SYSTEM OF THE O.T.O. 
123 
Yirtue of its successive Grades. This I will now try to supply, 
at least in a brief outline. 
Let us begin at the beginning . What is a Dramatic Ritual? 
It is a celebration of the Adventures of the God whom it is 
intended to invoke. (The Bacchae of Euripides is a perfect 
example of this.) Now, in the O.T.O., the object of the 
ceremonies being the Initiafion of the Candidate, it is he 
whose Path in Eternity is displayed in dramatic form. 
What is the Path? 
l. 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 This entire cycle of Point-Events is withdrawn into 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 : 
l. 0° 
2. 1° 
3. W 
4. IW 
5. IV 
6. P.1. 
(Minerval) 
(Initiation) 
(Consecration) 
(Devotion) 
(Perfection, or Exaltation) 
(Perfect Initiate) 
Of these Events or Stations upon the Path all but three 
(11°) 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 W , 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 yo -IXo are then 
instructions to the Candidate how he should conduct himself ;