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Paul Foster Case (1884-1954) was an American occultist and the author of several books on Tarot and Kabbalah. He initially started his career as a musician; his mother recognised his talent from childhood, which eventually led him to become a skilled violinist and conductor.

His initial experience with the occult occurred in 1900, when he met Claude Bragdon, an architect with spiritual inclinations, who inspired him to begin studying the Tarot.

In 1905, he began practising yoga (pranayama), educating himself from the publications available at the time.

In 1907, he corresponded with William Walker Atkinson, a follower of New Thought, an American spiritualist movement that emerged in the 19th century. At that time, there was speculation that Case and Atkinson might be the anonymous authors of “The Kybalion” 1, a text that explores the essence of Hermes Trismegistus’s teachings and has influenced occult circles.

In 1910, Case reportedly encountered a doctor who carried a message from a “master of wisdom.” This master offered the young musician a choice: to pursue his promising career, which pledged financial rewards, or to share a spiritual message intended for the new era. Following this meeting, Case dedicated himself to studying and developing what would eventually become his school of Tarot and Kabbalah, known as the Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.).

In 1918, Case met James Whitty, the treasurer of a lodge called Toth-Hermes, which was part of the Alpha et Omega, a group that formed after splits within the Golden Dawn. Case joined the lodge and, in the following years, was quickly appointed to the positions of Second and Third Adept of the order.

In 1920, a dispute arose involving Moira Mathers, the widow of McGregor Mathers, one of the founders of the Golden Dawn. The disagreement centred on the teachings introduced by Case, which incorporated the use of sexual magic—concepts that were not part of the order’s curriculum at that time. Moira Mathers argued that the use of sexual magic had never produced positive outcomes, while Case contended that understanding phallic symbolism was essential for grasping ancient wisdom. That same year, Case married a fellow member of the order, but she passed away just a few years later, in 1924.

In 1921, Case reported meeting in New York with Master Rakoczi, also known as Master R. or the Count of St. Germain, who provided him with three weeks of instruction on the Qabalistic Way of Return.

In 1922, Case left the Golden Dawn to establish a new order called the Builders of the Adytum (Builders of the Inner Sanctuary). Although it was initially an offshoot of the Golden Dawn, Case completely rejected the Enochian rituals introduced by McGregor Mathers, considering them too dangerous. Instead, his teachings emphasised elements of the Western mystery tradition, including Tarot, Kabbalah, and Alchemy.

In the years that followed, he continued to manage the order he had founded, definitively abandoning his career as a musician. Over the years, he briefly joined several Masonic lodges in California. In 1943, he remarried Harriet Bullock Case.

Case passed away in 1954 while on holiday in Mexico. Currently, B.O.T.A. has approximately 5,000 members.

Biography (in English)

  • How to Read The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages
  • Seven Steps in Practical Occultism (with Wade Coleman)
  • Tarot Fundamentals (with Wade Coleman)
  • Tarot Interpretation (with Wade Coleman)
  • The 32 Paths of Wisdom
  • The Attunement Rituals (with Wade Coleman)
  • The Master Pattern
  • The Neophyte Grade Work (with Wade Coleman)
  • The Philosophus Grade Work (with Wade Coleman)
  • The Theoricus Grade Work  (with Wade Coleman)
  • The Tree of Life
  1. The Kybalion was first published in 1908 by the Yogi Publication Society and is now in the public domain. The authors, who chose to remain anonymous, called themselves The Three Initiates, though clues about their true identities circulated at the time. The book is based on the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus and presents seven axioms to guide the reader in discovering universal principles. These principles include the Principle of Mind-Only, the Principle of Correspondence, the Principle of Vibration, the Principle of Polarity, the Principle of Rhythm, the Principle of Cause and Effect, and the Principle of Gender. It is important to note that the term “Gender” in this context does not strictly refer to biological sex, but rather to the generative principles of the masculine and feminine across various planes of existence. Numerous esoteric currents have drawn inspiration from this work. ↩︎