SCHOLAR SPEAKS OUT

[tausirhasirim]

“Why I loved the O.T.O”

by SCHOLAR

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

My OTO body , Serpentine Splendour Lodge in Las Vegas, was a wonderful oasis of friendship. I truly enjoyed being with the members that became my friends at the Lodge. Learning from the knowledgeable friends and laughing with everyone was how we spent the day

Comments

[scholar93]

Thanks for forwarding this. I appreciate it. We shouldn't have only one side being heard.
The public needs to see both sides of the wooden coin.

SCHOLAR

BOTH SIDES

[tausirhasirim]

Yes, agreed. Too many,IMO, walk away disillusioned or angry or both, quietly. If even a fraction of the stories I have been told were a matter of record, perhaps those considering the 'paper oto' would pause and reflect and walk away before getting into something that isn't and IMHO, never was.

[michaleen]

Your story has a curiously familiar ring to it. Thanks so much for putting it into words for us. I have a question, though. You wrote:But Crowley wrote fiction and I could get more initiatory insight and spiritual training reading the edited chopped up Crowley books released to the public after the “real” goods had been removed and saved for political leverage later.
What specifically do you have in mind?

[scholar93]

Bill Breeze and Regardie, to name two, had their hands in editing and leaving out chunks of "Magick without Tears" and "The Commentary of The Book of the Law" respectively. As time went on new published copies started missing some material. Heidrick's "Magick without Tears" is online and more complete than those of more recent publication. There is more for sure, but these are just two examples.

Cheers!

[pixelmonster]

Thank you for sharing. I recently discussed the misogyny and sexuality of the OTO with Tau Asherah in preparations for my own Thelemic ordination and we were likewise in agreement on the role of women in that formal group and how it works for neither of our reality paradigms, we prefer to be loyal and the Shekinah incarnate. One grows past Babylon and being a Scarlet Woman once one achieves more Gnosis and self-awareness and learns the earth-shattering reality of absolute love. It can be shared in so many ways and even tantra is not sexual. Agape, Scholar, I wish the best for you and yours!

BEGS THE QUESTION

[tausirhasirim]

If you acknowledge that, it really begsthe question asto why you'd want to accept ordination in that kind of context, when so many other routes without misogyny or a long history of sexual misconduct are available. Your absolute sovereign choice,of course. Just forgive my puzzlement.

Re: BEGS THE QUESTION

[tausirhasirim]

Ah, I see. You mean "non-hierarchical context" ordination or even consecration. First I thought you meant in the Naughty Templar Club!

Re: BEGS THE QUESTION

[tausirhasirim]

ps - Sadly, such stories are not new, just rarely presented in a public forum. Seea sample or three at
http://insurrection-x.livejournal.com/

[broddhisatva]

I had a conversation with a fellow non-OTO Thelemite the other day, and it seems we were in agreement that OTO seems to be a kind of nursery for baby Thelemites. For those coming to/working on the Crowley material (as it is), affiliation with this body is often the first step into a new world

THE TRADE OFF

[tausirhasirim]

At one time, I agreed with the "baby-Thelemite" view of cOTO. But - and I say this having been in said club for 20 years, nearly a decade of which as an inspector general, and having spent many years before as an occultist and five years involved with non-hierarchical occult free associations since - the trade-off here is just not acceptable. There are not an infinite number of potential magicians, and the number who come to coto and leave disillusioned altogether vs. the number who come away bloodied but unbowed simply damages the entire occult movement. My own opinion is that the bottom-line net is that it damages occultism and occultists and should and probably will go out of business.

Re: THE TRADE OFF

[broddhisatva]

I've been asked about OTO over the years by people who are new to it all, and I always feel like Mad Max warning them about Bartertown. I think it's kind of hard to say "don't go" though, seeing that for many people it's often the only thing they can or will find. It's almost like telling people that because the practice of representative democracy is a necessarily flawed system they should avoid it altogether.

I see your point though, Allen. Having been in for 20 years I'm sure you know better than I that things have changed over the years. It seems to have become more exclusive than inclusive, more dogmatic in many ways, not just more structured but more strictured, and they seem to have never really gotten past the creepy guys leering at the new females ("So when do we get to see YOU on the altar, baby?"). I had some really great times with OTO and met some really great people, but I acknowledge that was a specific time and place that just might not exist anymore.

Re: THE TRADE OFF

[broddhisatva]

The more I think about it the more Bartertown seems like an appropriate analogy ... Sure it's a cesspool of scum and villainy and it'll probably swallow them whole, but it's still civilization. Sort of.

Or maybe I'm thinking of Mos Eisley.