Ann Davies's Biography (Photos)
Ann Davies was born of Jewish parents in Cleveland Ohio in 1912. Her childhood and adolescence were tumultuous and difficult. As a young woman, her aspiration to become a dancer was ended by a serious illness which nearly killed her and left her crippled to one degree or another for the rest of her life.
Prior to 1944, Ann Davies held the views of an ardent atheist, an agnostic, a skeptic, a cautious then enthusiastic devotee of Hindu philosophy, and a practicing Buddhist. When she met Paul Foster Case in 1944, she immediately sensed that the Holy Qabalah and the Sacred Tarot were her Path of Return. Ann Davies received extensive training from Paul Case until his passing in 1954.
From 1954 until her death in 1975, she labored mightily to increase the availability of the Order's teachings. Her efforts included public speeches at Universities, television and radio appearances, and weekly Sunday Service sermons and class work. She traveled to various cities in the United States and New Zealand for the sole purpose of strengthening the work of Builders of the Adytum. Through the medium of her weekly class work, she provided students of the Order with extended doctrines on the Qabalistic Way of Return, adding to the tremendous wealth left by Paul Foster Case. Her sacrifices, along with those of Dr. Case and his wife Harriet, provided this Order with a rich depth of knowledge and feeling that have sustained Builders of the Adytum for nearly 80 years.