Brotherhood of Saturn

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The Brotherhood of Saturn ("Fraternitas Saturni", FS) is a German magical order founded under the leadership of Eugen Grosche in 1928.^[1]

1 History
- 1.1 Split off
2 Known members
3 See also
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Split off

Main article: Ordo Templi Orientis

With the death of Theodor Ruess, Aleister Crowley was to take over as "Outer Head of the Order" of the Ordo Templi Orientis. This caused a split between members and lead to the founding of the Fraternitas Saturni as their Grand Lodge. This new group did not accept the teachings of Thelema, or regard Crowley as a secret chief to which 'total obedience was due'.^[1] They still thought of him as an important teacher and kept in contact with him only to extend his sex magic to new levels.^[1]

In 1936, the FS was prohibited by the Nazi regime. Gregorius as well as other leaders of the lodge emigrated in order to avoid imprisonment. After World War II Gregorius was able to reunite the brothers and bring the lodge back to full blossom.

Grosche was arrested for a year by the Nazi government on the grounds of being a Socialist. Curiously enough, his connection to Aleister Crowley was cited by the Gestapo as the main reason for his detainment. Following the war's end, he became affiliated with the German Communist Party in the Soviet Zone.

In 1957 there were lodges in Hamburg and Stuttgart, with the grandlodge in Berlin. By the time of Grosche's death in 1964 the FS was again Germany's biggest magickal order. But following Grosche's death, there were turbulences and confusion concerning the position of Grandmaster.

The most important degrees in the initiatory system of the FS are the "Gradus Mercurii", the "Gradus Solis" and the "Gradus Pentalphae", the grade of the five pointed star or pentagram. The work of the "Gradus Pentalphae" is centered around tantric mysticism and sexual magicks, it is said that all the secret knowledge of the OTO is contained within the "Gradus Pentalphae". The system of degrees was changed shortly before Grosche died. Originally, there where ten degrees within the FS, not including the "novice", who was not a regular member but a candidate to the FS, and the Grandmaster, which was no degree in those days but a position held by a single master of the highest degree ("Magister Aquarii") guiding the affairs of the lodge. The "Gradus Mercurii" (Fellow Craft) was the second degree in the original system, followed by the "Gradus Solis" (Master) and the "Gradus Pentalphae". After the reformation of the degree system and it's expansion to 33 degrees, the "Gradus Mercurii" was 8°, "Gradus Solis" became 12° and the "Gradus Pentalphae" became 18°.

In 1957 the FS became a legal organisation, registered as "Fraternitas Saturni, eingetragener Verein". In 1979 most of the ordained masters left the Fraternitas Saturni to form the Ordo Saturni , the remaining brothers of the FSeV found new attempts on magick and still work under the name "Fraternitas Saturni", despite the fact that no master remained to keep the tradition connected to the original FS alive.

In 1993 one of the so-called masters ("Immanuel-succession") found another saturnian order, the Communitas Saturni. Another saturnian lodge (Grand Lodge "Gregor A. Gregorius") formed during the 1990s in southern Germany, but after a period of conflicts this lodge merged with the FS.