The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light was a Fraternity that descended from the Frates Lucis in the late 18th century (in turn, derived from the German Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross

Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross

The Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross was a German Rosicrucian organization founded in the 1750s by Freemason and alchemist Hermann Fichtuld. Candidates were expected to be Master Masons in good standing. Alchemy was to be a central study for members...

), and was the seed from which Ordo Templi Orientis

Ordo Templi Orientis

Ordo Templi Orientis is an international fraternal and religious organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century...

 was created. In addition, the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light was strongly connected with the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor

Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor

The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor was an initiatic occult organisation that first became public in late 1884, although according to an official document of the order it began its work in 1870...

, and may perhaps have been one and the same.

Carl Kellner and Paschal Beverly Randolph

Paschal Beverly Randolph

Randolph also edited the Leader and the Messenger of Light between 1852 to 1861 and wrote for the Journal of Progress and Spiritual Telegraph .2 as anonymous.3 under the pseudonym "Count de St. Leon".- References :...

 were members. In Theodor Reuss

Theodor Reuss

Theodor Reuss was an Anglo-German tantric occultist, anarchist, police spy, journalist, singer, and promoter of Women's Liberation; and head of Ordo Templi Orientis.-Early years:...

' 1917 O.T.O. Constitution, it states in Article 1, Section 1:

Under the style and title: ANCIENT ORDER OF ORIENTAL TEMPLARS, an organization, formerly known as: "The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light", has been reorganized and reconstituted. This reconstituted association is an international organization, and is hereinafter referred to as the O.T.O.

Sources

• • Greenfield, Allen
    Allen H. Greenfield
    Allen H. Greenfield , also known by his ecclesiastical name Tau Sir Hasirim, is an American occultist, ceremonial magician, UFOlogist, writer, editor, and Gnostic Bishop of Ecclesia Gnostica Universalis who resides in Atlanta, Georgia. His book The Story of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light is one...
    
    . The Story of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light. Luxor Press
  • ____. Hermetic Brotherhood Revisited. Luxor Press
  • Godwin, Joscelyn. (1990). "The Brotherhood of Light." Theosophical History, Vol. III, No. 3