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Ordo Templi Orientis

 

Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; lit. 'Order of the Temple of the East' or 'Order of Oriental Templars') is an occult initiatory organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of the O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner, Heinrich Klein, Franz Hartmann and Theodor Reuss. Later, the O.T.O. was significantly shaped by the English author and occultist Aleister Crowley.

After Crowley's death in 1947, four main branches of the O.T.O. have claimed exclusive descent from the original organization and primacy over the other ones. The most important and visible of these is the Caliphate O.T.O., incorporated by Crowley's student Grady McMurtry in 1979.

Originally it was intended to be modeled after and associated with European Freemasonry, such as Masonic Templar organizations, but under the leadership of Aleister Crowley, O.T.O. was reorganized around Crowley's Thelema as its central religious principle.

Similar to many secret societies, O.T.O. membership is based on an initiatory system with a series of degree ceremonies that use ritual drama.

The O.T.O. includes the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (EGC) or Gnostic Catholic Church. Its central rite, which is public, is Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass.

History

Origins

The early history of O.T.O. is difficult to trace reliably. It originated in Germany or Austria between 1895 and 1906. Its apparent founder was Carl Kellner (1851–1905) (probably with the German spelling Karl), a wealthy Austrian industrialist, in 1895 (although nothing verifiable is known of the Order until 1904). Kellner wanted to establish an Academia Masonica within which high-grade Freemasonic degrees could be conferred in German-speaking nations.

Theodor Reuss (1855–1923) collaborated with Kellner in creating O.T.O., and succeeded him as head of O.T.O. after Kellner's death. Under Reuss, charters were given to occult brotherhoods in France, Denmark, Switzerland, the United States, and Austria. There were ten degrees, of which the first five were Masonic.

In 1902, Reuss, along with Franz Hartmann and Henry Klein, purchased the right to perform the Rite of Memphis and Mizraim of Freemasonry from English Freemason John Yarker, the authority of which was confirmed in 1904 and again in 1905. Although these rites are considered to be irregular, they, along with the Swedenborg Rite formed the core of the newly established Order. Kellner, Reuss, Hartmann, and Klein acquired authority to operate the rites of the Martinist Order from French Occultist Gérard Encausse and a clandestine form of the Scottish Rite deriving from Joseph Cerneau. From William Wynn Westcott, Reuss acquired a warrant to start a College of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia in Germany.

In 1902, Reuss began publishing a masonic journal, The Oriflamme, as the organ of these collected rites. Reuss's rites aroused some degree of curiosity in the German-speaking Masonic milieu, as high degree Freemasonry had not been very widespread in Germany during the 1800s. The O.T.O. had several hundred members and affiliates at its peak, but by 1905 and after Kellner's death, Reuss began to lose his supporters. He was attacked in Masonic periodicals for his alleged lack of Masonic regularity and credentials, and for the alleged homosexual elements in Reuss's initiations. Reuss left Germany and moved to London in 1906, and lost control of most of the lodges previously belonging to the O.T.O. network.

In 1908, Encausse invited to Reuss to an "International Masonic Conference", where he probably met Joanny Bricaud and was introduced to his Gnostic Catholic Church (E.G.C.), an off-shoot of Jules Doinel's Église Gnostique. Later O.T.O. documents would present the Order being linked to the E.G.C, and subsequently portray the E.G.C. of O.T.O. as being autonomous with respect to Bricaud's organization.

The sex magic of the higher O.T.O. degrees appears to be based on the writings of the American Occultist Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825–1875), which were adopted by the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor (or of Light), another group which Kellner had supposedly been in contact and whose teachings O.T.O. claimed to incorporate. Scholar Marco Pasi notes, however, that there is no evidence in support of this, and suggests that Reuss acquired sexual ideas and techniques from Yarker, who had in his possession certain unpublished writings by Randolph.

Ordo Templi Orientis and Aleister Crowley

Reuss met Aleister Crowley and in 1910 admitted him to the first three degrees of O.T.O. Two years later, Crowley was placed in charge of Great Britain and Ireland, and was advanced to the X° (tenth degree). The appointment included the opening of the British section of O.T.O., which was called the Mysteria Mystica Maxima or the M∴M∴M∴ Crowley then went to Berlin to obtain instructional manuscripts and the title of Supreme and Holy King of Ireland, Iona and all the Britains within the Sanctuary of the Gnosis. Within the year, Crowley had written the Manifesto of the M∴M∴M∴ which described its basic ten-degree system with Kellner's three degree Academia Masonica forming the seventh, eighth and ninth degrees.

In 1913, Crowley composed the Gnostic Mass while in Moscow, which he described as being the Order's "central ceremony of its public and private celebration". In 1914, soon after World War I broke out, he moved to the United States. It was around this time that Crowley decided to integrate Thelema into the O.T.O. system, and in 1915 prepared revised rituals for use in the M∴M∴M∴.

In 1917, Reuss wrote a Synopsis of Degrees of O.T.O. in which the third degree was listed as "Craft of Masonry" and listed the initiations involved as "Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master Mason" and elaborated on this with "Full instruction in Craft Masonry, including the Catechism of the first three degrees, and an explanation of all the various Masonic systems". The same document shows that the fourth degree of O.T.O. is also known as the Holy Royal Arch of Enoch. It was summarized by Reuss as the Degree of "Scotch Masonry", equivalent to "Scotch Mason, Knight of St. Andrew, Royal Arch", and he described it as "Full instruction in the Scottish degrees of Ancient and Accepted Masonry".

In 1919, Crowley attempted to work this Masonic-based O.T.O. in Detroit, Michigan. The result was that he was rebuffed by the Council of the Scottish rite on the basis that O.T.O. rituals were too similar to orthodox Masonry. He described this in a 1930 letter to Arnold Krumm-Heller:

However, when it came to the considerations of the practical details of the rituals to be worked, the general Council of the Scottish Rite could not see its way to tolerate them, on the ground that the symbolism in some places touched too nearly that of the orthodox Masonry of the Lodges.

Crowley subsequently rewrote the initiation rituals of the first three degrees, and in doing so removed most of those rituals' ties to Masonry. He did not, however, rewrite the fourth degree ritual, which remains in its form and structure related to the various Royal Arch rituals of Masonry.

Crowley wrote that Theodore Reuss suffered a stroke in the spring of 1920. In correspondence with one of Reuss' officers, Crowley expressed doubts about Reuss' competence to remain in office. Relations between Reuss and Crowley began to deteriorate, and the two exchanged angry letters in November 1921. Crowley informed Reuss that he was availing himself of Reuss' abdication from office and proclaiming himself Outer Head of the Order. Reuss died on October 28, 1923 without designating a successor, though Crowley claimed in later correspondence that Reuss had designated him. Crowley biographer Lawrence Sutin, among others, casts doubt on this claim, although there is no evidence for or against it, and no other candidate stepped forward to refute Crowley by offering proof of succession. In 1925, during a tumultuous Conference of Grand Masters, Crowley was officially elected as Outer Head of the Order (or O.H.O.) by the remaining administrative heads of O.T.O.

During this period, O.T.O. members outside of the USA rarely came into contact with one another.:

I am arranging to send you the official papers connected to the O.T.O. but the idea that you should meet other members first is quite impossible. Even after affiliation, you would not meet anyone unless it were necessary for you to work in cooperation with them. I am afraid you have still got the idea that the Great Work is a tea-party. Contact with other students only means that you criticize their hats, and then their morals; and I am not going to encourage this. Your work is not anybody else’s; and undirected chatter is the worst poisonous element in a humane society.

— Aleister Crowley in Magick Without Tears

Since the total membership of O.T.O. at that time was counted in the dozens rather than in hundreds or thousands, this may simply have been Crowley's attempt at disguising the low numbers.

During World War II, the European branches of O.T.O. were either destroyed or driven underground. By the end of the war, the only surviving O.T.O. body was Agapé Lodge in California, although there were various initiates in different countries. Very few initiations were being performed. At this time, Karl Germer, who had been Crowley's representative in Germany, migrated to the United States after being released from Nazi confinement. On March 14, 1942, Crowley appointed him as his successor as Outer Head of the Order, and Germer filled the office after the death of Crowley in 1947.

Ordo Templi Orientis after Aleister Crowley

After Crowley's death Germer attempted to keep O.T.O. running, with questionable success. Crowley had granted a charter to run an O.T.O. Camp in England to Gerald Gardner, and Germer acknowledged Gardner as the O.T.O.'s main representative in Europe. The two men met in 1948 in New York to discuss plans, but Gardner's continuing ill health led to Germer replacing him with Frederic Mellinger in 1951. Also in 1951 Germer granted a charter to run an O.T.O. Camp in England to Kenneth Grant, who had briefly served as Crowley's secretary during the 1940s. Grant was to be expelled and his charter revoked in 1955 however, and from that time onwards the O.T.O.'s representative in the UK was a IX° member, Noel Fitzgerald.

Germer died in 1962 without naming a successor. It was not until 1969 that Grady McMurtry invoked emergency authorization from Crowley and became the Frater Superior of O.T.O. McMurtry did not claim the title of Outer Head of the Order, stating in 1974 that "There is at present no Outer Head of the Order for Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis. The Outer Head of the Order is an international office (see p. 201, The Blue Equinox) and Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis is not at this time established organizationally to fulfill the requirements of its Constitution in this respect." He began performing initiations in 1970. O.T.O. was incorporated under the laws of the State of California on March 26, 1979. The corporation attained federal tax exemption as a religious entity under IRS Code 501(c)3 in 1982. Grady McMurtry died in 1985.

McMurtry requested that members of the Sovereign Sanctuary of the Gnosis (i.e. the members of the Ninth Degree) elect the next Caliph, which they did in 1985. William Breeze was elected, taking the name Hymenaeus Beta. In the Fall 1995 issue of The Magical Link, he is designated "Hymenaeus Beta X°"; in the Fall 1997 issue of The Magical Link, he is designated "Hymenaeus Beta XI°"; by May 2005, he is designated "O.H.O. Hymenaeus Beta XII°" on the O.T.O. website.

In 1996, Sabazius X° was appointed as National Grand Master General (G.M.G.) for the U.S. Grand Lodge. In 2005, Frater Hyperion X° was appointed the National G.M.G. of the newly formed UK Grand Lodge. Frater Shiva X° was appointed the G.M.G. of Australia Grand Lodge in 2006. In 2014, Frater Abrasax X° was appointed the National G.M.G. of the newly formed Grand Lodge of Croatia, and Frater Phanes X° was appointed National G.M.G. of the newly formed Grand Lodge of Italy. On October 14, 2014 these five National Grand Masters elected Hymenaeus Beta as "de jure" Outer Head of the Order.

Philosophy of Ordo Templi Orientis

O.T.O. was described by Crowley as the "first of the great Old Æon orders to accept The Book of the Law". O.T.O. originally borrowed ritual material from irregular Masonic organizations, and although some related symbolism and language remains in use, the context has changed to Thelema and its tenets.

The Order offers esoteric instruction through dramatic ritual, guidance in a system of illuminated ethics, and fellowship among aspirants to the Great Work of realizing the divine in the human.

O.T.O. has two core areas of ritual activity: initiation into the Mysteries, and the celebration of Liber XV, the Gnostic Mass. In addition, the Order organizes lectures, classes, social events, theatrical productions and artistic exhibitions, publishes books and journals, and provides instruction in Hermetic science, yoga, and magick.

Crowley wrote in his Confessions:

... the O.T.O. is in possession of one supreme secret. The whole of its system [is] directed towards communicating to its members, by progressively plain hints, this all-important instruction. 

Of the first set of initiations, he wrote:

... the main objects of the instruction [are] two. It [is] firstly necessary to explain the universe and the relations of human life therewith. Secondly, to instruct every man [and woman] how best to adapt his [or her] life to the cosmos and to develop his faculties to the utmost advantage. I accordingly constructed a series of rituals, Minerval, Man, Magician, Master-Magician, Perfect Magician and Perfect Initiate, which should illustrate the course of human life in its largest philosophical aspect.

The initiation rituals after the V° (fifth degree) are such that:

the candidate is instructed in the value of discretion, loyalty, independence, truthfulness, courage, self-control, indifference to circumstance, impartiality, skepticism, and other virtues, and at the same time assisted him to discover for himself the nature of [the supreme] secret, the proper object of its employment and the best means for insuring success for its use

Of the entire system of O.T.O., Crowley wrote in Confessions:

It offers a rational basis for universal brotherhood and for universal religion. It puts forward a scientific statement which is a summary of all that is at present known about the universe by means of a simple, yet sublime symbolism, artistically arranged. It also enables each man to discover for himself his personal destiny, indicates the moral and intellectual qualities which he requires in order to fulfil it freely, and finally puts in his hands an unimaginably powerful weapon which he may use to develop in himself every faculty which he may need in his work.

Initiation and teachings

Membership in O.T.O. is based upon a system of initiation ceremonies (or degrees) which use ritual drama to establish fraternal bonds between members as well as impart spiritual and philosophical teachings.

The degrees serve an organizational function, in that certain degrees must be attained before taking on various forms of service in the Order (e.g. taking the degree of K.E.W. is a requirement for ordination as a priest or priestess in Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica).

There are thirteen numbered degrees and twelve un-numbered degrees which are divided into three grades or "triads"—the Hermit, the Lover, and the Man of Earth.

Admittance to each degree of O.T.O. involves an initiation and the swearing of an oath which O.T.O claims is similar to those used in Freemasonry.

Advancement through the Man of Earth triad requires sponsorship from ranking members. Advancement into the degree of the Knight of the East and West and beyond requires one to be invited by ranking members.

The ultimate goal of initiation in O.T.O. is "to instruct the individual by allegory and symbol in the profound mysteries of Nature, and thereby to assist each to discover his or her own true Identity".

The entire system is as follows:

The Man of Earth Triad

0°—Minerval

I°—Man & Brother

II°—Magician

III°—Master Magician

IV°—Perfect Magician & Companion of the Holy Royal Arch of Enoch

P.I.—Perfect Initiate, or Prince of Jerusalem

Outside all Triads

Knight of the East & West

The Lover Triad

V°—

Sovereign Prince Rose-Croix, and Knight of the Pelican & Eagle

Knight of the Red Eagle, and Member of the Senate of Knight Hermetic Philosophers

VI°—

Illustrious Knight (Templar) of the Order of Kadosch, and Companion of the Holy Graal

Grand Inquisitor Commander, and Member of the Grand Tribunal

Prince of the Royal Secret

VII°—

Theoreticus, and Very Illustrious Sovereign Grand Inspector General

Magus of Light, and Bishop of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica

Grandmaster of Light, and Inspector of Rites & Degrees

The Hermit Triad

VIII°—

Perfect Pontiff of the Illuminati

Epopt of the Illuminati

IX°—Initiate of the Sanctuary of the Gnosis

X°—Rex Summus Sanctissimus

XI°—Initiate of the Eleventh Degree (This degree is technical, and has no relation to the general plan of the Order)

XII°—Frater Superior, and Outer Head of the Order

Structure

The governing bodies of O.T.O. include:

International Headquarters

Presided over by the Outer Head of the Order XII° (O.H.O.—also known as Frater Superior)

Supreme Council

Revolutionaries

The Sovereign Sanctuary of the Gnosis of the IX°

The Secret Areopagus of the Illuminati of the VIII°

The Grand Tribunal of the VI°

The National Grand Lodge

Presided over by the National Grand Master X°

Executive Council

The Supreme Grand Council

The Electoral College

International

The International Headquarters is the body that governs O.T.O. worldwide. As a ruling body, it is known as the International Supreme Council, which consists of the Outer Head of the Order (O.H.O.—also known as Frater Superior), the Secretary General, and the Treasurer General.

The Sovereign Sanctuary of the Gnosis consists of members who have reached the IX°. Their prime duty is to study and to practice the theurgy and thaumaturgy of the degree, consisting of the Supreme Secret of the Order. However, as a ruling body, they have the authority to

ratify and overturn the rulings of the Areopagus

act as representatives of the O.H.O. and National Grand Masters when need arises

fill the office of Revolutionary

vote within the Secret Areopagus

have some powers over the installation and removal of the O.H.O. and National Grand Masters

The Secret Areopagus of the Illuminati is a philosophical Governing Body composed of those who have reached the VIII°. It has the authority to reverse the decisions of the Grand Tribunal.

The Grand Tribunal is composed of members of the degree of Grand Inquisitor Commander (a sub-degree of the VI°). Their primary duty is to hear and arbitrate disputes and complaints not resolved at the level of Chapters and Lodges.

National

At the national level, the highest body is the Grand Lodge, which is ruled by the National Grand Master. Within the Grand Lodge is an Executive Council, which consists of the Board of Directors, who are the National Grand Master, the Grand Secretary General, and the Grand Treasurer General.

The Supreme Grand Council consists of members of the VII° appointed by the National Grand Master X°. They are charged with:

the government of the whole of the Lovers Triad

Hearing and deciding appeals of the decisions of the Electoral College

Hearing reports of the Sovereign Grand Inspectors General VII° as to the affairs of the Initiate members of the Lovers Triad

The Electoral College consists of eleven members of the V° and is the first of the governing bodies. Its primary duty is to oversee the affairs of the Man of Earth Triad.

O.T.O. has a federally recognized tax-exempt status in the United States under IRS section 501c(3). It also has California charitable corporation status.

Current Grand Lodges

The US Grand Lodge is the governing body of O.T.O. in the United States. The U.S. National Grand Master is Sabazius X°, who was appointed in 1996.

According to its website, the Mission Statement of U.S.G.L. is as follows:

Ordo Templi Orientis U.S.A. is the U.S. Grand Lodge (National Section) of Ordo Templi Orientis, a hierarchical, religious membership organization. Our mission is to effect and promote the doctrines and practices of the philosophical and religious system known as Thelema, with particular emphasis on cultivating the ideals of individual liberty, self-discipline, self-knowledge, and universal brotherhood. To this end, we conduct sacramental and initiatory rites, offer guidance and instruction to our members, organize social events, and engage in educational and community service activities at locations throughout the United States.

As of Feb 28, 2014 US Grand Lodge had 1,508 members in 62 local bodies.

The UK Grand Lodge is the governing body of O.T.O. in the United Kingdom. The UK National Grand Master is Frater Hyperion X°, who was appointed in 2005 (93 years after the last Grand Master for the UK, Aleister Crowley, was elevated to that office).

The Australian Grand Lodge is the governing body of O.T.O. in Australia and its territories, chartered in April 2006. The A.G.L. National Grand Master is Frater Shiva X°.

The Croatian Grand Lodge is the governing body of O.T.O. in Croatia and its territories, chartered in May 2014. The C.G.L. National Grand Master is Frater Abrasax X°.

The Italian Grand Lodge is the governing body of O.T.O. in Italy and its territories, chartered in May 2014. The I.G.L. National Grand Master is Frater Phanes X°.

The Gnostic Catholic Church

The Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, or Gnostic Catholic Church, is the ecclesiastical arm of O.T.O. Its central activity is the celebration of Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass. In recent years, other rites have been written and approved for use within the church. These include Baptism, Confirmation (into the Laity), and Ordination (for Deacons, Priests & Priestesses, and Bishops), and Last Rites. There are also several "unofficial" rituals that are celebrated within the context of E.G.C., including Weddings, Visitation and Administration of the Virtues to the Sick, Exorcism, and Rites for Life and Greater Feasts.

O.T.O. bodies

At the Man of Earth level, there are three levels of Local Body, which are Camps, Oases, and Lodges.

Camps tend to be the smallest and are not required to perform initiations. They are encouraged to celebrate the Gnostic Mass.

Oases must be capable of initiating through the III° and are required to perform the Gnostic Mass six times yearly.

Lodges are expected to celebrate the Gnostic Mass on a regular basis, work towards establishing a permanent temple, and have the ability to initiate through IV°/P.I.

Chapters of Rose Croix are bodies established by members of the Lover Grade. A Chapter is headed by a Most Wise Sovereign. They are generally charged with arranging social activities, such as plays, banquets, and dances. They also work to promote harmony among the members by tact and friendliness.

Guilds are groups recognized by O.T.O. International designed to promote a profession, trade, science or craft. Subject to approval by the Areopagus, they make their own regulations and coordinate their own efforts. There are currently three Guilds: the Psychology Guild, the Translators' Guild, and the Information Technology Guild.

The term Sanctuary is sometimes used to indicate a group of initiates organized for E.G.C. activities. This designation currently reflects no formal chartering process or official standing within the Order.

Questions of legitimacy

Several competing factions have claimed to be legitimate heirs to Aleister Crowley. Both before and after McMurtry revived O.T.O. in California, others came forward with various claims of succession.

Although Karl Germer expelled Kenneth Grant from O.T.O. in 1955, Grant went on to claim himself Outer Head of Ordo Templi Orientis in a series of influential books. His organization has recently changed its name to the Typhonian Order and no longer claims to represent O.T.O.

Hermann Metzger, another claimant, had been initiated into O.T.O. under Germer in Germany in the 1950s, and headed the Swiss branch of the Order. After Germer's death he attempted to proclaim himself head of O.T.O. However, his claims were ignored by everyone outside of his country and he never pressed the issue. He died in 1990.

Marcelo Ramos Motta (1931–1987), a third claimant, was never initiated into O.T.O. at all, but claimed on the basis that Germer’s wife, Sasha, told him that Karl’s last words stated that Motta was "the follower." He sued for ownership of Crowley’s copyrights, which were denied to him by the U.S. District Court in Maine. Motta died in 1987, although various small groups calling themselves Society O.T.O. (S.O.T.O.) continue to exist and claim authority from him.

Court cases

O.T.O. as revived by McMurtry has won two court cases regarding its legitimacy as the continuation of the O.T.O. of Aleister Crowley:

1976: the Superior Court in Calaveras County, California recognizes Grady McMurtry as the authorized representative of O.T.O.

1985: in the 9th Federal District Court in San Francisco, McMurtry is found to be the legitimate head of O.T.O. within the United States, and that O.T.O. under McMurtry is the continuation of the O.T.O. of Aleister Crowley, and the exclusive owner of the names, trademarks, copyrights and other assets of O.T.O. This decision is appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and upheld. The Supreme Court declined to hear a final appeal. After the case, the US O.T.O. purchased the Crowley copyrights from the official receiver, even though the US court decision declared that they were the rightful owners.

The following case is also significant in the Order's history, though it does not have as much bearing on the issue of legitimacy:

2002: The High Court in England and Wales, in Ordo Templi Orientis v. John Symonds, Anthony Naylor and Mandrake Press, finds that O.T.O. as revived by McMurtry is the sole owner of the copyrights for all of the works of Aleister Crowley. In its particulars of claim, O.T.O. had pleaded two mutually exclusive routes to ownership of the copyrights:

(a) through Crowley's will as the named beneficiary O.T.O., a route to title that had been affirmed in U.S. Federal Court but had never been tested under English law, and

(b) the "bankruptcy route", on which theory O.T.O. acquired title to the copyrights from 1991 from the UK Crown Official Receiver in Bankruptcy.

The Chancery Master agreed that these two routes were largely mutually exclusive; if Crowley's copyrights were not an asset in his undischarged bankruptcy, then O.T.O. bought nothing, and could only claim through the will, under which the copyrights would have to pass; but if the rights were an asset in bankruptcy, then Crowley had lacked any power to make O.T.O. a bequest of them in his will. The court examined the bankruptcy aspect first, finding that O.T.O. acquired good title.

The copyrights were thus Crown property between 1935 and 1991, making dozens of books—even many of O.T.O.'s own editions—unauthorized. Had the "will route" been tried, it would have given O.T.O. an opportunity to gain recognition in UK court as the legitimate continuation of Crowley's O.T.O., since that is a precondition to being found the rightful beneficiary of his will. Thus, the issue of the organization's legitimacy did arise at trial, since it was pleaded into court, but it was not ruled upon. While there is no way to know whether, had it been tested, it would have been confirmed or denied, O.T.O. made thorough legal preparations for this aspect of their case as detailed in their "Particulars of Claim". However it would be misleading to cite this case as affirming the organization's historical legitimacy, since that issue went untried.

In Australia in 2005, O.T.O. began a defamation case against the site GaiaGuys for material put up on their website that directly accused O.T.O., particularly in Australia, of participating in acts of child abuse and sacrifice. The court found in favour of O.T.O.

In June 2008 O.T.O. won a trademark case on appeal in the UK: "OTO", "O.T.O." "Ordo Templi Orientis" and the OTO Lamen were confirmed to be trademarks of the order.

Criticisms

In February 2006, a long-time high-ranking member and occult author, T. Allen Greenfield, called for the resignation of upper management and stepped down from all managerial duties in protest. He went on to write a detailed analysis of "the failure of the O.T.O." and the "culture of fear" which he says currently exists within O.T.O. which is included as the last chapter and Epilogue of his book The Roots of Modern Magick. Although he is no longer a member of O.T.O. he continues to be a critic of the current Frater Superior of the Order, Hymenaeus Beta.

 

Grace Road Church

 

The Grace Road Church (Korean: 은혜로교회) is a South Korean quasi-Christian new religious movement and cult (although its members call it a church) founded in 2002.

Church

Those who study the church claim it shares many similarities with other Korean cults. There is a belief of absolute obedience to the religious leader, a group-specific interpretation of the Bible and a teaching of the imminent coming of Jesus Christ, with a provision of the place for the final shelter.

Fiji

The church is currently based in Fiji, after its leader, Pastor Shin Okjoo, predicted a famine in Korea. The group and its leader believe that Fiji is the so-called "center of the world as promised in the Bible" and moved there in 2014. Per the group's website, a missionary for the church was sent around the world to discover a land to survive the famine, and after scouting 60 countries settled on Fiji. After the members arrived in Fiji, all of the 400 followers' passports were reportedly seized by church leaders.

Mainstream churches in Fiji have reportedly raised accusations against the church for being a cult for years. A spokesman for the local Methodist Church told reporters, "I think it's common knowledge here that the movement is a cult movement...".

Corporate

The church raises funds for the church using Grace Road Group, which opened businesses across Fiji that range from construction to agriculture. The company employed, in August 2018, at least 300 Koreans and 100 Fijians. The businesses opened by the group include restaurant chains, beauty salons, a construction firm, a hardware store, and a farm in partnership with the Fiji National University.

A statement from the organization claims that the allegations against Pastor Shin Okjoo are false and have gone too far. The statement continued with "GR Group family, who have been working proudly as owners are very enraged by all the lies...Those who wish to slander us have created unspeakable lies about passport confiscation, forced labour, incarceration and violence."

Investigations, allegations of abuse and arrests

Footage has emerged of the Church's followers forcibly slapping each other, supposedly to beat the Devil out of each other. In a documentary aired in South Korea, testimony of ex-church members detailed allegations of physical abuse and overwork. Pastor Shin Okjoo and other members would surround individuals and beat them.

In 2014, Pastor Shin Okjoo was sued for $6 million by a man with schizophrenia, who alleged that she oversaw an attempt to cure him of his mental illness with prayer. The lawsuit alleged that she supervised the religious cleansing of the defendant, by binding him with duct tape, and deprived him of his medication for 10 days, ultimately causing him to lose his leg due to gangrene.

Three of its members were arrested after arriving at Incheon Airport in Seoul, South Korea in July 2018. In August 2018, investigations into the group, after the arrest of the group's founder, included allegations of incarceration, assault, and the exploitation of foreign currency, were continued by Korean Police. The church headquarters in Navua were raided on 14 August by Korean police, the Department of Immigration, and the Fiji Police force. After the raid followers of the church were offered consular assistance.

On 30 July 2019, it was announced that Shin Okjoo was found guilty and sentenced to serve six years in jail. Following the announcement, cult members were angry and shouted requests for the victim's 'false' statements to be thrown out.

William Kamm & the Order of St. Charbel

 

William Kamm, also known as "The Little Pebble" (born 1950 in Cologne, West Germany), is the founder and leader of a religious group in Australia called the "Order of St Charbel" (or sometimes referred to as "The Community") named after the Maronite saint Charbel Makhlouf. The Order of St Charbel is considered as a Christian sect and a fringe religious grouping. His religious order claims to be part of the Roman Catholic Church, but the Maronite Church and the Holy See do not regard the group as being part of Roman Catholicism. He was released from prison after serving 9 years of a 10-year prison term for the rape and assault of a teenager.

Controversies

Conviction for sexual assault charges

On 14 October 2005, Kamm was sentenced to five years in prison with a non-parole period of three-and-a-half years for a string of sexual attacks including aggravated sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl. He claimed that she was one of his 84 mystical wives. The assaults occurred when the girl was living within Kamm's Order of St Charbel, a community (living in a compound) near Nowra, New South Wales. Kamm claimed to have received advice from the Virgin Mary that the girl should be chosen as one of 12 queens and 72 princesses who would all become his wives, with whom he would spawn a new human race after the world was cleansed and burnt by a ball of fire. Kamm's letters and diary entries to the 15-year-old girl, which were made public during the court session, display an explicit sexual style and were major evidence in his prosecution.

Kamm was also found guilty in May 2007 of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault in relation to another 15-year-old girl. In August 2007, after losing an appeal on his original sentence, Kamm was re-sentenced to a total of 15 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 11 years. He was due to become eligible for release on parole on 13 April 2013, but was refused. In November 2014 parole was granted. Upon his release, the New South Wales government applied for an Extended Supervision Order in the Supreme Court of NSW. His lawyer, Omar Juweinat opposed the application which resulted in six years of litigation. In 2021, the Supreme Court upheld the appeal and allowed Kamm to return to his property.

Papal aspirations and prophecies

Kamm was also noted for a series of unusual reputed prophecies which were never fulfilled (including the start of World War III). Kamm claimed that Pope John Paul II, who remains widely venerated throughout Kamm's movement, would consecrate Kamm a bishop and appoint him as his official and sole successor to the papacy. When this prophecy was unfulfilled on Pope John Paul's death in 2005, Kamm quickly issued a press statement, saying "heaven clearly changed its plans" and declaring, that they would accept Pope Benedict XVI as legitimate Roman Pontiff. They claim prophecies have changed and stated that Kamm is to be the successor to Benedict XVI, instead of to John Paul II as previously claimed. One of Kamm's claims is that Pope John Paul II will rise from the dead and reappear on the surface of the world again to fight evil along with Benedict XVI and possibly to appoint Kamm.

Personal life and release from prison

Kamm was married to Bettina Kamm. His former wife, who reportedly lives at the St Charbel compound near Nowra, condemned him but said followers still revered him as their prophet. They have a son (born 1999) from the relationship.

Kamm was conditionally released from prison in 2014 after serving nine years of his 10-year sentence. Conditions specify that he may not have unsupervised contact with people below 18. Since his release, Kamm married for a third time, to a woman who was a long-time member of his religious community. Media reports speculate that Kamm is believed to have fathered more than 20 children during his days as a cult leader.

Alice "Lakwena" Auma

 

Alice Auma (1956 – 17 January 2007) was an Acholi spirit-medium who, as the head of the Holy Spirit Movement (HSM), led a millennial rebellion against the Ugandan government forces of President Yoweri Museveni from August 1986 until November 1987. The primary spirit she purportedly channeled was that of a dead army officer called "Lakwena", meaning messenger, which the Acholi believe to be a manifestation of the Christian Holy Spirit. The combined persona of Alice Auma channeling the spirit Lakwena is often referred to as "Alice Lakwena". Auma's HSM was ultimately defeated in November 1987 by Ugandan forces led by Yoweri Museveni.

Early life

Alice Auma was born in 1956. Leader of the Lord's Resistance Army Joseph Kony previously claimed that Auma and he were cousins, however, he merely did so in order to garner support from her constituents. Auma herself always distanced herself from Kony and his views.

Career

Remaining childless after two marriages, she moved away from her hometown. She eventually converted to Christianity but, on 25 May 1985, she reportedly went insane, unable to either hear or speak, later claiming to have been possessed by the spirit Lakwena. Her father took her to eleven different witches, but none alleviated her condition. Auma claimed Lakwena then guided her to Paraa National Park, where she disappeared for 40 days and returned a spirit-medium, a traditional ethnic religious role.

Before the defeat of Tito Okello, Auma was one of many spirit-mediums working near the town of Gulu as a minor oracle and spiritual healer. She worked in the midst of the chaos of the anti-National Resistance Army (NRA) insurgency of the Uganda People's Democratic Army and the increasingly brutal counterinsurgency of the NRA. Legend in the later movement holds that on 6 August 1986, Lakwena ordered Auma to stop her work as a diviner and healer, which was pointless in the midst of war, and create a Holy Spirit Movement (HSM) to fight evil and end the bloodshed. This divine mission required the retaking of the capital of Kampala. Thus the Acholi would redeem themselves from the violence they had collectively imposed on the civilians of the Luwero triangle, and would initiate a paradise on earth. A letter to local missionaries explained the transition:

The good Lord who had sent the Lakwena decided to change his work from that of a doctor to that of a military commander for one simple reason: it is useless to cure a man today only that he be killed the next. So it became an obligation on his part to stop the bloodshed before continuing his work as a doctor.

Auma claimed that Lakwena required that she be possessed by numerous other spirits to achieve its goals. This was unusual in Acholi spirit-behavior.

At this time, there was a perceived spiritual crisis in the area coinciding with the threat posed by occupying southern forces. The increased level of societal tension and number of deaths were attributed to witchcraft. Moreover, many soldiers fleeing back into Acholi after their defeat at Kampala refused traditional purification ceremonies. These rituals were believed to protect the community from the vengeful spirits of the people the soldiers had killed, but the elders found that they no longer had the authority to force compliance with the convention.

After a series of spectacular victories, Auma led the Holy Spirit Movement (HSM) south out of Acholiland towards Kampala. There, she garnered much support from other ethnic groups that had grievances with Yoweri Museveni's government. However, subsequent military setbacks suffered by the HSM prompted some followers to accuse Auma of being a witch and of using spirits for destructive ends. As the HSM suffered its final defeat under artillery fire in the forests near Kampala, Auma fled and claimed that Lakwena had left her.

Later life

Auma lived in the Ifo refugee camp near Dadaab in northern Kenya for the remainder of her life, and claimed to have been abandoned by the spirits. In November 2004, she was implicated in child trafficking from Gulu to the refugee camp. In 2006, she claimed to have discovered a cure for HIV/AIDS. Auma died on 17 January 2007, after having been sick for about a week with an unknown illness claimed to be HIV/AIDS.

The Tale of Paraa

Although Auma's practice as a medium immediately after returning to Gulu was not particularly successful, the tale of Paraa became the central text of the HSM. In particular Lakwena's discourse that the insurgency was a rebellion of nature deserves explication. According to the story, Lakwena first held court with all the animals of the park to explore the theme of the ongoing war in the south and the destruction of the environment by warring parties:

Lakwena said to the animals: "You animals, God sent me to ask you whether you bear responsibility for the bloodshed in Uganda." The animals denied blame, and the buffalo displayed a wound on his leg, and the hippopotamus displayed a wound on his arm.

Lakwena then questioned the water about the war:

Lakwena said to the waterfall: "Water, I am coming to ask you about the sins and bloodshed in this world." And the water said: "The people with two legs kill their brothers and throw their bodies into the water." The spirit asked the water what it did with the sinners, and the water said: "I fight against the sinners, for they are the ones to blame for the bloodshed. Go and fight against the sinners, because they throw their brothers into the water."

Acholiland

After briefly returning home, Lakwena led Auma to Mount Kilak to deal with the issue of witchcraft. The mountain greeted their arrival with large explosions:

The spirit Lakwena said to the mountain or to the rock: "God has sent me to find out why there is theft in the world." The mountain answered: "I have gone nowhere and have stolen no one's children. But people come here to me and name the names of those whom I should kill [by casting spells]. Some ask me for medicine [to bewitch]. This is the sin of the people. I want to give you water to heal diseases. But you must fight against the sinners."

In the climax to the story, God himself specifies who is to blame for all of the suffering and bloodshed:

God said that there was a tribe in Uganda that was hated everywhere. This tribe was the Acholi. And God ordered that a lamb be offered, so that they should repent their sins and to put an end to the bloodshed in Acholi.

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Ghost of Easterville: Shelly Chartier

Shelly Chartier (born 1985) is an indigenous Canadian woman of the Chemawawin Cree Nation.

Chartier was most well known for her online involvement in a catfishing scandal involving NBA basketball player Chris Andersen and a teenage aspiring model, Paris Dunn.

Early life

Shelly Chartier led an isolated life as a self-proclaimed "hermit" for years, caring for her sick mother inside their small home in the tiny town of Easterville, Manitoba. Chartier obtained only a 6th grade education and had had little to no contact with the outside world, saying “I went through a period where I didn’t leave my house for 11 years” Chartier utilized the internet to facilitate connection and communication but had little real world experience.

Chris Andersen catfishing

When Chartier was 27 in 2012, Paris Dunn, 17, an aspiring actress, commented on a public status posted by NBA player Chris Andersen, 33, leaving her cell phone number. Seeing this, Chartier messaged Dunn as the NBA player and engaged in an online relationship. Chartier proceeded to set up fake social media accounts for Andersen and Dunn, as well as reach out to the real Chris Andersen from the 'Dunn' account.

"Tom Taylor" (another fake account), a fictional friend of Andersen's, was used to facilitate a meeting between the real Andersen and Dunn, in Denver. It is unclear if Chartier is behind this account as she states she is not multiple times. During the in person meeting the 33-year-old NBA player engaged in sexual contact with a then 17-year-old Dunn. The online relationship continued after the meeting but fizzled out. Subsequently, Dunn continued to message the 'Andersen' account and Chartier claims that in an attempt to stop the 'annoyance' the Tom Taylor account was utilized in a blackmail scheme that threatened to release the explicit images Dunn sent, at which point the police were involved. Chartier disclosed in the episode of Catfish: The TV Show based around the case that the "Tom Taylor" profile was never her and was the creation of another participant who the police were aware of.

The nude photographs of the teenager considered child pornography, necessitating an investigation into Andersen. Andersen engaged in an online and in-person relationship with a 17-year-old, as she had given him the impression that she was a legal adult. Although the relationship was initiated through the profile created by Chartier, Andersen and Dunn did have an in-person meeting where the 33-year-old had a sexual encounter with the teenage—who had lied about her age—in an incident Dunn labels as a "kiss" in the Catfish: The TV Show episode where she is continually sympathetic to the adult man. Andersen was not charged with any crimes.

Chartier was arrested on 15 January 2013. Chartier eventually pleaded guilty to various charges of impersonation, extortion and making threats, stating that she was pregnant and told if she pleaded guilty she would get house arrest. Chartier was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and served a year of the sentence including 50 days in solitary confinement. Following the arrest, she would come to be known as the “Ghost of Easterville” and has repeatedly expressed a desire to be allowed to move on with her life after serving her time. Chartier is remorseful for the incident but has not changed her story involving another participant. The incident was called “the biggest catfish [case]... ever solved”.

The case inspired the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Intent". Further, a 2017 episode of Catfish: The TV Show included both Dunn and Chartier. Dunn wrote into the show after Chartier served her sentence in an attempt to reinvigorate attention surrounding the incident, continuing to frame Chartier as a master manipulator. Indictment: The Crimes of Shelly Chartier, a 2017 CBC documentary by Shane Belcourt and Lisa Jackson which aired as an episode of CBC Docs POV, has refocused the conversation around the case to center the isolated indigenous woman whom the media portrayed as the villain.

Personal life

In 2014, Chartier married Rob Marku from New York on Christmas Day. A documentary of her life was produced by the CBC in 2017 and she was the subject of Season 6 Episode 12 of Catfish: The TV Show.

 

Facebook Murder

The Facebookmoord ("Facebook murder") is a term coined by Dutch media for the 2012 murder of Joyce (Winsie) Hau, by the then 14–year-old Jinhua K. from Capelle aan den IJssel, in the Netherlands. Hau's father was also injured during the attack. The case was given its name because the motive lay in a disagreement on Facebook.

Events

Friends Polly W. (16 years of age) and Hau (15 years of age) had argued during a party, leading Hau to make remarks on Facebook over supposed promiscuous behavior by Polly. Polly W. then asked her friend Wesley C. (17 years of age) to deal with the situation. C. hired Jinhua K. to 'punish' Hau.

On 14 January 2012, Jinhua K. went to Hau's house, carrying a knife. He rang the doorbell and stabbed Hau repeatedly as she opened the door. Hau's father came running and tried to help and was injured in the struggle. Hau died of her injuries in hospital several days later.

Verdict

Jinhua K. was sentenced to a year in juvenile detention and three years in justicial involuntary commitment, of which one year was conditional.

Those who ordered the killing, Wesley C. and Polly K. were both convicted to the maximum sentence possible under Dutch criminal law for juveniles, of two years in juvenile detention and justicial involuntary commitment, for conspiring to commit and purposely contributing to the murder. The public prosecutor asked to have the two tried as adults due to the severity of the case, and demanded five years in prison and justicial involuntary commitment, but the court ruled against this.

The prosecution appealed the verdict. The appeal was during a non-public case in July and August 2013. On 27 August 2013 the court of appeals upheld the earlier ruling.

 

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The Morris-Jumel Mansion

The Morris–Jumel Mansion or Morris House (also known as the Roger and Mary Philipse Morris House, "Mount Morris" and Morris–Jumel Mansion Museum) is a Federal style museum home in northern Manhattan with mid-eighteenth century roots. It was built in 1765 by Roger Morris, a British military officer, and served as a headquarters for both sides in the American Revolution.

Located at 65 Jumel Terrace, in Roger Morris Park in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it is the oldest house in the borough. The home and grounds were purchased as a museum home in 1903 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961. The exterior was designated a New York City Landmark in 1967, with the interior following in 1975.

History

Morris ownership

Roger Morris, a British military officer who was serving as a member of the Executive Council of the Province of New York, built the house in 1765 for himself and his American-born wife, Mary Philipse Morris. They lived in it for ten years, from 1765 until 1775, when the American Revolution began. Roger Morris held the position of captain in the British army during the French war, while his wife, Mary Phillipse, was daughter to speaker of the assembly Frederick Philipse II. She was often described as " beautiful, fascinating, and accomplished."

As British loyalists, Morris went to England at the start of the war, while his wife and family went to stay at the Philipse estate in Yonkers. Morris returned in 1777, after the city had been captured by the British. He became the Inspector of the Claims of Refugees until 1783, when he and his family left for England after the British defeat in the Revolution.

Between September 14 and October 20, 1776, General George Washington used the mansion as his temporary headquarters after his army was forced to evacuate Brooklyn Heights following their loss to the British Army under the command of General William Howe in the Battle of Long Island. During his stay there from September 14 to October 20, 1776, Washington made note of his experience there. It is claimed without foundation by those with a romantic inclination that Washington not only selected the house because of its location but also because Mary Philipse had been a love interest for him twenty years before.

The house is one of the major remaining landmarks of Battle of Harlem Heights, after which it became the headquarters of British Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton, and the Hessian commander Baron Wilhelm von Knyphausen.

Confiscation

Because the Morrises were Loyalists, the house and the Morris' jointly held one-third share of the massive 250 sq mi (650 km2) Philipse Patent immediately north of today's Westchester County border were confiscated in 1779 by the Revolutionary government of the Colony of New York's Commissioners of Forfeiture. They were sold off during the dark times of the Revolution for the Colonials to fund its Continental Army led by Washington. Despite assurance of restitution in the 1783 Treaty of Paris no compensation to the Morrises was ever forthcoming from either the state of New York or American government.

Following its confiscation Mt. Morris served as a farmhouse and a tavern, "Calumet Hall", a popular stop along the Albany Post Road.

Jumel purchase

The mansion was bought in 1810 by Stephen Jumel, a rich French merchant who had immigrated to the United States, as a home for himself and his wife, and former mistress, Eliza Bowen Jumel, along with their adopted daughter Mary Bowen, who was thought to be the daughter of Eliza's stepsister. Throughout her adult life, Eliza Jumel lived richly and luxuriously. Eliza, who had come from poor beginnings, was known for being a woman who sought out a higher social position for herself as well as a life that encompassed having large amounts of wealth.

Thus, she was always seen around men of power and fortune. Anxious to be accepted into New York society, the Jumels remodeled the house, adding the Federal style entrance, and redecorated the interior in the Empire style. Because they were not accepted socially in New York, the Jumels went to France in 1815, although Eliza returned from 1817 to 1821. She returned for good in 1826 with Stephen Jumel's power of attorney, and he returned in 1828.

Eliza was subject to many accusations in both France and New York, one of them being her involvement in the unpleasant death of her first husband. After Stephen's death in 1832 from injuries he received in a carriage accident, Eliza, who was now one of the wealthiest women in New York City, married the controversial ex-vice president Aaron Burr in the front parlor of the house.

She filed for divorce in 1834, which was granted in 1836, shortly before his death. Eliza then divided her time among Saratoga, New York; Hoboken, New Jersey; and lower Manhattan. Her step-daughter's family lived with her in the mansion until 1862. Eliza Jumel died in 1865 – in her later years she became very eccentric, if not insane. The care and love she had for the mansion helped it evolve into the representation of art and culture it has been for over two and one-half centuries within the New York City area.

In 1882, the Jumel heirs broke up the 115 acres (0.47 km2) of the estate into 1058 lots, upon which numerous row houses were built, some of which today make up the Jumel Terrace Historic District.

As a museum home

The house itself was purchased by New York City in 1903 from the owners at the time, the Earles, with the help of the Daughters of the American Revolution. It was converted into a museum run by the Washington Headquarters Association, formed by four chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The museum opened in 1904, and was renovated and refurnished in 1945. The house is owned by the Department of Parks and Recreation, and is a member of the Historic House Trust.

During its history, the Morris–Jumel Mansion hosted many other distinguished visitors, including dinner guests John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and John Quincy Adams.

Architecture

The house was built as a summer villa on a parcel comprising an area of 130 acres. Thus, the Morris property covered some distance from Harlem all the way to the Hudson River. It is an early example of the Palladian style of architecture. Morris, whose uncle was a successful architect in England, was influenced by Palladio, a 16th-century Italian architect. His design included a double-height portico and triangular pediment – innovative features for 1765 – supported by grand Tuscan columns, and a two-story octagonal room at the rear of the mansion, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

The remodeling by the Jumels c.1810 was in the Federal style current at the time, and included the entrance.

The house has been said to contain "some of the finest Georgian interiors in America." Today, the house is lavishly decorated with period furnishings and careful reproductions of period carpets and wallpaper. It features nine restored rooms, one of which was Washington's office. The dining room and Eliza Jumel's bedchamber, with a bed that supposedly belonged to Napoleon, are also open. Personal artifacts of Roger Morris, George Washington, Eliza Jumel, and Aaron Burr are part of the museum's collection. An archive and reference library is located in the house's third floor.

Site

The mansion is located on the top of a ridge, Coogan's Bluff, from which lower Manhattan, the Hudson River including the Palisades, the Bronx, Westchester, the Long Island Sound, and the Harlem River were once visible. It is located in Roger Morris Park, a New York City park within the boundaries of the Jumel Terrace Historic District, but is land-marked separately from the historic district.

The mansion overlooked Coogan's Hollow and the Polo Grounds, a baseball and football stadium built in 1890 and razed in 1964. The mansion is sometimes visible in old pictures of the ball-field that show Coogan's Bluff. Today the Polo Grounds Towers stand where the stadium once was.

In literature and media

On a rocky eminence overlooking one of the rivers, Fitz-Greene Halleck wrote his famous lines on the Greek patriot Marco Bozzaris.

At the beginning of his historical novel Burr (1973), author Gore Vidal recreates the wedding of Eliza Bowen-Jumel and Aaron Burr, with a detailed description of the interior of the house circa 1833, which is still evident today.

In 1996, the Morris–Jumel Mansion was featured in Bob Vila's A&E Network production Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of America.

Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote portions of his 2015 musical Hamilton at the Morris–Jumel Mansion.

In 2014, the television show Ghost Adventures filmed an episode at the mansion to investigate reports of paranormal activity.

In 2015, Saturday Night Live filmed a skit called “Ghost Chasers” at the mansion.

In 2019, the television show Broad City filmed a scene at the mansion to celebrate Abbi Jacobson’s 30th birthday.

In 2021, the television show Surviving Death featured the mansion in episode 5.

Edward W. Hardy presented his 2021 Omnipresent Music Festival - BIPOC Musicians Festival at the Morris–Jumel Mansion.

In 2021, the house featured on Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural.

 

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Dark Triad

The dark triad is a psychological theory of personality, first published by Delroy L. Paulhus and Kevin M. Williams in 2002, that describes three notably offensive, but non-pathological personality types: Machiavellianism, sub-clinical narcissistic personality disorder (narcissism), and sub-clinical anti-social personality disorder (psychopathy). Each of these personality types are called dark because each is considered to contain malevolent qualities.

All three dark triad traits are conceptually distinct although empirical evidence shows them to be overlapping. They are associated with a callous–manipulative interpersonal style.

Narcissism is characterized by grandiosity, pride, egotism, and a lack of empathy.

Machiavellianism is characterized by manipulation and exploitation of others, an absence of morality, unemotional callousness, and a higher level of self-interest.

Psychopathy is characterized by continuous antisocial behavior, impulsivity, selfishness, callous and unemotional traits (CU), and remorselessness.

High scores in these traits have been found to statistically increase a person's likelihood to commit crimes, cause social distress, and create severe problems for organizations, especially if they are in leadership positions. They also tend to be less compassionate, agreeable, empathetic, satisfied with their lives, and less likely to believe they and others are good.

A factor analysis found that among the big five personality traits, low agreeableness is the strongest correlate of the dark triad, while neuroticism and a lack of conscientiousness were associated with some of the dark triad members. Agreeableness and the dark triad show correlated change over development.

Components

The dark triad traits have significant theoretical and empirical overlap. All three traits share characteristics such as a lack of empathy, interpersonal hostility, and interpersonal offensiveness.

A number of measures have been developed to measure all three dark triad traits simultaneously, such as the Dirty Dozen and the Short Dark Triad (SD3). Most of these measures are questionnaire-style and either self-response or observer-response (e.g., ratings from supervisors or coworkers). Both methods can prove problematic when attempting to measure any socially-aversive trait. Self-responders may be motivated to lie, and with observer responses—particularly for Machiavellianism—individuals who are skilled at deceiving and manipulating others should be perceived as low in deceptiveness and manipulation by others, resulting in inaccurate ratings.

Despite these challenges and the acknowledged commonalities among the dark triad traits, there is evidence that the three traits are distinct.

Narcissism

Individuals who score high on narcissism display grandiosity, entitlement, dominance, and superiority. Narcissism has been found to correlate positively with extra-version and openness and negatively with agreeableness. Narcissism has also been found to have a significant correlation with psychopathy.

Assessment of narcissism required clinical interviews until the popular Narcissistic Personality Inventory was created by Raskin and Hall in 1979. Since the NPI, several other measures have emerged which attempt to provide self-report alternatives for personality disorder assessment. In addition, new instruments have been developed to study pathological narcissism as opposed to grandiose narcissism, which is what many argue the NPI measures.

Machiavellianism

People who score high on this trait, named after the political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli, are callous, lack morality, and are excessively motivated by self-interest. They view interpersonal manipulation as the key for life success, and behave accordingly. Individuals who are measured to have a high level of Machiavellianism tend to have low agreeableness and conscientiousness. Machiavellianism is also correlated with psychopathy.

The original published version of the Mach-IV is the most widely used measure in empirical research.

Psychopathy

Psychopathy is considered the most malevolent of the dark triad. Individuals who score high on psychopathy show low levels of empathy and high levels of impulsivity and thrill-seeking. With respect to the Big Five personality factors, psychopathy has been found to correlate negatively with agreeableness and conscientiousness.

Robert Hare revolutionized the study of psychopathy with his Psychopathy Checklist (PCL), and its revision (PCL-R). Hare noted that asking psychopaths to self-report on psychologically important matters does not necessarily provide accurate or unbiased data. However, efforts have been made to study psychopathy in the dimensional realm using self-reported instruments, as with the Levenson Primary and Secondary Psychopathy Scales, The Psychopathic Personality Inventory, and the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale.

Dark core of personality

The dark core of personality or D-factor is the personality trait proposed to underlie all other dark personality traits.

D is defined as:

The general tendency to maximize one's individual utility disregarding, accepting, or malevolently provoking dis-utility for others, accompanied by beliefs that serve as justifications.

Other forms

Other groupings of dark personality traits have been proposed.

Dark tetrad

Several researchers have suggested expanding the dark triad to contain a fourth dark trait: sadism. It is defined as the enjoyment of cruelty, and is the most common addition. While sadism is highly correlated with the dark triad, researchers have shown that sadism predicts anti-social behavior beyond the dark triad. Sadism shares common characteristics with psychopathy and antisocial behavior (lack of empathy, readiness for emotional involvement, inflicting suffering), although Reidy et al. (2011) showed that sadism distinctively predicted unprovoked aggression separate from psychopathy.

Furthermore, sadism predicted delinquent behavior separately from the other dark triad traits when evaluating high school students.

Harmful behavior against living creatures, brutal and destructive amoral dispositions, and criminal recidivism were additionally more prominently predicted by sadism than psychopathic traits.

Studies on how sadists gain pleasure from cruelty to subjects were applied towards testing people who possessed dark triad traits. Results showed that only people exhibiting traits of sadism derived a sense of pleasure from acts of cruelty, concluding that sadism encompasses distinctly cruel traits not covered by the rest of the dark triad, therefore deserving of its position within the dark tetrad.

Vulnerable dark triad

The vulnerable dark triad comprises three related and similar constructs: vulnerable narcissism, sociopathy, and borderline personality disorder. A study found that these three constructs are significantly related to one another and manifest similar nomological networks. Although the vulnerable dark triad members are related to negative emotionality and antagonistic interpersonal styles, they are also related to introversion and disinhibition; however, these findings are based largely on the reports of parents of white undergraduate students rather than information gleaned from clinical evaluation.

Psychiatric disorders

In general, clinicians view narcissism and psychopathy as pathological. Given the dimensional model of narcissism and psychopathy, these traits are present at the sub-clinical level (where a person is close to meeting the criteria for diagnosis) in the general population; people with sub-clinical traits can be identified using self-report assessments that are appropriate for the general population. In the general population, the prevalence rates for sub-clinical and clinical psychopathy are estimated at 1% and 0.2%, respectively.

Machiavellianism has never been referenced in any version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It has been treated as strictly a personality construct.

Behaviors

Oliver James identifies each of the three dark triadic personality traits as typically being prevalent in the workplace. Furnham (2010) has identified that the dark triad is related to the acquisition of leadership positions and interpersonal influence. In a meta-analysis of dark triad and workplace outcomes, Jonason and colleagues (2012) found that each of the dark triad traits were related to manipulation in the workplace, but each via unique mechanisms. Specifically, Machiavellianism was related with the use of excessive charm in manipulation, narcissism was related with the use of physical appearance, and psychopathy was related with physical threats. Jonason and colleagues also found that the dark triad traits fully mediated the relationship between gender and workplace manipulation. The dark triad traits have also been found to be fairly well-represented in upper-level management and CEOs.

Internet trolls

Recent studies have found that people who are identified as internet trolls tend to have dark personality traits and show signs of sadism, antisocial behavior, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. The 2013 case study suggested that there are a number of similarities between anti-social and flame trolling activities and the 2014 survey indicated that trolling is a manifestation of everyday sadism. Both studies suggest that this trolling may be linked to bullying in both adolescents and adults. A 2021 study found that the dark triad's influence may be mediated by malicious motives, and that there is no strong connection between having these traits and engaging in trolling.

Crime

Youth who score higher in dark triad traits show higher amounts of violent delinquency, specifically with interpersonal violence. Individuals with low self control and dark triad traits showed more overall delinquency, however higher self control lowered the delinquency. Another study found that those who have admitted to stealing at some point in their life score higher on Machiavellianism and primary and secondary psychopathy. Those higher in psychopathy and Machiavellianism were shown to predict psychological abuse with intimate partner violence, however agreeableness was found to be the main factor.

Cyber crime

There is a clear distinction in the methods of a cyber attack between each part of the dark triad. Psychopathy correlated with faster speeds of persistence and exploitation, Narcissism correlated with faster privilege escalation, persistence, and extraction, and Machiavellianism correlated with stealth. Individuals with higher levels of psychopathy are more likely to engage in cyber bullying, with some correlation to both narcissism and Machiavellianism. Individuals with dark triad traits were also found to be more likely to commit acts of online fraud, with each trait having different impacts on factors. Machiavellianism has impacts on opportunity and motivation, psychopathy has impacts on rationalization, and narcissism has impacts on perceptions of motivation and capabilities.

Ideology

Dark triad characteristics correlate with support for various extremist ideologies. Support for the alt-right, which is prolifically associated with online trolling and harassment, and politically correct authoritarianism both correlate with all three traits as well as measures of entitlement. To a lesser extent, support for a more liberal form of political correctness correlates negatively with psychopathy. Dark triad characteristics correlate with positively with out-group threat perceptions, anti-immigrant prejudice, and social dominance orientation, a psychological disposition toward group-based supremacy. Costello et al (2022) found that left- and right-wing authoritarianism correlate similarly with psychopathy.

Origins

Genetics and environment

In a similar manner to research on the Big Five personality traits, twin studies have been conducted in an effort to understand the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors in the development of dark triad traits.

All three traits of the dark triad have been found to have substantial genetic components. It has also been found that the observed relationships between the three traits, and with the Big Five, are strongly driven by individual differences in genes. Within the triad, psychopathy and narcissism have both been found to be more inheritable than Machiavellianism.

Environmental factors contribute to the development of dark triad traits, although they have less influence than genetics. During childhood and adolescence, environmental factors that are not shared with siblings (such as friends or extracurricular activities) contribute to all three dark triad traits. However, only Machiavellianism is related to environmental factors that are shared with siblings.

Some researchers have interpreted these findings to mean that, of the three, Machiavellianism is the trait most likely to be influenced by experience.

Evolution

Evolutionary theory may also explain the development of dark triad traits. Despite the relationship of these traits with clinical disorders, some argue that adaptive qualities may accompany the maladaptive ones; their frequency in the gene pool requires at least some local adaptation. The everyday versions of these traits appear in student and community samples, where even high levels can be observed among individuals who manage to get along in daily life. Even in these samples, research indicates correlations with aggression, racism, and bullying among other forms of social aversiveness.

It has been argued that evolutionary behavior predicts not only the development of dark triad personalities, but also the flourishing of such personalities. Indeed, it has been found that individuals demonstrating dark triad personality can be highly successful in society. However, this success is typically short-lived. The main evolutionary argument behind the dark triad traits emphasizes mating strategies. This argument is based on life history theory, which proposes that individuals differ in reproductive strategies; an emphasis on mating is termed a "fast life" strategy, while an emphasis on parenting is termed a "slow reproductive" strategy. There is some evidence that the dark triad traits are related to fast life history strategies; however, there have been some mixed results, and not all three dark triad traits have been related to this strategy. A more detailed approach has attempted to account for some of these mixed results by analyzing the traits at a finer level of detail. These researchers found that while some components of the dark triad are related to a fast life strategy, other components are related to slow reproductive strategies.

Accelerated mating strategy

Studies have suggested that, on average, those who exhibit the dark triad of personality traits have an accelerated mating strategy, reporting more sex partners, more favorable attitudes towards casual sex, lowered standards in their short-term mates, a tendency to steal or poach mates from others, more risk-taking in the form of substance abuse, a tendency to prefer immediate but smaller amounts of money over delayed but larger amounts of money, limited self-control and greater incidence of ADHD symptoms, and a pragmatic and game-playing romance style. These traits have been identified as part of a fast life strategy that appears to be enacted by an exploitative, opportunistic, and protean approach to life in general and at work.

The evidence is mixed regarding the exact link between the dark triad and reproductive success. For example, there is a lack of empirical evidence for reproductive success in the case of psychopathy. Additionally, these traits are not universally short-term-oriented nor are they all impulsive. Furthermore, much of the research reported pertaining to the dark triad cited in the above paragraph is based on statistical procedures that assume the dark triad is a single construct, in spite of genetic and meta-analytic evidence to the contrary.

Physical attractiveness

Several academic studies have found evidence that people with dark triad personalities are judged as slightly better-looking than average on first sight. Two studies have determined that this is because people with dark triad traits put more effort into their appearance, and the difference in attractiveness disappears when "dressed down" with bland clothing and without makeup. Two more studies found that only narcissistic subjects were judged to be better-looking, but the other dark triad traits of Machiavellianism and psychopathy had no correlation with looks. Facial features associated with dark triad traits tend to be rated as less attractive.

Group differences

Gender

The most pronounced group difference is in gender: numerous studies have shown that men tend to score higher than women on narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, although the magnitude of the difference varies across traits, the measurement instruments, and the age of the participants. One interesting finding related to narcissism—albeit one based on non-representative samples—is that while men continue to score higher than women, it seems that the gender gap has shrunk considerably when comparing cohort data from 1992 and 2006. More specifically, the aforementioned findings indicate that there has been a general increase in levels of narcissism over time among college students of both sexes, but comparatively, the average level of narcissism in women has increased more than the average level of narcissism in men.

Race

There is far less information available on race differences in dark triad traits, and the data that is available is not representative of the population at-large. For instance, a 2008 research study using undergraduate participants found that Caucasians reported higher levels of narcissism relative to Asians. Similarly, another 2008 study using undergraduate participants found that Caucasians tended to score slightly higher than non-Caucasians on Machiavellianism. When attempting to discern whether there are ethnic differences in psychopathy, researchers have addressed the issue using different measurement instruments (e.g., the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale and The Psychopathic Personality Inventory), but no race differences have been found regardless of the measure used. Additionally, when comparing Caucasians and African Americans from correctional, substance abuse, and psychiatric samples—groups with typically high prevalence rates of psychopathy—researchers again failed to find any meaningful group differences in psychopathy. However, in controversial research conducted by Richard Lynn, a substantial racial difference in psychopathy was found. Lynn proposes "that there are racial and ethnic differences in psychopathic personality conceptualized as a continuously distributed trait, such that high values of the trait are present in blacks and Native Americans, intermediate values in Hispanics, lower values in whites and the lowest values in East Asians." However this research has been heavily criticized for not distinguishing between psychopathy and other anti-social behaviors, confusing between personality and behavioral concepts of psychopathy and presuming rather than demonstrating genetic or evolutionary causes for supposed disparities.

Generation Me

The focal variable when analyzing generational or cohort differences in dark triad traits has tended to be narcissism, arising from the hypothesis that so-called "Generation Me" or "Generation Entitlement" would exhibit higher levels of narcissism than previous generations. Indeed, based on analyses of responses to the Narcissistic Personality Inventory collected from over 16,000 U.S. undergraduate students between 1979 and 2006, it was concluded that average levels of narcissism had increased over time. Similar results were obtained in a follow-up study that analyzed the changes within each college campus. However, a 2017 study found little evidence of strong or widespread cohort-linked changes in disposition or behavioral strategies, although they did find some indications that the current generation is more cynical and less trusting.

An alternative perspective explored group differences in the dark triad and how they relate to positive emotion. Applying structural equation modeling and Latent Profile Analysis, a type of mixture model, to establish patterns in UK, US, and Canadian students, four groups were found: "unhappy but not narcissistic", "vulnerable narcissism", "happy non-narcissism" and "grandiose narcissism". Some extrapolations on how a person might deal with these groups of individuals in practice have been suggested.

Relationship to other personality models

Big Five

The five factor model of personality has significant relationships with the dark triad combined and with each of the dark triad's traits. The dark triad overall is negatively related to both agreeableness and conscientiousness. More specifically, Machiavellianism captures a suspicious versus trusting view of human nature which is also captured by the Trust sub-scale on the agreeableness trait. Extra-version captures similar aspects of assertiveness, dominance, and self-importance as narcissism. Narcissism also is positively related to the achievement striving and competence aspects of Conscientiousness. Psychopathy has the strongest correlations with low dutifulness and deliberation aspects of Conscientiousness.

Honesty–humility

The honesty–humility factor from the HEXACO model of personality is used to measure sincerity, fairness, greed avoidance, and modesty. Honesty–Humility has been found to be strongly negatively correlated to the dark triad traits. Likewise, all three dark triad traits are strongly negatively correlated with Honesty–Humility. The conceptual overlap of the three traits which represents a tendency to manipulate and exploit others for personal gain defines the negative pole of the honesty–humility factor. Typically, any positive effects from the Dark Triad and low Honesty–Humility occur at the individual level, that is, any benefits are conferred onto the one with the traits (e.g., successful mating, obtainment of leadership positions) and not onto others or society at large.

Light triad

Influenced by the dark triad, Scott Barry Kaufman proposed a light triad of personality traits: humanism, Kantianism, and faith in humanity. High scorers on humanism are more likely to value others' dignity and self worth. High scorers on Kantianism are more likely to see others as people, not as a means to an end. High scorers for faith in humanity are more likely to believe others are fundamentally good. When comparing individuals who take both dark triad and light triad tests, the average person was more likely to exhibit light triad traits. This test is not an inversion of dark triad tests, as Kaufman instead focused on developing characteristics that were conceptually opposite from the dark triad. A reliable measure of the light triad traits was developed, and demonstrated that they are not simply the opposite of the dark triad's Big Five and HEXACO model traits. The light triad predicts positive and negative outcomes regarding Agreeableness and Honesty-Humility personality traits, and expands on understanding the dark triad as a useful contrasting analog.

Individuals who score high on light triad traits also report higher levels of religiosity, spirituality, life satisfaction, acceptance of others, belief that they and others are good, compassion, empathy, self-esteem, authenticity, sense of self, positive enthusiasm, having a quiet ego, openness to experience and conscientiousness. Additionally, those who score higher on the light triad scale are intellectually curious, secure in their attachments to others, and more tolerant to other perspectives. These individuals typically have less motives for achievement and self-enhancement (even though the light triad was positively related to productivity and competence). In contrast to the character strengths of the dark triad, the light triad was uncorrelated with bravery or assertiveness. Lack of such characteristics may be problematic for individuals attempting to reach more challenging goals and fully self-actualizing.

Dark Triad.svg

Atlas of Personality, Emotion and Behavior

The Atlas of Personality, Emotion and Behavior is a catalogue of 20,500 words descriptive of personality, emotion and behaviour. The words in the catalogue were scored according to a two dimensional matrix taxonomy with orthogonal dimensions of affiliation and dominance. Adjectives representing the behavioral patterns described by the Dark Triad were scored according to the atlas and visualized using kernel density plots in two dimensions. The atlas clearly delineates the three components of the Dark Triad, narcissism (green), Machiavellianism (blue), and psychopathy (red).

History

In 1998, McHoskey, Worzel, and Szyarto provoked a controversy by claiming that narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy are more or less interchangeable in normal samples. Delroy L. Paulhus and McHoskey debated these perspectives at a subsequent American Psychological Association conference, inspiring a body of research that continues to grow in the published literature. Paulhus and Williams found enough behavioral, personality, and cognitive differences between the traits to suggest that they were distinct constructs; however, they concluded that further research was needed to elucidate how and why they overlap.