C. F. Russell

Cecil Frederick Russell (1897–1987) was an American occultist and writer. Russell was a member of the A∴A∴ and Aleister Crowley's magical order, Ordo Templi Orientis. Russell later founded his own magical order, the Choronzon Club, which later changed its name to G.B.G. (variously explained as "Great Brotherhood of God" or "Gnostic Body of God").

Early life Russell was born in Greenwood, Massachusetts, on June 9, 1897; his family later moved to Orlando, Florida. At the age of 19, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

From April 22, 1917, to December 12, 1918, Russell worked as a hospital attendant at the U.S. Naval Academy Hospital.

Russell's account of the magical working is in P.117-118 in Znuz is Znees volume 2.

Founder of an order In 1922, Russell founded the Choronzon Club, advertising it as a "short cut to initiation" in the pages of Occult Digest. In 1931, the group changed its name to G.B.G (for "Great Brotherhood of God" or "Gnostic Body of God") G.B.G was headquartered in Chicago. Russell received half of all initiation fees collected. The fees were used to support the neighborhoods.

Inspired by Ida Craddock, Russell developed his own curriculum of sex magick. In the 1960s, disciple Louis T. Culling published these in two works entitled The Complete Magickal Curriculum of the Secret Order G.'.B.'.G.'. and Sex Magick. The first two degrees, "Alphaism and Dianism", reportedly draw upon Ida Craddock's work Heavenly Bridegrooms From 1970 to 1972, Russell published his memoirs entitled Znuz is Znees: Memoirs of a Magician. Provenance (1944) Barbara Cubed: The manual of pure logic (1944) Tropermic calculus (1944) Grammar of changes (1944) Manual of Electro-combinational Engineering (1945) Znuz is Znees: Memoirs of a magician (1970)