Editing Typhonian Order (section)

==History==
[[Ordo Templi Orientis]] (O.T.O.) was founded by the wealthy German industrialist [[Carl Kellner (mystic)|Carl Kellner]]. After Kellner's death in 1905, [[Theodor Reuss]] became Outer Head of the Order.

In 1920, Reuss suffered a stroke, leading [[Aleister Crowley]] to question his competence to continue as Outer Head of the Order. By 1921, Crowley and Reuss were exchanging angry letters, culminating in Reuss' expulsion of Crowley from O.T.O.{{sfnp|Granholm|2014|p=51}} Crowley then informed Reuss that he was proclaiming himself Outer Head of the Order. Reuss died in 1923 without naming a successor, and Crowley was subsequently elected and ratified as Outer Head of the Order in a Conference of Grand Masters in 1925.{{sfnp|Granholm|2014|p=51}}{{sfnp|Kaczynski|2002|p=332}} [[World War II]] then intervened, destroying the European branches of O.T.O. and driving its members underground. [[Karl Germer]] was incarcerated by the [[Nazis]]. By the end of the war, the sole surviving O.T.O. organization was [[Agapé Lodge]] in California,{{sfnp|Lewis|1999|p=217}} where Germer moved after he was released from internment in 1941.{{sfnp|Orpheus|2009}}

After Crowley's death, Germer was his unchallenged successor for some time, and recognized and endorsed Grant's status as a IX° (Ninth Degree) adept in 1948.{{sfnp|Evans|2007a|p=66}} However Grant later claimed that his assumption of the XI° (Eleventh Degree) was confirmed in 1946,{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} presumably by Crowley, the same year that he was initiated into the [[A∴A∴]],{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} an associated Thelemic magical order created by Crowley in 1907 after leaving the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]].

In 1954, Grant began the work of founding the New Isis Lodge, which became operational in 1955 when Grant announced his discovery of a "Sirius/Set current" in a new manifesto upon which the lodge would be based.{{sfnp|Gallagher|Willsky-Ciollo|2021|p=248}} In this manifesto, Grant wrote that a new [[Energy (esotericism)|energy]] was emanating down from Earth from another planet which he identified with [[Nuit]], a goddess who appears in the first chapter of Crowley's Thelemic holy text, ''[[The Book of the Law]]''.{{sfnp|Bogdan|2015|p=3}} Germer however deemed it "blasphemy" that Grant had identified a single planet with Nuit; on 20 July 1955, Germer issued a "Note of Expulsion" expelling Grant from O.T.O.{{sfnmp|1a1=Starr|1y=2003|1pp=324&ndash;325|2a1=Kaczynski|2y=2010|2p=556|3a1=Bogdan|3y=2013|3p=196|4a1=Bogdan|4y=2015|4p=3|5a1=Shepard|5y=1984|5p=548}}

In 1969, Grant co-edited ''[[The Confessions of Aleister Crowley]]'' for publication with Crowley's literary executor [[John Symonds]].{{sfnmp|1a1=Kaczynski|1y=2010|1p=557|2a1=Bogdan|2y=2015|2p=6}} Over the coming years he edited &ndash; often with Symonds &ndash; a range of Crowley writings for republication, resulting in the release of ''The Magical Record of the Beast 666'' (1972), ''[[Diary of a Drug Fiend]]'' (1972), ''[[Moonchild (novel)|Moonchild]]'' (1972), ''Magick'' (1973), ''Magical and Philosophical Commentaries on The Book of the Law'' (1974) and ''The Complete Astrological Writings'' (1974).{{sfnp|Bogdan|2015|p=6}} The release of these publications has been described as being "instrumental in the revival of interest in Crowley".{{sfnp|Bogdan|2015|p=6}}

At this point, Grant began describing himself as O.H.O. (Outer Head of the Order) of O.T.O., claiming that he deserved this title not by direct succession from Crowley but because he displayed the inspiration and innovation that Germer lacked.{{sfnp|Kaczynski|2010|p=557}} A document purportedly by Crowley naming Grant as his successor was subsequently exposed as a hoax created by Robert Taylor, a Typhonian O.T.O. member.{{sfnp|Staley|2008|p=121}} In the early 1970s he established his own Thelemic organisation, the Typhonian O.T.O., which produced its first official announcement in 1973.{{sfnp|Bogdan|2015|pp=6&ndash;7}} Although adopting the O.T.O. degree system used by Crowley, Grant removed the rituals of initiation designed to allow a member to enter a higher degree; instead he personally promoted them through the degrees according to what he believed were their own personal spiritual development.{{sfnp|Bogdan|2015|p=7}}

Grant's work and the organization itself moved increasingly away from the traditional O.T.O. structures and teachings, towards a more distinct identity. The renaming to "The Typhonian Order" signifies this ideological and practical departure, focusing more explicitly on Grant's specific interests in the darker aspects of the occult, extraterrestrial dimensions of consciousness, and the exploration of what he termed the "Tunnels of [[Set (deity)|Set]]." These concepts delve into areas of the occult that are far removed from the original teachings of the O.T.O., hence the rebranding serves not only as a formal but also a symbolic declaration of independence and differentiation.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}