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From: heidrick@well.sf.ca.us (Bill Heidrick)
Newsgroups: alt.magick
Subject: Re: camp, oasis, etc.
Date: 11 Apr 1995 04:25:33 GMT
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93

wabehun@merle.acns.nwu.edu (William Behun) writes:

>What exactly do the designations Camp, Lodge, Oasis, etc. mean in terms of
>officially sanctioned O.T.O. groups?  Are there other designations which are
>not currently in use, but might be in the future?  I don't see any of these in
>documents like the Constitution or the Intimation with respect....  

Camps are minimal, led by at least a Ist degree, may or may not offer 
initiation.  Some Camps specialize, some are maybe's, some are just 
small, some are substantil.
Oases are led by at least a IIIrd, offer Minerval through IIIrd initiations 
and generally are more well-rounded.
Lodges are led by at least a Vth, include all of above, can host IVth 
through Vth initiations and hold themselves in readiness to restart the 
O.T.O. in case of catastrophy.
Chapters are Vth only.  There are other bodies, such as the Electoral 
College, Grand Tribunal &c. mentioned in Intimations and the 1717 
constitution.  In the former Yugoslav states, (South Slavic States), we
also allow "Centers", unofficial OTO groups.  Temples are places where 
the Gnostic Mass is regularly held.  Valleys are geographic locations.

A place of initiation in the Man of Earth degrees is called an oasis.  
Bodies in those degrees have variously been called Camps, Oases and 
Lodges.  We formalized the distinction to set up a system of better 
prediction for visitors and management.

   Most of these terms are in the Intimations or the full Constitution.  
Some of them are oral tradition, going back to the early days of O.T.O. 
and to our precursors.

93 93/93
Bill Heidrick


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From: heidrick@well.sf.ca.us (Bill Heidrick)
Newsgroups: alt.magick
Subject: Re: camp, oasis, etc.
Date: 11 Apr 1995 15:11:48 GMT
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A small correction to my last on this subject:

I wrote:

>College, Grand Tribunal &c. mentioned in Intimations and the 1717 
>constitution.

That should have been 1917, not 1717 --- You can find and read the
O.T.O. revised constitution of 1917 in _Equinox_ Vol. III, No. 10.
Crowley's Intimations (Liber CXCIV) is a minimal outline of the structure
and degrees presented in about 1/3 of the 1917 full document.

Exchanging messages with Art de Hoyos put regular Masonry on my mind,
and is probably behind this typo.  O.T.O. is not Masonry, neither regular
nor irregular; but it is derived from Masonic tradition.  For that matter,
understanding quite a lot of Crowley's stuff is impossible without some
knowledge of at least the public information and history of Masonry.

93 93/93
Bill