the man of the earth

oil on canvas
200 x 90 cm


MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS
By Aleister Crowley
Chapter XIII: System of the O.T.O.


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 Initiation of the Candi- date, it is he whose Path in Eternity is displayed in dramatic form.

What is the Path?

The Ego is attracted to the Solar System.
The Child experiences Birth.
The Man experiences Life.
He experiences Death.
He experiences the World beyond Death.
This entire cycle of Point-Events is withdrawn into Annihilation.
In the O.T.O. these successive stages are represented as follows:—

1 0° (Minerval)
2 I° (Initiation)
3 II° (Consecration)
4 III° (Devotion)
5 IV° (Perfection, or Exaltation)
6 P.I. (Perfect Initiate)

Of these Events of Stations upon the Path all but 3 (II°) are single critical experiences. We, however, are concerned mostly with the very varied experiences of Life.