Jerry Cornelius: Epistle re Francis King's Secret Rituals of the O.T.O.
RED FLAME
A Thelemic Research Journal
Issue No.7
by Jerry Cornelius
All rights reserved. No part of these lessons may be reproduced in any form
without permission in writing from the copyright proprietor.
Published in the United States by A.·.A\
New and Revised Edition Copyright C 1998 ev
Please do not send letters regarding A.·.A\ or these Lessons to the address for
Red Flame. All correspondence should be sent to:
The Throne of the Double-Wanded One Clerk House
Frater ZLA 282 7=4
P.O. Box 20035, Oakland, CA 94620-0035
RED FLAME No.7
Limited to 156 copies.
Issued October 12th 1999 e.v.
Copyright C 1999 e.v.
J. Edward & Marlene Cornelius
P.O. Box 11693, Berkeley, CA 94712-2693
All mentions of 'OTO' refer to 'OTO Inc' unless noted.
AN OPEN EPISTLE REGARDING
FRANCIS KING's BOOK
THE SECRET RITUALS OF THE OTO
or
"Oh my God, you're NOT going to sell that to the public, are you?"
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. - AL I:40
Dear student, in this Epistle I'd like to address a disturbing trend
beginning to rear its ugly little head within Thelemic circles in a distressful
if not severely felonious way. Yes, as usual, my Epistle might be a bit
lengthy if not ridiculously wordy. Then again, a spider's web of
misunderstanding is often quite tangled to unravel and warrants such
verbosity. Especially if you're as discombobulated as I am over this whole
damn issue. I'd like to start by saying that I'm going to play the Devil's
Advocate, if I may, for no other reason than to inspire thought and
conversation. I am not necessarily going to attack OTO policies as much as
to face its phantoms. For a magician this is a totally acceptable behavior,
especially if those phantoms are effecting your Universe. However, by
embracing the ideas within this Epistle I could be jeopardizing my standing
within the fraternity. Sadly, the phrase from Liber OZ which states that
"Man has the fight to write what he will" often does not apply to initiates
within the OTO. In fact, neither does one's First Amendment Rights which
supposedly grant you the Freedom of Speech. The title given to OTO
Minervals, a soldier of freedom, should be changed to reflect a soldier who
can only speak and write that which 'someone else' wants the world to
believe. If you haven't guessed, I've often been accused of being a cynic.
Let's get down to the matter at hand. The subject of this Epistle
would never have been deemed justifiable while the late Frater Hymenaeus
Alpha 777 (Grady Louis McMurtry) was in charge of the Ordo Templi
Orientis. He would have argued against it, both in practice and principle. I
know this to be a fact because I heard him discuss such on numerous
occasions. What I am referring to is the present-day OTO policy regarding
the selling of, or quoting from, Francis King's book The Secret Rituals of
the OTO[1]or similar related material. You might be asking yourself, "Why
should we be concerned about the policies of a mundane fraternity?" To
that I can state that every A.·.A\ branch has an Outer Extension which it
uses consciously or unconsciously on the Malkuthian plane. Our branch,
which is an off-shoot from Grady McMurtry, uses the Clerk House
structure. After Grady's death one of the Motta branches took over the
affairs of the OTO. It must be remembered that Aleister Crowley has stated,
"distinguish carefully between A.·.A\ and O.T.O. The latter is a practical
organization devoted to the establishment of the work of the former." [2]
However, if an outer organization, like the OTO, has policies which are
slowly becoming a dictatorship, are restrictive and unthelemic, it's only
natural to question the intent or purpose behind the branch of the A\A.·.
which is presently running its affairs. In other words, the Outer Extension
will automatically reflect the Inner aspirations. Since there is only
one true A.·. A.·., with many branches off the main trunk of its Tree, it becomes
natural to assume that the actions of one branch can effect us all like a
disease. This is why we can not ignore what occurs in any fraternity which
has a legitimate A.·. A.·. connection.
Basically, there are three legal issues which I'd like to discuss in this
Epistle. They should not be confused as often they are in OTO politics. The
first issue deals with Copyright infringement. The second is in regards to
the Fair Use Rights of material already published and the third deals with
revealing Trade Secrets. The latter usually falls under the category of the
first but in the OTO's case it doesn't apply, especially in regards to Francis
King's book. Regarding the first issue, or Copyright Infringements, this is
where an individual publishes another person's material in its entirety, or
even certain portions thereof, without the written permission from the
copyright proprietor. Easy enough, but what constitutes 'portions thereof?'
This use to be a gray area which prompted the Fair Use Laws to be
established around 1975 in the United States. This new Law was designed
to let individuals know what Rights they have when they wish to quote
material in order to illustrate the point which they are attempting to make,
without having to get the consent or written permission of the copyright
proprietor. Thus, Fair Use. As an example, it may be deemed justifiable to
legally quote as much as two hundred words from a three hundred page
book, but not from a three page article. The main determining factor is that
one's quoted material doesn't undermine the original work. In other words,
if a person's book or article quotes a large percentage of the original, or
especially crucial points, so that others seek it rather than the author's
original, it can be considered a financial loss for the author and is in
violation of the Fair Use Laws. The Law, in a nutshell, deals with two key
words, 'amount and substantiality.'
The Fair Use Laws may not cover material which is distributed
privately under the assumption that such is not revealed or released to
anyone who is not a member of a given company, organization or a
fraternity, like that of Ordo Templi Orientis. This brings us to the third
issue of revealing Trade Secrets. This issue is another definite 'gray area' of
the Law. However, it is usually impossible for an organization to go into a
Court of Law and argue that material published twenty-five years ago,
which both members and non-members have known about and use, is a
Trade Secret. In other words, a Trade Secret must be a secret. It's common
sense. Of course, one could ask if the OTO can still argue that quoting from
Francis King's book is NOW in violation of Trade Secrets? The answer to
this is quite simple. ABSOLUTELY NOT. According to the Law, if an
individual violates Copyrighted material and the proprietor of said
copyright knows about it and does nothing within what is legally termed
'reasonable time' then they forfeit any and all claims against the individual
who published their material. This Law was established to stop a Copyright
proprietor from sitting back, doing nothing and waiting to see if a book
makes a sizable amount of money before making any claim against the
author or the book's profits. In other words, a violation of Copyright must
be established immediately or within 'reasonable time' to be valid.
As an example of what I just wrote. On December 28, 1971, Grady
McMurtry registered with the State of California to form a legal entity for
the establishment of the OTO on solid ground. This began the process
which would prove he was the real OTO. King's book was published in late
1973. Although Grady knew about the book, he never wrote off a letter
within 'reasonable time' (or for that matter, ever) voicing his opinion of a
Copyright Infringement to either Francis King or the publishers in England.
We know that he, and his wife Phyllis, discussed the book with Israel
Regardie before it was released and shortly thereafter. In one letter Phyllis
mentions how she saw fit to add her two bits worth on the subject within
the pages of In The Continuum. [3]This is a magazine she and Grady
published. In the same letter she also asks, "I certainly would like to hear
your ideas and remarks on the book and what I have written in our
publication." Regardie sent the following advice. "I finally got Francis
King's book The Secret Rituals of the O.T.O. As far as I'm concerned it's a
flop and I would say you have nothing to worry about on that score." [4]
Obviously Phyllis had already agreed because she began her article (In The
Continuum) by answering a question. "You were asking if the publication
of The Secret Rituals of the O.T.O. as introduced by Francis King would
not destroy our Order. I think not." [5]She then goes on for six more pages to
explain her views, very eloquently and to the point. Any mention of
copyrighted material, or the violation thereof by Francis King, is never
mentioned.
Furthermore, in July of 1974 when writing an official form letter to
be sent to individuals inquiring about the OTO, Grady simply stated that
anyone using the knowledge found in this book "will have some
problems." [6]He never mentions anything about the book being illegal or
Copyright Infringements. His argument was mostly centered around
ritualistic errors and omissions which make the book useless. Ironically,
even years later, Grady seemed to imply the only reason the OTO never
fully endorsed the book was because it was incomplete. As he was the
world-wide head of the organization, Grady's written words, especially in
an official OTO newsletter, stated very clearly the OTO policy when he
wrote, "We do not endorse the publication of this material because the so-
called '9th' section' does not include the paper (entitled IX° Emblems and
Modes of Use) which Aleister Crowley handed me at 93 Jermyn St circa
1943-44 e.v. without which the whole thing is nonsense." [7]Grady seemed to
be more preoccupied with what the book lacked rather than it being illegal.
Still, even more damaging is that although he did not 'endorse the
publication' he did openly use it for years while acting as a Saladin. When I
received my own Charter to Initiate through the OTO in the late seventies
Grady told me to use King's book and he'd send me the originals later. In
fact he allowed the book to be used by every Saladin in the Initiation
Chambers of the Ordo Templi Orientis worldwide while he was Outer Head
of the Order, thus giving the book, in legal terms, his 'acknowledgment and
justification.' Knowing these facts means that Grady McMurtry and the
OTO forfeited any and all claims against the book as violating either Trade
Mark or Copyright Infringements. On the other hand the present day OTO
may disagree. But do you think a Judge would agree with them upon
hearing how the OTO has used the book 'within' its own Initiation
Chambers as well as the source of quotes for public lectures for well over
twenty years prior to making any official claim that it's illegal? The bottom
line is that years ago, by Grady's lack of immediate action, he implied
consent and agreed with the book, or at least with Regardie's views that it
didn't matter that it was published because it's just pearls before the swine.
In 1979, when rumors surfaced that Secret Rituals was being
republished with a disclaimer, the official OTO stance became that "This
book is an affront to the Order, no matter what was put on the back of the
title page." [8]The OTO Newsletter continued by stating, "We would like to
see Thelemites avoid it. Too many have already weakened the outer effect
of the initiations themselves through premature attempts at the rituals." In
other words, Copyright Inflingement was still not a main issue. However,
after Grady 'reactivated' the OTO and established the Grand Lodge in
October of 1977 initiations on both coasts were beginning to bring in many
new members. The OTO began growing fast. The Order found that too
many people wanted to read the rituals before they went through them and
the word got around that there was book published in 1973 which contained
the rites. Grady felt this had to be 'nipped-in-the-bud' before it went much
further. I remember talking with him on the phone about this issue and
being informed that Saladins could still use the book. He even had no
problem with it being read by members but he requested that we tell them
to go through the initiation rituals first. Don't undermine the effect. It
wasn't a problem in my area because I was one of the few people who had
a copy of Secret Rituals and right from the start I refused to let anyone read
it. Unfortunately this was not the case elsewhere.
I'd like to now discuss the often levied charge of 'violating Oaths.'
This is the first line of attack against OTO initiates who sell or quote from
Secret Rituals. By his own admission Grady McMurtry didn't want to buy a
copy of the book because he was infuriated that the fraternity's 'secrets'
were being published. He finally broke down in late 1973 and bought a
copy for what he called "research purposes." In many ways this proved
valuable for him and he openly stated that buying the book "serves a
purpose." He reminded all OTO initiates that when "you take an Initiatory
degree, you take oaths not to reveal certain information that has been
passed on to you." Implying its secrets. However, he pointed out that a
person can "quote from a book that has been published" without fear of
violating their sacred Oaths. [9]In other words an individual can utilize King's
book with spiritual impunity, as Grady did during lectures on numerous
occasions, which I personally witnessed. Yet he always 'suggested'
discretion on the part of OTO Initiates as to what they should quote. I can
further attest that he had no qualms about used copies being sold, bought or
resold. He only hoped that they would somehow 'fraternally' make their
way into the OTO and stay there. Still, he was rational and sane enough to
realize that this was an unenforceable, if not an impossible, dream.
However, Grady died in 1985 and times have changed as do policies. The
present day OTO sings a different tune. It screams loudly with an
unbelievably ludicrous conviction that anyone who merely sells a used copy
or quotes from Francis King's book is in violation of their sacred Oaths
sworn within the Sovereign Sanctuaries of the initiation chamber.
Furthermore, the Supreme Council of OTO has told one member who deals
with used and rare documents that they could be held legally accountable
by "offering for sale our confidential documents" [10]if they sold King's book
and other related material.
First of all, Grady McMurtry's views were completely correct. The
present day policies of the OTO are blatantly wrong and have little legal,
much less fraternal, merit. If an OTO member quotes from this book they
are not in violation of their Oaths because initiates can not be held
accountable for what is common knowledge amongst non-members.
Especially such knowledge that is already found in the public domain of
libraries around the world. Any claim otherwise shows an insipid or
immature knowledge of how 'Fraternal Oaths' work. To throw the word
'violation' around as if implying karmic retribution is little more than a
mundane threat of spiritual blackmail or intimidation in order to control
one's membership on this plane. It is hardly magickal or fraternal, much
less Thelemic behavior. It reeks of the control freak mentality rumored to
exist within the Black Brotherhood.
Let's be honest. There is grave danger under foot for the OTO. As
any true magician will attest an Oath assumes a variety of forms. Probably
the most famous Oath is the silly little ditty of 'Cross my heart and hope to
die.' I can go on and on, showing numerous examples of how Oaths are
used in society to force individuals to tell the Truth but it would serve no
purpose. The only other Oath I'd like to distinguish is a Magickal Oath
because it's often confused with the fraternal type. A Magickal Oath is
something which binds a magician forever to its intent and is an affirmation
between the magician and his Universe. It never includes a third party as do
Fraternal Oaths. The latter is designed to invoke a dire medieval type of
punishment on any individual should they violate their Word as sworn
before the Order and its membership. This type of Oath has not kept up
with the times, and although it might have been enforced in the past, it has
been reduced to unenforceable gibberish in the present. In standard
Masonry it is acknowledged that the Oath or Solemn Obligation is probably
the single most misunderstood aspect of the entire ritual. I can attest from
what I have seen within the Ordo Templi Orientis that their understanding
of how such works is even less.
What most fail to realize is that a Fraternal Oath is always a double-
edged sword. It is two-sided, applies fifty-fifty and the karma goes to he
who violates it first, the Order or the individual. No organization should
ever be so presumptuous or arrogant as to believe that it is karmically
exempt from its own actions. Fraternities should heed the lesson of The
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn which fell into disgrace due to its
antics, as Crowley has so eloquently pointed out in numerous places. First
of all, when a person takes an initiation he or she does not sign their life
away. You might ask, "But isn't a Fraternal Oath taken for life?" I can only
answer, yes and no. It all depends whether or not the individual remains a
member of the fraternity or if he or she quits or was expelled. Obviously,
once outside the fraternity the individual is no longer bound by these
archaic Oaths. This in itself should give you a hint as to the true power of a
Fraternal Oath. Its only 'power' lies in the fact that members within the
structure give it validity and in return they get specific annuities as
promised by the Order's written tenets. It's all fifty-fifty.
If the OTO violates its written tenets or fails to enforce its own
Rules, Regulations & Bylaws then its membership automatically becomes
free of the Oaths and Obligations which they have sworn to that Order. Its
either all or nothing for both sides in regards to Fraternal Oaths. Crowley
felt this way regarding that which he swore within the Sanctuaries of The
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. They failed him, not the other way
around. The Initiations had become worthless. Members were elevated up
for little else than their worldly prosperity and, in many cases, simply due
to whom they knew. Friends of the influential were getting away with
crimes which warranted immediate expulsion under normal circumstances.
The Order was reduced to little more than the desires of a 'boy's-club' on
this plane with no aspirations toward anything higher which it had
professed in writing. The bottom line is that the OTO should be very
careful when it makes accusations against its members regarding 'magickal
or karmic retribution' that such is completely justifiable. Karma is a bitch,
if not an astral termite gnawing away at one's foundation. It will inevitably
collapse one's reality in on itself. Yes, the OTO should take heed of the
Golden Dawn's downfall. The abuse and misunderstanding of their Oaths
was the first step toward its downfall.
Regardless of the above, I defy anyone to come up with an Oath
sworn in any organization or fraternity throughout the history of the world,
which will prove that initiates can not discuss things already published over
a lengthy period of time. Yes, all OTO initiates swear a solemn obligation
or Oath to hold "inviolate the secrets and mysteries of Our Order"[11] but do
OTO members even know what inviolate means? It means that you can not
'profane' your teachings. Is talking about them with honesty, sincerity and
an open heart and mind, profaning them? No. The regular Masons do it all
the time and they even publish their beliefs. Yes, it could also be argued
that OTO initiates take an Oath which has them "Solemnly promise and
swear never to reveal" [12]what they learn within the confines of the Initiation
Chamber of "this Most Holy Order." [13]However, let's be honest and stop
the game of petty denial. The OTO needs to remember that their Oaths, like
every fraternity, were written with the intent that the material would
hopefully remain 'SECRET.' It hasn't. The Order needs to get over this fact
and move on, as did the Masons when they discovered that their rites had
ultimately been revealed. They didn't change their Oaths or rituals. In fact,
they still tell their candidates not to reveal what they've learn within the
chambers even though such is published everywhere. The Masons know a
fraternity is 'more' than its rituals and, as any magician will attest simply
having the material does not mean an individual will be initiated or
understand the Mysteries anymore than reading a book about the sea will
make you a sailor. You must go through the actual rites in an earthing
process which includes specific verbal teachings.
The other more serious question which we need to ask ourselves is
this; should we be putting the full blame on Francis King for revealing the
OTO secrets or on the people who use and resell his book? We know
Aleister Crowley, himself, our own forefather, gave copies of all the OTO
material to Gerald Yorke who was not even an OTO Initiate and who, in
turn, put them in a public University for all of humanity to view. Thanks to
Crowley, most of the information about our secret rituals can now be
browsed through with impunity by outsiders, they can be photocopied and
have as many notes taken from them as anyone wishes. The fault is that
Crowley's own actions indirectly allowed Francis King to publish his book.
After all, King got the rituals formerly owned by the collector G.H.Brooke.
Who in turn, somehow got them from, as King points out, Frater Volo
Intelligere or Gerald Yorke. There is yet another possibility we should
consider. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that Aleister Crowley,
acting as the Outer Head of the Order of OTO, was in charge of making
Order policies. He must have made a conscious decision or affirmation that
these manuscripts did not need to be kept totally 'secret' or exclusively by
OTO members. If not, he violated his own Oaths. Since he was a magician,
greater than most of us, I personally doubt that he would have made such a
blunder as this. So what does this tell us? Are we to assume Crowley
willingly declassified all the manuscripts while he was Head of the Order, if
not in writing then by his actions as OHO? Even if the present OTO
leadership has reversed Crowley's decisions, or disagrees with the above
assessment and wants everything now secret, the cat, thanks to the Great
Beast himself, is already out of the bag. Furthermore, some of the Upper
Degree OTO Grade Papers like Liber CCCLXVII, Liber XXIV and Liber
CDXIV, written by Crowley, were published by Theodor Reuss in the
German Oriflamme and publicly distributed. This occurred as early as 1914
while Reuss was still the acting Head of the OTO. So what does this imply?
Because they were published in German we should considered the secrets
still 'concealed' in the English speaking world? If so, how hypocritical and
ludicrous is this?
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating the total 'openness' of
our rites or Grade Papers simply because they're published or found in
libraries and Universities worldwide. I'm simply advocating fairness for our
fraternal brothers and sisters to have the same Rights normally afforded to
outsiders. That is where all this is leading. In other words, the OTO needs
to carefully rethink its position and policies regarding Francis King's book
and stop the present day witch hunting amongst its own membership of
those who sell this book or quote from it. On the lowest mundane level the
leadership of the OTO should reflect upon a simple analogy - there are
words in psychology for parents who believe they have the right to
repeatedly beat their children for something which every other parent in
world believes is OK for a child to do - it's called Abuse.
Furthermore, regarding members quoting from this book, since the
OTO admits it is legally subject to the Laws of The United States of
America first above its own Rules, Regulations & Bylaw, it should always
consider the actions of members who quote from The Secret Rituals of the
OTO subject to the guidelines laid out by the Fair Use Copyright Act as
does the US Government, rather than holding members accountable for the
violation of their Oaths with threats of expulsion for revealing 'Trade
Secrets.' Or better yet, does the OTO believe it is above the Law? Besides,
is it fair that people outside the OTO are privileged by Law to quote and
use this book freely when its own membership can not? Trying to eliminate
King's book every time it surfaces is very noble but plainly silly. You'll
never be able to do it. Furthermore not only will this guarantee the book's
survival but its rarity will force its value up. If the book costs more, those
who pay extreme prices will keep the book in their collections as something
sacred. The book will never again be 'casually discarded.' It's common
sense. If you want a book to survive in libraries worldwide then make a fuss
over it or make it scarce.
Yes, it may be deemed illegal to republish King's book but this does
not mean that existing copies can not be used as a source of quotes or that
the original book is restricted from resale. There are many Crowley books
published prior to the OTO's claim of copyright ownership which the OTO
has absolutely no legal ground to stop from being resold on the used book
market. This includes The Secret Rituals of the OTO. No United States
Court has ever ordered the original printing of this book to be burned,
destroyed, forbid its resale or it's use under our Fair Use Copyright
Regulations. Only 'new' printings are deemed illegal and that is not
because a US Court has stated such. It's because a new edition would
contain manuscripts or material proven to be owned by the OTO which this
fraternity has no intention of giving permission to republish. I totally agree
with this. No organization to date has ever successfully argued or convinced
a US Court to begin banning any and all use of information already
published, especially over a lengthy period of time as with the information
previously released in The Secret Rituals of the OTO more than twenty-five
years ago. Such a request would be laughed out of a Court of Law because
it's totally unenforceable.
I have also been told by an Electoral College Member of the OTO
that it is no longer acceptable to sell used copies of either Liber AGAPE vel
C vel AZOTH, Sub Figvra 100 or De Arte Magica because these are
considered 'secret' OTO Grade Papers. Both of these have appeared as
pamphlets numerous times. If you've got a copy of either of these you
should hold onto them. The resale price on the used market should quickly
soar thanks to the OTO. This also implies that another book edited and
introduced by Francis King entitled Crowley on Christ[14]will become rare
and as valuable as Secret Rituals of the OTO. This is mainly because, King
points out, "The only omission from (Secret Rituals) is De Arte Magica, a
commentary on Liber Agape, a work which outlines the inmost secret of the
O.T.O. and is to be found in the Secret Rituals of the O.T.O. For the sake of
completeness De Arte Magica is published as an appendix to this book,
Crowley on Christ." [15]However, what I don't understand is that if the OTO
is tying to keep these two pieces from surfacing then why did Frater
Hymenaeus Beta give permission for De Arte Magica to be published in
Portable Darkness? [16]However, Grady did the same thing when he gave me
permission to publish and distribute this piece while I was Lodge Master
back in 1980. [17]But what's up all of a sudden with no selling used copies of
this piece? Anyway, regardless of such, all these books and pamphlets are
subject to the same laws as is Secret Rituals. Although the OTO may not
like it, such is life. However, King was wrong on one account. De Arte
Magica is not the only omission from Secret Rituals. Earlier I mentioned
how Grady claimed that he could not endorse the publication because a so-
called '9th' section' was not included. However, Grady would be rolling
over in his grave if he knew that after his death one of his 'trusted friends'
in Berkeley would photocopy this document from his files, entitled IX°
Emblems and Modes of Use, and then send it off to another friend who
would end up publishing it.
Where am I going with all these ramblings? If you ask my advice,
the greatest danger the OTO presently faces is not that someone will reveal
already published secrets by quoting from or reselling Francis King's book
or similar pieces. It'll come from one of its own Initiates who has been
suspended, expelled and threatened with lawsuits, who'll get a good lawyer
and counter sue the Order for deformation of character, slander and being
ostracized amongst the Thelemic communities of his peers which he or she
has spent their entire life pursuing. That's where the real damage lies. It'll
be due to the Order's callous, senseless and mindless actions which
produces an unwarranted loss, either mentally, spiritually, emotionally or
even financially to an innocent person over something so stupid as a book
which was published in 1973.
Yes, you'll always find some stooge within OTO who'll argue that
my above comments about members counter suing the OTO warrants
unfraternal conduct and should never be advised or even suggested. They'll
even quote Liber CI, An Open Letter To Those Who May Wish To Join The
Order[18]'Seventh House' under section No.25 where it states "Lawsuits
between members of the Order are absolutely forbidden, on pain of
immediate expulsion." On the other hand, I would like to point out that no
one from a Minerval to a IXth Degree, no matter what position they hold
within the Order, is exempt from the policies laid out in Liber CI if such a
book is going to be quoted as if gospel. Therefore it could be said that any
OTO leader who makes a 'threat of lawsuit against another member' also
violates the policies laid out in Liber CI. However, the OTO leadership will
argue that their threats are for the 'good of the Order' and thus are exempt
from the policies laid out in Liber CI. They would further claim that a
lawsuit would only be instituted after said member has been expelled from
the Order. In their mind this resolves the above issue about "Lawsuits
between members of the Order are absolutely forbidden' because the
individual would no longer be an OTO Initiate. This sounds all well and good
but it also frees the member and enables them to counter sue the OTO for
every penny it has if they feel they've been 'unjustifiably wronged'
amongst Thelemic circles. Lawsuits of this nature have been filed against
every organization from The Boy Scouts of America to Scientology by
people who have been thrown out or harassed unjustifiably and most win
their case or are settled out of Court.
Regardless of the above comments, most of what is written within
Liber CI has never been established or put into practice amongst OTO
branches. Mentioning any part of it as if it were 'official policy' is simply
another form of intimidation. It always befuddles me why this is condoned
as accepted 'fraternal' protocol. It's great that OTO wants to dig-up
everything about its past, document wise, but it must realize it's either all or
nothing. A fraternity can not 'pick & choose' obscure passages from ancient
manuscripts simply to prove its present day point. As an example, a good
lawyer could ask if Liber CI is practiced in its entirety or not if the Order
cites such as a legal reference. The answer to such would be obvious. We
have to face the harsh reality that Liber CI is simply an interesting historical
piece written over seventy years ago and does not reflect one-tenth of the
present day OTO or its Rules, Regulations or Bylaws regardless of what
anyone wants to proselytize. The bottom line is that the OTO has to stop
hiding behind the shield of 'unfraternal behavior' which it screams at its
members if it's equally guilty of the same charge. If the Ordo Templi
Orientis is upset with me openly discussing the possibility of lawsuits
against the fraternity then it has only to realize that I have learned my
lessons well from within the fraternal halls of the Order itself. In other
words, sue everybody and if the Order can threaten lawsuits against you it
becomes fair game that you, as a member, can make counter claims against
it. In other words, you can only mimic the fraternal behavior which you've
been exposed to and taught. The OTO has become sue crazy but everything
within a fraternity is double-edged sword. I only hope that the present day
OTO is pleased with what they are teaching their Initiates.
Finally, yes, I agree 100% that it is the prerogative of the present day
leadership of OTO to suspend or expel its members for selling or quoting
from King's book-but I'd suggest having a written policy stating such is
forbidden and explaining why rather than ambushing people after the fact.
However, it will not have such a policy. To have one would necessitate
addressing many of the points which I've made in this Epistle. Points which
legally could come back to haunt them if said policies contradict the Law of
the Land. It's much easier to use the scare tactics of claiming that one is
violating their Oaths, compounded by threats of a lawsuit in order to
intimidate a member from doing what he or she legally has the right to do.
However, this is a dangerous practice much like walking on a razor's edge.
I personally believe the Order simply needs to be honest and up front with
its members as was the late Grady McMurtry. It needs to tell them that
although it has no legal ground to stop these books and pamphlets from
being resold, it would like its membership's help in keeping them off the
shelves of used book stores or from being resold. This is very noble and a
true 'fraternal approach.' The OTO should hold to the fact that if an initiate
believes in the Order then they would freely oblige the written policies.
However, if a member chooses otherwise then so be it, or as a wise Beatle
once said, "Let it be." It's between them and their God. Stop the witch
hunting and persecutions. As any parent will attest, if you beat a child or
threaten them repeatedly it will only foster rebellion and resentment. Both
of these attitudes are grumblings which are growing stronger each day
within the present day fraternity known as Ordo Templi Orientis.
Love is the law, love under will. - AL I:57
Frater A.
Suggested reading on Legal Issues regarding Copyright:
1. The Copyright Handbook, How to Protect & Use Written Words by Attorney Stephen
Fishman (CA: Nolo Press, Berkeley, CA, Fourth Edition, April 1998).
2. Kirsch's Handbook of publishing Law by Jonathan Kirsch (CA: Acrobat Books, Los
Angeles 1995).
