Allen Greenfield
T Allen Greenfield (b. 1946) (the "T" or "Tau" or “Tav” being a customary title given to an esoteric prelate in the Doinel lineage upon their consecration) is a writer on UFO's, esoteric spirituality and Gnosticism.
He is a native of Augusta, Georgia, USA. With relatively brief sojourns in Tampa, Florida, Tucson, Arizona and Key West, Florida, he has lived much of his life thus far in Atlanta, GA, with close family ties to Augusta, GA and Baltimore MD. By the age of sixteen, he had become a world traveler, and has visited many countries all over the globe in the years since, from France to French Polynesia; from Canada to Venezuela; Greece to Grenada, Israel to Indiana. He is a long-time student of esoteric spirituality and Gnosticism, a study he began in 1960. A past (elected) member of the British Society for Psychical Research, the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (from 1960), etc., he has twice been the recipient of the "UFOlogist of the Year Award" of the National UFO Conference (1972 and 1992), which has run continuously on an annual basis now for 41 years. He is a Borderland Science Research Associate (BSRA).
He has personally conducted on site UFO abduction investigations in Brooksville, FL, Pascagoula, MS and Brown Mountain, NC. He considers the UFO phenomenon to be a "signal" from the Collective Unconscious that the neglect of a magical spirituality by society as a whole is a cause of emotional plague and social disaster. As a futurist with a remarkable track record of giving accurate predictions of future history, he is also a past President of the Atlanta Science Fiction Organization (ASFOII), which pioneered with the prototypes of science fiction conventions as they are now commonly presented. Science Fiction is, in his view, the Gnostic mythos of our time, best exemplified by the Twentieth Century author Philip K. [...]. In 1968 he photographed a well-known apparition in the graveyard of Christ Church on St. Simon's Island, GA.
Greenfield's ongoing essay project, "The True History of Wicca" was included in Richard Metzger's anthology from Disinformation, Company Ltd BOOK OF LIES in 2003. This is a more recent version of this analysis than that appearing on many web sites. The most current version is, as always, available elsewhere on this site.
He is quoted (and occasionally misquoted) and referred to in many books, including:
- Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon
- Hans Holzer's The UFOnauts
- Timothy Green Beckley's The UFO Silencers
- John A. Keel's Strange Creatures From Time and Space
- John A. Keel's Disneyland of the Gods
- Neal Wilgus' The Illuminoids
- Jacques Bergier's Secret Vaults of the Earth
- Robert Scheafer's The UFO Verdict
- Joscelyn Godwin's The Theosophical Enlightenment and Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor
- Jim Keith's Casebook on the Men in Black
- Robert Anton Wilson's Everything Is Under Control
- Jim Moseley's Dangerously Close to the Truth
He is, however, not a strange creature from time nor space, a UFO silencer, a pagan writer, an Illuminoid, nor, for that matter, a Theosophist. How 'close to the truth' he is depends on who you talk to. He is said to have a sense of humor, and is known to write rather decent poetry on many themes. Some of this is posted on the QBLH Web Site. Much more has been posted on the legendary-and now lost "The Poetry Exchange" web site.
From the late 1960's on, The Rt. Rev. Dr. Greenfield has appeared on various "talk" radio and television programs, dealing with esoteric and social issues (KYW Cleveland, WOR New York, WTBS Atlanta, CKTB Toronto, etc). He is a frequent guest on Rob McConnell's X Zone Radio Program, heard throughout the U.S. and Canada. As a speaker, he has appeared before the International Fortean Organization (Washington, D.C., 1974), the Atlanta UFO Society (Atlanta, Fernbank Science Center, 1975), at the 31st Annual National UFO Conference (Cleveland, 1994), UFO Forum (Atlanta, 1995), 32nd Annual National UFO Conference (Atlanta, 1995), and Greenfield spoke on the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light and served on two panels at the First National OTO Conference (Akron, Ohio, 1997), and on "Fraternity in Theory and Practice" at the second OTO National Conference, Portland, Oregon, in August 1999. In August 2003 he served as chair of the Speaker Selection Committee for NOTOCON (OTO National Conference, again in Portland), and spoke on the convention theme, "Initiation". He was a speaker at the 2005 NOTOCON as well, on the subject of "Signs of New Times", and an inaugural guest on “Thelema Coast to Coast’s” pioneering podcast’s first two episodes in 2005, and has appeared again in 2006.
Since the 1960s Greenfield has been a serious student of the Western Esoteric Tradition. After many years of study, he was Elected Episcopos (Mabeker) by the Holy Synod of the Neopythagorean Gnostic Church in 1986, and was consecrated to the Episcopate by the Patriarch of that Communion, Most Rev. Michael Paul Bertiaux of Chicago. In 1987 he was extended recognition as Episcopus within the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica-Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) before becoming an initiate member of OTO by the Absolute Grand Patriarch, Tau Silenus, who consecrated him in New York in November of 1988. In December of 1993 Bertiaux reconsecrated Greenfield in Chicago sub conditione, followed in that same month with reconsecration sub conditione by Tau Apiryon as an EGC-OTO Episcopus. He actively ministered to EGC congregations in the South for many years before withdrawing from support of the OTO upper management in July, 2006.
Greenfield continues to Coordinate the independent Assembly of the Knowledge & Wisdom of Solomon (founded 1986) and the Lodge of the Sons and Daughters of Aaron (founded 1992), both [...] edge experimental umbrella organizations working with ecclesiastical energies and [...] edge [...] magick. Greenfield has ecclesiastical documentation for those who are interested and says that he regards these as either primarily managerial-supervisory or Masonic-traditional titles, rather than associating him with any specific religious dogma per se. He also holds symbolic and actual titles from a number of esoteric bodies: From the Ancient and Primitive Rites of Memphis and Mizraim, he holds High degrees and a research lodge charter (1921 ecclesiastical revised rite, issued 1992); Auxiliary ("Associate") Episcopus in the QBLH, extended by the late W.W. Webb (Frater Damon), along with a QBLH research lodge charter, etc.
Since September 23, 1995, the Rt. Rev. Greenfield has been a Member of the Green Abyss Lodge of the MISKATONICK SOCIETY(USA) in association with The Grey Lodge (England). Individuals are admitted by the Society's Secretaries solely in recognition of their work and achievement." In 1998 Greenfield was also elected an honorary member of the related Esoteric Order of Dagon, or EOD. In 2005 Greenfield was appointed "Frater One Seven One XII* Sea Lord by the new EOD Grand Master XXIII* honoring his association with the numinous mythos of H.P. Lovecraft and EOD.
The only ritual initiatory body with which The Rt. Rev. Greenfield has been affiliated, however, has been the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO). Greenfield is Past Master of Eulis Lodge of OTO, and former editor of its journal, LAShTAL. The Rt. Rev. Greenfield has held both initiate and full ecclesiastic membership in OTO, and continued to serve that august body as both Episcopus and Chartered Initiator, Secretary for Correspondence of U.S. Grand Lodge, as well as in a number of other internal capacities, while critical of its current structure and direction.
As an active EGC Episcopus, a large part of T Allen Greenfield's life has been devoted to spiritual work, keeping in mind that he is a Scientific Illuminist, not a "believer" in any religious or other dogma in this capacity. He is a "working clergyman" and actively served a number of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica assemblies and formerly supervised and inspected other affiliate assemblies. The majority of EGC Clergy in the Southeast were ordained by Bishop Greenfield. He considers himself first and primarily a Scientific Illuminist, which means that he does not hold any fixed "belief system" and the spiritual philosophy he adheres to works with symbols and mythos rather than any absolutist faith or dogma.
In February 2006 Rt. Rev. Greenfield stepped down from all managerial positions in OTO, calling for the resignation of current OTO upper management. He continued to act in those offices (Bishop, Grand Inspector, Grand Inquisitor) directly associated with initiation. In July of 2006 he withdrew from active participation in OTO altogether, and remained a fierce but constructive critic of its leadership and policies. In August, 2006 he was suspended from membership in OTO, creating a torrent of controversy.
Dr. Greenfield's current publisher is Manitius Press.
Greenfield is 59, the father of three sons, ranging in age from 33 to 14. His eldest son, Alex Greenfield, is a celebrated network television writer and producer.
Books by Allen Greenfield
- The Book of Lies: The Disinformation Guide to Magick and the Occult. Edited by Richard Metzger; Allen Greenfield, contributor. Disinformation Books, 2003. ISBN 0-9713942-7-X.
- The Compleat Rite of Memphis (Luxor Press, 1998) ISBN 1-891948-01-6.
- Liber Thirty-One (The Authorized Edition by C.S. Jones (Frater Achad); edited and annotated by T Allen Greenfield. Luxor Press, 1998. ISBN 1-891948-00-8.
- Saucers and Saucerers. PANP Press, 1975.
- Secret Cipher of the UFOnauts. Illuminet Press, 1994; Revised Edition Manutius Press 2005. ISBN 1-4116-6759-X.
- Secret Rituals of the Men in Black. Manutius Press, 2005. ISBN 1-4116-6764-6.
- Silver Bridge, by Gray Barker, introduction by Allen Greenfield. Saucerian Books, 1970. Library of Congress Catalogue Number 70-119512.
- The Story of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light. Looking Glass Press, 1997. ISBN 91-88708-03-9.
- The Roots of Modern Magick: Glimpses of the Authentic Tradition from 1700-2000, An Anthology. Revised edition, Manutius Press, 2006. ISBN 1-4116-1920-X.
References
- Greenfield, Allen. Biographical Information on T Allen Greenfield.