H ERE IS ONE of Crowley's most eloquent descriptions of the O.T.O. from a letter to one of his disciples in his later years:
Cara Soror,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
You inform me that the Earnest Inquirer of your ambit has been asking you to explain the difference between the A
A
and the O.T.O.; and that although your own mind is perfectly clear about it, you find it impossible to induce a similar lucidity in his. You add that he is not (as one might at first suppose) a moron. And will I please do what I can about it?
Well, here's the essential difference ab ovo usque ad mala
1
; the A
A
concerns the individual, his development, his initiation, his passage from “Student” to “Ipsissimus”; he has no contact of any kind with any other person except the Neophyte who introduces him, and any Student or Students whom he may, after becoming a Neophyte, introduce.
The details of this Pilgrim's Progress are very fully set forth in One Star in Sight; and I should indeed be stupid and presumptuous to try to do better than that. But it is true that with regard to the O.T.O. there is no similar manual of instruction. In the Manifesto, and other Official Pronunciamenti, there are, it is true, what ought to be adequate data; but I quite understand that they are not as ordered and classified as one would wish; there is certainly room for a simple elementary account of the origins of the Order, of its principles, of its methods, of its design, of the Virtue of its successive Grades. This I will now try to supply, at least in a brief outline.
Let us begin at the beginning. What is a Dramatic Ritual? It is a celebration of the Adventures of the God whom it is intended to invoke. (The Bacchae of Euripides is a perfect example of this.) Now, in the O.T.O., the object of the ceremonies being the Initiation of the Candidate, it is he whose Path in Eternity is displayed in dramatic form.
What is the Path?
In the O.T.O. these successive stages are represented as follows:—
Of these Events of Stations upon the Path all but three (II°) are single critical experiences. We, however, are concerned mostly with the very varied experiences of Life.
All subsequent Degrees of the O.T.O. are accordingly elaborations of the II°, since in a single ceremony it is hardly possible to sketch, even in the briefest outline, the Teaching of Initiates with regard to Life. The Rituals V°–IX° are then instructions to the Candidate how he should conduct himself; and they confer upon him, gradually, the Magical Secrets which make him Master of Life.
It is improper to disclose the nature of these ceremonies; firstly, because their Initiates are bound by the strictest vows not to do so; secondly, because surprise is an element in their efficacy; and thirdly, because the Magical Formulae explicitly or implicitly contained therein are, from a practical point of view, both powerful and dangerous.
. . .
Love is the law, love under will.
Fraternally,
666 2
Ordo Templi Orientis, or the Order of Oriental Templars, is an esoteric, spiritual, and philosophical fraternity that uses a graded series of dramatic initiation rituals to teach men and women its core principles: individual liberty, self-discipline, self-knowledge, and universal fellowship. These initiations also reveal, gradually, O.T.O.'s central secret, which is commonly understood to be sex magick; however, the full meaning and practical application of this secret is only disclosed to initiates of its highest degree, the Sanctuary of the Gnosis.
Under Crowley's leadership, a primary function of O.T.O. became promulgation of the Law of Thelema and The Book of the Law. In addition to ceremonies of initiation, O.T.O. also provides its members with instruction, social events, rituals, and plays, and, if needed, guidance. It also engages in community service activities. Its teaching is syncretic, borrowing freely from multiple spiritual traditions. Crowley happily incorporated elements from Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam; he wrote invocations to the Egyptian Isis, Greek Artemis, and Christian Mary. His successors at all levels of advancement strive for this kind of inclusiveness. In “Liber Librae,” 3 Crowley comments, “In true religion, there is no sect.” For good reason, a common salutation in O.T.O. documents is “Peace, Tolerance, Truth.”
While O.T.O.'s origins are rooted in nineteenth century esoteric Masonry, it differs from regular Freemasonry in several significant ways:
The grade structure of O.T.O. consists of twelve degrees, divided into three grades or triads according to The Book of the Law I:40 : “Who calls us Thelemites will do no wrong, if he look but close into the word. For there are therein Three Grades, the Hermit, and the Lover, and the man of Earth. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” (Some degrees are considered introductory or pendant and not counted separately when referring to a triad.) As shown in the table below, the three triads are called Hermit, Lover and Man of Earth.
The Man of Earth degrees are open to all men and women who meet the qualifications of being free, of full age, and of good report.
In the introductory, or Minerval, degree, the initiate is considered a guest and is not yet a full member. This guest status provides the initiate as much (or as little) time as he or she requires to decide whether or not to formally affiliate with O.T.O. in the I°. Here, the candidate “chooses to enter into relations with the solar system. It incarnates.” 4 At this point, the initiate becomes a Man and a Brother (modern Order leadership has added the terms Woman and Sister). Any time after the mandatory waiting periods have elapsed, the initiate is welcome to apply to the subsequent degrees of Magician (II°), Master Magician (III°), Perfect Magician (IV°) and Perfect Initiate (P.I.), where “the cycle is closed by the reabsorption of all individuality into infinity. It ends in absolute annihilation which . . . may in reality be regarded . . . as forming the starting point for new adventure of the same kind.” 5
The Man of Earth Degrees and the Hindu Chakras
In addition to symbolizing the soul's journey toward birth, life, death, and, ultimately, annihilation, the degrees also represent a journey through the chakras, or energy centers of the subtle body. Crowley attributed the Man of Earth degrees to the chakras as illustrated in the diagram above.
Subsequent advancement is by invitation only. The first of the invitational degrees is Knight of the East and West, which, according to “Liber CXCIV,” “is but a bridge between the first and second series; but it is important, for in that grade a new pledgeform must be signed, and the new Knight vowed to devote his life to the Establishment of the Law of Thelema.” It is the gateway between the Man of Earth and Lover grades.
While members of the Man of Earth triad may hold office or assume responsibility in running the affairs of their local body, they take “no share in the Government of the Order” (Liber CXCIV). The Lover, however, takes oaths of service to the Order, enabling members to participate in its government. In the first of these degrees, the Sovereign Prince Rose-Croix (V°) is “responsible for all that concerns the Social Welfare of the Order. This grade is symbolically that of beauty and harmony; it is the natural stopping-place of the majority of men and women; for to proceed farther . . . involves renunciation of the sternest kind” (CXCIV). The following degree, Knight of the Red Eagle (K.R.E.), designates members of the Senate, which includes lodge masters, honorary past masters, and members of the Electoral College. An Electoral College oversees the operations and welfare of the Man of Earth triad within its national borders. It is composed of eleven members who voluntarily renounce their own advancement during their eleven-year term of service.
Next follows the VI° or Illustrious Knight of the Order of Kadosch, “an executive or military body [that] represents the temporal power of the Supreme and Holy King” (CXCIV); the Grand Inquisitor Commander (G.I.C.) is entitled to a seat on the O.T.O. Grand Tribunal, which adjudicates all disputes and complaints unresolved by members of the V°; the Prince of the Royal Secret (P.R.S.) “is devoted to the Propagation of the Law in a very special manner; for this grade is the first in which the Beginning of the Inmost Secret is declared openly” (CXCIV).
Finally, members of the last grade of the Lover triad, the VII°, serve as Sovereign Grand Inspectors General of O.T.O. Members of this degree may also belong to the Supreme Grand Council, which oversees the affairs of the Lover triad much as the Electoral College oversees the affairs of the Man of Earth. In “Liber CXCIV,” Crowley elaborates, “All members of the Seventh Degree travel as Sovereign Grand Inspectors General of the Order, and report, on their own initiative, to the Supreme and Most Holy King, as to the condition of all Lodges, and Chapters; to the Supreme Council, on all affairs of the Second Triad; and to the Electoral College, on those of the Third.”
Members of the VIII° are “fully instructed in the Principles of the Order, save in one point only,” and “devote themselves to the understanding of what they have learned in their initiation” (CXCIV). Finally, in the IX°, or Sanctuary of the Gnosis, the secret is fully explained. Its members are devoted to studying and practicing “the theurgy and thaumaturgy of the grade,” and, as further specified in “Liber CXCIV,” “move unseen and unrecognized among the youngest of us, subtly and loftily leading us into the holy ineffable mysteries of the True Light.” Furthermore, “they must be prepared to act as direct representatives of the Supreme and Most Holy King, radiating his light upon the whole world.”
The grade of X° denotes the head of a Grand Lodge, which oversees a country. This officer—referred to by the titles National Grand Master General and Supreme and Holy King—has “ultimate responsibility for all within his holy kingdom” (CXCIV). Grand Masters are appointed by the Outer Head of the Order (O.H.O.). “Liber CXCIV” goes on to say, “Of the Eleventh Degree, its powers, privileges, and qualifications, nothing whatever is said in any grade. It has no relation to the general plan of the Order, is inscrutable, and dwells in its own Palaces.” The XII° degree is reserved for the Outer Head of the Order, or Frater Superior.
In An Intimation with Reference to the Constitution of the Order , Crowley stresses that “with us Government is Service, and nothing else.” O.T.O. may be hierarchical, but the purpose of that hierarchy is not to set some people above others, but to place them in a position of service to assist newer members. As the U.S. Grand Master Sabazius said in his address to the 2001 E.V. 6 National O.T.O. Conference, “An O.T.O. degree is not a seal of attainment, it is an opportunity for attainment.”
A list of official O.T.O. bodies may be found on the International Headquarters and Grand Lodge Web sites (see Appendix IV). We have also included (as Appendix II), “An Open Letter to Those Who May Wish to Join the Order” (Liber 101), Crowley's most enthusiastic and detailed description of his vision for the O.T.O.
1 Latin for “from the egg to the apples” (i.e. from the first to the last course of a Roman dinner); from beginning to end. ( The Harper Dictionary of Foreign Terms .)
2 Magick Without Tears , A portion of Letter 13.
3 Found in Magick , The Equinox , and Gems from the Equinox .
4 Confessions , p. 701.
5 Confessions , p. 702.
6 Era vulgaris , or “vulgar year,” a Thelemic construct to denote that our calendar begins with the Supreme Ritual on March 20, 1904, counted as Year 0.
