From there, I looked into the Rosicrucian roots of Freemasonry which are even richer in cryptograms and symbology. Rosicrucianism, being an older esoteric society has strong ties with the church as well as paganism and has influenced the development of many occult societies and erotic mysticism alongside Freemasonry. Given that Aleister Crowley and Kenneth Grant, along with 7 other notable occultists and Oscar Wilde(who has no ties to the occult that I know of), were all at one point freemasons, I felt a strong tie between my research on the masons and the work of Kenneth Anger especially in Lucifer Rising being that the connections between ancient Egyptian religion are so strong between the film, Thelema, Freemasonry, and Rosicrucianism. Anger, who was heavily influenced by Crowley, the occult--especially Thelema and the Typhonian Order, while being a strong figure in the Los Angeles Ordo Templi Orientis lodge was crucial in the development of homoerotic, surreal, underground films. In the digitally collaged mood boards below I have also incorporated stills from Bunuel's surrealist film, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.
