The Equinox (Volume III, Number I)

CONSTITUTION OF THE ORDER whatever is said in any grade. It has no relation to the general plan of the Order, is inscrutable, and dwells in its own Palaces. “There are certain important financial obligations in various grades. “The Electoral College of the Senate is vowed to poverty. All property, earnings, or salaries are vested in or paid over to the Grand Treasurer General. The members subsist on the charity of the Order, which is extended to them in accordance with their original rank in life. “These remarks apply equally to the Supreme Grand Council, and all higher degrees. “In the Seventh Degree it is a qualification to vest some real property in the Order; and no one is admitted to this grade without this preliminary. “Those members of the Order who have given all to it must obtain the money for their initiation fees and subscriptions from the Third Triad, whose honour is thus concerned in the unselfish support of those who have abandoned all for their sakes. “The Grand Treasurer General is appointed by the Supreme and Most Holy King; he may be a member of any grade whatever; but he must, on accepting office, take the vow of poverty. His authority is absolute in all financial matters; but he is responsible to, and may be removed at will by, the Supreme and Most Holy King. He will appoint a committee to assist him and advise him in his work; and he will usually select one person from each of the governing bodies of the Order. “Such is a brief outline of the government of the O.T.O. It combines mon- archy with democracy; it includes aristocracy, and conceals even the seeds of revolution, by which alone progress can be effected. Thus we balance the Triads, uniting the Three in One; thus we gather up all the threads of human passion and interest, and weave them into an harmonious tapestry, subtly and diligently with great art, that our Order may seem an ornament even to the Stars that are in the Heavens at Night. In our rainbow-coloured texture we set forth the glory of the whole Universe—See thou to it, brother Magician, that thine own thread be strong, and pure, and of a colour brilliant in itself, yet ready to mingle in all beauty with those of thy brethren !”