O.T.O.
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Fairfax, CA 94930
USA
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BAPHOMET XIш
Liber CI
O. T. O.
Ordo Templi Orientis
An Open Letter to Those Who May Wish to Join theOrder
Enumerating the Duties and Privileges
These Regulations Come into Force in Any District Wherethe Membership
of the Order Exceeds One Thousand Souls
These regulations first appeared in The Equinox III(1)(Detroit:
Universal, 1919) and constitute our best and most comprehensive
guidelines for Thelemic social intercourse. Certain provisionswill
need to be modified to take advantage of the U.S.A.'scomparatively
enlightened tax-exemption statutes as applied to religious
organizations--a few are of dubious legality at thiswriting. Most of
the principles outlined herein have long been observedin the U.S.
O.T.O.--H.B.
Issued by Order: BAPHOMET XIш O.T.O., HIBERNIAE IONAEET OMNIUM
BRITANNIARUM, REX SUMMUS SANCTISSIMUS
AN EPISTLE OF BAPHOMET to Sir GEORGE MACNIE COWIE, VeryIllustrious
and Very Illuminated, Pontiff and Epopt of the Areopagusof the VIII
Degree O.T.O. Grand Treasurer General, Keeper of theGolden Book,
President of the Committee of Publications of the O.T.O.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
IT HAS BEEN REPRESENTED TO Us that some persons who areworthy to join
the O.T.O. consider the fees and subscriptions ratherhigh. This is
due to your failure to explain properly the great advantagesoffered
by the Order. We desire you therefore presently to note,and to cause
to be circulated throughout the Order, and among thoseof the profane
who may seem worthy to join it, these matters followingconcerning the
duties and the privileges of members of the earlier degreesof the
O.T.O. as regards material affairs. And for conveniencewe shall
classify these as pertaining to the Twelve Houses ofthe Heaven, but
also by numbered clauses for the sake of such as understandnot the
so-called Science of the Stars. First, therefore, concerningthe
duties of the Brethren. Yet with our Order every dutyis also a
privilege, so that it is impossible wholly to separatethem.
OF THE DUTIES OF THE BRETHREN
FIRST HOUSE
1. There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt. Yet it iswell for
Brethren to study daily in the Volume of the Sacred Law,Liber Legis,
for therein is much counsel concerning this, how bestthey may carry
out this will.
SECOND HOUSE
2. The private purse of every Brother should always beat the disposal
of any Brother who may be in need. But in such a caseit is a great
mischief if the one ask, and the other consent; for ifthe former be
really in need, his pride is wounded by his asking; andif not, the
door is opened to beggars and imposters, and all mannerof arrant
knaves and rogues such as are no true Brethren. But theBrother who is
possessed of this world's goods should make it his businessto watch
the necessity of all those Brethren with whom he maybe personally
acquainted, anticipating their wants in so wise and kindlyand
delicate a manner that it shall appear as if it werethe payment of a
debt. And what help is given shall be given with discretion,so that
the relief may be permanent rather than temporary.
3. All Brethren shall be exceedingly punctual in the paymentof Lodge
Dues. This is to take precedence of all other calls uponthe purse.
THIRD HOUSE
4. The Brethren shall be diligent in preaching the Lawof Thelema. In
all writings they shall be careful to use the prescribedgreetings;
likewise in speech, even with strangers.
5. They shall respond heartily to every summons of theLodge or
Chapter to which they may belong, not lightly makingexcuse.
6. Brethren should use every opportunity of assistingeach other in
their tastes, businesses, or professions, whether bydirect dealing
with Brethren in preference to others, or by speakingwell of them, or
as may suggest itself. It seems desirable, when possible,that where
two or more Brethren of the same Lodge are engaged inthe same work,
they should seek to amalgamate the same by entering intopartnership.
Thus in time great and powerful corporations may arisefrom small
individual enterprises.
7. They shall be diligent in circulating all tracts, manifestos,and
all other communications which the Order may from timeto time give
out for the instruction or emancipation of the profane.
8. They may offer suitable books and pictures to the Librariesof the
Profess-Houses of the Order.
FOURTH HOUSE
9. Every Brother who may possess mines, land, or housesmore than he
can himself constantly occupy, should donate part ofsuch mines or
land, or one or more of such houses to the Order.
10. Property thus given will be administered if he desireit in his
own interest, thus effecting a saving, since large estatesare more
economically handled than small. But the Order will usesuch property
as may happen to lie idle for the moment in such waysas it may seem
good, lending an unlet house (for example) to some Brotherwho is in
need, or allowing an unused hall to be occupied by aLodge.
11. (Yet in view of the great objects of the Order, endowmentis
welcome.)
12. Every Brother shall show himself solicitous of thecomfort and
happiness of any Brother who may be old, attending notonly to all
material wants, but to his amusement, so that his decliningyears may
be made joyful.
FIFTH HOUSE
13. Every Brother shall seek constantly to give pleasureto all
Brethren with whom he is acquainted, whether by entertainmentor
conversation, or in any other manner that may suggestitself. It will
frequently and naturally arise that love itself springsup between
members of the Order, for that they have so many andsacred interests
in common. Such love is peculiarly holy, and is to beencouraged.
14. All children of Brethren are to be considered as childrenof the
whole Order, and to be protected and aided in every wayby its members
severally, as by its organization collectively. No distinctionis to
be made with regard to the conditions surrounding thebirth of any
child.
15. There is an especially sacred duty, which every Brothershould
fulfil, with regard to all children, those born withoutthe Order
included. This duty is to instruct them in the Law ofThelema, to
teach them independence and freedom of thought and character,and to
warn them that servility and cowardice are the most deadlydiseases of
the human soul.
SIXTH HOUSE
16. Personal or domestic attendants should be chosen fromamong the
members of the Order when possible, and great tact andcourtesy are to
be employed in dealing with them.
17. They, on their part, will render willing and intelligentservice.
18. While in Lodge, and on special occasions, they areto be treated
as Brothers, with perfect equality; such behaviour isundesirable
during the hours of service, and familiarity, subversiveas it is of
all discipline and order, is to be avoided by adoptinga complete and
marked change of manner and address.
19. This applies to all persons in subordinate positions,but not to
the Brethren Servient in the Profess-Houses of the Order,who, giving
service without recompense, are to be honoured as hosts.
20. In case of the sickness of any Brother, it is theduty of all
Brethren who know him personally to attend him, to seethat he want
for nothing, and to report if necessary his needs tothe Lodge, or to
Grand Lodge itself.
21. Those Brethren who happen to be doctors or nurseswill naturally
give their skill and care with even more than their customaryjoy in
service.
22. All Brethren are bound by their fealty to offer theirservice in
their particular trade, business, or profession, to theGrand Lodge.
For example, a stationer will supply Grand Lodge withpaper, vellum,
and the like; a bookseller offer any books to the Libraryof Grand
Lodge which the Librarian may desire to possess; a lawyerwill execute
any legal business for Grand Lodge, and a railway orsteamship owner
or director see to it that the Great Officers travelin comfort
wherever they may wish to go.
23. Visitors from other Lodges are to be accorded thetreatment of
ambassadors; this will apply most especially to SovereignGrand
Inspector Generals of the Order on their tours of inspection.All
hospitality and courtesy shown to such is shown to Ourselves,not to
them only.
SEVENTH HOUSE
24. It is desirable that the marriage partner of any Brothershould
also be a member of the Order. Neglect to insist uponthis leads
frequently to serious trouble for both parties, especiallythe
uninitiate.
25. Lawsuits between members of the Order are absolutelyforbidden, on
pain of immediate expulsion and loss of all privileges,even of those
accumulated by past good conduct referred to in the secondpart of
this instruction.
26. All disputes between Brethren should be referred firstlyto the
Master or Masters of their Lodge or Lodges in conference;if a
composition be not arrived at in this manner, the disputeis to be
referred to the Grand Tribunal, which will arbitratethereon, and its
decision is to be accepted as final.
27. Refusal to apply for or accept such decision shallentail
expulsion from the Order, and the other party is thenat liberty to
seek his redress in the Courts of Profane Justice.
28. Members of the Order are to regard those without itspale as
possessing no rights of any kind, since they have notaccepted the
Law, and are therefore, as it were, troglodytes, survivalsof a past
civilisation, and to be treated accordingly. Kindnessshould be shown
towards them, as towards any other animal, and everyeffort should be
made to bring them into Freedom.
29. Any injury done by any person without the Order toany person
within it may be brought before the Grand Tribunal, whichwill, if it
deem right and fit, use all its power to redress or toavenge it.
30. In the case of any Brother being accused of an offenceagainst the
criminal law of the country in which he resides, so thatany other
Brother cognisant of the fact feels bound in self-defenceto bring
accusation, he shall report the matter to the Grand Tribunalas well
as to the Civil Authority, claiming exemption on thisground.
31. The accused Brother will, however, be defended bythe Order to the
utmost of its power on his affirming his innocence uponthe Volume of
the Sacred Law in the Ordeal appointed ad hoc by theGrand Tribunal
itself.
32. Public enemies of the country of any Brother shallbe treated as
such while in the field, and slain or captured as theofficer of the
Brother may command. But within the precincts of theLodge all such
divisions are to be forgotten absolutely; and as childrenof One
Father the enemies of the hour before and the hour afterare to dwell
in peace, amity, and fraternity.
EIGHTH HOUSE
33. Every Brother is expected to bear witness in his lastwill and
testament to the great benefit that he hath receivedfrom the Order by
bestowing upon it part or the whole of his goods, ashe may deem fit.
34. The death of a Brother is not to be an occasion ofmelancholy, but
of rejoicing; the Brethren of his Lodge shall gathertogether and make
a banquet with music and dancing and all manner of gladness.It is of
the greatest importance that this shall be done, forthereby the
inherited fear of death which is deep-seated as instinctin us will
gradually be rooted out. It is a legacy from the deadaeon of Osiris,
and it is our duty to kill it in ourselves that our childrenand our
children's children may be born free from the curse.
NINTH HOUSE
35. Every Brother is expected to spend a great part ofhis spare time
in the study of the principles of the Law and of theOrder, and in
searching out the key to its great and manifold mysteries.
36. He should also do all in his power to spread the Law,especially
taking long journeys, when possible, to remote places,there to sow
the seed of the Law.
TENTH HOUSE
37. All pregnant women are especially sacred to membersof the Order,
and no effort should be spared to bring them to acceptanceof the Law
of Freedom, so that the unborn may benefit by that impression.They
should be induced to become members of the Order, sothat the child
may be born under its aegis.
38. If the mother that is to be have asserted her willto be so in
contempt and defiance of the Tabus of the slave-gods,she is to be
regarded as especially suitable to our Order, and theMaster of the
Lodge in her district shall offer to become, as it were,godfather to
the child, who shall be trained specially, if the motherso wishes, as
a servant of the Order, in one of its Profess-Houses.
39. Special Profess-Houses for the care of women of theOrder, or
those whose husbands or lovers are members of the Order,will be
instituted, so that the frontal duty of womankind maybe carried out
in all comfort and honour.
40. Every Brother is expected to use all his influencewith persons in
a superior station of life (so called) to induce themto joint the
Order. Royal personages, ministers of State, high officialsin the
Diplomatic, Naval, Military, and Civil Services are particularlyto be
sought after, for it is intended ultimately that thetemporal power of
the State be brought into the Law, and led into freedomand prosperity
by the application of its principles.
41. Colleges of the Order will presently be establishedwhere the
children of its members may be trained in all trades,businesses, and
professions, and there they may study the liberal artsand humane
letters, as well as our holy and arcane science. Brethrenare expected
to do all in their power to make possible the establishmentof such
Universities.
ELEVENTH HOUSE
42. Every Brother is expected to do all in his power toinduce his
personal friends to accept the Law and join the Order.He should
therefore endeavor to make new friends outside the Order,for the
purpose of widening its scope.
TWELFTH HOUSE
43. The Brethren are bound to secrecy only with regardto the nature
of the rituals of our Order, and to our words, signs,etc. The general
principles of the Order may be fully explained, so faras they are
understood below the VIш; as it is written, ``The ordealsI write not:
the rituals shall be half known and half concealed: theLaw is for
all.'' It is to be observed that punctual performanceof these duties,
so that the report thereof is noised abroad and the fameof it cometh
even unto the Throne of the Supreme and Holy King himself,will weigh
heavily in the scale when it comes to be a question ofthe high
advancement of a Brother in the Order.
OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE BRETHREN
FIRST HOUSE
44. The first and greatest of all privileges of a Brotheris to be a
Brother; to have accepted the Law, to have become freeand
independent, to have destroyed all fear, whether of custom,or of
faith, or of other men, or of death itself. In otherpapers the joy
and glory of those who have accepted The Book of theLaw as the sole
rule of life is largely, though never fully, explained;and we will
not here recapitulate the same.
SECOND HOUSE
45. All Brethren who may fall into indigence have a rightto the
direct assistance of the Order up to the full amountof fees and
subscriptions paid by them up to the time of application.This will be
regarded as a loan, but no interest will be charged uponit. That this
privilege may not be abused, the Grand Tribunal willdecide whether or
no such application is made in good faith.
THIRD HOUSE
46. Members of the Order will be permitted to use theLibrary in any
of our Profess-Houses.
47. Circulating Libraries will presently be established.
48. Brethren who may be travelling have a right to thehospitality of
the Master of the Lodge of the district for a periodof three days.
FOURTH HOUSE
49. Brethren of all grades may be invited to sojourn inthe Profess-
Houses of the Order by Grand Lodge; and such invitationmay
confidently be expected as the reward of merit. Therethey will be
able to make the personal acquaintance of members ofthe higher
Grades, learn of the deeper workings of the Order, obtainthe benefit
of personal instruction, and in all ways fit themselvesfor
advancement.
50. Brethren of advanced years and known merit who desireto follow
the religious life may be asked to reside permanentlyin such houses.
51. In the higher degrees Brethren have the right to residein our
Profess-Houses for a portion of every year, as shown:
P.R.S. Six weeks.S.G.C. Three months.
VIш. Two weeks.
VIIш. Two months.
G.T. One month.
S.G.C. Three months.
P.R.S. Six weeks.
VIIIш. Six months.
52. Members of the IXш, who share among themselves thewhole property
of the Order according to the rules of that degree, may,of course,
reside there permanently. Indeed, the house of everyBrother of this
grade is, ipso facto, a Profess-House of the Order.
FIFTH HOUSE
53. All Brethren may expect the warmest co-operation intheir
pleasures and amusements from other members of the Order.The perfect
freedom and security afforded by the Law allows the charactersof all
Brethren to expand to the very limits of their nature,and the great
joy and gladness with which they are constantly overflowingmake them
the best of companions. ``They shall rejoice, our chosen;who
sorroweth is not of us. Beauty and strength, leapinglaughter and
delicious languor, force and fire, are of us.''
54. Children of all Brethren are entitled to the careof the Order,
and arrangements will be made to educate them in certainof the
Profess-Houses of the Order.
55. Children of Brethren who are left orphans will beofficially
adopted by the Master of his Lodge, or if the latterdecline, by the
Supreme Holy King himself, and treated in all ways asif they were his
own.
56. Brethren who have a right to some especial interestin any child
whose mother is not a member of the Order may recommendit especially
to the care of their lodges or of Grand Lodge.
SIXTH HOUSE
57. In sickness all Brethren have the right to medicalor surgical
care and attendance from any Brethren of the Lodge whomay be
physicians, surgeons, or nurses.
58. In special necessity the Supreme Holy King will sendhis own
attendants.
59. Where circumstances warrant it, in cases of livesof great value
to the Order and the like, he may even permit the administrationof
that secret Medicine which is known to members of theIXш.
60. Members of the Order may expect Brethren to busy themselvesin
finding remunerative occupation for them, where theylack it, or, if
possible, to employ them personally.
SEVENTH HOUSE
61. Members of the Order may expect to find suitable marriagepartners
in the extremely select body to which they belong. Communityof
interest and hope being already established, it is naturalto suppose
that where mutual attraction also exists, a marriagewill result in
perfect happiness. (There are special considerationsin this matter
which apply to the VIIш and cannot be discussed in thisplace.)
62. As explained above, Brethren are entirely free ofmost legal
burdens, since lawsuits are not permitted within theOrder, and since
they may call upon the legal advisers of the Order todefend them
against their enemies in case of need.
EIGHTH HOUSE
63. All Brethren are entitled after death to the properdisposal of
their remains according to the rites of the Order andtheir grade in
it.
64. If the Brother so desire, the entire amount of thefees and
subscriptions which he has paid during his life willbe handed over by
the Order to his heirs and legatees. The Order thus affordsan
absolute system of insurance in addition to its otherbenefits.
NINTH HOUSE
65. The Order teaches the only perfect and satisfactorysystem of
philosophy, religion, and science, leading its membersstep by step to
knowledge and power hardly even dreamed of by the profane.
66. Brethren of the Order who take long journeys overseasare received
in places where they sojourn at the Profess-Houses ofthe Order for
the period of one month.
TENTH HOUSE
67. Women of the Order who are about to become mothersreceive all
care, attention, and honour from all Brethren.
68. Special Profess-Houses will be established for theirconvenience,
should they wish to take advantage of them.
69. The Order offers great social advantages to its members,bringing
them as it does into constant association with men andwomen of high
rank.
70. The Order offers extraordinary opportunities to itsmembers in
their trades, businesses, or professions, aiding themby co-operation,
and securing them clients or customers.
ELEVENTH HOUSE
71. The Order offers friendship to its members, bringingtogether men
and women of similar character, taste, and aspiration.
TWELFTH HOUSE
72. The secrecy of the Order provides it members withan inviolable
shroud of concealment.
73. The crime of slander, which causes so great a proportionof human
misery, is rendered extremely dangerous, if not impossible,within the
Order by a clause in the Obligation of the Third Degree.
74. The Order exercises its whole power to relieve itsmembers of any
constraint to which they may be subjected, attackingwith vigour any
person or persons who may endeavour to subject them tocompulsion, and
in all other ways aiding in the complete emancipationof the Brethren
from aught that may seek to restrain them from doingThat Which They
Will.
It is to be observed that these privileges being so vast,it is
incumbent upon the honour of every Brother not to abusethem, and the
sponsors of any Brother who does so, as well as he himself,will be
held strictly to account by the Grand Tribunal. The utmostfrankness
and good faith between Brethren is essential to the easyand
harmonious working of our system, and the Executive Powerwill see to
it that these are encouraged by all means possible, andthat breach of
them is swiftly and silently suppressed.
Love is the law, love under will.
Our fatherly benediction, and the Blessing of the All-Fatherin the
Outer and the Inner be upon you.
BAPHOMET Xш O.T.O., IRELAND, IONA, AND ALL THE
BRITAINS