Rudolf Steiner & the OTO

Letter from Gerald Yorke to John Symmonds 1968

Ulysses explains:

"Having a background in esoteric matters, and having been a student of the Steiner School, I am naturally interested in the alleged connection between Rudolf Steiner, founder of the Steiner School and its associated holistic teaching philosophy 'Anthroposophy' and the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO).
   My interest in matters occult began aged 13 while a student of the Brighton Steiner School - a small 'unique' and close-knit manifestation of the Steiner ethos situated in some woods on the outskirts of Brighton - during which time Genesis P. Orridge was involved with the Steiner School."   

"It has oft been claimed that Rudolf Steiner held the Xth Degree as King of Austria or Switzerland. Around 1999 I came into possession of a carbon copy of a letter from noted occult authority Gerald Yorke to biographer of, and literary executor to, Aleister Crowley, Mr John Symonds (author of the 'The Great Beast' and 'King of the Shadow Realm' and editor of notable Crowley volumes like the pink edition of Magick and the Confessions of Aleister Crowley)."

"The letter clearly identifies that Steiner was at least, and possibly at most merely a member of the OTO under Reuss, and that Steiner was also an initiate of Memphis Mizraim in the winter of 1906-07. It appears from the various OTO histories i have perused that Reuss only founded the Order in 1906 bringing with him his allies from various Masonic bodies including MM, and thus presumably including Steiner. As a fascinating side note, I have also read that famed dance choreographer and movement theorist Rudolf Laban was also a member of OTO and was Grandmaster of a newly opened lodge in Zurich during 1917."

"Returning to this document, to the best of my knowledge the reference to the 'Inner Order (of the OTO' would imply the Sovereign Sanctuary of the Gnosis which I believe are the upper triad of degrees 8th, 9th (10th), although I might well be mistaken here, and such a thing may not have been so formally established by the time of Steiner's membership. It has been noted somewhere by Peter Keonig in his history of the OTO that Crowley regarded the Memphis and Mizraim as equal to the IXth degree of OTO - although it is not clear if this was Reuss' version of the IX degree or Crowleys one - if indeed there is a difference."