O.T.O. STUDY GUIDE – IIIº
DEVOTION
Master Magician (M.’.)
Element: Fire.
Chakra: Svâdisthâna.
“He experiences Death.” – Magick Without Tears
“I then proceed to the climax of its career in death and show how this sacrament both consecrates (or rather, sets its seal upon) the previous procedure and gives a meaning thereto, just as the auditing of an account enables the merchant to see his year’s transactions in perspective.” – The Confessions of Aleister Crowley.
Recommended for Study:
– Liber AL
– The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, pp. 705-707 on the Word of the Master Mason
– Liber DCCC: The Ship
– “The Emerald Tablet of Hermes”
– Little Essays Toward Truth
– Liber XXX Aerum vel Saeculi, sub figura CDXVIII: The Vision and the Voice
– Liber CVI: Concerning Death
– “Good Hunting!” by Aleister Crowley
– “Transmigration,” by Allan Bennett
– Liber ThIShARB vel Viae Memoriae, sub figura CMXIII
– MTP, Chapters 7 (III, IV, V, VI), 11, 12 and 18, Appendix III
– MWT, Chapters 4, 17, 37, 41, 47, 61, 63, 68, 76
– Liber O, Section V and VI: Body of Light
– “The Zodiac and the Tarot,” by A. Crowley
– “Qabalistic Dogma,” by Aleister Crowley
– “Gematria (Liber LVIII)”, by Aleister Crowley
Supplementary Reading:
– Liber Tau vel Kabbalae Trium Literarum, sub figura CD
– Sepher Sephiroth, sub figura D
– The Tree of Life, by Israel Regardie
– The Philosopher’s Stone, by Israel Regardie
– A Strange Story, by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton
– The Kabballah Unveiled, transl. by S.L. MacGregor Mathers
– The Sepher Yetzirah
– Liber MMCMXI: A Note on Genesis, by Allen Bennett
– “Abide With Me” (hymn by Henry Francis Lyte)
– “The Magician” by Eliphas Levi, translated by Aleister Crowley.
– “Invocation to Hecate” from Orpheus, by Aleister Crowley.
– “Anthem” from The Ship, by Aleister Crowley.
– The Golden Bough, by J.G. Frazer
– Sacrifice and Sacrament, by E.O. James
– The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook, ed. by Marvin W. Meyer
– Rites and Symbols of Initiation, by Mircea Eliade
– The Greek Myths, by Robert Graves
– The Histories of Herodotus
– The Metamorphoses of Ovid
Study the symbolism of the III° of Freemasonry – Master:
– Manual of Freemasonry, by Richard Carlile
– Duncan’s Masonic Ritual and Monitor, by Malcolm C. Duncan
– Darkness Visible, by Walton Hannah
– The Meaning of Masonry, by W.L. Wilmshurst
– The Lost Key, by Prentiss Tucker
– Morals and Dogma, by Albert Pike
Recommended Practices:
– Asana, Pranayama and Mantrayoga.
– Banishing rituals of elements, planets and Zodiac signs.
– Sun adoration (Liber Resh vel Helios)
– Meditate on the Tarot Trumps The Tower, Death, The Moon and The Hermit, in terms of your initiation.
– Develop your awareness of Subtle Energies, and control over your Subtle Body.
– Past Lives: perform a series of meditative exercises with the goal of exploring your own previous incarnations.
CATECHISM OF THE THIRD DEGREE
Variously Called the Sign of Brotherhood, or the Seven Bonds of Brotherhood
Both approach with clenched [right] hands, backs [of the hands] upwards, and then reciprocally grasp the thumbs.
Three distinct pressures are then given. One says:
I give my hand in sure relation
The other answers:
As of True Brother with True Brother.
Approach the feet, so that the right foot of each is between the two feet of the other. One says:
I pledge my foot for firm foundation
The other answers:
Of our straight walking with each other.
Touch the right knees and say together:
My knee bends not in supplication
Either to you or to another.
Advancing the lower part of the torso, one says:
My body doth not do you wrong.
The other, advancing the breast, replies:
My bosom keeps your secrets close.
The first, putting his mouth to the other’s ear:
My mouth speaks to you, truth in song.
The second, putting his mouth to the ear of the first, while both throw the left arm over the back of the other:
My arm defends you from your foes.
This Sign and Grip, combined, demands a Word. It is the Word by which you were raised, the Word by which we triumph over death. This word is too sacred to utter on any other occasion; and you will therefore say instead of it, a sentence whose initials are formed from the letters of the Word taken in reverse order. This sentence is NUNC BENEDICTIO ADEST MORTIS.