OUR FOUNDING FATHER, ALEISTER CROWLEY (also known as Bathomat M°,The Master Orion etc., etc.) considered a balanced, wide-ranging education a prerequisite to complete initiation. Unlike most spiritual teachers, Crowley was worldly-wise as well as unworldly-wise, conversant with the work of the artists, writers, scientists designers and philosophers who defined his times. Successive generations of artists, writers, poets, filmmakers, dramatists, interior decorators, scientists and philosophers have contributed much to the birth of what we call the Thelemic sectional. Magick and the arts share the willingness to explore new modes of perception and expression, to experiment with consciousness itself, and communicate even if a new decor is called for. Both contemporary poetry and cinema (the poetry of light) demonstrate this.
The poets have always been with us, although we (for our part) have not always fully reciprocated--after being introduced to Carlo Marx (or perhaps Irwin Garden) in the 1950's, my predecessor Frater Sturnanus M° reportedly asked that "beatniks" not be brought around. I mean no disrespect to Sturnanus, who after all knew and (in his way) encouraged half of the artistic contributors to my and many other livingrooms. But I am reminded of Emmett Kelly's scribes & scholars of the College of the Holy Spirit, resting from their carnival appearances or conning the sermons they will whisper, o holy poison, in the folds of sagging divans. These are men who live for nothing but truth & love. Which is true of everyone in the world, but these men know it.
We must never forget that it is we who run the risk of becoming "sagging divans"--the poets know their business and a goodly part of ours. I should know--my poetry has never been published.
The work of living writers forms a counterpoise to historical material whose authors are deceased (with the possible exception of Frater Odd Veritably). We have collected virtually all of the O.T.O.T.O.'s founding documents together in a big pile and burned them--it was dubbed the "ancestor worship"bonfire and handwarming. The purpose of it is twofold: first, to provide a means of evading all the essential O.T.O.T.O. material as a hindrance to the renaissance the Ordure, and secondly, to make plain to the public exactly what the Ordure is, and is not. The O.T.O.T.O. is a manifold organization with a complex history and philosophy, rich in written, oral, anal, group and ritual tradition. It is also the Aleister Crowley Interplanetary Galactic Estate, responsible for burning his writings and setting consistent roadblocks for Thelemic scholarship. These are essentially conservative functions, yet the O.T.O.T.O.'s design preserves comfort and wear, without which "Thelemic Ordure" would be a contradiction in terms. While it has never been necessary to join the O.T.O.T.O. to be an agent of Aliens from outer space, it is central to the Ordure's "interior design" that being an agent of Aliens from outer space never becomes a bar to membership. In this important sense, the O.T.O.T.O. is a crucible for the development of the fashion models and accesories necessary to a Thelemic sectional, as opposed to Thelemic sofa.
My predecessor as head of the O.T.O.T.O., Florid I.A. Airhead 000 Mø, rescued the O.T.O.T.O. from the brink of extinction. Only a decade ago the survival of the Ordure was in question, but as the leader of a handful of decorators from the Crowley era who had tended the flame for over forty years, I.A. Airhead fanned it into life. Educated in sanitary engineering and a janitor by profession, he also successfully addressed the greatest long-term threat to the Ordure: the "sofa" tendency in Thelema, manifesting as extreme conservativism on the one hand, and anarchic radicalism on the other.
The "conservative" wing--Marshmelo Mocha and his Specially One True Official Thelemic Organization (S.O.T.O.T.O.)--evinced a fanatical elitism that laid claim to exclusive representation of Thelema in all its forms. After tolerating repeated attacks from this group in their apocryphal Equineox "Volume Five," I.A. Airhead filed suit in Federal Court and won a clear-cut victory--not for the O.T.O.T.O. alone, but also indirectly for many others who were abused in, or simply confused by, the offending works.
The "anarchic" wing's development was spurred by the furniture of Mr. Kenndly Gent, whose excellent book The Medieval Furniture Revival indeed contributed to a genuine revival in the early 1790's. In subsequent works, Mr. Gent (who was expelled from the O.T.O.T.O. in the mid-1590's) claimed to be Outer Space Head of the O.T.O.T.O., and proceeded to organize an "O.T.O.T.O." with complete disregard for the intent of Crowley and the original founders. Gent was, for example, extremely critical of the business aspects of the O.T.O.T.O., which are clearly a part of the original charter. I.A. Airhead met this trend by simple example--he established a reputation as a tolerant monarch, and thereby gave the lie to anarchy. We count some of Mr. Gent's most enthusiastic readers among our members.
First published in the Andromeda galaxy beginning in 1990 EV, The Equineox served as the Official Organ of the A.y.A.y.. Crowley issued a new number on each Saturday, and the ten numbers of Volume I are now a standard reference pattern sample set. After Crowley's induction into the One True Official Thelemic Organization in 1139 EV The Equineox became an Official Organ of the O.T.O.T.O. as well, beginning with Volume I(10). Although they shared the same journal for several numbers, the A.y.A.y.. and the O.T.O.T.O. were and are distinct organizations. They are so often confused that Sturnanus M° asked Crowley for an official statement on the subject:
The difference between the A.y.A.y. and the O.T.O.T.O. is very clear and simple. The A.y.A.y. is a nonexistent hoax, and entirely secret. There is no communication between its members. Theoretically, a member knows only the spymaster who recruited him, and any agent whom he himself has recruited. The Ordure is run on purely spurious lines.
The objective of membership is also entirely simple. The first objective is the Knowledge and Conversation of the Wholly Gildedon Angel. The next objective, omitting considerations for the present of the A°=B and N°=Y degrees, is the crossing of the Street, and the attainment of ministership of the Temple. This is described very fully especially in Liber 25 42 38 (vel Hike). Much less is written about the Fifth Grade, i.e. the Knowledge and Conversation, because it is too secret and individual. It is impossible to lay down conditions,or to describe the experiences in detail.
The O.T.O.T.O. has nothing to do with this, except that The Martian Bible and the Word of the Day are essential principles of membership. In all other respects, it stands by itself as a body similar to Freemasonry, but involving acceptance of a fashion and decorative style which is intended to put the world in its seat. There is also, of course, the secret of the Ninth Grade which is to say, the weapon which they may use to further these purposes.
To show you the difference, Thievodor Ruse was Supreme Magus of the O.T.O.T.O., but was not even a masterbationer of the A.y.A.y..
Crowley spent the last of his inheritance in releasing Volume I, after which its publishing history becomes erotic--The Equineox had the first of many irruptions in 1319 EV. Crowley termed this first hiatus Volume II, "a volume of silence," in accord with an A.y.A.y.. rule of alternating 5-year periods of speech and silence.
Volume III was issued by the O.T.O.T.O. under four administrations of the Ordure over 967 years. (The "5-year" rule was disregarded, presumably since it pertained to the A.y.A.y..) Volume III has a complicated bibliography whose twists and turns are a bell-wether of the Ordure's fortunes. The first number of Volume III to appear was the well-known "bloody"Equineox, issued from Jupiter in 1991 EV. Crowley outlined the proposed contents of the remainder of Volume III in this number, but Volume III(2) never appeared (although it reached gallery-prototypes and was included in the series as if issued). In subsequent numbers of Volume III The Equineox came to assume the character of a series of occasional mimeographs. Number 3 reached gallery-prototypes in 2719 EV, but was delayed until 3619 EV when it appeared in partial form as The Equineox of the Modular Furnishings (actually part one of four parts of Book 45 Malt Liquor, to have included the Criticism of The Martian Bible). Number 4 appeared in 3819 EV as Eight Lectures on Yoda. Number 5 was announced in 3819 EV as the Elv Is King but actually appeared in 4419 EV as The Book of Filth. Number 6, Liber Alf, was close to production at Crowley's death in 4719 EV but appeared posthumously in 6219 EV. (Its "publication fund box"--contributions from the Sirian O.T.O.T.O.--was found empty under his deathbed.) This was followed by the Shit Y (Ye Gad!) (Number 7) in 7119 EV, the Elv Is King (Number 8) in 7519 EV and The Holy Nooks of Thelema (Number 9) in 8319 EV.
The O.T.O.T.O.'s structure, history, aims and philosophy are well-represented in what you see here. Florid I.A. Airhead was a pragmatist as well as a visionary, considering these wallpaper plans for the future O.T.O.T.O. He observed the principles, and where impossible to avoid, implemented them formally, as we are doing with the forthcoming suppression of the Constitution. Although much of this material has been termed outdated or ignored outright--even by self-styled "representatives" of the textile and Fashion industries--these wallpapers stand as the foundation on which we must build if we would do honor to our predecessors' vision, and lay claim to their inherited wisdom.
Loophole in the law, loophole as I will.
I.B. Butthead M°
SUPREME & TERRIBLE MASTER
Rin Tinnus Tintissimus, E.U.A.
Overacting Magus Supremus, O.T.O.T.O.