William Breeze

William Breeze, also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Tau Silenus, is an American writer and publisher on magick and philosophy. He is the Sovereign Patriarch, or supreme governing cleric, of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, the liturgical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis, of which he is the current Outer Head of the Order, also known as Frater Superior, as well as caliph, the order's international leader. In this capacity he is a leading editor of the occult works of Aleister Crowley, the founder of the philosophy and religion of Thelema, who is regarded as its prophet.
Under the name Hymenaeus Beta he is the second caliph to lead the traditional, orthodox, or "Caliphate" OTO, and is the direct successor of Grady McMurtry, who was the first of the caliphs and second of the overall leaders, or Outer Heads—directly after Crowley's immediate successor Karl Germer—to follow after Crowley in his role as leader of the order.
McMurtry served as caliph from 1978, when he re-founded the defunct O.T.O., until 1985 and Breeze has served as caliph from 1986 until the present.
Caliph was a designation given to McMurtry by Crowley in relation to the continuing office OHO of O.T.O., of which Crowley was the ultimate religious head after taking over leadership of the order from its founder Theodore Reuss in 1923. According to Crowley, caliph is the elected spiritual and organizational worldwide leader of O.T.O. and is his successor. A lineage of caliphs carrying religious and organisational significance were designated by Crowley. The caliphs, as successors to Crowley, lead the order after his death.

Early life and career

Breeze came from a military family. Son of a US Army serviceman, he was born in Paris, France, where his father, Colonel Breeze, was on a tour of duty. Breeze spent his childhood accompanying his father, who had a distinguished military career, on many tours of duty across the United States, staying with him at various US military bases, including Fort Meade, Nellis Air Force Base, and Fort Bragg, at the eastern tip of Long Island. In the 1970s Breeze studied literature at Harvard University.
In late 1970s, Breeze helped to publish Aleister Crowley's Magical and Philosophical Commentaries on The Book of the Law; Breeze was co-owner of the publishing company, 93 Publishing.

O.T.O. succession

In 1979, when Breeze was 24 years old, he met Grady McMurtry. Ten years earlier, McMurtry and his wife, known as Soror Meral, had re-established Ordo Templi Orientis by invoking the emergency orders from Crowley given to McMurtry in the "Caliphate letters", which gave McMurtry authority to "take charge of the whole work of the Order in California to reform the Order". In 1982 McMurtry granted Breeze a charter to form an Ordo Templi Orientis lodge in Canada. In 1983, Breeze founded Phoenix lodge in Montreal becoming a Master of it.
McMurtry served as the head of Ordo Templi Orientis until his death in 1985. In that year, Breeze succeeded McMurtry as Acting Outer Head of OTO, after all active IX-degree members met in order to elect McMurtry's successor. He was nominated by Helen Parsons Smith, a widow of Wilfred Talbot Smith, who was a founder of Agape Lodge. Upon his election, Breeze assumed the responsibility of raising the O.T.O. to greater heights and of reconstituting the A∴A∴, with a view to re-establish two orders the way Crowley originally envisaged. Unfortunately, Breeze is a failed Probationer and had no authority to "reconstitute" the A∴A∴ in any capacity. Over the next decade, Breeze spent his time establishing International Headquarters and chartering new Lodges. By the end of the twentieth century, the organization had grown to several thousand members.

Gnostic Catholic Church

Apostolic succession

In 1986, Breeze succeeded McMurtry as the Patriarch of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, the liturgical arm of O.T.O. As a contemporary occult Church, it exists as an integral part of OTO. During McMurtry's governance of OTO in the 1970s, the Gnostic Catholic Church and OTO functioned as separate organisations. In 1986, Breeze co-joined the separate Gnostic Catholic Church with OTO. Under his leadership, the Church has expanded greatly, growing in several countries.

E.G.C. lineage

Breeze was consecrated by E.G.C.'s bishop Jack Hogg as Tau Silenus on August 12, 1974. Hogg was a bishop of the Gnostic Church of Thelema whose lineage could be traced directly to J. Doinel, one of the founders of the Gnostic tradition, who also consecrated Aleister Crowley.

International work

Starting in 2005, Breeze begun chartering new international Grand Lodges, including those of Australia and United Kingdom, the latter covering England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, plus British Crown Dependencies. Despite the O.T.O. formalising itself with regulations and policies, Breeze allowed the leadership in local areas the freedom to experiment with tactics for growing the organisation.
In England, several new O.T.O. and E.G.C. bodies were chartered by the United Kingdom Grand Lodge, including lodges and camps in Bristol, Hastings and Leeds.
On October 10, 2014, Breeze was unanimously re-elected de jure Outer Head of the Order by a council of Grand Masters. On May 16, 2015, the organisation celebrated 30 years of his governing of OTO.

A∴A∴

Motta's A∴A∴ movement was first formally announced in early January 1976, when Motta's edition of the Commentaries of AL with introduction by James Wasserman went to print. Motta was a disciple of Karl Germer whom he met in 1953 and his A∴A∴ work was also supervised by Germer. Motta, in turn, took on his own students, including James Wasserman and J. Daniel Gunther, both of whom he expelled from the order.
After his election as the Outer Head of the O.T.O. in 1985, Breeze sought to rebuild the A∴A∴ so that both orders could again operate in the way Crowley intended. Having spent the years immediately following his election giving most of his attention to the O.T.O. activity, in the summer of 1992, together with J. Daniel Gunther who was involved exclusively with the A∴A∴, and other students of Marcelo Motta, Breeze renewed the A∴A∴ activity which at that point was dormant.
The revived A∴A∴ began to grow. with the subsequent publications of The Equinox journal, newly typeset in authorised format with exhaustive editorial work by Breeze himself, along with assistance of other O.T.O. and A∴A∴ members, which was issued jointly by the O.T.O. and the A∴A∴, starting with The Equinox Vol IV, No. 1 and 2 published in 1996.

The Holy Books of Thelema

Under his name as Frater Superior of the O.T.O., Hymenaeus Beta, Breeze is known as the preeminent editor of The Equinox journal, issued jointly by the O.T.O. and the A∴A∴, and the commentaries on the Holy Books of Thelema.
On April 10, 1982, Breeze and McMurtry began producing a new edition of The Holy Books of Thelema, which was published by Weiser Books in April 1983. Breeze did the design and editorial work, and James Wasserman handled typesetting and the layout, production and proofreading. The Holy Books of Thelema were originally published in 1909 by Crowley under the title "ΘΕΛΗΜΑ" in three small books that Crowley had put out privately for the A∴A∴ members. The previous edition by Israel Regardie was published in 1972 with Sangrael Press but was out-of-print.
The 1996 edition of The Law is for All edited by Breeze is based upon the original manuscript of Louis Wilkinson and has an introduction by the material's original editor. It includes annotations, reading lists and indexes not found in the earlier edition.
In May 2013, Breeze made available his own research, undertaken for the definitive edition of Liber Legis.

The Equinox

During the summer of 1982, Equinox Vol. III, No. 10, edited by Breeze, went to press, featuring the core O.T.O. documents. Breeze also added a number of A∴A∴ papers, along with letters from Magick Without Tears, the text of The Book of the Law, and various other writings by Crowley, Wilfred Talbot Smith, and Frater Achad, also featuring James Wasserman's essay on the history of the O.T.O. Breeze wrote an extensive introduction and showcased a group of contemporary Thelemic poets and artists, along with a section on Kenneth Anger's films.
In 1996, Breeze's edition of The Equinox Vol. IV, No. 1: Commentaries on the Holy Books and Other Papers, went to press. It included number of previously unpublished pieces in the Equinox series, including Liber LXV's commentary, and a colour reproduction of Crowley's illumination of Liber Pyramidos. Its main feature, Liber Cordis Cincte Serpente is considered to be one of the Holy Books of Thelema. It includes Crowley's commentary, which, unlike in the earlier editions, was positioned opposite and facing the corresponding text of Liber LXV. Breeze's edition also includes other works of Crowley and shorter commentaries which have not been published before, including Charles Stansfeld Jones' commentary on Liber A'ash, and other commentaries Breeze included to aid the aspirants within the system of the magical Order of the A∴A∴ in the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, and the grade of Adeptus Minor. It contains reprinted documents important in defining the A∴A∴ training system, including Crowley's works such as One Star in Sight, Liber XIII, and Liber CLXXXV, to which this book adds An Account of the A∴A∴ introduced by Crowley's essay titled Occultism published for the first time, including one unpublished version of the A∴A∴ Student Examination. It also contains a large colour plate section including a colour reproduction of Crowley's original illuminated manuscript of Liber Pyramidos and paintings by J. F. C. Fuller dealing with A∴A∴ teachings. These paintings have been used as the covers of the edition.
In 1998, Breeze's edition of The Equinox Vol. IV, No. 2 went to press. It contains the fourth major edition of Liber 418, considered by Crowley to be second in importance behind The Book of the Law, which established the religious system of Thelema. Previous major edition of The Vision and the Voice was published by Israel Regardie in 1972 and had been out of print. Breeze's 1998 edition, which includes Crowley's commentary as footnotes, made the material of Liber 418 available to a large audience for the first time.