The Fraternity of Saturni ( Brotherhood of Saturn )

The Fraternity of Saturni was an influential occult group in Germany before World War II that accepted many of Aleister Crowley’s teachings and was led by Albin Grau in the role of grand master. In 1933, the group was dissolved by the Nazi regime, but in 1945, it was reestablished.

A Masonic occult order known as the Grand Pansophical Lodge was responsible for the dissemination of Crowley’s ideas throughout Germany in the 1920s. As a result of this dissemination, a German ritual magic group known as the Fraternitas Saturni emerged. Eugen Grosche, also known as Gregor A. Gregorius, was one of the prominent members of the lodge’s leadership. Gregorius was favorably impressed by Crowley’s ideas of a new aeon of magical activity that would be characterized by the law of thelema (will), as well as his teachings on sexual magic; however, Gregorius did not wish to associate directly with Crowley or any of the organizations that Crowley headed. In 1926, he was the driving force behind the dissolution of the Pansophical Lodge and the establishment of the Fraternitas Saturni. He drew additional motivation from reports of Saturnian lodges that had existed in Germany during earlier centuries.

Gregorius started writing a series of books and documents for the new fraternity, and he did so by heavily referencing Crowley’s previous work. Shortly after Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, the lodge was outlawed, and Gregorius fled to Switzerland shortly thereafter. He was taken into custody in 1943 and extradited to Germany, but he survived the war and reestablished the organization in 1945. Due to the fact that it was located in Soviet territory until the late 1940s, its development was slowed down. It wasn’t until 1950 that Gregorius was finally able to relocate to west Germany and give the lodge its true kickstart. In 1957, the city of Berlin became home to a grand lodge, and Gregorius was selected to serve as the lodge’s grand master. He remained in this role until his passing in 1964.

Following Gregorius’s passing, the lodge went through a period of discord and eventually divided into three distinct groups. Copies of materials that had been kept under wraps were given to Dr. Aldolf Hemberger, who then published them along with his investigation into the group. The materials had previously been kept under wraps. Finally, in the year 1971, the three subgroups of the fraternity got back together and resumed their secluded ritualistic existence. According to the reports, the order is still active in Germany. 

The Fraternitas Saturni was founded in the 1970s in Toronto, Ontario, under the direction of Frater Set-Orion, who held the position of North American grand master at the time. It is currently unknown what its status will be. Edred Flowers, who appeared to have no prior knowledge of any North American lodge, was the one who first published copies of the pre-1969 rituals in English in the year 1990.