The Occult

Ordo Templi Orientis

Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O. 'Order of the Temple of the East' or 'Order of Oriental Templars') is a ritual magic organization founded in Germany around 1904. The order found its inspiration in the medieval Knights Templar, who were suppressed through most of Europe in the fourteenth century. Among the charges made against the order were that they practiced various forms of illicit sex, specifically sodomy and bestiality.

Aleister Crowley joined the O.T.O. and became the outer head of the order for England. He was also invited to rewrite much of the ritual material. The order was organized in a Masonic manner, with a system of ten degrees, progress upward through the degrees admitting the member to more of the inner teachings. In the first six degrees of the OTO students were taught a general occult system that prepared them for the introduction of the sexual magic presented in the seventh, eighth, and ninth degrees. The tenth degree was purely administrative. Crowley later introduced an eleventh degree based upon his homoerotic predilections.

Crux Ansata Oasis is the local chartered body of Ordo Templi Orientis in Denver, Colorado.

Allegedly, Nichol Kessinger is a member of Crux Ansata Oasis.

The Feast for the First Night of the Prophet and his Bride

Rose [Edith Kelly] and Aleister Crowley married on August 12 ,1903, allowing her to escape an arranged marriage. This marriage, first of convenience, led to what would turn out to be one of the most important events in Crowley’s life — the writing of the Book of the Law. Rose and Aleister had two children, Nuit Ma Ahathoor Hecate Sappho Lilith (born 1904, died 1906) and Lola Zaza (born 1906). Rose and Aleister divorced in 1909.

This First Night of the Prophet and his Bride is a Thelemic holiday; its primary purpose is to celebrate the anniversary of Crowley’s marriage to Rose that made possible the reception of The Book of the Law. Crowley comments, “There should be a special feast on the 12th day of August in every year, since it was the marriage of The Beast which made possible the revelation of the New Law. (This is not an Apology for Marriage. Hard Cases make Bad Law).”

Sunday, August 12, 2018, was the 115th Feast for the First Night of the Prophet and his Bride.