Marcelo Ramos Motta

(Revision as of 12:29, 7 Jul 2005)

Marcelo Ramos Motta (Jul 27th, 1931 e.v. - Aug 26th, 1987e.v.) was the fist thelemic writer in Brazil, member of Astrum Argentum and founder of the brazilian Society Ordo Templi Orientis.

Marcelo Motta was born in July 27th, 1931 e.v. at the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Very few is known about his childhood, only that he was born inside a german family, receiving a very strict education, amplificated by his admission at the Military Academy of Rio de Janeiro. His father was a follower of the doctrine of Allan Kardec (very popular in Brazil) and his mother was catholic and was the most present and important figure on Motta's life. According his legend, at the age of 11 he had read the books of Eliphas Levi, Papus, Helena Blavatsky, Edward Bulwer-Lynton, Patânjali, Paracelso and Arnold Krumm-Heller. Because of his link with Krumm-Heller's work, he became interested in the Rosacrucians mysteries, what became his most deep research topic. But his first contact with an true rosacrucian society, the brazilain branch of AMORC, did not sactisfied him and he started his search for an initiatory school at as he found in Krumm-Heller's novel "Rose-Croix".

Motta had a deep disguise for the catholicism (predominant religion in Brazil), that was defined by him as the disruption of the will to live. Motta said that once he had a glance of the true mean of cristianity of Rome in the world and the own Anti-Christ was there, and that vision became present, for the rest of his life, at his writings and very life.

His times at the Military Academy of Rio de Janeiro gave him a sense of dotu and discipline, which he applied on his occult researches. At those times he got great interest in Astrology, Tarot and so on. Those interests were not vey common among the M.A. studants, what made him a some kind of "freak", but gave him some knowledge to take argues with his Philosophy teacher that became famous for years. A great degree of miopy blocked his admission at the brazilian Air Force School, takin him out of the military career.

At the age of 17 he took contact with the Fraternitas Rosacruciana Antiqua, Krumm-Heller's rosacrucian order where Motta took his first initiations in 1948, at the age of 17. The crescent state of familiar tension impeled him to move to Europe and then to USA, where he completed his studies of English Language. For this voyage he had, by request of brazilian leadershipf of FRA, the mission of to meet Parsival Krumm-Heller (son of Arnond Krumm-Heller and then lelgal leader of FRA) and intermediate the contacts of the brazilian group and the international leadership.

The first contact of Motta with Thelema was by the book "The Great Beast", from J. Symons, that he read at Portugal. Those was a partial biography of Aleister Crowley and brought to him a lot of questions. He saw lots of conections between the Law of Thelema and parts of his initiations at FRA, but he had never heard about Thelema or Crowley, or even Master Therion. And more, the book gave him some serious doubts about the Crowley's initiations because that biography showed Crowley as a Satanist. Asking P. Krumm-Heller about that, received from his superior lots of material about Thelema and Crowley, readings that changem completly Motta's oppinion about Aleister Crowley and his methods and philosophy. Latter, in USA, P. Krumm-Heller introduces Motta to Karl Germer, leader of the Ordo Templi Orientis by that times. Germer gave to Motta the choice among O.T.O. and A.'.A.'. and Motta choosed tha last one.

His period in USA also resulted on the mariage with an unnamed woman, from who he divorced latter, and with the born of two also unnamed children. He ever refused to talk about this aspect of his life.

Returning to Brazil, in 1962, Motta translates and publiches Crowley's "Liber Aleph" and, later, "Calling the Sons of the Sun", the fist thelemic writing in Brazil. From this year to 1987 Motta, as a true member of A.'.A.'. had numerous studants, even americans, under his tutel. He also tried to stablish an O.T.O. Lodge in Brazil, what was strange because he never was a member of Ordo Templi Orientis.

Marcelo Motta was the instructor of two very well known A.'. A.'. Probationists, Paulo Coelho e Raul Seixas. Coelho later had abbandoned Thelema and started to follow the catholic misticism, mixed with some Sufi knowledge and some kind of "candy" Thelemic philosophy. Those mix was translated to lots of best-seller books that gave Coelho a great degree of international projection. Seixas, a musician, left any kind of thelemic and magic formal training but followed the principles of Thelema for all his life and even today lots of people in Brazil listen his songs and take contact with Thelema without even to know this.

Another famos Motta's studant was Euclydes Lacerda de Almeida, who later founded two Thelemic groups in Brazil, the Ordem dos Cavaleiros de Thelema (Order of Knights of Thelema) and the Sociedade Novo Aeon (New Aeon Society).

In 1978 Motta tried a take over of the leadership of O.T.O. from Graddy McMutrry. Accordin someones, Germer would said to his whife, Sasha that he left the control of O.T.O. to Motta. Sasha would wrote a letter to Motta with this information. But there were never any kind of confirmation of this and even Motta said that he never received that letter. But even so Motta, who was never a member of the Ordem, tried to assume O.T.O. leadership. But in a legal process taht took place in USA, was decided that had no right to claim that, nor the copyrights of Crowleys work. This resulted in the foundation of S.-O.T.O., not even a dissidence form O.T.O. bur a whole new group.

Motta never had any kind of economic stability, jumping from a job to another and living most of his studants as an English teacher and from the help of his folowers at S.-O.T.O.. He died on August 26th, 1987, at the city of Teresópolis (Brazil) at the age of 53. Motta was, allegedly and by his own admission, an alcoholic who suffered from extreme paranoid delusions (for example, he reportedly believes that he was the real target of the JFK assassination, the CIA and Israeli secret service were targeting him for decades, etc.).

Motta Groups

Marcelo Motta founded two thelemic oriented groups in Brazil:

• Ordem de Thelema (Order of Thelema)
• Society Ordo Templi Orientis