Builders of the Adytum

Builders of the Adytum, abbreviated B.O.T.A., is a religious organization that teaches a system of Western esoteric study. Its public description centers on Qabalah, Tarot, meditation, and the development of an inner spiritual life. The word adytum refers to an inner shrine.^[1]

Case, Davies, and the course of study#

The organization's history gives Paul Foster Case and Ann Davies a central place in its development. Case's work joined Tarot symbolism to a Qabalistic framework. Davies continued teaching after his death and became an important voice in the organization's instruction and group work.^[2]

B.O.T.A. distributes lessons to members and offers forms of collective worship and study. Tarot is treated as a symbolic language for spiritual education. This use is broader than drawing cards to answer a question about future events; images, letters, and numbers become subjects for sustained contemplation.

Tradition and membership#

The organization welcomes people of different faiths. Its account of the Western mysteries includes a claim to an ancient initiatory inheritance. That claim expresses the school's understanding of its tradition. Its modern history, publications, and teachers are the more direct evidence for the institution's development.^[1][2]

B.O.T.A. offers useful context for the religious reception of Tarot and the Emerald Tablet. It is not a Satanic denomination. A Satanist may study its symbolism, just as other readers do, without treating the school as an authority for Theistic Satanism. Comparisons with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn should distinguish shared correspondence systems from the separate organization and its own curriculum.

See also#

• Tarot
• Hermetic Qabalah
• Meditation

This encyclopedia covers traditions beyond the High Satanic Church. Church doctrine is identified as such when it appears.