Зодчие Святилища

The Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) was established in 1922 by Paul Foster Case (1884–1954), a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. He was known as an expert in the study of the tarot and cabala, and was said to have been asked by the Inner School to reinterpret the Ageless Wisdom for the Western audience. BOTA’s name originated from the Greek term meaning Holy of Holies, and referring to the metaphysical building of one’s inner temple.Members of BOTA regard Jesus as a carpenter, a builder, and a teacher of the inner spiritual life.

BOTA is viewed by its members as a mystery school following the Western interpretation of ancient wisdom. Followers are taught mastery of their physical environment and development of the mental capacities, as well as provided with answers to such metaphysical questions as the nature of immortality. Its teachings are based on the Holy Cabala, which is described by BOTA members as the Mystical (occult) Wisdom Teaching of Ancient Israel, and which is based on a diagrammatical and symbolic glyph called the Tree of Life, a pictorial-symbolic representation of the One God and humanity’s relationship with God and creation. BOTA’s teachings also draw upon the tarot (viewed as a pictorial textbook of Ageless Wisdom), the hermetic teachings of Hermes Mercurious Trismegistus, alchemy, and astrology.

The doctrine of the Oneness of God, the brother/sisterhood of humanity, and the kinship of all life patterned after the Ageless Wisdom mystery schools constitute the principal subjects of BOTA’s teachings and practices, which, like in other occult orders, have as their major objective “the promotion of the welfare of humanity.” The meaning of the welfare of humanity is embodied in a seven-pointed program: (1) Universal Peace, (2) Universal Political Freedom, (3) Universal Religious Freedom, (4) Universal Education, (5) Universal Health, (6) Universal Prosperity, and (7) Universal Spiritual Unfoldment.

Members work to transmutate the personality through their work with the tarot, the use of symbols, and other techniques. It is believed that a transformed personality will empower the individual to change his environment and bring it closer to the heart’s desire. New affiliates of the inner mystery school standing behind BOTA are referred to as associate members, and receive graded lessons on the order’s teachings. They may become members, that is to say Working Builders, and may affiliate with active chapters around the United States, Canada, and a number of other countries around the world. Upon receiving advanced instruction, they may participate in the esoteric activity of BOTA.

The headquarters of BOTA, which is located in Los Angeles, is governed by the grand chapter, consisting of four initiates called grand chiefs. The prolocutor general and president of the corporation represent the link between the Inner School and the rest of the order. BOTA groups can be found in numerous U.S. states as well as in Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, West Germany, New Zealand, Columbia, and the island of Aruba in the Caribbean.

For Further Reading: Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedia of American Religion. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1996

-- James Lewis