The Ordo Templi Astarte, also known as the Order of Templars of Astarte or OTA, is a modern American occult order founded in 1970 by the magician Carroll “Poke” Runyon.

Although the Order is relatively small, it has had an influence beyond its size, especially through Runyon’s writings, teachings, magical experiments, and the Order’s magazine, The Seventh Ray.

Founding of the Order

The Ordo Templi Astarte was founded in America in 1970. Its founder, Carroll Runyon, was already active in the occult world and became known for his work in ceremonial magic, spirit evocation, and mirror-based scrying.

In the same year, Runyon received an irregular Ordo Templi Orientis charter from Louis Culling. However, the OTA did not remain closely tied to standard OTO traditions. Runyon soon moved in his own direction, developing a distinct magical system that combined several different currents of Western esotericism.

This makes the Ordo Templi Astarte an example of a late twentieth-century occult order: not simply a continuation of one older tradition, but an eclectic reconstruction drawing from ceremonial magic, ancient religion, ritual drama, and personal magical experimentation.

Departure from OTO Tradition

Although the OTA had an initial connection to the Ordo Templi Orientis through Louis Culling’s charter, Runyon quickly moved away from OTO-style practice.

Rather than building the Order around Thelemic doctrine or the standard OTO initiatory model, he created a different system rooted in older ritual frameworks, Golden Dawn influence, Phoenician deities, and his own methods of spirit evocation.

This gave the OTA a separate identity. It was not merely an American branch of another order, but a new magical body with its own atmosphere, symbolism, and ritual focus.

The Crata Repoa Influence

One of the important sources behind the OTA was the Crata Repoa, an eighteenth-century ritual system that claimed to preserve elements of ancient Egyptian initiation.

The historical authenticity of the Crata Repoa as a genuine ancient Egyptian system is doubtful, but its influence on later occultism was significant. It provided a dramatic model of initiation, symbolic progression, and priestly mystery.

For Runyon and the Ordo Templi Astarte, the Crata Repoa offered a ritual structure that could be adapted into a modern magical order. It helped give the OTA a sense of ancient mystery, ceremonial progression, and initiatory depth.

Golden Dawn Influence

The teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn also influenced the OTA.

The Golden Dawn was one of the most important magical orders of the modern Western esoteric tradition. Its system combined Hermeticism, Qabalah, astrology, Tarot, elemental magic, ritual structure, and ceremonial discipline.

By drawing from the Golden Dawn, the Ordo Templi Astarte placed itself within the larger current of Western ceremonial magic. This influence can be seen in the Order’s concern with ritual method, magical symbolism, structured practice, and the controlled invocation or evocation of spiritual forces.

Astarte and Phoenician Religion

The name of the Order points to one of its most distinctive features: its use of the goddess Astarte.

Astarte was a major goddess of the ancient Near East, especially among the Phoenicians. She was associated with love, fertility, sexuality, war, sovereignty, the heavens, and divine feminine power. In later traditions, she was sometimes connected or compared with goddesses such as Ishtar, Aphrodite, and Ashtoreth.

By placing Astarte at the centre of the Order’s name and symbolism, the OTA drew attention to ancient Phoenician religion and to the role of goddess-centred mystery in modern magical work.

This gave the Order a character different from many ceremonial systems that were more strongly focused on Christian, Hermetic, or Qabalistic symbolism. The OTA looked toward the older Mediterranean and Near Eastern religious world as a source of magical power and mythic identity.

Mirror Magic and Spirit Evocation

Carroll Runyon is especially known for his work with evocation through mirror magic.

Scrying — the practice of gazing into a reflective surface to perceive visions, spirits, symbols, or inner images — has a long history in magic and divination. Mirrors, bowls of water, crystals, and polished surfaces have all been used as gateways for visionary experience.

Runyon developed and popularised methods of spirit evocation that used the mirror as a central magical tool. Rather than treating evocation only as a matter of external manifestation, this approach emphasised controlled visionary contact through the reflective surface.

In the context of the OTA, mirror magic became part of a practical magical system. It allowed the magician to work with spirits through ritual, concentration, image, and altered perception.

Size and Structure

Like many magical orders of the late twentieth century, the Ordo Templi Astarte remained relatively small.

It has been described as having two lodges, both located in California, with a membership well below 100. This small size is typical of many serious occult orders. Influence in the occult world is not always measured by numbers. A small group can have a wide impact if its teachings, publications, and methods reach a larger audience.

The OTA’s significance comes less from mass membership and more from its distinct magical system and Runyon’s visibility within the American occult scene.

The Seventh Ray

The Order’s magazine, The Seventh Ray, played an important role in spreading its ideas.

Occult journals and magazines have long been essential to esoteric movements. They allow small groups to publish rituals, essays, teachings, commentary, and magical theory beyond the limits of lodge membership.

Through The Seventh Ray, the OTA reached readers interested in ceremonial magic, goddess traditions, ancient religion, scrying, spirit evocation, and modern occult practice. This helped the Order influence a wider circle than its actual membership numbers would suggest.

Influence and Legacy

The Ordo Templi Astarte occupies an interesting place in modern American occultism. It is not one of the largest magical societies, but it represents an important late twentieth-century development: the creation of new magical orders from older ritual, mythic, and ceremonial materials.

Its system brought together:

The irregular OTO connection through Louis Culling
The initiatory model of the Crata Repoa
The ritual and symbolic influence of the Golden Dawn
Phoenician gods and goddesses, especially Astarte
Mirror magic and scrying
Spirit evocation
Modern American ceremonial practice

Carroll Runyon’s work helped bring attention to practical evocation and mirror-based magical technique at a time when many occultists were rediscovering grimoires, ceremonial magic, and ancient goddess traditions.

For students of modern occultism, the OTA is important because it shows how twentieth-century magicians did not merely inherit old systems. They rebuilt them, combined them, challenged them, and created new orders suited to their own magical discoveries.

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