Ordo Templi Orientis

Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) (Order of the Temple of the East, or the Order of Oriental Templars) is an international fraternal and religious organization. For its teachings and principles of organization, it has accepted the Law of Thelema, which is expressed as ?Do what thou wilt is the whole of the Law.? Thelemites believe that this Law was established with the writing of the Book of the Law by Aleister Crowley in 1904 in Cairo, Egypt. Its structure is similar to that of Freemasonry, with a series of graded initiations. The O.T.O. also includes the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica or Gnostic Catholic Church, which is the ecclesiastical arm of the Order. Its central rite, which is public, is called Liber XV, or the Gnostic Mass. O.T.O. claims over 3000 members in 58 countries; about half of these are in the United States.

Related Topics:
Fraternal - Religious organization - Thelema - Book of the Law - Aleister Crowley - 1904 - Cairo - Egypt - Freemasonry - Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica - Gnostic Mass

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