Path: typhoon.sonic.net!feed.news.sonic.net!news.ticon.net!nntp-relay.ihug.net!ihug.co.nz!logbridge.uoregon.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: bloodofenoch@goddamnfruit.com (Andralphus) Newsgroups: alt.magick Subject: Re: organizations Date: 4 Nov 2002 21:07:05 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Lines: 31 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: 141.157.21.250 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1036472825 20715 127.0.0.1 (5 Nov 2002 05:07:05 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 5 Nov 2002 05:07:05 GMT Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.magick:323637 ajna wrote in message news:... > How do these thelemic (?) organizations like o.t.o, a.a. (and something > else?) differ from each other? Crowley put it thusly in a letter to Karl Germer, his successor as head of OTO: "The difference between the A.·.A.·. and the O.T.O. is very clear and simple. The A.·.A.·. is a sempiternal institution, and entirely secret. There is no communication between its members. Theoretically, a member knows only the superior who introduced him, and any person whom he himself has introduced. The Order is run on purely spiritual lines. "The objective of membership is also entirely simple. The first objective is the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. The next objective, omitting considerations for the present of the 6°=5 and 7°=4 degrees, is the crossing of the Abyss, and the attainment of mastership of the Temple. This is described very fully especially in Liber 418. Much less is written about the 5°=6 degree, i.e. the Knowledge and Conversation, because it is too secret and individual. It is impossible to lay down conditions, or to describe the experiences in detail. "The O.T.O. has nothing to do with this, except that The Book of the Law and the Word of the Aeon are essential principles of membership. In all other respects, it stands by itself as a body similar to Freemasonry, but involving acceptance of a social and economic system which is intended to put the world on its feet. There is also, of course, the secret of the IX° which is to say, the weapon which they may use to further these purposes. "