New Religious Movement

Builders of the Adytum (BOTA)

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Confidence: LowLast reviewed 29 May 2026United StatesWikipedia

Small Western esoteric school founded by Paul Foster Case (1922). Distinctive Tarot and Qabalistic curriculum.

CLCI radar

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Low Control

BITE breakdown

Behavior Control3/10

Information Control2/10

Thought Control3/10

Emotional Control2/10

Modifiers (+0)

0 — small Western esoteric school; mainstream low-control.

Founded

1922

Members

Few thousand

Active in

USA, Global

In context

BOTA offers a structured correspondence-course curriculum in Western esoteric Tarot and Qabalah. Mainstream low-control fraternal organisation.

Recovery resources

ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) — LSE-founded UK research-based information service covering new religious movements.
Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.

See the full curated list at /resources.

Evidence by BITE axis

Thought Control

mainstream low-control

Timeline

1922
BOTA founded by Paul Foster Case

Sources

Various BOTA publications search ↗

We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗ runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.

Change history

Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.

2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Mainstream-comparator lighter.
2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.

Relevant hubs

Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.

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Disclaimer. This profile is an educational summary based on publicly available reports. Many members of this group do not experience the patterns described. Individual congregations and chapters vary widely. If you or someone you know needs support, contact a licensed therapist or the International Cultic Studies Association.