The Equinox (Volume III, Number I)

THE EQUINOX of the O.T.O. to whom you will. Will your children be orphan? No; for they will be adopted if you wish by the Master of your Lodge, or by the Grand Master of the O.T.O. In short, there is no circumstance of life in which the O.T.O. is not both sword and shield. You wonder? You reply that this can only be by gener- osity, by divine charity of the high toward the low, of the rich toward the poor, of the great toward the small? You are a thousand times right; you have understood the secret of the O.T.O. That such qualities can flourish in an extended commu- nity may surprise so eminent and so profound a student of humanity as yourself; yet examples abound of practices the most unnatural and repugnant to mankind which have con- tinued through centuries. I need not remind you of Jaga- nath and of the priests of Attis, for extreme cases. A fortiori, then, it must be possible to train men to inde- pendence, to tolerance, to nobility of character, and to good manners, and this is done in the O.T.O. by certain very effi- cacious methods which (for I will not risk further wearying you) I will not describe. Besides, they are secret. But beyond them is the supreme incentive; advancement in the Order depends almost entirely on the possession of such qualities, and is impossible without it. Power being the main desire of man, it is only necessary so to condition its possession that it be not abused. Wealth is of no account in the O.T.O. Above a certain grade all realisable property, with certain obvious excep- tions—things in daily use, and the like—must be vested in the O.T.O. Property may be enjoyed in accordance with the dignity of the adept of such grade, but he cannot leave it idle 236