Preface III: O.T.O.F. Response

Herr Koenig, Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. We refer to your email of May 19th, concerning the Inquisitorial interview between ourselves and Mr. Ben Fernee, at that time acting GIC for the Caliphate OTO. Firstly we deplore your pseudo-academic plea of "researcher's neutrality". You must think us either stupid or ill-informed if you assume that your long term project of study of the "OTO Phenomenon" is seen by us or anyone else as anything other than an effort to debunk and expose the OTO in ALL manifestations, at least post-Reuss, as either fraudulent or worse. The same goes for your manifest view of Crowley.

We suspect, but cannot "prove", your role in the dropping of mention of the Foundation in Naylor's book as the argument centered around the validity or otherwise of Tegtmeier's 18' in the FS, and the formulations used by the party who claimed Tegtmeier's degree invalid were recognisably yours from numerous contexts where you have attacked Tegtmeier's integrity. We also deplore the fact, which again argues against your integrity, that you have published on your website materials concerning us and the Foundation with the likes of Joseph Collins and Marcelo Santos as source, without in THOSE cases bothering to contact us first for our comments in the interests of "neutrality". In our view this makes you either a very sloppy and inconsistent researcher or a biased and hypocritical one.

You should know that in view of the nature of some of the accusations made against us in the Fernee interview we took legal advice before responding to your e-mail. It seems that there is little we can do to prevent your posting the inquisition report/interview; however we reserve the right to take relevant legal action against both you and your ISPs if any actionable accusations against us made in that report or elsewhere are repeated without qualification to the effect that they were and are groundless. In particular this applies to any accusation direct or reported that concerns our children.

It was a previous Master who reportedly said "If a man would force you to go a mile, walk with him two" and again "if a man smite thee turn the other cheek, IN ORDER TO HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON HIS HEAD IN THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT" so with that in mind (and taking a particular delight in the heaping of hot coals on the head of such as yourself) we make the following statement. In spite that the Fernee interview was and is an internal document of the COTO and an internal archive document of the OTOF and that on both those counts the only way you could have it in your possesion is by a breach of confidence and good faith by your source, in spite of that we accept that you will publish.

In addition to the demand that you make it clear that libellous statements in the report/interview were and are without ground, we insist that BEFORE you publish you provide us with the exact text of the interview as you intend to publish it so that we may compare it with the text we hold, made at the time, and agreed accurate as transcript by all parties at the time, not reconstructed from illegitimately held notes/tapes by persons like J. Collins and his paramour Susanne Williams who hold us even less dear than you do, so that we may examine it for discrepancies, omissions and additions. Moreover, it would be reprehensibly negligent of you not to mention the fact that Mr. Fernee has spoken of his previous attitude of complete subservience to the Caliphate as being "wrong and weak", and that he appears to regret his part in the affair.

We can supply text to substantiate his position, should you not have it. We further demand that we have sight of the "Preface" before publication so that we may correct errors of fact in a response which you will publish together with the said "preface". We further ask - nay, demand - that you give us space on your site to answer and comment on the references to ourselves and the Foundation in materials published by you with the said J. Collins and Marcelo Santos as source. We for our part will provide a positional statement on the whole question of "legitimacy" and the OTO heritage. Do this and you go some way to demonstrating your "Neutrality", do it not and we will demonstrate you an hypocrite in every forum we can reach. Love is the law, love under Will. Sr. Phoenix, (Irene Fraenkl-Rietti) and Fr.

Prospero (David Rietti), Trustees of the Ordo Templi Orientis Foundation. -- O.T.O.Foundation Email:O.T.O.Foundation@newaeonbooks.demon.co.uk

Herr Koenig, Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Material has been received intact. We are currently checking through the transcript, and should be in a position to submit a contribution to you by the end of next week. Love is the law, love under Will. Sr. Phoenix, (Irene Fraenkl-Rietti) and Fr. Prospero (David Rietti), Trustees of the Ordo Templi Orientis Foundation. -- O.T.O.Foundation Email:O.T.O.Foundation@newaeonbooks.demon.co.uk

Lieber Herr Koenig, We are pleased to inform you that the technical problems are resolved, the backlog has cleared, and work on the preface proceeds apace. Our best wishes, Phoenix & Prospero -- O.T.O.Foundation Email:O.T.O.Foundation@newaeonbooks.demon.co.uk

Dear Koenig, We note with regret that you have been issued with invalid documentation that purports to elevate you to the IX' OTOF and to make you a Bishop in its associated EGC. Initiation into the IX' of OTOF is only ever done by the prescribed ritual, in the physical presence of the Candidate, inasmuch as it is dependent upon actual contagion to be valid. Moreover, a IX' of OTOF has particular oaths to swear, regalia to receive, secrets to learn, grips and signs to be instructed in, and a host of other associated obligations. 'Remote initiation' into the IX' of OTOF, or initiation simply by issuing a certificate, is absurd, impossible and invalid. Without giving anything away, we may mention that Crowley's reference to 'defects in the Mass' in Liber Aleph is relevant in this context.

We also draw your attention to the oft-misprinted term 'vicegerent' as it appears in the Gnostic Mass. Also, initiations into the IX' of OTOF - even were they to be fully carried out otherwise in terms of the ritual - are only ever done by authorization from the relevant Supreme & Most Holy King, and Fr. Piarus X' did not give any such authorization. His name was printed upon the document without his knowledge or consent. He has notified us of the same, in writing. As a further consideration, any X' is only empowered to authorise Initiations into the IX' within his or her own Kingdom, so neither Piarus nor the Brazilian Sovereign Sanctuary had any ability or authority to initiate to the IX' outside of the Kingdom of Brazil, even if they had wanted to.

These remarks apply equally to rank within EGC, which is only ever conferred by a 'laying on of hands' and requires both the physical presence of the Candidate and the authorization of the X' in his/her Office as Prince-Archbishop of EGC for a given nation. Now, you may in your historical researches have come across instances of other OTOs or EGCs conferring authority or degree simply by issuing Charters, certificates, and so forth. This activity does not concern us, nor does it oblige us to act or to set policy in a given way; still less does it set a precedent which supercedes our own carefully formulated and explicit policies. Since the founding of the OTOF, it has been our perogative to determine policy however we see fit, irrespective of what may have been done by others.

Other OTOs have failed in the past for want of proper procedure. It was with this in mind that we established procedure very thoroughly first, before initiating any members beyond the Degrees they had previously held in other recensions of OTO. Unlike the impoverished Crowley and other beleaguered persons in the past, we are in the fortunate position of not needing to promote people into our Degrees simply by issuing them with certificates or papers. We have the complete rituals, and we have the necessary membership. Actual physical Initiation has been the way we have done it from day one. If you had a genuine desire to become a IX' within OTOF or a Bishop within its associated EGC, you should have contacted the International Secretary at the standard mailing address for the Order.

For the sake of goodwill, we are prepared to consider an application from yourself to join the OTOF, if you wish to be numbered amongst us; but we do not consider that this is very likely! It is unfortunate that Marcelo Santos has misled you by issuing you with worthless documentation. However, it is fortunate that the problem has been detected and corrected now, while all the parties concerned are still alive and capable of communicating with each other - surely a first in OTO history! We confidently expect that you will remove from your website and elsewhere any claim to hold membership of any kind in OTOF or in its associated EGC, which you do not hold either in fact or in law, and we assure you that we hold you to be 'more sinned against than sinning' here.

We are aware that Marcelo Santos is a friend of yours, and we are not trying to sow discord between you, but as a scholar and a historian, we do not expect you to leave this matter uncorrected. We remind you that Santos was perfectly aware of the rules and regulations for initiating people into the IX' or consecrating Bishops while he was still a member of OTOF. (As to the document itself, if it is to remain on your website - as you might consider appropriate, given your interest in the curiosities of history - then we do insist that it be accompanied there by this letter, reproduced in full.) Degrees within OTOF are not equivalent to Degrees within any other organization. OTOF is a closed shop. It has very distinct boundaries.

We do sometimes admit members at the Degree which they previously held within other recensions of OTO, but only after due procedure has been followed. Marcelo Santos has never been able to carry out any conversions of Degree into OTOF, because he was never issued with the relevant documents, though he made a point of asking for them. Moreover, any such degree conversion is a) subject to the authority of the relevant X' in any case, and b) does not permit simultaneous membership in any other lineage of OTO.

As a closing comment, we would be interested to know if Marcelo charged you the standard fee for Initiation into the IX' (which would really amount to fraud, had he done so) or instructed you as to where you should send the annual subscription fee for that Degree, since - had you considered the document to be valid - you would naturally have been wanting to renew your subscription so as not to lose your membership automatically at the end of the year 1999 in accordance with OTOF policy. (You may be interested to know that cessation of membership for non-renewal of annual dues is one Crowley policy that we have retained.) We remind you that OTOF is a legally constituted, coherent, discrete and active organization which operates according to strict rules.

This applies particularly strongly when conferral of status or membership is concerned. Policy may be ascertained by asking the people currently in charge; it is neither necessary nor profitable to examine the relics of the past in the hope of finding out how it conducts its business today. Our best wishes, Phoenix & Prospero -- O.T.O.Foundation Email:O.T.O.Foundation@newaeonbooks.demon.co.uk

-- Hr.Koenig, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." Yes, it has taken longer than expected to complete the preface to OUR satisfaction regarding historical accuracy. What is your problem that you are so cramped for time? You claim to be an historian yet you fret like a journalist. For Hell's sake, the story is already half a decade old, you are your own publisher so who's breathing down your neck? Perhaps the truth is that you have your nose so far up your own arse in megalomaniac self-importance that it does not occur to you that being on your website, and having some degree of approval from you, is not the be all and end all of Ourselves or Our Organisation's existence.

Strange as it may seem, We and Our growing membership have a life; which is why we do not attribute the global importance to your pseudo-historical, but in fact propagandistic publications and website that you (and spiritual eunuchs like Marcelo Santos and Joe Collins) clearly do. If that offends you we really could not give a damn! Go ahead without us, we will find other, less tainted, ways to let the truth be known! "Love is the law, love under Will." Fr. Prospero & Sr. Phoenix -- O.T.O.Foundation Email:O.T.O.Foundation@newaeonbooks.demon.co.uk