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First Degree Oaths

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1 Text of the Oaths
- 1.1 Oath of Secrecy
- 1.2 Degree Oath
2 Comparison with Masonic Oaths
3 See also
4 References

Text of the Oaths

The following is quoted from Francis King's The Secret Rituals of the O.T.O. under the fair use doctrine of U.S. copyright law strictly for non-profit educational purposes:

Oath of Secrecy

"I, ... (name in full) in the presence of the Powers of Birth, visible and invisible, and of this Camp of Free Men, do hereby and hereon most solemnly promise and swear:

Never to reveal

What I learn beneath the Seal

Within the guarded border

Of this most holy Order

Unless it be to a True Brother

And not to another

Using a perfect portion

Of proper caution

That he may be duly

Tested truly

By right divine

Of grip and sign

And of each word

That ye have heard

In full possession

Or else in session

Of such a camp as this

Within whose border

I stand, aspiring to

The Holy Order

Which I do know

by the letters

O.T.O."

Degree Oath

"I most solemnly promise and swear / that I will not submit myself / to hypnotism, / mesmerism, / or any similar practice / whereby my full consciousness / and free will / might be impaired. / I most solemnly promise and swear / that I will not indulge unduly / in any drug / such as alcohol, / ether, / opium, / hashish, / or cocaine, / whereby my full consciousness / and free will / might be impaired. / I do most solemnly promise and swear / that I will not allow myself / to fall unduly under the influence / of any person / whereby my free will / might be impaired. / Finally / I do solemnly and sincerely promise and swear / to obey the Laws of the Order in general, / and in particular the rulings of the Superior of the Order / or his duly appointed substitute, / as conveyed to me / by the Most Mysterious Master of this Oasis / under the hand and seal of Baphomet. / These several points / I solemnly swear to observe / declaring them / each and every one / to be in accord / with my own free will, / under no less a penalty, / on the violation / of any one of them / that of having my throat pierced with a Dagger / (S. applies same.) and my carcass / thrown to the monsters of the Sea / that they may devour it."

Comparison with Masonic Oaths

It is interesting to note certain similarities between the O.T.O. and Masonic oaths. The penalties in both the O.T.O. First Degree and the First or Entered Apprentice degree of Freemasonry both involve having the throat cut and having ones body disposed in the sea. Compare with the penalty part of the obligation of the Entered Apprentice from Duncan's Rituals of Freemasonry:

"All this I most solemnly, sincerely promise and swear, with a firm and steadfast resolution to perform the same, without any mental reservation or secret evasion of mind whatever, binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by its roots, and my body buried in the rough sands of the sea, at low-water mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours, should I ever knowingly violate this my Entered Apprentice obligation. So help me God, and keep me steadfast in the due performance of the same."

A careful reading of the secrecy section of the obligation in Duncan's Ritual [1] will leave little doubt that the O.T.O. Oath of Secrecy was derived from some branch of Masonic ritual as well.