In recent years I have seen many otherwise intelligent people claim that Ordo Templi Orientis is not a “Teaching Order”, or that it doesn’t “teach occultism”, with the implication that it instead serves solely as some sort of social club, and/or some kind of propaganda device for spreading the Law of Thelema, and/or some kind of church.
O.T.O. is, indeed, all of the things mentioned above, but ironically these are all things that were added to O.T.O. some time after its founding. The original purpose of O.T.O. on the other hand, is made quite clear in its early founding documents.
..there exists also an external, visible organisation of such men and women, who having themselves found the path to real self-knowledge, and who having travelled the burning sands, are willing to give to others, desirous of entering that path, the benefit of their experience, and to act as spiritual guides to those who are willing to be guided.
…
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.
– I.N.R.I., Constitution of the Oriental Templars, Merlin, 33° 96° X°, 1917
This quote is from the introductory section of the Revised Constitution of O.T.O. issued by the original Outer Head of the Order, Theodor Reuss, in 1917. It clearly spells out his vision of O.T.O. as being an organisation of adepts who can act as “spiritual guides” to others, and specifically describes O.T.O. as “a Modern School of Magick”.
The document goes on to specify in more detail how this Modern School of Magick will operate:
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.
So right away it is made apparent that our purpose is to teach. In this case “True Brotherhood” is declared to be the primary thing we teach. But also we have subsidiary aims…
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
This section is drawn directly from an earlier document written by Aleister Crowley in 1913:
The subsidiary aims of the M.M.M. are:
(a) to spread the knowledge of Hermetic Science, and to initiate its members in the Secret Doctrines of Hermetic Science,
(b) to establish and administer schools, lodges, etc. where Hermetic Science is taught
-Mysteria Mystica Maxima, Constitution of British Section, Baphomet X○, 33○, 90○, 96○, 1913
Clause (b) specifically says the the Order will establish and administer schools, lodges, etc. where Hermetic Science is taught, so this teaching is meant to be formal and established, not something that is done in an informal manner.
In these documents quoted above we can see that O.T.O. teaches and runs schools, but the teachings to be presented are left vague, just summed up under the catch-all term of “Hermetic Science”. Some commentators have in the past attempted to argue that “Hermetic Science” does not mean “occultism” or “magick”. However in an earlier document from 1912, the teaching in O.T.O. is spelled out in more detail:
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 LII, Manifesto of the OTO, L. Bathurst IX°, Grand Secretary General, 1912
The teaching of “Hermetic Science” here is specifically equated with “Occult Knowledge”, and additionally it expands this to include:
- the Pure andHoly Magick of Light
- the Secrets of Mystic attainment
- Yoga of all forms
- and all other branches of the secret Wisdom of the Ancients
That’s a fairly comprehensive syllabus of occult teaching.
The Manifesto goes on to explain that:
- The privileges of members of the O.T.O. are very numerous. These are the principal:
They have not only access to, but instruction in, the whole body of hidden knowledge preserved in the Sanctuary from the beginning of its manifestation.
So members can expect to not only have access to the Order’s knowledge, but they can also expect to receive instruction in that knowledge, it’s not something they are expected to just find out for themselves. And furthermore:
- In selecting members for advancement, attention is paid to their devotion to the Order, to their intelligence in apprehending the nature of its teaching…
So members are expected to not only be devoted to the Order, but also to learn from the teaching they are given.
So overall I think it’s quite clear from the foregoing that O.TO. most certainly is a “Teaching Order”. It teaches Hermetic Science or Occult Knowledge and it establishes and administers schools – it really couldn’t be most clearly explained. However I leave it to Aleister Crowley to sum up:
The Order teaches the only perfect and satisfactory system of philosophy, religion, and science, leading its members step by step to knowledge and power hardly even dreamed of by the profane.
-Liber CI, Baphomet Xº, 1919