Ordo Templi Orientis Phenomenon

O.T.O. in Canada

Moosebump: Don't You Eat That Yellow Snow



Peter-R. Koenig




 Ordo Templi Orientis Gnostic Mass




A bookstore, "Cover to Uncover" opened by Liza *** on Stanley St / Montréal in 1973. The original aim of the store was to publish Aleister Crowley manuscripts and sell books. The unfortunate reality was, at that time most people could not afford to buy their books so Liza*** and her partner Michael thought it better to turn into more of a library/tea house. Liza was very pregnant at that time. Their son "Kephra" was born in December 1973. They left Montréal a year after to South America and lived in the Jungle of the Amazon.

Once upon a time Canada was considered to be the 'Caliphate' O.T.O's "most rapidly gorwing [sic] province" (IX° William Heidrick to Donna Anne Parks, 13 March, 1982). The first 'Caliphate' body was founded in Montréal in 1981 with some fifty members; it was called 'Phoenix Lodge', and William Breeze (the current 'Caliph') was its first Lodgemaster. By the end of the 1980s, as well as Phoenix, there was an Oasis ('Starry Wisdom'), and two Camps in the suburbs of Montréal: one in Laval ('Camp of Our Lady Nuit') and one in Sainte Jovite ('Wytchwood Hill'). [see the corrections and the map to this paragraph]

On 20 June 1981 Breeze became Grady Louis McMurtry's [Hymenaeus Alpha] "personal envoy ... International Coordinator ... opening diplomatic relations with such branches of O.T.O. as exist abroad" and acted "as the Caliph's personal representative ... for the Dominion of Canada".


William Bill Breeze Gerald Suster Ordo Templi Orientis Caliphate Canada
[William Breeze to Gerald Suster, Collage]


Phoenix's first Treasurer was Robert Deumié. As he owned the 'Café Thélème' in Montréal, he became Phoenix's fifth Lodgemaster, as well as being appointed president of the firm 'O.T.O., Inc.', and the "Caliph's personal representative" after William Breeze was elected 'Caliph'. The Café Thélème was occasionally used for 'Caliphate' meetings during the 1980s, although a large number of initiations and advancements were done separately in one batch by the 'Caliph' and an initiatory team especially imported from New York.

Deumié was expelled from the 'Caliphate' for supposedly revealing some of their secret signs and rituals in a French-language film which was shown on television in Québec. Shortly before Deumié's expulsion, David Poole (who was at that time Phoenix Lodge treasurer) opened what he called "The Templar Centre" in Montréal. A group of people — not all of them c.O.T.O. members — had clubbed together to rent space in the basement of a building on Ontario Street, a short distance east of the Café Thélème; here the O.T.O. set up a temple and library, as well as partitioning off some office-space, and installing bathroom and shower facilities.

Yet after only a short time in these apparently ideal surroundings, the c.O.T.O. moved its meetings to the back of the 'Metamorphoses' occult bookshop on Crescent Street, which was owned by Serge Lebel, who had been a Thelemite since circa 1981. Initiations were now performed at Poole's house out in Laval.

After another few months, the group was on the move again: this time, they rented some space at the 'St. Marc Memphis-Misraim Centre' on Notre-Dame Street to do their initiations. After a couple of years at this address, the fringe-Masons of Memphis-Misraim asked the c.O.T.O. to quit their premises; this was after the news of the Solar Temple mass-suicide broke. The name of the Solar Temple in French — Ordre du Temple Solaire — and particularly its initials "O.T.S." — were just too close to "O.T.O." for Memphis-Misraim's comfort.
[After publication of the names of the locations, further research cleared up some misunderstandings.]

It has been claimed that it was Alan Stewart (Starry Wisdom Oasis Master, Phoenix Lodge Secretary, and Breeze's friend until he was expelled) who was almost single-handedly responsible for the demise of the 'Caliphate' in Canada, due to his appalling behaviour which upset and terrified so many people.

The 'Caliphate' was legally incorporated as a commercial corporation in the provinces of Québec and Ontario in 1981; curiously, they never tried to register with the Federal authorities in Canada — nor was there ever an effective Canadian X°. The Québec corporation was wound up on May 4th 2001, having failed to fulfil its legal obligation to file company returns for two years running.

Generally speaking, the 'Caliphate' is now defunct in Canada, although a few groups still maintain a tenuous existence on the Internet. A number of otherwise inactive members in Montréal decided that they were Wiccan High Priests in the 1980s, and became very active Wiccans from 1992 onwards.



Editorial

A collection of correspondence has been gathered over the last couple of years which casts a very different light on the 'Caliphate' O.T.O.'s early history from the impression that group gives in its 'official' histories, and reveals details of its activities in a country hitherto largely neglected: Canada.

Research for this article began in 1999. The material was eventually edited by Bryony Murds in late 2001 and published in March 2002. Further revisions were made in January and June 2003 — one update even dates from as late as November 2011.

Editorial interpolations and expansions are given in square brackets. Spelling and punctuation of originals have been silently corrected.




Cafe Thelem Thelema in Montreal — Ordo Templi Orientis in Canada

With face uncovered: William Breeze, Grady Louis McMurtry




Bryony Murds: "These people posing for a group photograph outside a Montréal café on June 14th, 1981 don't look very unusual. Could they be a group from a university? Some of the older figures could be academics still dreaming of the revolutionary sixties, while the younger ones look like they might be students. But the café behind them has an unusual name: 'Café Thélème', or 'Café Thelema' in English; and it was put to unusual uses, containing a magical temple in its basement at one stage. The picture is actually a rare record of some of the prime movers in the Canadian 'Caliphate' Ordo Templi Orientis, (or COTO for short). Among them are such figures as the first 'Caliph', Grady McMurtry, and his successor and present head of the 'Caliphate', William Breeze, as well as a number of other early Canadian O.T.O. luminaries."

The source who contributed the photograph tried to identify the people in it:
"1. Grady is very noticeable standing just to the right of the café sign. 2. Directly below him, almost hidden is Jim Wasserman, dark hair, bearded. 3. The black woman to the left of the sign is Jim's wife, Waletta (or Walitta?). 4. Behind her is François Cartier. 5. To Grady's left standing, pregnant woman in long red dress, and bearded gentleman in grey t-shirt, these are the Ripples, Michael and Michelle. 6. Bill Breeze is kneeling, far left between the gentlemen wearing the red and blue shirts. Bill has a white shirt, dark sun glasses."

Another correspondent recognised some more faces: "The person way in the back, who is 'framed' by the doorway, seems to be Peter Cohen. The person who is standing a little in front to the right of McMurtry (high white forehead, glasses, and a scruffy beard) is Michael Hoirch alias Frater 'Ani La Ani'. The woman to the right of him, with long dark hair and glasses, who seems to be holding a baby (though I can't account for the baby) seems to be a woman named [S*** V***] (don't know her last name). [S*** V***] and Peter Cohen were Hoirch's roommates at one time, perhaps then. The woman who is the second, kneeling from the right, looks very much like Gail Thompson, who died last year [2000?] in fact. In those days she called herself Kateri. She was very much into magick, but never O.T.O. Robert Deumié, the café's owner, is kneeling, wearing a brown vest, left knee touching the ground, third from the left. The first guy on the left, squatting/kneeling, right up front, may be Michel Verdun. Don't recognise any of the others. There is one next to Deumié who might be 'Bishop' Robert Latullippe, but I am really not sure. I can only say he would probably look like that when much younger and plumper (he is very thin and ascetic looking now, like a Dominican priest; he doesn't smile either, like the guy in the photo). Latulippe would dress that way; he always favours black and white, no jeans ever. And often a little tasteful upside-down crucifix somewhere on himself. How do you get to be Bishop when you weren't ever a priest? I guess Grady McMurtry knew how!"

And yet another correspondent: "I recognise a couple of people. In the centre is Robert Deumié & Robert Latulippe, behind them to the right I see Peter Cohen, to the left of Deumié wearing glasses could be Alan Stewart; he doesn't look healthy though. Behind him to the right wearing red could be Rob Davis [Larry Mintz]. In the back with grey beard seems to be Hymenaeus Alpha [McMurtry]."

Robert Latulippe also recognized some of the people. Read his memories in Part V.

Alexander Duncan in November 2011: "I am the standing figure on the right in the white suit. I discovered Aleister Crowley's Magick in Theory and Practice on Christmas day, 1967 or 1968, and studied his works continuously before contacting Dr. Iscrael Regardie by mail in or about 1973. Dr. Regardie was very friendly and we exchanged a number of letters before he referred me to the Caliphate O.T.O. for initiation. He also invited me to visit him at his home and put me in touch with various people. I also corresponded with Phyllis Seckler I believe while she was still married to L.G. McMurtry. Ms. Seckler, who wrote to me in her official O.T.O. capacity, struck me as a rather creepy and hostile, fundamentalist type and a person of limited creativity and intelligence. I also corresponded briefly with Kenneth Grant, and a member of a purported A.·. A.·. group who at that time was studying quantum physics and has since published a major biography on Crowley. About 1980 (I forget the exact year) I met with the Caliphate in Montreal and was initiated into the 0 degree I think, along with my friend, A.G. I was moreover approached by several of Mr. McMurtry's lieutenants and invited to organize a chapter of the O.T.O. in Toronto, presumably with his approval. Pursuant to this goal I contacted a number of people in Toronto. We held classes for a short time at Glendon College, York University and one actual initiation as well. People involved included:
  • a sham film maker who was intent on creating a UFO hoax and has since produced a commercial documentary on the Apocalypse
  • a professional pornographer who apparently made a lot of money subsequently with an online porn site
  • a welfare dropout who subsequently attacked me in my home as a consequence of alcoholic dementia
  • a woman and her boyfriend who were very into the rock music subculture
I was not impressed by Mr. McMurtry, who struck me as a burnt-out alcoholic, or by his lieutenants, who struck me as sycophantic fools. I subsequently dropped the whole matter as a bad job and carried on with other work. I was involved with them for less than a year. My conclusion, which I still adhere to, is that none of the individuals involved with the Caliphate are authentic or sincere aspirants to the Great Work or capable of carrying on the Great Work of the O.T.O. in a manner consistent with the original intentions or vision of Aleister Crowley. In a word, they are non-entities, or worse.
I was never at any time expelled from the order so technically I am still a member I suppose, or possibly expelled in absentia.
My main raison d'etre for seeking initiation with them was to formulate a magical link with Crowley himself, through McMurtry."
Alexander Duncan is now the proprietor of Eonic Press and a practising Buddhist.



We shall be meeting many of these characters in the stories that follow.




Ordo Templi Orientis, History of the Caliphate in Canada, Robert Deumié David Poole, Alan Stewart, Robert Latulippe, Alexander Duncan Michel Verdun, Michael Hoirch, Peter Cohen, François Cartier, William Breeze

[AI-generated Image]




Dossier: The Case of the Phoenix Lodge (Canada)

I. Introduction: The Disintegration of a Thelemic Cell

The so-called “Phoenix Lodge” of the 'Caliphate' O.T.O. in Montréal, Québec, offers an exemplary case of the internal contradictions and structural deficits endemic to the North American branch of the Ordo Templi Orientis. Between 1981 and 1995, what began as a formally sanctioned initiative from the center (Breeze/McMurtry) devolved into a precarious and conflict-ridden substructure, its history marked by chaotic governance, ideological incoherence, and personalized power struggles. The sources presented here do not trace a linear chronology; rather, they constitute a kaleidoscope of conflicting perspectives — perhaps best interpreted as part of the dossier’s metadiscursive strategy.

II. Organizational Structure and Founding Context

Grady McMurtry’s journey to Canada in 1981 culminated in the elevation of the “W.T. Smith Chapter” to the status of “Phoenix Lodge.” Twenty-three Minerval initiations were performed, including those of Robert Latulippe and Richard Gernon (who died of a heroin overdose in 1989).
Under the leadership of David Poole (Frater Scarabaeus, later known as Salazar), the Lodge initially developed into an active node, complete with its own publication (Pan Gaea), a designated temple space, and several offshoots (e.g., “Huges De Payenes”). Authorizations from Breeze were issued with notable speed and, in some cases, with scant evidentiary vetting. By 1983, the Lodge had been granted not only jurisdiction over Canada but also its first episcopal consecrations.

III. Thematic Fields of Conflict

1. Temple Spaces and the Memphis-Misraïm Problem

There are contradictory accounts regarding the location of initiation rites:
  • Poole refers to a “Memphis-Mizraim Centre” on Notre-Dame Street.
  • Other sources cite a Masonic building on St. Marc Street (the AASR Memorial Temple).
  • The webmaster of the latter flatly denies any O.T.O. activity therein.
Robert Deumié (alias Fr. Kumi) is described as a bishop of the Memphis-Misraïm lineage who, according to witnesses, read Bible verses during Thelemic Masses — an act perceived by some as a theurgical hybrid too far.
Analysis: The symbolic invocation of the Memphis-Misraïm lineage appears to have served an aura-enhancing and legitimizing function — unfortunately unsupported by institutional continuity. This not only compromised the Thelemic self-conception of the Lodge but also eroded the spiritual coherence of its temple work.

2. Financial and Administrative Opacity

Tensions between Poole and Latulippe revolved around matters such as:
  • Bank accounts opened unilaterally, inaccessible to co-signatories.
  • Absence of financial records; Poole was unable to produce receipts.
  • Disputes over ownership of Pan Gaea (a 50/50 agreement was allegedly disregarded).
  • Unpaid personal debts (e.g., a computer purchased from Latulippe’s brother Richard).
Analysis: The Lodge increasingly came to be perceived as Poole’s personal dominion, while official functions (such as Latulippe’s role as treasurer) were systematically undermined. Arbitrary financial decisions fatally undermined the already tenuous ethos of collective responsibility.

3. Key Figures and Conflict Dynamics

a) David Poole
  • Self-styled reformer and initiator.
  • Criticized for authoritarian conduct, ritual opacity, and deliberate exclusion (notably in relation to Leah).
  • Multiple accounts speak of ritual improvisation, emotional escalation, and a refusal to engage in dialogue.
b) Leah / Leslie
  • Her I° initiation reportedly took place under the influence of alcohol and medication.
  • Poole declined to offer a proper re-initiation, proposing instead a symbolic “solemnisation.”
  • Leah subsequently withdrew and became a prominent critic — emphasizing gender marginalization within the Phoenix Lodge.
c) Robert Latulippe
  • Initially a supporter of Poole, later a vocal opponent.
  • Provided detailed documentation of both structural and character-related failings.
  • Withdrew after attaining IV° and formally resigned from the O.T.O.
d) Eric Côté / Simon
  • Dissenter and ally of Leah.
  • Background in Métis culture, street theatre, and the alternative arts collective “Atelier Pentangle.”
  • Politically and culturally aligned with anti-authoritarian currents.
e) Robert Deumié
  • Gnostic bishop who fused Memphis-Misraïm elements with Thelemic-Christian hybrids.
  • No formal O.T.O. initiation documented.

4. Publishing Conflicts: Pan Gaea and Topaz

  • Disputes over ownership of Pan Gaea: Poole initially signed a 50% agreement with Latulippe, then later transferred full ownership to the O.T.O.
  • Sr. Aristha accused Poole of publishing her texts in Topaz without permission. Poole denied the claim, stating the materials had been voluntarily submitted.
Analysis: The lack of clear delineation between personal property, group endeavor, and institutional authority led to escalating disputes over intellectual property — translating ideological tensions about affiliation and control into the domain of copyright.

IV. Conclusion: The Decline of the Phoenix Lodge

The Phoenix Lodge exemplifies the fractured reception of Thelema within the broader expansion of the 'Caliphate' O.T.O.: personality cults, ambiguous grades, fragmented rituals, diluted symbolism, and opportunistic power maneuvers coalesced into a model of internal decomposition. The numerous resignations, mutual recriminations, and polemical letters presented here do not illustrate an aberration but rather the standard operating condition of a project lacking in doctrinal clarity, spiritual substance, and institutional integrity.

The true ritual, it seems, was the conflict itself.






Watch out where the Mooses go








Further links and Picture Material


From Collections of Re-Collections: Some People: Correspondence and Documents: The Grady McMurtry Bust — excerpts for scholarly documentation: Hooorrrray the Magical Link — excerpts for scholarly documentation: New material for the Second Edition of the Moosebump



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