This red-brick bunker on Figueroa is the headquarters of a world-wide organization, the Builders of the Adytum. The temple was closed when we visited, but the office/gift shop was open.

The woman who works there is not a follower of the order and so could not tell me that the name derives from the Latin word for “Inner Shrine.”  Continuing this metaphor, Christ is the carpenter and thus THE BUILDER of the Inner Shrine, in a mystical, higher-consciousness sort of way.  (The followers of this sect profess to a desire to emulate Christ.  And who can blame them.)

Briar is two years old and she was freaked out by framed photo of founder, Paul Foster Case, hanging above an altar with fresh roses.  I’m considerably older and I was a little freaked too.

I read a great description of these folks somewhere.  The idea was, to paraphrase, that the order is the closest thing out there to resemble the popular portrayal of Freemasonry.   This is  an order shrouded in mystery, who believe in Qabalah, Christianity, Astrology, Tarot, and the Occult.

The order differs in that the Masons are a firmly fraternal organization.  Not only was a woman, Ann Davies, an essential member in the history of the order, but, on our visit, the temples’ Sunday services listed two woman pastors.

Their website is interesting, if misleading.  It describes the order as entirely a correspondence school of mystery.  Believe me, the Builders of the Adytum temple occupies psychical space and provides services every sunday.