Builders of the Adytum: The tarot cards and Qabalah in Naenae

Part 1

Builders of the Adytum, or BotA, is a Western Mystery School that teaches esoteric psychology, tarot, Qabalah, and other new age practices via correspondence. It was established in the United States in either 1921 or 1922 by Paul Foster Case, a musician who had his fingers in many pies, including freemasonry and the (dying years of the) Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the US/Europe. These esoteric influences would influence Case when it came to the structure of BotA, but not its practices; despite teaching occult specialities like astrology and alchemy, BotA forwent most of the ritual magick of Crowley et al in favour of the dissemination of knowledge, regardless of where one was geographically located. Sure, you could practice with other Sorors/Fraters if you wished, but this is a true mystery school insofar as you never have to speak to another living soul in the organisation if you so choose.

The perfect group for total introverts.

But I digress.

And I'm getting ahead of myself.

BotA is open to people of all faiths, and the bar to entry is quite low, at NZ $10/month to receive course materials. The group offers opportunities to learn and interact with fellow initiates as you seek knowledge about yourself, nature, and the universe. While there are ceremonial elements, the bulk of the work appears to be study and meditation. It does eventually advance to include healing, balancing personality with colour and sound, and revelations of the secrets of alchemy. There are also tarot cards, but these are not used for fortune-telling. Rather, each card represents a life principle; when one meditates on that life principle, it can open one to a higher consciousness. Each key has multiple symbols, meanings, and plenary and astrological associations. As part of the meditative and learning practice, initiates are provided with a set of black and white tarot cards to colour as a technique to help engrain that information.

It's a personal development course with a controversial prop.

Half-finished BotA tarot cards

If you're curious about what a BotA service might have sounded like in the 60s, The Builders of the Adytum New Zealand have posted a 1966 recording of an Esoteric Qabalistic Service:

Despite its relative youth, the history of the Builders of the Adytum is an abysmal record at best. It could be said that Case and his heir, Anne Case, wanted to keep an air of… (wait for it)... mystery. Which, funnily enough, contradicts the controversy Case allegedly courted with the Golden Dawn with regards to his tendency to share all of the secrets of the mystery schools, especially when it came to tarot.

It's bad enough when the Wikipedia page for BotA leans heavily on unreliable or impartial sources; it is another thing entirely when, to celebrate their centennial in 2022, BotA also used the Wikipedia pages of its founders as sources for their “official” biographies.

Paul Foster Case

Paul Foster Case was born in 1884 to a housewife with a “...dash of exotic gypsy thrown in” and “...Miles Standish as a direct ancestor”. His father was both the town librarian and church deacon. As a child, he allegedly had a correspondence with Rudyard Kipling where the author reassured a 9-year-old Case that the supersensory states he experienced while dreaming were real. He is said to have had musical talents in piano, organ and violin, and was a successful professional musician, playing violin and working as an orchestral conductor. However, while wikipedia claims that Case received an honorary doctorate in music, the source for this is just an email to a mailing list.

When he was 16, Case had a fateful meeting at a charity luncheon when he crossed paths with architect and publisher Claude Bragdon. Bragdon was a bigtime Theosophist, and had printed many pamphlets, books, and newsletters pertaining to theosophy.

Claude Fayette Bragdon

Case was a budding magician, and Bragdon asked him where Case thought playing cards had come from. He raced to the library and learnt that playing cards with the descendents of tarot cards. Case soon became obsessed with learning everything he could about tarot cards, and began hearing “The Voice”, which started to guide him through his studies. By the age of 21, Case believed that he had found the key attributes of the tarot, and published a book. He had also started learning about the Qabalah, but due to the work he had done on the tarot, it was claimed that he hadn't needed to study Hebrew. Between 1905 and 1908, Case was into Yoga, and had a correspondence with New Thought/Higher Thought author William Atkinson. The former appears to have been a troubling experience, and impressed upon Case that all occult practice should be under guidance and training.

While supposedly making a name for himself as a conductor in Chicago in 1909 or 1910, the 20-something Case was approached by either a stranger or a prominent Chicago physician (allegedly called Dr. Fludd) who knew Case's name and claimed that they had the same Master of Wisdom, which Case understood to be The Voice that guided him with his tarot research. The stranger offered Case two choices, either continue being a musician and live a content and successful life, or dedicate himself to serving humanity, being vital to our evolution in the Aquarian Age, and living a more difficult life.

It is suggested that Case dabbled briefly with being a member of the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) between 1917-1918, and was initiated by Crowley himself before leaving soon after due to dissatisfaction. In 1918, Case met Michael Whitty, the Pramonstrator General of the Golden Dawn for North America and editor for the group's publication, Azoth magazine. Whitty was also the cancellarius (treasurer/office manager) for the Thoth-Hermes Lodge, which was part of Alpha et Omega, an occult organisation founded by Samuel Mathers as an offshoot of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Case joined the Lodge and quickly advanced through at least two levels, or grades, was given the name Frater Perseverantia, and became an instructor. Case and Whitty also published several books, including a rerelease of Case's book on the tarot cards and a book titled The Book of Tokens, which was promoted as being a book written via automatic writing.

Whitty's death in 1920 had a great impact on Case, who felt that Whitty's health problems were due to the Enochian magic included in Golden Dawn rituals. This belief is entrenched in BotA in its omission of rituals.

As for what happened next, the story diverges.

In Ann Davies' retelling, Case had reached his potential with the Lodge when he received a call from The Voice. The Voice was, in “fact”, Master R, aka Theosophical master of ancient wisdom St. Germain, inviting Case to meet him in New York. Case resigned from the Lodge, retired from a lucrative career in music, and spent three weeks with the human embodiment of St. Germain in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel receiving intensive instruction on the evolution of mystery schools. After this period, Case began the Builders of the Adytum on March 21st, 1922.

Another version of this timeline is somewhat more salacious. Alpha et Omega founder Samuel Mathers had died in 1918, and his wife, Moina, became head of the organisation in his place. Case's wiki postulates that other adepts might have been jealous with Case's quick rise through the ranks, but it is more likely that the tarot aficionado was not behaving appropriately. In 1921, Moina began a correspondence with Case about complaints about his teachings on sex magic, sexual symbolism (neither of which had a place in the group's curriculum at the time), and his personal relationship with astrologer and Lodge leader Lilli Geise.

Lilli Geise

Or, as Case described it, “The Hierophantria and I were observed to exchange significant glances of the altar during the Mystic Repast…”. In this version, Case still resigns from the Lodge but marries Geise, who was one of the first members of BotA until she later died on May 9th, 1924.

The story gets vague again, as Davies implies that Case would begin BotA specifically in 1922. Others claim that BotA came later, while others still state that the concept of BotA was part of the teachings of the inner circle of the Lodge back when Case was still involved. What is frequently repeated is that Case did begin work on his correspondence course in the summer of 1922, which he called the School of Ageless Wisdom, and it was formally set up in 1923. The ageless wisdom that Case intended to teach would include his work on tarot, as well as the ancient spiritual teachings of Master R, popularised by Helena Blavatsky and other Theosophists. Case would move to Los Angeles later and officially establish Builders of the Adytum there.

In 1926 Case was initiated into Freemasonry, and would join multiple lodges throughout his lifetime. In 1928, BotA is said to be incorporated in Massachusetts as an educational institution, while in 1929, The School of Ageless Wisdom was reestablished as the new name for the external administration of BotA. In 1937, Case was ordained as a priest in the Liberal Catholic Church, which was popular with Theosophists and Golden Dawn devotees at the time. Case supposedly did serve in parishes in Southern California, and received an honorary degree of Doctor in Sacred Theology from the now-defunct De Landas University in 1940. Case also appears to have married and divorced two more times, to Asta Fleming (1925) and heiress Dorothy Spring (1933). It is alleged that at the time of his death, Case had been married five times, twice to the same woman.

The most significant meetings of Case's life were yet to come.

Ann Davies

Ann Davies claimed that she had been intensively preparing for her role as the spiritual leader of BotA since the day she was born, and from the age of five had been able to distinguish the state of infinite bliss from other types of consciousness. Moreover, this process had begun several incarnations prior when Master R, aka Theosophical master of ancient wisdom St. Germain, trained her as his personal disciple. She likened it to the relationship that Ramakrishna had with Vivekananda. In her last incarnation, it was claimed that Davies was one of the pioneers of the American movement that fought for equality and human rights for all. According to Nick Farrell, while Davies was progressive for her time with regards to racial discrimination, she did ban members of the LGBTQIA+ community from advancing far in BotA during her lifetime.

Ann spent much of her life sick with an unnamed illness that brought her to death's door more than once, until a…”miraculous influx of Supersensory Perception brought instantaneous recovery, to the utter bewilderment of medical science”. When she was 21, Davies spent four months in excruciating pain of unknown origin, and despite it leaving her incapacitated for several years, no one allegedly noticed because it was overshadowed by her liveliness. While initially omitting that she has any formal education beyond private tutoring, due to her extensive illnesses, she does write in a later edition of the BotA newsletter that she achieved tertiary education.

While the correspondence course model would remain, Case developed his teachings into lectures and would give them to study groups. In 1943 or 1944, Davies accompanied her sister to one of these classes. It was here that she met Case, and soon moved her and her daughter into Case's house; fixing meals and doing administrative work.

Ann Davies (L); Paul Foster Case (R)

Case would marry widow Harriet Bullock in 1943 or 1946. Harriet was described as coming from a privileged background. She was training to be a sculptor under Alexander Archipenko when WW1 began, so she changed direction to help with the Durea war relief. Harriet had studied at the Arcane School, which was founded by Theosophist Alice A. Bailey. Whether Davies came first or Harriet did is unclear. What is known is that Harriet would bring an influx of cash that would fill BotA's coffers, and allow it to move into a physical temple space of its own. Harriet would also act as cancellarius for BotA, and help keep the organisation running after Case's death on vacation in Mexico in 1954.

After Case's death, Davies took on much of the public facing work, while Harriet kept the organisation running from behind the scenes. So far, there has been no indication that there was any rivalry between the two women through to the passing of Harriet in 1972.

In next week's instalment, we'll explore New Zealand's important place in the history of BotA, and how the group is placed today.