Second Degree Oaths

From Free Encyclopedia of Thelema

Text of the Oaths

The following is quoted from Francis King's 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, ..., in the Presence of the Powers of Life visible and invisible, and of this Camp of Magicians, 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 another

And be lustrated

And consecrated

By high permission

A true Magician

Using a perfect portion

Of proper caution

That he 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 solemnly pledge myself to know, to will, to dare, and to keep silence. These several points I solemnly swear to observe, under no less a penalty than that of having my Breast cut across, my Heart torn therefrom, and thrown to the fowls of the air, 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. Second Degree and the Second or Fellow Craft degree of Freemasonry both involve having the breast cut open, the heart torn out, and devoured by fowls or vultures. Compare with the penalty part of the oath of the Fellow Craft from Duncan's Rituals of Freemasonry:

"All this I most solemnly promise and swear with a firm and steadfast resolution to perform the same, without any hesitation, mental reservation, or self-evasion of mind whatever, binding myself under no less penalty than of having my breast torn open,  my heart plucked out, and placed on the highest pinnacle of the temple (some say, My heart and vitals taken from thence, and thrown over my left shoulder, and carried into the valley of Jehoshaphat, &c., &c.), there to be devoured by the vultures of the air, should I ever knowingly violate the Fellow Craft 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 oath 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.

See also

• Oaths
• First Degree Oaths
• Third Degree Oaths
• Fourth Degree Oaths
• Fifth Degree Oath

References

• Cornelius, Jerry (2001). An Open Epistle regarding Francis King's book The Secret Rituals of the OTO. Retrieved March 17, 2005.
• Duncan, Malcolm C. (1866). Duncan's Ritual of Freemasonry. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald.
• King, Francis (1973). Secret Rituals of the O.T.O. New York: Samuel Weiser. ISBN 0-87728-144-0