Inside the Solar Lodge

Inside Solar Lodge - Behind the Veil is a reissue of an important book that tells the story of the controversial Solar Lodge, a Thelemic community that flourished for five or six years in the 60's and early 70's in the Los Angeles area. The author is Frater Shiva, an insider and one of the architects of the Lodge. I've not read this book yet due to financially challenging times but mention it now because of an incredible streaming radio broadcast I heard last night which featured a review and discussion of the book and the context it was set in. The broadcast was presented by Poke Runyon, a veteran of the L.A. occult scene, and features commentary by Frater Shiva during the second half of the hour-long program. Runyon gives a no-nonsense and largely favorable overview to this group whose fall lead to being fugitives from the F.B.I. and the recipient of sensationalistic rumors and media harassment. He and Shiva do their best to set the record straight. Runyon calls the Solar Lodge the most successful Thelemic community ever including Cefalu.

I found the talk extremely valuable for learning about some of the history of the L.A. occult scene during that era. You can listen to the program HERE.

Thanks to Jerry Cornelius' Blogeria where I heard about this.