Initiation
To understand what a dramatic ritual is, it's helpful to start at the beginning. A dramatic ritual is a celebration of the adventures of a deity being invoked, with the Bacchae of Euripides serving as a prime example. In the O.T.O., the ceremonies are focused on initiating the candidate, and it is the candidate's eternal path that is depicted through dramatic form.
Gethsemane Camp is a duly chartered Local Body of Ordo Templi Orientis in Belgium.
For any inquiries please write to GethsemaneOTOBelgium@proton.me
What is the Path?
1. The Ego is attracted to the Solar System.
2. The Child experiences Birth.
3. The Man experiences Life.
4. He experiences Death.
5. He experiences the World beyond Death.
6. This entire cycle of Point-Events is withdrawn into Annihilation.
In the O.T.O. these successive stages are represented as follows:
1 0° (Minerval)
2 I° (Initiation)
3 II° (Consecration)
4 III° (Devotion)
5 IV° (Perfection, or Exaltation)
6 P.I. (Perfect Initiate)
Of these Events of Stations upon the Path all but 3 (II°) are single critical experiences. We, however, are concerned mostly with the very varied experiences of Life. All subsequent Degrees of the O.T.O. are accordingly elaborations of the II°, since in a single ceremony it is hardly possible to sketch, even in the briefest outline, the Teaching of Initiates with regard to Life. The Rituals V°–IX° are then instructions to the Candidate how he should conduct himself; and they confer upon him, gradually, the Magical Secrets which make him Master of Life.
It is improper to disclose the nature of these ceremonies; firstly, because their Initiates are bound by the strictest vows not to do so; secondly, because surprise is an element in their efficacy; and thirdly, because the Magical Formulae explicitly or implicitly contained therein are, from a practical point of view, both powerful and dangerous.
Aleister Crowley, “Magick Without Tears”
