Theorte Ekstasis - Ordo Templi Orientis

About Thelema and the OTO

A Brief Introduction to Thelema | The Ordo Templi Orientis | The Ecclesiæ Gnosticæ Catholicæ | Aleister Crowley

A Brief Introduction to Thelema

Thelema, Θελημα in Greek, means Will. Thelema is the name of the philosophical school and religious matrix established in 1904 with the writing of Liber AL vel Legis (The Book of the Law) by Aleister Crowley (1875-1947). The Law of Thelema is summed up in two phrases from the Book:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law” (AL I:40) and
“Love is the law, love under will” (AL I:57).

Those who follow the path of Thelema are called Thelemites. Thelema emphasizes individualism, and the uniqueness of each person's True Will, which is generally defined as the innermost Nature or proper life course of the individual. As a result, it is very difficult to make blanket statements about its nature, or the natures of its adherents. Even the label of "religion" sometimes fits Thelema awkwardly. Thelema is more accurately defined for some Thelemites as a philosophy and a way of life.

The process of discovering one's True Will is referred to as the Great Work. The techniques used to accomplish this difficult task fall under the general term Magick, and traditionally include practices such as yoga, invocational ritual, astral body work, and contact with the higher self. In Thelema it is up to the individual to find the doorway to his or her own inner self. The Book of the Law states that we are all divine creatures: “Every man and every woman is a star” (AL I:5). As such, Thelemites are encouraged to discover their own divinity, as well as their personal sense of right and wrong, based on both rational thinking and through the Great Work.

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The Ordo Templi Orientis

Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) can be translated as Order of Oriental Templars, or Order of the Temple of the East. It is a secret, fraternal organization similar to that of Freemasonry, with a series of graded initations. For its teachings and principles of organization, it has accepted the Law of Thelema, which is expressed as “Do what thou wilt.”

According to Crowley, O.T.O. is "the first of the great religious Societies to accept the Law." The rituals of O.T.O. have been entirely revised by Crowley and his successors in light of the Law of Thelema. Both within its private ceremonies and in the world at large, the Order seeks to promote the Law as the ultimate standard of human conduct and understanding. Even before accepting the Law, the Sovereign Sanctuary of the O.T.O. was a body that maintained a Supreme Secret, which is said to be of inestimable magical power. This secret still reposes in the Sovereign Sanctuary of the Ninth Degree, and its nature is indicated gradually by hints in the initiatory ceremonies of the Order.

Of the entire system of O.T.O., Crowley wrote in Confessions:

It offers a rational basis for universal brotherhood and for universal religion. It puts forward a scientific statement which is a summary of all that is at present known about the universe by means of a simple, yet sublime symbolism, artistically arranged. It also enables each man to discover for himself his personal destiny, indicates the moral and intellectual qualities which he requires in order to fulfil it freely, and finally puts in his hands an unimaginably powerful weapon which he may use to develop in himself every faculty which he may need in his work.

The mission of O.T.O. U.S. Grand Lodge, which can largely be applied to the Order as a whole:

Ordo Templi Orientis U.S.A. is the U.S. Grand Lodge (National Section) of Ordo Templi Orientis, a hierarchical, religious membership organization. Our mission is to effect and promote the doctrines and practices of the philosophical and religious system known as Thelema, with particular emphasis on cultivating the ideals of individual liberty, self-discipline, self-knowledge, and universal brotherhood. To this end, we conduct sacramental and initiatory rites, offer guidance and instruction to our members, organize social events, and engage in educational and community service activities at locations throughout the United States.

OTO Lamen
The O.T.O. Lamen

O.T.O. has two core areas of ritual activity: initiation into the Mysteries, and the celebration of Liber XV, the Gnostic Mass. In addition, the Order organizes lectures, classes, social events, theatrical productions and artistic exhibitions, and publishes books, journals, and newsletters.

O.T.O. was also designated as the Crowley estate, and maintains possession of Crowley's intellectual property and literary remains. As the custodian of these materials, the Order seeks to make them available to the public in definitive editions.

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Ecclesiæ Gnosticæ Catholicæ

Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.) is the Latin for Gnostic Catholic Church, a Thelemic ecclesiastical rite that comprises the church within Ordo Templi Orientis. The chief function of EGC is the performance of the Gnostic Mass (Liber XV), a Eucharistic ritual written by Aleister Crowley in 1913. The structure of the Mass is influenced by the rite of the Russian Orthodox Church; its content draws from the symbols and texts of Thelema. Its most notable divergence from similar rites of other churches is that both a Priest and a Priestess officiate, the latter sitting unclothed on the altar during most of the ceremony. In addition to the Mass, baptism, confirmation, marriage, ordination, and last rites are offered by EGC.

Crowley described the Gnostic Mass as "the central ritual of O.T.O., both public and private". It is the single most commonly performed ritual at O.T.O. bodies, with many locations celebrating the Mass monthly or more frequently. Most O.T.O. bodies make some or all of these celebrations open to interested members of the public, so the Mass is often an outsider's first experience of the Order. E.G.C. has a hierarchical structure of clergy, assisting officers, and laity which parallels the degree structure of the O.T.O. initiatory system.

EGC Seal
The Seal of the E.G.C.

There are three recognized subclasses of Church membership, the Clergy (Clerical membership), the Laity (Lay membership) and Bishops in Amity (Advisory membership). The Clergy is composed of the Father (or Mother) of the Church (also known as the Patriarch or Matriarch), the Primate, the Bishops, the Priests and Priestesses, and the Deacons.

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Aleister Crowley

Edward Alexander (Aleister) Crowley (rhymes with "holy") was born October 12, 1875 in Leamington Spa, England. His parents were members of the Plymouth Brethren, a strict fundamentalist Christian sect. As a result, Aleister grew up with a thorough biblical education and an equally thorough disdain of Christianity.

He attended Trinity College at Cambridge University, leaving just before completing his degree. Shortly thereafter he was introduced to George Cecil Jones, who was a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn was an occult society led by S.L. MacGregor Mathers which taught magick, qabalah, alchemy, tarot, astrology, and other hermetic subjects. It had many notable members (including A. E. Waite, Dion Fortune, and W. B. Yeats), and its influence on the development of modern western occultism was profound.

Crowley was initiated into the Golden Dawn in 1898, and proceeded to climb up rapidly through the grades. But in 1900 the order was shattered by schism, and Crowley left England to travel extensively throughout the East. There he learned and practiced the mental and physical disciplines of yoga, supplementing his knowledge of western-style ritual magick with the methods of Oriental mysticism.

In 1903, Crowley married Rose Kelly, and they went to Egypt on their honeymoon. After returning to Cairo in early 1904, Rose (who until this point had shown no interest or familiarity with the occult) began entering trance states and insisting to her husband that the god Horus was trying to contact him. As a test, Crowley took Rose to the Boulak Museum and asked her to point out Horus to him. She passed several well-known images of the god and led Aleister straight to a painted wooden funerary stele from the 26th dynasty, depicting Horus receiving a sacrifice from the deceased, a priest named Ankh-f-n-khonsu. Crowley was especially impressed by the fact that this piece was numbered 666 by the museum, a number with which he had identified since childhood.

He then began to listen to Rose, and at her direction, on three successive days beginning April 8, 1904, he entered his chamber at noon and wrote down what he heard dictated from a shadowy presence behind him. The result was the three chapters of verse known as Liber AL vel Legis, or The Book of the Law. This book heralded the dawning of the new aeon of Horus, which would be governed by the Law of Thelema. As the prophet of this new aeon, Crowley spent the rest of his life working to develop and establish Thelemic philosophy.

Aleister Crowley
(1875-1947)

In 1906 Crowley rejoined George Cecil Jones in England, where they set about the task of creating a magical order to continue where the Golden Dawn had left off. They called this order the A.'. A.'. (Astrum Argentium or Silver Star), and it became the primary vehicle for the transmission of Crowley's mystical and magical training system based on the principles of Thelema.

Then in 1910 Crowley was contacted by Theodore Reuss, the head of an organization based in Germany called the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.). This group of high-ranking Freemasons claimed to have discovered the supreme secret of practical magick, which was taught in its highest degrees. Apparently Crowley agreed, becoming a member of O.T.O. and eventually taking over as head of the order when Reuss suffered a stroke in 1921. Crowley reformulated the rites of the O.T.O. to conform them to the Law of Thelema, and vested the organization with its main purpose of establishing Thelema in the world. The order also became independent of Freemasonry (although still based on the same patterns) and opened its membership to women and men who were not masons.

Aleister Crowley died in Hastings, England on December 1, 1947. However, his legacy lives on in the Law of Thelema which he brought to mankind (along with dozens of books and writings on magick and other mystical subjects), and in the orders A.'. A.'. and O.T.O. which continue to advance the principles of Thelema to this day.

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