Solar Lodge was a

magical organization A magical organization or magical order is an organization or secret society created for the practice of initiation into ceremonial or other forms of occult magic or to further the knowledge of magic among its members. Magical organizations ca ...

in California that was established in 1965, and withdrew from initiatory activity in 1972. It was based on ideas from the curriculum of

A∴A∴ The A∴A∴ ( ) is a magical organization established in 1907 by Aleister Crowley, a Western esotericist. Its members are dedicated to the advancement of humanity by perfection of the individual on every plane through a graded series of univ ...

, an order that was established by

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

in 1907. According to Frater Shiva, Solar Lodge was set in motion by the initiation of Georgina "Jean" Brayton ("Soror Capricornus") by Ray Burlingame ("Frater Aquarius") in 1962. In 1965, shortly before his death, Burlingame instructed Brayton to initiate other people into the lodge, which she did, expanding Solar Lodge in the 1960s to include over 50 members. The lodge presented itself as a body of

Ordo Templi Orientis Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; ) is an occult secret society and hermetic magical organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner, Theodor Reuss, ...

, but predated the revival of O.T.O. by

Grady McMurtry Grady Louis McMurtry (October 18, 1918 – July 12, 1985) was an American ceremonial magician, student of occult writer Aleister Crowley, and an adherent of Thelema. He is best known for reviving the fraternal organization Ordo Templi Orientis ...

in 1969, who never recognized Solar Lodge as a valid body. O.T.O. considers Solar Lodge "clandestine", much as Freemasons consider the O.T.O. a form of clandestine Masonry. By 1967, the Lodge owned several small mansions, a gas station, a bookstore, all in Los Angeles, and a desert property known as Solar Ranch in the Sonoran desert. By 1969, the Lodge ran a bookstore in

Blythe, California Blythe () is a city in eastern Riverside County, California, United States. It is in the Palo Verde Valley of the Lower Colorado River Valley region, an agricultural area and part of the Colorado Desert along the Colorado River, approximatel ...

; it operated Solar Ranch near

Vidal, California Vidal, California is a small unincorporated community located in San Bernardino County, California on U.S. Route 95, north of Blythe, California, United States and south of Needles. The town is west of the townsite of Earp, California and ...

; and it owned a gas station in Vidal with a cafe, motel, bar, house, gas station and grocery store. In July 1969, the members of the lodge were charged with mistreatment of the six-year-old son of one of the members in a case that came to be known as " The Boy in the Box". Brayton, her husband, and other officers of the lodge engaged in "interstate flight to avoid prosecution", traveled to Mexico and Canada, and eventually engaged in a publicity campaign that alleged a conspiracy against them by law enforcement officers and the courts. Initially, a few members went to jail for 6 months on a felony conviction, a few went to jail for 3 months on a misdemeanor conviction, and a few had their charges dismissed. When Brayton and her husband were arrested, she pleaded ''no contest'' and was sentenced to three years of probation along with a $500 fine.

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