Society O.T.O.

The Society Ordo Templi Orientis Constitution

Constitution of the Society Ordo Templi Orientis International O.T.O.

CHAPTER ONE:

OF THE NAME AND THE UNKNOWN LOCATION OF CENTER

ART. 1: The SOCIETY ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS, (O.T.O.), a private non-profit organization of unlimited duration, shall never reveal its central location in any country. This will protect the few & secret members of the Secret Circle who Oversee the Director(s). Our activities, which cover the entire world, are of a religious nature. Our Society is meant to promote practices and studies philosophical, scientific and esoteric, as well as cultural, educational, recreational, sportive and welfare activities. The Supervisor General is the O.H.O., but since the identity of the O.H.O. is never revealed, any X° may be considered a Supervisor General.

CHAPTER TWO:

OF THE PRINCIPLES AND THE AIMS

ART. 2: THE SOCIETY ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS HAS TWO BASIC PRINCIPLES:

a: To promulgate The Book of the Law, therefore uplifting humanity to the loftiness of Life, Liberty, Light and Love, establishing a Spiritual Dynasty and Hierarchy completely within the proper boundaries of the Law of Θελημα.

b: To promote the philosophy and the works of EDWARD ALEXANDER CROWLEY, English Poet, Writer and Mystic, deceased.

ART. 3: AIMS OF THE SOCIETY

a) To promote the activities necessary to its principles;

b) To concur for the increase of dignity and mutual tolerance among all beings;

c) To stimulate the organization of institutions and vivify all activities congruous with its aims and its principles.

TO THESE ENDS IT MAY:

a) Establish educational and hospital facilities, clubs, libraries, and similiar activities;

b) Promote gatherings of study and discussion, conferences and seminars, art exihibits, plays, literary issues, and other forms of communication; c) create internal lodges and organizations.

CHAPTER THREE:

OF THE MEMBERS

ART. 4: Members of the Society are those admitted to it, in the form of this Chapter, independently of sex, race, social status or nationality.

ONE: OF ADMISSION

ART. 5: Admission of members will be done through deliberation of the Directory and with the consent of the Supervisor General, the following requisites being fulfilled by candidates:

a) Be of age or have the consent of parents or guardians

b) Sign the Letter Patent of Mastery or Membership in a Lodge, according to the models provided by the Supervisor General;

c) Enjoy mental and bodily health

d) Show reasonable amount of sanity

TWO: OF TYPES OF MEMBERS

ART. 6: MEMBERS CAN BE OF THE FOLLOWING TYPES:

a) Members of Lodges-- they must sign the Letter Patent of Member, according to model provided by the Supervisor General, and enjoy the duties and rights accorded thereby;

b) Masters of Lodges-- they must sign the Letter Patent of a Master, according to the model provided by the Supervisor General, and enjoy the duties and rights accorded thereby;

1: Members of Lodge are to be supervised by the Masters of Lodge who receive them;

2: Masters of Lodges are to be supervised by the Directors who receive them.

c) Directors-- they must sign the Letter Patent of a Directory, according to model provided by the Supervisor General, and enjoy the duties and rights thereby.

d) Members of Lodge who have special talents can be assigned special duty, such as a Astrologer or accountant working under the Authority of the Supervisor General.

ART. 7: Directors are to be supervised directly by the Supervisor General or representative nominated by the Supervisor General in writing in due form of law.

THREE: RIGHTS AND DUTIES

ART. 8: IT IS THE DUTY OF MEMBERS AND MASTERS OF LODGE TO:

a) obey to the letter the terms of their Letters Patent, according to the model given by the Supervisor General;

b) Having accepted tasks, functions, or errands for the Society, to fulfill such with probity and zeal.

ART. 9: The rights of Members of Lodges and Masters of Lodges are as defined in the Letters Patent signed by them; such Letters Patent follow the model provided by the Supervisor General.

1: If the Society grows to the point where this is need, Members and Masters of Lodges will be furnished with membership cards whereby they and their families may enjoy all social facilities by the Society.

FOUR: OF EXPULSION OR SUSPENSION

ART 10: Members of Lodges, Masters of Lodges and Directors can be excluded only by severment, suspension, or expulsion.

1: Severment is effected by request, in the terms of the Letter Patent; the person requesting severment cannot be readmitted to the Society except with special notarized permission of the Supervisor General.

2: Suspension results from cumulative non-payment of the three mensalities; readmission follows the payment of the three mensalities plus interest and inflation index.

3: Expulsion results of infringement of the Letter Patent or of Chapter Two of this Constitution: an expelled Member, Master or Director can only be readmitted with special notarized permission of the Supervisor General.

ART. 11: Suspension shall be imposed on Members by Masters of Lodges; expulsion of Members of Lodges or Masters of Lodges can only be imposed by Directors; expulsion of Directors can only be effected by the Supervisor General himself.

1: Any Member or Master of Lodge expelled shall have the right of appeal directly to the Supervisor General; and the decision of the Supervisor General shall be final in all cases, being expressed in writing and duly notarized.

ART. 12: The Society is administered by a Directory chosen by the Supervisor General; each Director must sign the Letter Patent of a Director, according to the model provided by the Supervisor General.

1: The Directory shall be initially composed of at least one Director and the Supervisor General.

ART. 13: The Directory's duties and privileges shall be as defined in the Letter Patent of a Director, according to the model provided by the Supervisor General.

1: The Directory shall moreover exert the functions defined in Articles Fifteen and Sixteen and their Paragraphs.

ART. 14: It is of each Director's competence to represent the Society before the law within the limits of his or her responsibilities as defined in the Letters Patent of all members under his or her jurisdiction; nor shall the Society as a whole be held guilty of the misdemeanors or crimes of any one Director.

a) The Supervisor General or a specially nominated representative of the Supervisor General shall represent the Society as a whole before the law, nationally or internationally.

CHAPTER FIVE:

OF THE SUPERVISOR GENERAL

ART. 15: The Supervisor General holds his position for life, and cannot be deposed unless proven guilty of financial fraud against the Society in a court of law. He can, however, leave his position of his own free will.

1. The Supervisor General has no salary, but a contribution to his expenses has been defined in the Letter Patent of Director.

ART. 16 The Supervisor General nominates his successor, unless incurring in the penalty foreseen in Article 15 as a consequence of financial fraud.

1: If the Supervisor General should vacate office without nominating a successor, a successor shall be elected by the Directory one year from the date of the vacancy by unanimity.

2: If the choice be not unanimous, another election shall be held one year after the first vote is taken, and thus successively.

3. If the absence of a Supervisor General, or vacancy of the office, the Directory shall decide by unanimous ballot the cases of Article 10, (3) and Article 11.

4. If the Directory need to elect a new Supervisor General, the criterium shall be that the member of the highest degree be elected, regardless of age, sex or skin color; and if more than one exist at the time, the senior member shall be elected to the office, the date of seniority being counted from the date of the signing of the Letter Patent. To this end, only degrees or seniority in the O.T.O. count.

ART. 17: It is of the competence of the Supervisor General:

a) To nominate or depose Directors of the Society;

b) To vote or approve alteration in the Constitution,

c)Vote or approve the creation, regulation or dissolution of the organizations mentioned in Article 3 and its sole paragraph;

d) To suspend or expel members of the Society, as well as administrators of the establishments and organizations created by the Society, including managers of foundations and board members.

1: The acts of the Supervisor General are exempt of revision, explanation, or justification, as long as it doesn't incur in financial fraud as foreseen in Article 15.

CHAPTER SIX:

OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

ART. 18 General Assemblies may be Ordinary or Extraordinary.

1: Ordinary Assemblies shall be composed only of Directors of the Society and the Supervisor General.

2: Extraordinary Assemblies shall be composed of Directors and Lodge Masters under their jurisdiction. At such times the Supervisor General will be represented but will not be present.

#2: Of Ordinary and Extraordinary General Assemblies

ART. 19 General Assemblies are convoked by the Supervisor General at his direction to discuss subjects of interest to the Society.

ART. 20 General Extraordinary Assemblies debate subjects of general policy, the creation of subsidiary organisms, any needed expansion of the activities of the Society or reformation of its organization. Subjects to be discussed shall be declared before the Assembly by the representative of the Supervisor General.

ART. 21: The General Extraordinary Assembly shall freely discuss the subjects laid before it, then will vote upon them. A vote count with the Assembly's recommendations shall afterwards be laid before the Supervisor General by his representative; and the General Supervisor's decision shall be final in all cases.

ART. 22: General Extraordinary Assemblies shall elect their own moderator for the purposes of debate; the moderator cannot be a Director or the Supervisor General's representative.

CHAPTER SEVEN:

DISCIPLINARY NORMS

ART. 23 It is a demerit to infringe the Constitution or regulations and bylaws of Masonic organizations created by the Society.

1: Infringement shall be initially punished by a warning. Persistence in the infringement shall determine a request to the Supervisor General for the elimination of the culprit.

2: No member can be expelled from the Society without notarized written approval of the Supervisor General or representative thereof.

CHAPTER EIGHT:

Art. 24: The Patrimony of the Society is constituted of all goods and properties that, through any may be acquired by the Society.

1: The Society may constitute its patrimony or part of it into a Foundation, and administer it as such.

2: If a Foundation be constituted, its administrators shall be nominated or dismissed by the Supervisor General; candidates to administrative positions may be chosen by the Directory, or suggested in General or Extraordinary Assemblies.

3: Until such a foundation be instituted, the patrimony of the Society shall be registered in the form of law, in a book of accounts, with mention of the value, the nature, and the source.

ART. 25: The above mentioned Foundation shall be formed with the Society's patrimony, and of all inner and outer organizations formed by the Society, and it shall use the financial resources of those organizations as its own.

1: Beyond and above the financial administration and fulfillment of the Society's purposes, the Foundation will have as its essential aim, in any form, the promotion of mystics, philosophers, scientists, scholars and artists whose work harmonize with the philosophy and works of Edward Alexander Crowley.

ART. 26: In the case of the dissolution of the Society, the patrimony, if it be not yet instituted into a foundation, shall the have the fate ascribed to it by the Supervisor General.

CHAPTER NINE:

OF LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY AND THE FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION

ART. 27: The financial resources of the Society shall originate from its members, through monthly fees, donations, cessation of rights, or any other admissible means, as per example 5% of the monthly brute revenue of any associate. This income must be totally applied to the aims and purposes for which the Society was created, and 30% of the total 5% if each Lodge goes to the Director and 10% of this goes to the Supervisor General or representative thereof.

ART. 28: Until the Foundation mentioned in the last chapter be instituted, financial returns shall be administered by the Directory, which shall also administer the patrimony.

ART. 29 Financial transactions will be covered by the income acquired as in Article 27, and the Directory shall not, under any circumstances, assume liabilities in the name of the Society without there being previous liquidity to cover such liabilities, or foreseen and pre-calculated returns in time to cover such liabilities when due.

ART. 30 It is absolutely forbidden to jeopardize the Society's patrimony without previous notarized consent of the Supervisor General.

CHAPTER TEN:

THE CONSTITUTION

ART. 31: The Society shall be ruled by this Constitution, and decrees and acts of the Supervisor General, the Directory and other Members cannot go against the norms herein established.

ART. 32: Any regulations and bylaws, as well as any norms established by the Directory shall be complementary to this Constitution.

ART. 33: These Articles and this Constitution can only be changed by the Supervisor General.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

OF THE DISSOLUTION

ART. 34: The Society is dissolved by abandonment on the part of its Members and the Directory, as foreseen by law.

CHAPTER TWELVE:

OF GENERAL AND FINAL DISPOSITIONS

ART. 35: The fiscal year shall end in September of every year, and those responsible for the finances of the Society shall present a balance within thirty days.

ART. 36: The Society may be divided in diverse administrative areas, as may be deemed convenient by the Supervisor General.

ART. 37: The Society may absorb or incorporate other organizations that may have aims and purposes similar to those of the Society, and may be willing to submit themselves to the Constitution, regulations, and bylaws of the Society.

ART. 38: The offices of Directors, as well as all other administrative offices of the Society and its organizations, will not be renumerated; but the Supervisor General may grant expense accounts.

ART. 39: The Supervisor General cannot administer any Foundation that may be constituted as in Article 24; and the Directors who become managers of such a Foundation shall renounce their position as Directors.