripts], even the O.T.O. itself), little has been done in the way of systematically analyzing this vast and vibrant world. Generally, it might be said that what the Golden Dawn has been to Anglo-American occultism over the past hundred years, the Fraternitas Saturni has been to German occultism. But whereas the "secrets" of the GD have been published and reprinted over and over, the mysteries of the FS have— until recently—remained behind a veil of obscurity. Therefore, anyone who would really understand the depths of the magical subculture of today, be it in German or Anglo-American society, needs to have a thorough grasp of the history and doctrines of the Brotherhood of Saturn.
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