Eugen Grosche (circa 1956):
MASTER THERION - MASTER RECNARTUS - MASTER PACITIUS.
Report on the “Secret Conference in Thuringia in 1926”.
by Gregor A. Gregorius
English translation by Richard Tschudi; revised against the German original.
To give the Fratres of the Lodge “Fraternitas Saturni” an insight into the conference that had taken place — a conference of immense importance for the emergence of the Lodge, and therefore one that should be preserved for posterity — the undersigned, the present Grand Master of the Lodge, gives a detailed report whose contents are also very interesting.
The leader of the Pansophical movement in Germany, Master Recnartus — the then master of the German Rosicrucians, known by the name “Der Henkelkreuzmann” (“the Ankh Man”) — illuminated the local Orient of the “Pansophical Lodge” in Berlin in 1924 and appointed Fra. Pacitius, alias Albin Grau, Master of the Orient of Berlin.
Fra. Gregorius became secretary of the local lodge.
When Aleister Crowley = Master Therion was expelled from France and Belgium in 1926, he was forced to use Germany for a short time as temporary asylum and to accept the hospitality of Master Recnartus, alias Heinrich Tränker.
During this period, a conference convened by Master Recnartus took place in Thuringia on his country estate. It was chaired by Master Therion and attended by a number of the then important personalities from Germany. Berlin was represented by Master Pacitius and Fra. Gregorius, Danzig by Master Gebhardi, and so on. Therion had brought with him his two secretaries as well as his chancellor, Mudd. The discussions continued all day and into the evening. It was unanimously resolved to conduct active propaganda in Germany for Master Therion and his teachings and, by founding the Thelema Publishing Company in Leipzig under the direction of Frl. Marta Küntzel, gradually to create a suitable basis for Aleister Crowley’s books translated into German. Otto Wilhelm Barth of Munich, proprietor of the occult bookshop “Asokthebu”, and the bookshop “Inveha” in Berlin were both, according to the assurances of their owners, to devote themselves primarily to the distribution of Therion’s books.
On the most important point of the meeting, however, the assembly reached no desired resolution. Master Therion had demanded the organisational and spiritual incorporation, and in a certain sense the subordination, of the entire German Rosicrucian movement and also of Pansophy under his great world lodge, the A.·. A.·. Since the Berlin delegates, as well as several other German participants, supported Master Recnartus in his refusal to agree to this proposal, no understanding was reached.
A few weeks later the Berlin Orient heard that Master Recnartus had requested the German State Attorney’s office to expel Master Therion from Germany. Although this incident showed the fact of a deep rupture between Therion and Recnartus, it appeared so outrageous to Master Pacitius that he personally demanded Master Recnartus’s resignation from the dignity of his Grand Mastership of the Pansophical lodges. Since Master Recnartus did not comply with this demand, the Pansophical Orient of Berlin was dissolved and extinguished in solemn ritual by the common decision of all its members.
Since Master Pacitius, too, had placed himself in a certain opposition to the World Master Therion by means of a private publication issued by him under the title “Das Buch der Nullstunde”, reprinted in the August 1954 issue of the “Blätter für angewandte okkulte Lebenskunst”, he considered it necessary to lay down his dignities and also to decline the leadership of the newly illuminated Lodge “Fraternitas Saturni”, although two thirds of the former Pansophical members entered this Lodge. Thus the secretary of the Lodge, Fra. Gregorius, was unanimously elected Grand Master of the Lodge.
Under his leadership the “Fraternitas Saturni” remained in close and friendly connection with Master Therion and also with the Thelema Society in Leipzig, although it rejected a direct organisational connection with the A.·. A.·. as a German Grand Lodge. But it was unanimously resolved to place itself under the law of the new age propagated by Therion — “Do what thou wilt!” — and, after a few minor alterations in wording, to incorporate it as a guiding principle into the law of the Lodge.
However much the facts described here were, and still are, regrettable from a spiritual point of view, they can also be regarded as unalterable signs of the further collapse of the whole movement that then set in, completed by the Nazi regime. The head of the Thelema Society, Frl. Küntzel, died in a concentration camp [PRK note: incorrect]; the leading brothers of the “Fraternitas Saturni” went voluntarily into emigration. The Pansophical movement, too, no longer appeared. A further visit by Master Therion to Berlin, before the Nazi regime, where he unfortunately also tried in vain, following the exhibition of his artworks and paintings begun in the “Porza” [1931], to create a new viable basis in Germany, likewise failed.
In the sense of true mysticism, the Pansophical movement could rightly be described as one of the last blossoms of the Piscean Age; yet, following the course of time, it had to be replaced by new spiritual organisations founded upon the magical impulse of the new Age of Aquarius. The fact that the attempt at a well-intentioned centralisation unfortunately failed in the course of the above-mentioned conference must probably be attributed to the lack of insight of all those involved at the time. On the other hand, this consequently provided the guiding line and basis for the further development of the Lodge “Fraternitas Saturni”. It was this: independence as a Grand Lodge for Germany in close and friendly collaboration with Master Therion and the A.·. A.·.
In connection with the above-mentioned gathering, an event occurred which, because of its strongly occult character, is worth handing down to posterity. We reproduce below the personal report of Fra. Gregorius. He states: “Master Recnartus’s country estate was an old former inn in a secluded valley of Thuringia, miles away from any other human habitation. To recover from the exertions of the discussions that had taken place during the day, all the participants in the conference went for an evening walk along the quiet, solitary meadow valley, surrounded on all sides by deep forests. In informal groups they walked along the silent meadow paths, conversing. I myself had joined Master Gebhardi, and the two of us walked close behind the group in which Master Therion was walking. I noticed that Master Therion often behaved in a curious way during the walk. At times he raised his hand in greeting, smiled while looking sideways at the ground, and often carefully stepped aside as if he had to avoid an obstacle. I asked Master Gebhardi what these conspicuous gestures and movements meant. I received from him the following, highly surprising explanation:
“To greet Master Therion, who is an initiate of the astral light, a large number of intermediate beings from the realm of dwarves, gnomes, and tree-beings have hurried here. They are, of course, invisible to us, but are perceived by Master Therion, and he returns their greetings.”
I must confess that at the time I probably made a rather unbelieving face at this explanation.
When I questioned him further, Gebhardi explained to me: “An initiated Master is able, by means of a particular invocation of a tree-being, to reach all the intermediate beings present within a radius of approximately seven kilometres in surroundings as suitable as those we have here. The tree-being in question sends out the signal that a knowing Magus is present here. You may be convinced that we are now all surrounded and accompanied by many such beings of the intermediate realm. I can tell you nothing further about this, because this secret knowledge belongs only in the hands of a Master who possesses the higher initiations. You will probably receive the exact instructions later when you obtain the dignity of Master. Seeing these beings depends solely on the degree of sensitivity of the person concerned.”
Since, unfortunately, I did not know English, I refrained from personally asking Master Therion about this strange experience, which interested me greatly, especially as he had no knowledge of the German language either.
After one year, however, by Therion’s instruction and through his chancellor, I received, among a number of important documents, the magical instruction for calling the intermediate beings. When, in 1928, I attempted this magical experiment in a very secluded area on the island of Rügen, I received confirmation of this secret knowledge through the appearance of two dwarves who followed my call. For me, the fact of the existence of such intermediate beings is beyond doubt (see also the relevant publication in the January 1951 study issue of the “Blätter für angewandte okkulte Lebenskunst”). There the conjuration of the intermediate beings is dealt with, but of course the strictly secret instruction mentioned above is not revealed.
The archive of the Lodge also contains photographic images of spirit beings that could be taken during other such practices.
Gregor A. Gregorius
These special publications will never appear commercially; they are intended only for the Fratres of the Lodge and may neither be lent nor passed on.