Magick Without Tears

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 This entire cycle of Point-Events is withdrawn into Annihilation .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 ;