Inside Solar Lodge. Outside the Law. True Tales of Initiation and High Adventure.
York Beach ME: The Teitan Press, 2007. First Edition. Hardcover. Octavo. 200 pages. Mustard-color cloth with black titling to spine, with an 8 page black and white photographic insert and an index. Edition Limited to 418 copies. This copy one of a very small number which the author has stamped in red with his personal lamen seal, and SIGNED on the front free endpaper. Additionally this copy has been INSCRIBED and SIGNED by Frater Shiva to Clive Harper on a special bookplate affixed to the lower half of the front blank endpaper and has, loosely inserted, a business-card sized piece of white card with a miniature version of Shiva's seal and his signature on it. The first edition - the only edition to be cloth bound and sewn, and printed on acid-free paper, with the plates properly printed on coated paper. It also includes a number of important photographs not reproduced in later editions. Solar Lodge is arguably one of the most interesting and controversial of the many occult groups that sprung up in 1960s America. It was founded by a student of one of the original initiates of Agape Lodge of the O.T.O. and taught a system of magick closely based on that of Aleister Crowley. The author, Frater Shiva, joined Solar Lodge at its inception and rose to a senior position in its ranks before finally leaving at the time of its implosion in 1972. 'Inside Solar Lodge - Outside the Law' is his reminiscence of life within that group: who they were, how they came together, and what they did and why. As such it gives a rare glimpse into the lives, aspirations and practices of this group of twentieth century magicians, viewed not through the eyes of an historian or sociologist, but from one who was there and a part of it. It also offers a detailed 'insider' account of the theft of the library of O.T.O. leader Karl Germer, the 'boy in the box' incident, and the alleged connection between the Solar Lodge and the Manson group: all events that have become part of the folklore of American occultism. From the collection of Clive Harper, well-known as the bibliographer of Austin Osman Spare, for updating the Aleister Crowley bibliography in the 2011 Teitan Press collection of Gerald Yorke's writings, and as someone who has lent his expertise to numerous other publications. Appears as-new, thus Fine condition in Fine mylar protected dust jacket. Item #70864
ISBN: 9780933429093
Price: $275.00