Aleister Crowley served as the Outer Head of the Order from 1922 until his death in December of 1947. Crowley's first act as O.H.O. was to reconfirm the charters of Jones and Tränker as Grand Masters for North America and Germany, respectively. Tränker, on Jones's recommendation, invited Crowley to formally assume leadership of O.T.O. as well as of the various organizations included in the Pansophical movement, at a conference to be held at Hohenleuben, near Weida, in the summer of 1925. The other attendees of the conference were: Heinrich and Helene Tränker; Karl Germer (Saturnus, Jan. 22, 1885 - Oct. 25, 1962), at the time Tränker's secretary and publisher); Albin Grau; Eugen Grosche; Martha Künzel; Henri Birven; a gentleman named Hopfer; Crowley; Crowley's associates Dorothy Olsen, Leah Hirsig, Norman Mudd; and others.

    The results of the conference were mixed. The attendees were divided over Crowley's teachings and The Book of the Law, of which they had previously been largely unaware (it had only recently been translated into German). There were personality conflicts as well. Fraulein Künzel and Herr Germer went with Crowley. Herrn Tränker, Grau, Hopfer and Birven decided to keep the Pansophical Lodge independent from the Master Therion. Herr Grosche originally sided with Crowley, but he and Germer quarreled, and Grosche decided to remain independent. After the closure of the Pansophical Lodge in 1926, Grosche regrouped a number of the ex-Pansophists to found the Fraternitas Saturni. Fraternitas Saturni recognized Crowley's status as a prophet, and accepted the Law of Thelema in a modified form; but Grosche insisted on keeping it independent from O.T.O. and under his own, rather than Crowley's, authority. Fraternitas Saturni continues to the present day in Germany, Canada and elsewhere, and does not represent itself as being O.T.O.

    Tränker apparently attempted to lay claim to the title of O.H.O. of O.T.O. for himself in 1925, but it appears that he was not widely recognized as such and that he ceased his efforts in this direction by 1930, when he and H. Spencer Lewis began to work together directly (but unsuccessfully) to establish a German branch of A.M.O.R.C..

Agapé Lodge

Agapé Lodge No. 1 had been established in 1915 in Vancouver, B.C., Canada under the authority of Jones and Crowley. In the 1930s, Wilfred Talbot Smith (1885-1957), a charter member of Agapé Lodge No. 1, moved from Vancouver on instructions from Crowley to work with Jane Wolfe (1875-1958), who had been a student of Crowley's at Cefalu, to establish Agapé Lodge No. 2 in Los Angeles, California. Smith and Wolfe gathered a group together in Hollywood, California, and along with Regina Kahl (1891-1945), began to celebrate the Gnostic Mass on a weekly basis on Sunday, March 19, 1933. Agapé Lodge No. 2 held its first meeting in 1935. Agapé Lodge contributed greatly to Crowley's publishing efforts, and Crowley appointed Smith (Ramaka) as X° for the U.S.A. Later, Agapé Lodge No. 2 moved to Pasadena, California, and was headed by John W. "Jack" Parsons (Belarion, 1914-1952), a respected chemical engineer and aerospace pioneer. Parsons was instrumental in the founding of both the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and of Aerojet General.

Karl Germer

When World War II broke out in 1939, international communications became increasingly disrupted and civilian travel was limited. Crowley became very dependent on foreign representatives, being unable to travel himself. Karl Germer, Crowley's German representative, was arrested by the Gestapo and confined in a Nazi concentration camp for "seeking students for the foreign resident, high-grade Freemason, Crowley." Released early in the War through the efforts of the American Consul, Germer traveled ultimately to the United States, where, as Grand Treasurer General and Crowley's second in command, he conducted much of the business of O.T.O. On March 14, 1942, Crowley wrote to Germer: "I shall appoint you my successor as O.H.O. ... A complete change in the structure of the Order, and in its methods is necessary. The secret is the basis, and you must select the proper people." The other European branches of O.T.O. were largely destroyed or driven underground during the War. The Latin American branches of Krumm-Heller's F.R.A. maintained a light contact with Germer until the early 1960s.

    By the end of the Second World War in 1945, only Agapé Lodge in Pasadena, California was still functioning. There were isolated O.T.O. initiates in various parts of the world. Although Crowley received visits from O.T.O. members in England, no Lodge work had been conducted there since the police raid of 1917. Initiations were very rare outside of California. Krumm-Heller in Mexico performed no O.T.O. initiations, but sent a candidate, Dr. Gabriel Montenegro (Frater Zopiron or Theophilos), to California for initiation.

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