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Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O., OTO), Order of Oriental Templars, Order of the Temple of the East
- Peace, Tolerance, Truth:
- Salutation on All Points of the Triangle;
- Respect to the Order.
- To all whom it may concern: Greeting and Health.
- Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
The letters O.T.O. stand for Ordo Templi Orientis, 'Order of the Temple of the East', or less accurately, the 'Order of Oriental Templars', or. O.T.O. is a 'secret society' describing itself as an 'Outer Thelemic Order' which is dedicated to the high purpose of securing the Liberty of the Individual and his or her advancement in Light, Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, and Power through Beauty, Courage, and Wit, on the Foundation of Universal Brotherhood.
O.T.O. is the first of the great Old Æon orders to accept The Book of the Law, written or 'received' by Aleister Crowley in 1904. This book proclaims a New Æon in human thought, culture and religion. The Æon arises from a single supreme injunction: the Law of Thelema, which is Do what thou wilt.
This Law is not to be interpreted as a license to indulge every passing whim, but rather as the mandate to discover one's True Will and accomplish it; leaving others to do the same in their own unique ways. "Every man and every woman is a star." The Law of Thelema can ultimately be fulfilled only through the individual efforts of each person. Nevertheless, many worthy aspirants to the Great Work of Thelema have a genuine need for information, guidance, fellowship, or the opportunity to assist their fellow aspirants and serve humanity.
Founder Carl Kellner initially conceived of a "Academia Masonica" which rapidly evolved into the Ordo Templi Orientis.
Theodor Reuss soon succeeded the founder as head of the O.T.O.
O.T.O. and Aleister Crowley
editIn 1910 or 1911 Aleister Crowley entered the O.T.O. by admission of Theodor Reuss and in 1912 he was appointed head of the Order in the English speaking countries.
Although famous because of all-time notorious occultist Aleister Crowley, and although Crowley's contributions have been of enormous influence on the Order's development, the O.T.O. has had many other leaders that have contributed to the Order, both before Crowley and since his death.
Crowley wrote that Theodor Reuss suffered a stroke in the Spring of 1920. In correspondence with one of his officers, Crowley expressed doubts about Reuss's competence to remain in office. Relations between Reuss and Crowley began to deteriorate. In a letter to H. Spencer Lewis, Reuss claimed that Crowley had been expelled from the Order and forbidden to use its name in October 25 1921.
Crowley never acknowledged receiving an expulsion notice from Reuss, although the two exchanged angry letters in November of 1921. Crowley informed Reuss that he was availing himself of Reuss's abdication from office and proclaiming himself the Outer Head of the Order. Reuss died on October 28 1923. Crowley claimed in later correspondence that Reuss had designated him as his successor.
After Crowley's death he was succeeded as "Outer Head" of O.T.O. by Karl Germer,who died in 1962 without naming a successor. After Germer's death Grady McMurtry claimed the succession,which was disputed by other claimants and has given rise to a number of organizations claiming to be the legitimate O.T.O.,but the one he led appears to be the largest. Since McMurtry's death it has been run by its present Frater Superior,known in the Ordo as Hymenaeus Beta and identified by outside critics as William Breeze. It currently has approximately 3000 members around the world.
Criticism
editA number of people regard the O.T.O. as evil, perhaps because of its link to sex magick. (According to non-hostile Crowley biographer Lawrence Sutin, the order's VIII degree related to solitary sex magick and the IX degree to sex between a man and a woman. Crowley, Sutin says, added a homosexual XI degree. This assertion is disproved by Crowley's own diaries, however, which record a number of XI degree workings with women.) Many OTO-hostile webpages contain false or dubious information, such as the claim that Aleister Crowley founded the Order and that he literally sacrificed children.
Some (Robert Anton Wilson, for example,) criticize the O.T.O. for its continued attempts at secrecy. (One Order-related website says that the secret is even easier to misinterpret than it is to profane.) Wilson says, in effect, that secrecy made sense when Western nations had laws against openness and clarity but that it now serves no useful purpose. One can find information about the sex-related O.T.O. degrees in books such as Sutin's and on sex-magick webpages.
Peter-R. Koenig, 'The Ordo Templis Orientis phenomenon,' a thorough piece of detailed field research, discusses the psycho-sociology of participants, i.e. their behavior, a critical assessment informed by a skeptical view, from an outsider, offering many links.
See also
editExternal links
edit- website of Peter Koenig, cited above
- Castle of the Silver Star is a site by an admirer of Crowley who considers none of the extant O.T.O. factions legitimate successor to the old.
- Official history from oto-usa.org