About — 01 / 04
An initiate’s path.
Forty years of ceremonial magic, ministry, and publishing — told in the order it happened.
- Since1984
- OrderOSOGD
- DegreePhD, M.Div.
Sam Webster, PhD, M.Div., hails from the Bay Area and has taught magick publicly since 1984. He is a Thelemite, an Adept in the Golden Dawn tradition, Bishop Tau Ty of Ecclesia Gnostica Universalis, and an initiate of Wicca, Druidic, Buddhist, Hindu, and Masonic lineages. In 1985 he founded the Chthonic‑Ouranian Templars of Thelema; in 2001 he founded the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn, one of the earliest attempts to bring an "open source" ethic to ceremonial magic itself.
He earned his Master of Divinity at the Starr King School for the Ministry, part of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, in 1993, and went on to earn his doctorate at the University of Bristol in 2015, studying Pagan history under Professor Ronald Hutton. In 2010 he published his first book, Tantric Thelema, and with it founded Concrescent Press — an independent house now home to a growing shelf of Pagan scholarship and magical practice. He serves the wider community principally as a priest of Hermes.
“Building a community of practice and scholarship centered on Pagan magic.”
— Concrescent Press, founding aim
The Timeline
Four decades, in brief.
Begins teaching magick publicly
Starts a public teaching practice in the Bay Area and publishes his first essay, "Constellation," the same year.
Founds the Chthonic-Ouranian Templars of Thelema
Cofounds one of the earliest Thelemic working orders of his career, still active in the tradition today.
Earns his Master of Divinity
Graduates from the Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley.
Founds the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn
Brings an open-source ethic to Golden Dawn practice, publishing the order's inner workings for study rather than hiding them.
Tantric Thelema & Concrescent Press
Publishes his first book and founds Concrescent Press to carry it — and the work of other Pagan authors — into print.
Founds the Pantheon Foundation
Launches the Pantheon Foundation at PantheaCon — a California 501(c)3 Pagan religious nonprofit providing fiscal sponsorship, ministry development, and organizational support for the wider Pagan community. Sam serves as Executive Director; The Wild Hunt became its first fiscally sponsored organization.
The Wild Hunt & the Bristol doctorate
Joins The Wild Hunt as a columnist and completes his doctorate in Pagan history at the University of Bristol in 2015 under Prof. Ronald Hutton.
Traditions & Offices
An initiate of many houses.
Chthonic-Ouranian Templars
Cofounder of the order, established 1985.
Ecclesia Gnostica Universalis
Serves the Universal Gnostic Church.
Wicca & Druidry
Initiated across Wiccan and Druidic lines of practice.
Buddhadharma & Hindu Tantra
Author of the Pagan Dharma essays uniting Buddhist and Pagan practice.
Of Hermes
Principal service to the wider Pagan community.
Work With Sam
Four ways to bring him in.
Publishing
Editorial and imprint work through Concrescent Press for Pagan and esoteric authors.
Inquire →Ritual Design & Leadership
Ceremony design and officiation for groups, orders, and public rites.
Inquire →Teaching
Public classes and closed-order training in Golden Dawn and Thelemic practice.
Inquire →Books &
publishing.
The publishing house · Concrescent Press
The independent Pagan publishing house Sam founded — ritual manuals, polytheist scholarship, poetry and fiction, across three imprints.
Essays &
the blog.
The personal archive · Essays & Blog
Four decades of Sam's own writing — Pagan practice, ritual theory, Thelema, dharma and the Golden Dawn, plus the running blog.