ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS
SECOND DEGREE
MAGICIAN
OPENING
The Oasis is open in the First Degree. The C. has been given the Pass Word. The tent, etc., of S. have been moved to the centre facing West. The water of the Well is reduced to a small depth. S. crosses his hands, right over left; W. and E. take them between theirs.
S.: A.
W.: U.
E.: M.
All: AUM.
S.: (Rises.) Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
W.: (Rises.) Love is the law.
E.: (Rises.) Love under will.
S.: Fellow-soldiers, assist me. What is the first duty of a Magician?
W.: Most Mysterious Master, to guard the Camp.
S.: Let the camp be guarded.
(Done.)
W.: Most Mysterious Master, the Camp is duly guarded.
S.: The next duty?
E.: To see that all present are Magicians.
S.: To order, fellow-soldiers.
(Pose and Sign.)
S.: How many officers has the Camp?
W.: Three visible.
E.: And eight invisible.
S.: What have we found in the Well?
W.: Truth.
S.: What else is there?
E.: Refreshment.
S.: Let us partake thereof.
(They go as before, to the Well, but S. leaves his candle. At the East of the Well they form a triangle. W. and E. put their four hands on S.’s shoulders.)
W. and E.: We swear to guard you in your ways.
(They turn, as to guard him.)
(S. dips his hand in the Well, and offers them to drink, drinking also. Wine in a cup should be placed in the well for this).
S.: Who drinketh of wine shall thirst again; but whoso drinketh of the wine that I shall give him shall never thirst again.
(They return.)
S.: Fellow-soldiers, we have drawn the Wine of Life from the Well of the Oasis.
(O.T.O. applause. All resume seats.)
FIRST POINT (Consecration)
The place is open in the first degree.
S.: Brother-soldiers … is now a candidate to be consecrated a Magician; we must first give proofs of his worthiness to acquire virtue. I shall therefore put the necessary questions.
(E. brings C. to face throne.)
S.: Where were you first prepared for your initiation?
C.: In heart verily.
S.: Where next?
C.: In a convenient place, hard by a spring.
S.: How long did you remain there?
C.: For nine moons.
S.: Where were you initiated?
C.: In an Oasis.
S.: At what hour?
C.: Dawn.
S.: The Sun is risen. Do you pledge your honour as a Man, and your fidelity as a Brother, that you will steadily persevere through the ceremony of being consecrated a Magician?
C.: I do.
S.: I warn you that a severe test of your sincerity will be required. Unless you are prepared to jeopardize your social position, and possibly your liberty, or your life, it will be better for you to withdraw on the instant. I wish further to impress firmly upon you that this Order is a serious body of men, courageous, earnest, and faithful, and that these remarks are not the make-believe terrors of orders instituted for the amusement of grown-up children.
(Pause.)
S.: (Loudly.) Candidate, do you persist in your Will to be consecrated a Magician?
C.: I do.
S.: Do you likewise pledge yourself, under penalty of your obligation, that you will conceal what I shall now import to you with the same strict caution as our other secrets?
C.: I do.
S.: Then I will entrust you with the Pass Grip and Pass Word leading to the degree to which you seek admission.
The Pass Grip is given by joining hands as you have been taught, and twisting the wrist sharply to the right. The Pass Word is Thelema, which means WILL in the Greek language. Look frankly and fearlessly into my eyes, and say with me:
The Word of the Law is THELEMA.
You will now retire from the Camp to a prepared place, there to undergo the necessary preparations for your consecration.
(E. takes C. out.)
SECOND POINT (The Oath)
The C. is prepared by baring the right arm to the shoulder, the sleeve of his robe being securely pinned back. The Camp is opened in the Second Degree. E. goes out, prepares C., and knocks twice. W. opens door.
W.: Whom have you there?
E.: A Man and a Brother who wills to be consecrated a Magician.
W.: Halt!
(W. applies Disk to Breast of C.)
S.: Do you vouch that he is properly prepared?
W.: I do.
S.: Admit him in due form.
(C. is led to throne by E.)
S.: (Gives grip.) What is this?
C.: The Grip or Token of a Man and a Brother.
S.: What does it demand?
C.: A Word.
S.: Give me that word.
C.: At my initiation I was taught to be cautious; I will letter it with you.
S.: I agree; begin.
(Done.)
What is its import?
C.: The Lord.
S.: (Gives Pass grip.) What is this?
C.: The Pass Grip, leading from the First to the Second Degree.
S.: What does it demand?
C.: A Pass Word.
S.: Give me that Word.
C.: Thelema.
S.: What is its import?
C.: Will.
S.: Pass, Thelema.
(E. takes C. to centre.)
S.: You now stand in the centre of our Camp, the place of the Balance. Hear first the Book of the Balance.
(Orator, who may be any member of the Oasis, and is selected for the excellence of his delivery, reads Liber Librae — published in Equinox I.)
S.: Another and more serious obligation will now be required of you. Are you willing to take it?
C.: I am.
S.: Officers, do your duty.
(They go to Altar, W. directs C. to place right hand on the Open Book. He places Dagger on C.’s heart, while E. presses Disk upon his head.)
S.: Repeat your name at length, and say after me: I, …, in the Presence of the Powers of Life visible and invisible, and of this Camp of Magicians, do hereby and hereon most solemnly promise and swear:
Never to reveal
What I learn beneath the seal
Within the guarded border
Of this Most Holy Order
Unless it be to a true brother
And not another
And be lustrated
And consecrated
By high permission
A true Magician
Using a perfect portion
Of proper caution
That he be duly
Tested truly
By right divine
Of grip and sign
And of each word
That ye have heard
In full possession
Or else in session
Of such a Camp as this within whose border
I stand, aspiring to the Holy Order
Which I do know
By the letters O.T.O.
S.: Besides the Oath of Secrecy, there are certain obligations designed to make you more efficient in your Way as in ours. Are you willing to take these?
C.: I am.
S.: Say after me: I solemnly pledge myself to know, to will, to dare, and to keep silence. These several points I solemnly swear to observe, under no less a penalty than that of having my Breast cut across, my Heart torn therefrom, and thrown to the fowls of the air, that they may devour it.
(Seal twice on CCXX — The Book of the Law — lifting Book to Lips.)
Your first act will now be to join in our declaration of the Rights of Man. This you will sign in triplicate with your full name and address; one copy we retain; the others are to be affixed publicly to edifices symbolizing the civil and religious authority.
(All raise the right hand, C. holding Book. All repeat:)
There is no God but Man.
Man has the right to live by his own law.
Man has the right to live in the way that he wills to do.
Man has the right to dress as he wills to do.
Man has the right to dwell where he wills to dwell.
Man has the right to move as he will on the face of the earth.
Man has the right to eat what he will.
Man has the right to drink what he will.
Man has the right to think what he will.
Man has the right to speak as he will.
Man has the right to write as he will.
Man has the right to mould as he will.
Man has the right to carve as he will.
Man has the right to work as he will.
Man has the right to rest as he will.
Man has the right to love as he will, when, where, and whom he will.
Man has the right to die when and how he will.
Man has the right to kill those who would thwart these rights.
(O.T.O. applause.)
S.: Sign.
(C. signs. W. takes papers.)
S.: In the Name of the Secret Master,
(Puts Book to his brow.)
In the name of the O.T.O.
(Puts Dagger to throat.)
By the authority of the Grand Master Baphomet.
(Puts Disk to heart.)
S.: I consecrate you a Magician.
(O.T.O. applause.)
I now gird you with this sacred sword; for you will have need of it. I appoint you sentinel of this Camp, while we enjoy the siesta of noon.
(E. leads C. to door, and bids him guard it, with his face outwards.)
The Orator now reads one of the following:
Dolores (Swinburne)
Orpheus’ Invocation of Aphrodite. (Crowley)
(omitting the last verse)
Orpheus’ Hymn: Roll, Strong Life Current (Crowley)
We have Seen Thee, O Love, from Atlanta (Swinburne)
Isis I am from Tannhauser (Crowley)
My Soul is an Enchanted Boat (Crowley)
Uncharmable Chamber (Crowley)
THIRD POINT (The Ordeal)
S.: Comrades, let us refresh ourselves at the sacred well.
(All group about Well, except C., and drink, guarding each other.)
E.: Most Mysterious Master, the Sentinel needs refreshment.
S.: Let him drink of the Well.
(All resume seats, except W. and E., who lead C. to Well. They put his hands on the edges so that he has to bend over to get his mouth to the water. Either he overbalances, or they tip him in. He is left to scramble out as best he can.)
(A Pause.)
S.: Brother Magician, it is legitimate to gratify thirst, but it is wise to observe precaution. Either from your own lack of balance, or from the malice of others, you may find yourself in a disgraceful, humiliating, and ridiculous position, even should you be fortunate to escape more serious injury. You must learn to do a given thing in a given way at a given time. Fellow-soldiers, let the candidate be instructed in the proper method of satisfying thirst.
(W. and E. do this as in Opening, C. replacing S. The wine in this degree is sweet red wine or champagne.)
S.: You will now retire from the Camp; on your return, I shall communicate to you the secrets of our Order in this degree.
(Done.)
FOURTH POINT (The Consecration and Instruction)
S.: (On C.’s return.) O Lord of all Magick, I hereby invoke upon this candidate, the Powers of the Sphinx. May he acquire Knowledge, Will, Courage, and Silence, to the Glory of Thine Ineffable Name. AUM.
(The following passage is to be inserted as soon as a proper boulometer is ready. The boulometer consists of an attachment to the thumb, with a screw and a graduated wheel. C. has to turn the screw as far as he can, and his ability to do so is marked on the scale and recorded.) When he desists, S. says:
S.: This, then, is the measure of your courage, will, and power to keep silence. Now let me show you.
(S. adjusts boulometer, and screws it to the end.)
S.: My brother, if you had had Knowledge, you would have known how to adjust this screw so that it was out of gear.
S.: Send the candidate on his travels with the Sun.
(W. and E. conduct him, deosil, seven circles of seven years.)
(The Orator reads the Prayers of the Elementals, from Levi.)
S.: I now proceed to instruct you in the Secrets of this degree. Advance to me as at your Lustration.
(Done)
You will now take a second step as before, but with the other foot; it is in this position that the secrets of the degree are communicated. They consist of a Sign, a Grip, and a Word. The Sign is twofold. The first part is called the Sign of Life or of Manifestation. It is given by clenching the fingers of both hands, the right hand to be held with the upper arm forming a square with the shoulder, and the lower arm vertical; the left hand is placed at the base of the torso. This is the characteristic position of the principal Gods of Egypt.
The second part is called the Sign of Death, and is given by dropping the left hand to the side, and with the other, giving the motion of stabbing the heart. It alludes to the penalty of your obligation.
The Grip is given as before, but, by offering the thumb and with six pressures only. This Grip demands a Word. This Word is …, which means The Lord.
As in the Minerval Degree, it is the universal name or title of the Most High.
Send the candidate on his travels with the Sun.
S.: (Gives grip.) What is this?
E.: (For C.) The Grip or Token of a Magician.
S.: What does it demand?
E.: (For C.) A Word.
S.: Give me that Word.
E.: (For C.) At my initiation I was taught to be cautious. I will letter it with you.
S.: I agree; begin.
(Done.)
What is its import?
E.: (For C.) The Lord. (Leaves C. to W.)
S.: Pass.
W.: Noble Emir, I present to you a Magician on his Consecration.
E.: I will thank him to advance to me as a Magician.
(Done.)
W.: (For C. who repeats.) I have.
E.: (Rising with Grip.) What is this?
W.: (For C.) The Grip or Token of a Magician.
E.: What does it demand?
W.: (For C.) A Word.
E.: Give me that Word.
W.: (For C.) At my initiation I was taught to be cautious; I will letter it with you.
E.: I agree; begin.
(Done.)
Its import?
W.: (For C.) The Lord.
(W. leaves C.)
E.: Pass. (He rises and conducts C. round to W.)
E.: Worthy Wazir, I present to you a Magician on his Consecration.
W.: I will thank him to advance to me as a Magician.
(Done.)
What is that?
E.: (For C.) The second regular step.
W.: Do you bring anything else?
E.: (For C.) I do.
(Gives Sign.)
W.: What is that?
E.: (For C.) The sign of a Magician.
W.: To what does it allude?
E.: (For C.) To the penalty of my Obligation.
W.: Have you anything to communicate?
E.: (For C.) I have.
(Gives Grip.)
W.: What is that?
E.: (For C.) The Grip or Token of a Magician.
W.: What does it demand?
E.: (For C.) A Word.
W.: Give me that Word.
E.: (For C.) At my initiation I was taught to be cautious; I will letter it with you.
W.: I agree; begin.
(Done.)
Its import?
E.: (For C.) The Lord.
(E. leaves C.)
W.: Pass.
(Takes C. round and to S.)
Most Mysterious Master, I present to you a Magician on his Consecration, that he may receive a mark of your favour on his travels with the Sun.
S.: My brother, in the First Degree, you were presented with a robe of darkness indeed, yet in the shape thereof was concealed a certain invocation of the Light. To those who thus invoke the Light, light comes.
I therefore affix this red triangle, the apex pointing downwards, as it were a wedge of Light splitting the clouds that surround birth, and warming life with its rays, As it is written, ‘The Sun of Righteousness shall arise, with healing in His wings’. This triangle is also the special symbol of the Lord of the Aeon — Ra-Hoor-Khuit; the Crowned and Conquering Child — the eternal Sun that dieth not, whom we adore. I also gird you with this Sword, which you are to keep sharp and bright, neither to draw without need, nor to sheath not without honour.
Be seated, Brother Magician.
(Orator reads Constitution.)
S.: It is an immemorial custom among us, so that the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, for the newly made Magician to offer a Banquet to the officers of the Oasis.
You have signified your intention to conform to this custom, and, the business of the evening being completed, we may pass from labour to refreshment.
CLOSING
Identical with Opening, then Close, as in First Degree.