N.B. This is not an official O.T.O. document, but a set of suggestions and guidelines for local O.T.O. bodies to use in drawing up a curriculum of studies. Since O.T.O. writers are publishing new works all the time it is, by its very nature, a work in progress, and should be treated as such.
The Revised 1917 Constitution of Ordo Templi Orientis states:
This organization is known at the present time as the:
Ancient Order of Oriental Templars
Ordo Templi Orientis
Otherwise: The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light.
It is a Modern School of Magic.
It continues:
SECTION 2.
- The principle purpose of the O.T.O. is to teach True Brotherhood, and to make it a living power in the life of humanity.
SECTION 3.
The subsidiary aims of the O.T.O. are:
-
(a) to spread the doctrines of Hermetic Science, and to initiate its members in the Secret Doctrines of Hermetic Science, for which purpose its members are as a preparatory stage initiated, passed and raised in Masonry:
(b) to establish and administer schools, lodges, etc. where Hermetic Science is taught:
(c) to build, establish, found, manage and administer Homes, Colonies, Settlements, etc. where initiated members may live according to the tenets of the O.T.O.
It can thus be seen from the above that an important part of the mission of O.T.O. is teaching, and the setting up of schools, lodges etc. where such teaching can take place.
[Author’s note: In recent years I have sometimes heard people make the claim that “O.T.O. is not a teaching Order” – a statement which is clearly ridiculous given the strong emphasis on teaching within these founding documents.]
A school is defined as:
- an institution where instruction is given, especially to persons under college age.
- an institution for instruction in a particular skill or field.
- a college or university.
- a regular course of meetings of a teacher or teachers and students for instruction; program of instruction.
In this case the particular skill or field being taught is Magic:
- the art of producing a desired effect or result through the use of incantation or various other techniques that presumably assure human control of supernatural agencies or the forces of nature.
- the use of this art.
- the effects produced.
- power or influence exerted through this art.
(See Definition and Theorems of Magick in Crowley’s Magick in Theory & Practice for a more specific treatment of this).
We are also further told that O.T.O. is a Modern School of Magic, the implication being that we aren’t limited to preserving some ancient secrets from the past, but should be dealing with new works and up-to-date research as well.
Although this document clearly and categorically states that OTO is a “Modern School of Magic”, historically OTO has never had a specific unified educational structure, preferring to allow local OTO bodies to run ad hoc classes pretty much on their own. Whereas there is much to recommend this decentralised approach, many members and local bodies would prefer some guidelines for study, either on an individual basis or as a group. Personally I have always felt that performance of ritual work as a group should be the most important manifestation of any local group curriculum, since this learning from experience tends to be a great deal more personally meaningful than just reading about someone else doing it. However frequently it is also useful to have some kind of more detailed teaching to provide context and background information for such group ritual.
Which leads us to the obvious questions of what exactly OTO should be teaching, and from which textbooks? As it happens, our founding documents do provide an overview of what OTO teaches:
The aims of the O.T.O. can only be understood fully by its highest initiates; but it may be said openly that it teaches Hermetic Science or Occult Knowledge, the Pure and Holy Magick of Light, the Secrets of Mystic attainment, Yoga of all forms, Gnana Yoga, Raja Yoga, Bhakta Yoga and Hatha Yoga, and all other branches of the secret Wisdom of the Ancients. – Liber 52, Manifesto of the OTO
This gives us the beginning of some sort of structured teaching system. There are five sections specified:
- Hermetic Science or Occult Knowledge
- The Pure and Holy Magick of Light
- The Secrets of Mystic attainment
- Yoga of all forms, Gnana Yoga, Raja Yoga, Bhakta Yoga and Hatha Yoga
- All other branches of the secret Wisdom of the Ancients
I have taken this as a starting point for a syllabus with five basic “streams” of learning, and expanded each section with examples of specialised fields of magic that might fit within each area. I would suggest that students should thus learn at least one subject under each heading (preferably more), and by so doing achieve a well-rounded progression towards greater enlightenment overall.
Note that, as the definition above states, a school is a combination of both teachers and students – and we are expected to provide those teachers as well as the students. We are in a fortunate position in OTO today, since we have several highly-regarded authors and lecturers within the Order. However we also have over 3000 members scattered all over the world, and getting to each of them personally is not achievable in present circumstances. So realistically most people are going to be learning from books and small peer study groups. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean picking good material for them to work with that fits within our mission.
Deciding which texts to use is always difficult, since there are many thousands of occult books of varying quality, and most people have different perceptions of which books are “good” and which are not. Previous attempts at such reading lists basically boil down to one person’s opinion on what is worthwhile and what not, and in an Order like OTO, which is based on a synthesis of a wide range of magical ideas and techniques, that’s a very tricky choice to make. I had considered calling together a group of the Order’s best experts on these subjects and working out a reading list by committee, but that also struck me as a little inefficient at this point in time (though it may well be an approach that will be needed in the future).
So rather than simply give a list that reflects my personal opinion (or indeed that of any other individual) I have taken the approach that if OTO is a Modern School of Magick then our best teachers are those members of the Order who have already contributed textbooks on magic for our use. Accordingly in choosing the works below I have given precedence to books written by OTO initiates, since these people are the teachers of our school, as well as in many cases the product of our Order’s teachings – who could better provide an understanding of our Order’s work than these our own initiates? I have also tried to provide a good combination of modern works by living initiates and historical works by our founders and early members so that students have the benefit of both modern scholarship and earlier primary sources. In many cases books by OTO initiates are also often the best books on the subject anyway.
These works also serve to provide new students with a good overview of the remarkable work being done within OTO from the founding of our Order right up to the present day, which is useful in helping to show new students what they themselves might hope to achieve through active membership of our Order.
Below I’ve listed some suggested texts as a basis for a reading list for each section. The reading list can be used for individual study, or to provide the foundation for a set of classes or group discussion at a local body. I would suggest that in the creation of a local body syllabus or a personal study program that equal focus be given to each of the five subject headings listed, so that students can have a well-rounded overview of the OTO’s program. I also recommend that book study classes be integrated with good solid practical ritual work, whether alone or as a group.
Most of the books listed are currently available and relatively easy for students to obtain either via online retailers or specialist occult bookstores. Many of the older works are also available for free download on the Internet.
Note that this list is intended as a good starting point, and is by no means to be considered comprehensive. I intend to expand it in future to provide a suggested syllabus that will harmonise it more closely with the teachings imparted and studies mentioned with the Degrees of the Man of Earth Triad (see the end of this article, where I have already begun this process).
This list is still very much a work in progress, but I think it already contains enough information to provide newcomers to OTO with a place to start their work in our Order, and so I present it in this unfinished form so that people can take it and use it right away, as I very much hope they will.
Hermetic Science or Occult Knowledge
Since this section talks about Science or Knowledge, the implication here is the theoretical basis of occult work more than practical application. Although the word “Occult” can literally refer to any hidden knowledge, I’ve limited this “Hermetic” list to what is generally called the Western Mystery Tradition. Some examples of subjects that might come under this heading could be (but are not limited to):
- The principles of Thelema
- Tarot & Qabalah
- Rosicrucianism
- Celtic, Egyptian and Graeco-Roman mythology
- Gnosticism
- Mithraism
- Freemasonry
- Astrology
Suggested Beginner Texts
- Frater Achad – Q.B.L. or The Bride’s Reception
- Aleister Crowley – The Law is for All / Magick Without Tears
- Lon Milo Duquette – The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford / Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot
- Kim Huggens – Tarot 101
- IAO31 – Naturalistic Occultism / Fresh Fever From the Skies
- Jack Parsons – Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword
- James Wasserman – Art and Symbols of the Occult: Images of Power and Wisdom
- Brandy Williams – For the Love of the Gods: The History and Modern Practice of Theurgy
Suggested Advanced Texts
- Frater Achad – The Anatomy of the Body of God
- Aleister Crowley – The Book of Thoth / Book 4, Part 3: Magick in Theory & Practice / The General Principles of Astrology / 777 Revised
- Lon Milo Duquette – The Key to Solomon’s Key: Secrets of Magic and Masonry
- Franz Hartmann – Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians / Geomancy
- Eliphas Levi (ed. Crowley) – The Key of the Mysteries
- Israel Regardie – A Garden of Pomegranates
- Robert C. Stein – The Mystery of the Letters and The Tree of Life
- John Yarker (ed. Heidrick) – The Arcane Schools
The Pure and Holy Magick of Light
In contrast to the theoretical section above, this would appear to be more focused on practical teachings on the use and application of magical power. Subjects might include things such as:
- The medieval grimoire tradition
- Egyptian, Greek, Roman magick etc.
- The Enochian system of Dr. John Dee
- The Gnostic Mass
Suggested Beginner Texts
- Apiryon & Helena – Mystery of Mystery
- Aleister Crowley – Moonchild
- Lon Milo Duquette – The Magick of Aleister Crowley
- Rodney Orpheus – Abrahadabra / Grimoire of Aleister Crowley
- Brandy Williams – Practical Magic for Beginners: Techniques & Rituals to Focus Magical Energy
Suggested Advanced Texts
- Frater Achad – Crystal Vision through Crystal Gazing
- Aleister Crowley – Book 4, Part 2: Magick / Book 4, Appendices / The Goetia / The Rites of Eleusis / The Vision & the Voice
- Louis T. Culling – A Manual of Sex Magick
- Lon Milo Duquette – Enochian Vision Magick
- IAO31 – HRILIU: Symbolic Explorations of the Gnostic Mass
- Israel Regardie – The Tree of Life
- Gerald Suster (ed.) – John Dee (Western Esoteric Masters series)
- Brandy Williams – Ecstatic Ritual: Practical Sex Magic
The Secrets of Mystic Attainment
This heading is a great deal more vague than the preceding two. In a sense most of this can be covered by the OTO initiation rituals and their study and practice, but I think that some examination of more universal themes of attainment can also be useful. Also the biographies and diary works of initiates might be worthy of study.
Suggested Beginner Texts
- Frater Achad – 31 Hymns to the Star Goddess
- Lon Milo Duquette – My Life with the Spirits
- Richard Kaczinski – The Weiser Concise Guide to Aleister Crowley / Perdurabo
- Israel Regardie – The Eye in the Triangle
- Gerald Suster – Crowley’s Apprentice: The Life and Ideas of Israel Regardie
Suggested Advanced Texts
- Frater Achad – The Chalice of Ecstasy
- H. P. Blavatsky (ed. Crowley) – The Voice of the Silence
- Aleister Crowley – Liber Aleph / The Book of Lies / The Confessions of Aleister Crowley / The Heart of the Master / Little Essays Toward Truth / The Holy Books of Thelema
- Franz Hartmann – With the Adepts
- Bill Heidrick – The Road to the Sun
- Richard Kaczinski – Forgotten Templars
- Tim Maroney – The Book of Dzyan
- Brandy Williams – The Woman Magician: Revisioning Western Metaphysics from a Woman’s Perspective and Experience
Yoga of all forms
In contrast to the vagueness of the last section, this heading is pretty clear. I’d tend to also add in here other forms of mind/body discipline, such as Tai Chi, which weren’t really known in the West when these subject headings were first written, but which I think fit within the concept of “yoga of all forms”. Like the Magick section, this teaching should be based primarily on practice.
Suggested Beginner Texts
- Aleister Crowley – Book 4, Part 1: Yoga
- Christopher Hyatt – Undoing Yourself with Energized Meditation
- Israel Regardie – Healing Energy, Prayer, and Relaxation
- Nancy Wasserman & James Wasserman – Yoga for Magick
Suggested Advanced Texts
- Aleister Crowley – Eight Lectures on Yoga
- Nik Douglas & Penny Slinger – Sexual Secrets
All other branches of the secret Wisdom of the Ancients
This is basically an “everything not covered in the first four” heading, and thus gives us a lot of scope to integrate other spiritual methods into our system, which I think is important for the Order’s continued evolution. It also allows those with expertise in more specialised areas of magick to teach those things under the banner of OTO. Examples might include things such as Wicca, runes, Taoism or Voudou.
Suggested Beginner Texts
- Margot Adler – Drawing Down the Moon
- Aleister Crowley – Yi King / Tao Teh King
- Gerald Gardner – Witchcraft Today / The Meaning of Witchcraft / High Magic’s Aid
- Sallie Ann Glassman – Voudou Visions
- Various Authors – Beauty and Strength: Proceedings of the Sixth Biennial National Ordo Templi Orientis Conference
- Various Authors – Unity Uttermost Showed!: Proceedings of the Seventh Biennial National Ordo Templi Orientis Conference
- Various Authors – Manifest Thy Glory: Proceedings of the Eighth Biennial National Ordo Templi Orientis Conference
- Various Authors – Neither East Nor West: Proceedings of the Ninth Biennial National Ordo Templi Orientis Conference
Suggested Advanced Texts
- Vere Chappell – Sexual Outlaw, Erotic Mystic – The Essential Ida Craddock
- Ramsey Dukes – SSOTMBE: An Essay on Magic, Its Foundations, Development and Place in Modern Life / Thundersqueak / Uncle Ramsey’s Little Book of Demons
- Kenneth Grant – Images & Oracles of Austin Osman Spare
- Gerald Yorke – Aleister Crowley, The Golden Dawn, and Buddhism
Suggestions for a Degree-based Reading List
Above I’ve tried to list books by O.T.O. authors according to the five headings in our original founding documents, without any other recommendations. The idea of so doing was to provide a rough guide to how they could be presented as part of a formal educational syllabus presented at the local body level and ultimately form the foundation of an academy-like system as envisaged by our founders.
However since I first published this article many people have written asking for a more structured program to follow for individual study. This section is a first attempt at it, using the books listed above and based on the Degrees of the O.T.O. Man of Earth grade. This is very much a work in progress, so don’t consider it gospel. You don’t have to read everything listed under each Degree, and feel free to “read ahead” if something really appeals to you, but generally this should provide a good path through the O.T.O. Degrees.
Minerval Degree
In Minerval it’s important to get a good broad foundation for what lies ahead, and also begin to understand the basics of the Thelemic principles that the O.T.O. follows. So a good place to start would be with some of the best beginners books from each of the five branches of the Order listed above. Also of course studying in the Book of the Law is important, but I do recommend that it be studied alongside Crowley’s commentaries on it, which can really help in understanding it. The following books will provide a good grounding:
- Frater Achad – 31 Hymns to the Star Goddess
- Aleister Crowley – The Law is for All
- Kim Huggens – Tarot 101
- Richard Kaczinski – The Weiser Concise Guide to Aleister Crowley
- Rodney Orpheus – Abrahadabra
- Brandy Williams – Practical Magic for Beginners: Techniques & Rituals to Focus Magical Energy
First Degree
First Degree is associated with the powers of Birth, so it’s important to begin to understand your place in the world and in the Order, so you are prepared for the Second Degree, which is associated with Life. In many ways you are like a child in school during this time, so studying the foundations of our magick is important. Also studying some good magically based fiction and art can be very helpful in giving you a flavour of what we do.
- Aleister Crowley – Magick Without Tears / Moonchild
- Lon Milo Duquette – The Magick of Aleister Crowley / Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot
- IAO31 – Fresh Fever From the Skies
- Rodney Orpheus – Grimoire of Aleister Crowley
- Brandy Williams – For the Love of the Gods: The History and Modern Practice of Theurgy
Second Degree
Second Degree is about Life, and your responsibilities as an adult member of the O.T.O. community. Now is the time to be studying in detail how to work as a part of a group, particularly in rituals such as the Gnostic Mass. Since it is the Degree of the Magician, study and practice of the magick you have been learning is very useful, including studying into how other O.T.O initiates have lived their own lives.
- Frater Achad – Crystal Vision through Crystal Gazing
- Apiryon & Helena – Mystery of Mystery
- Aleister Crowley – The Rites of Eleusis
- Lon Milo Duquette – My Life with the Spirits
- Richard Kaczinski – Perdurabo
- Jack Parsons – Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword
- Various Authors – Beauty and Strength: Proceedings of the Sixth Biennial National Ordo Templi Orientis Conference
- Various Authors – Unity Uttermost Showed!: Proceedings of the Seventh Biennial National Ordo Templi Orientis Conference
- Various Authors – Manifest Thy Glory: Proceedings of the Eighth Biennial National Ordo Templi Orientis Conference
- Various Authors – Neither East Nor West: Proceedings of the Ninth Biennial National Ordo Templi Orientis Conference
Third Degree
Third Degree is the Degree of the Master Magician, so you will be expected to begin more advanced studies into magick, such as the Qabalah, astrology etc..
- Frater Achad – QBL, or the Bride’s Reception / The Anatomy of the Body of God
- Aleister Crowley – Book 4 / The Book of Thoth / The General Principles of Astrology / 777 Revised / Eight Lectures on Yoga
- Ramsey Dukes – SSOTMBE: An Essay on Magic, Its Foundations, Development and Place in Modern Life / Uncle Ramsey’s Little Book of Demons: The Positive Advantages of the Personification of Life’s Problems
- Lon Milo Duquette – The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford
- IAO31 – Naturalistic Occultism
- Israel Regardie – A Garden of Pomegranates / The Tree of Life
- Brandy Williams – For the Love of the Gods: The History and Modern Practice of Theurgy
Fourth Degree & Perfect Initiate
As the title suggests, by this stage you will be expected to perfect your understanding and practice. Studying both important historical works and more modern detailed research is strongly advised in order to prepare you for the invitational Degrees which may follow.
- Frater Achad – The Chalice of Ecstasy
- H. P. Blavatsky (ed. Crowley) – The Voice of the Silence
- Aleister Crowley – Liber Aleph / The Heart of the Master / Little Essays Toward Truth / The Holy Books of Thelema / The Vision & the Voice
- Ramsey Dukes – Thundersqueak
- Lon Milo Duquette – The Key to Solomon’s Key: Secrets of Magic and Masonry / Enochian Vision Magick
- Franz Hartmann – Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians / With the Adepts
- IAO31 – HRILIU: Symbolic Explorations of the Gnostic Mass
- Richard Kaczynski – Forgotten Templars
- Eliphas Levi (ed. Crowley) – The Key of the Mysteries
- Gerald Suster (ed.) – John Dee (Western Esoteric Masters series)
- Brandy Williams – The Woman Magician: Revisioning Western Metaphysics from a Woman’s Perspective and Experience