Martin P. Starr is an alumnus of the University of Chicago where he received his undergraduate degree in Classical Languages and pursued graduate study in the History of Science. He is an independent scholar of Western Esotericism and New Religious Movements with interests in social networks arising from the nexus of practitioners of Neo-Rosicrucianism, independent eucharistic church movements, Theosophy, and Freemasonry. He was the editor of the Teitan Press series of the works of Aleister Crowley.

• Foreword


• Prologue


• 1. The Skeleton in the Cupboard


• 2. First Steps


• 3. British Columbia Lodge No. 1


• 4. Isis, Therion, and Hilarion


• 5. A Master of the Temple


• 6. In the Red Room of Rose Croix


• 7. Nemo Abest


• 8. The Detroit Working


• 9. Viator in Regnis Arboris


• 10. New Orders for the Ages


• 11. Psychomagia


• 12. The End of the Beginning


• 13. Jane, Kath, and Leota


• 14. Salve Regina


• 15. Rosicrucian Amity


• 16. Chants Before Battle


• 17. Ten-O-Three


• 18. Apotheosis


• 19. Hoc Id Est


• Epilogue


• Appendix A: W. T. Smith Diary


• Appendix B: The Trail of OTO


• Appendix C: Crowley and H. Spencer Lewis


• Appendix D: OTO Degree Work 1938--1943


• Appendix E: Manifesto of December 7, 1941


• Appendix F: 132-666/1943


• Appendix G: Apotheosis 132-Liber CXXXII


• Works Cited


• Index

The Unknown God gives a view into the twentieth-century North American occult underground influenced by the English occultist and prophet Aleister Crowley, as told through the biography of his disciple in the USA, Wilfred Talbot Smith (1885--1957). It draws on accounts from Smith's social network, which encompassed Caltech rocket scientist Jack Parsons, the Rosicrucian leader H. Spencer Lewis, the Hollywood actor John Carradine, and gay liberationist Harry Hay. Students of esoteric Freemasonry, the Golden Dawn, the Theosophical Society, and the Crowley-based occult orders will find The Unknown God a fascinating resource--this is the book that connects them all.