Marcelo Ramos Motta

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Marcelo Ramos Motta

Marcelo Ramos Motta (June 27, 1931 – August 26, 1987) was a Thelemic writer in Brazil, member of A∴A∴.

Motta was born at the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Very little is known about his childhood, only that he was born into a family with Swiss-German ancestry and received a very strict education, amplified by his admission at the Military Academy of Rio de Janeiro. His father was a follower of the doctrine of Allan Kardec and his mother was Catholic. At eleven years of age he became interested for the first time in the mysterious "Rosicrucians", after reading Zanoni, the novel by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and he "decided to search for them and to become one of those mysterious Adepts". But his first contact with a true Rosicrucian society, the Brazilian branch of AMORC, did not satisfy him and he started his search for an initiatory school of the sort he found in Krumm-Heller's novel "Rose-Croix."

His time at the Military Academy of Rio de Janeiro gave him a sense of duty and discipline, which he applied to his occult research. During that time, he became interested in astrology and tarot, among other esoteric topics. Those interests were not very common among his fellow students, but they gave him some knowledge to argue with his philosophy teacher in a debate that became famous for years.

At the age of 17 he made contact with the Fraternitas Rosacruciana Antiqua, Krumm-Heller's Rosicrucian order where Motta took his first initiations in 1948, at the age of 17. Local political tension impelled him to move to Europe and then to the USA. His mission on this voyage, given by the Brazilian leadership of the FRA, was to meet Parsival Krumm-Heller (son of Arnond Krumm-Heller and then legal leader of FRA) and mediate the contacts between the Brazilian group and the international leadership.

Motta's first contact with Thelema was through J. Symond's book "The Great Beast." Motta saw lots of connections between the Law of Thelema and parts of his initiations at FRA, but he had never heard about Thelema or Aleister Crowley. Furthermore, the book gave him some serious doubts about Crowley's initiations because its biography showed Crowley as a Satanist. After asking P. Krumm-Heller about his questions, Motta received from his superior lots of material about Thelema and Crowley, readings that completely changed Motta's opinion about Crowley and his methods and philosophy. Later, in the USA, P. Krumm-Heller introduced Motta to Karl Germer, leader of Ordo Templi Orientis at that time. Germer gave to Motta the choice among O.T.O. and A∴A∴ and Motta chose the latter.

Returning to Brazil in 1962, Motta translated and published Crowley's "Liber Aleph" and wrote "Calling the Children of the Sun," the fist Thelemic writing published in Brazil (later this work was suppressed by Motta himself for fear of political repercussions). From this year to 1987, Motta, as a member of A∴A∴ had numerous students under his tutelage, and tried to establish several O.T.O. Lodges in Brazil, with varied degrees of success.

Karl Germer died in 1962, and in 1969, Grady McMurtry assumed control of O.T.O. based on his letters of "emergency authorization" given to him by Crowley in case Germer should pass without naming a successor (which he did not). Almost a decade later, in 1978, Motta tried to assume the position of Outer Head of the Order and sued for ownership of Crowley's copyrights. According to some sources, Germer told his wife, Sasha, that he left the control of O.T.O. to Motta (by calling him "the follower"). However, his claim to the leadership and copyrights of Crowley's order and work were dismissed.

He constantly tried to establish the Society Ordo Templi Orientis in Brazil, but the order has never had more than a few dozen members. Several groups using the S.O.T.O. name continue to this day.

Motta admired and practiced oriental martial arts, specially Judo. In 1969 Motta self produced a movie called "O Judoca" ("The Judo Fighter"). Apparently the movie did not pay itself, forcing him to pay for its debts in the few following years.

In 1975, Motta published "The Commentaries of AL", being The Equinox, Volume V, Number 1. This book was published by Samuel Weiser, Inc., and contained the commentaries on The Book of The Law written by Aleister Crowley and by Motta himself. Several other books were published by Motta:

In Portuguese:

O Equinócio dos Deuses (being the translation of Book 4 Part IV)
Yoga e Magia (being the translation of Book 4 Part I)
Magia e Misticismo (being the translation of Book 4 Part II)
Ataque e Defesa Astral ("Astral Attack and Defense", written by Motta)
Carta a um Maçom ("Letter to a Brazilian Mason", written by Motta)
Dos Propósitos Políticos da Ordem ("Of The Political aims of the O.T.O.", written by Motta)
Moral e Cívica Telêmicas ("Thelemic Political Morality", written by Motta)

In English:

Thelemic Magick Commented Unexpurgated Commented — Part I
Magick Without Tears Unexpurgated Commented— Part I
Magick Without Tears Unexpurgated Commented— Part II
The Equinox — Vol. V n. 4 — Sex and Religion
The Equinox — Vol. V n. 3 — The Chinese Texts of Magick and Mysticism (included work by JFK conspiracy figure and comic book writer T. Casey Brennan as referenced at this Australian site:[1])
The Equinox — Vol. V n. 2
The Equinox — Vol. V n. 1 — The Commentaries of AL
Magick and Mysticism — Book Four Part II

- Yoga and Magick — Book Four Part I - Liber AL vel Legis — The Book of the Law - Of the Political Aims of the O.T.O. - Letter to a Brazilian Mason - Thelemic Political Morality

Motta never had any kind of economic stability, jumping from job to job and making a living as an English teacher, aided by the help of his followers at S.-O.T.O.. He died on August 26th, 1987, at the city of Teresópolis (Brazil) at the age of 56.