The initiatory structure of A∴A∴ is based on the
Qabalistic Tree Of Life, its grades following the sephirot up the tree in reverse order. The A∴A∴ is sub-divided into three orders: The S.S., being the governing body (Third Order) and comprising those grades that are above the Abyss; The R.R. et A.C. (Second Order), comprising those degrees that are below the Abyss but above the Veil of Paroketh; and The Golden Dawn (First Order), comprising the grades below the Veil of Paroketh. A complete description of the tasks of the First Order is given in Liber XIII vel Graduum Montis Abiegni: a syllabus of the steps upon path, in The Equinox Volume 1. Two additional "grades", the Dwellers on the Thresholds, link the orders: Dominus Limnis in Paroketh, and Babe of the Abyss in the Abyss. Members of the Third Order can generate their own variations of the First and Second Order teachings as reflections of their own Understanding, contemplating systems of attainment not compassed in the curriculum of the main system.
Student A student's business is to acquire a general intellectual knowledge of all systems of attainment, as declared in the prescribed books. At the end of a fixed period, the Student takes a written examination to test his reading, after which he passes through a small ritual involving the reading of the History Lection (Liber LXI), and passes to the grade of
Probationer.
The Order of the G∴D∴ (Golden Dawn) Probationer (0°=0□): The Probationer's principal business is to begin such practices as he or she may prefer, and to write a careful record of the same for at least one year.
Neophyte (1°=10□): Has to acquire perfect control of the
body of light on the
astral plane.
Zelator (2°=9□): The Zelator's main work is to achieve complete success in
asana and
pranayama. The Zelator also begins to study the formula of the
Rose Cross.
Practicus (3°=8□): Is expected to complete the
intellectual training, and in particular to study
Qabalah.
Philosophus (4°=7□): Is expected to complete the moral training. Is tested in Devotion to the Order.
Dominus Liminis (The Link): Is expected to show mastery of
pratyahara and
dharana.
The Order of the R∴C∴ (Rosy Cross) Adeptus Minor (Without) (5°=6□): Lesser Adept (Without). Is expected to perform the Great Work and to attain the
Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. In the system of the A∴A∴ magical order, the single most important goal is to consciously connect with one's HGA and, by doing so, the magician becomes fully aware of their own
True Will. For Crowley, this event was the single most important goal of any adept:
Adeptus Minor (Within) (5°=6□): Lesser Adept (Within). Is admitted to the practice of the formula of the Rosy Cross on entering the College of the Holy Ghost.
Adeptus Major (6°=5□): Greater Adept. Obtains a general mastery of practical
Magick, though without comprehension.
Adeptus Exemptus (7°=4□): Exempt Adept. After one attains Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel and completes in perfection all these matters, the adept may attempt the crossing of
the Abyss, the great gulf or void between the phenomenal world of manifestation and its noumenal source, that great spiritual wilderness which must be crossed by the adept to attain mastery.
Choronzon is the Dweller in the Abyss; he is there as the final obstruction. If he is met with the proper preparation, then he is there to destroy the ego, which allows the adept to move beyond the Abyss. If unprepared, then the unfortunate traveller will be utterly dispersed into annihilation, leaving the adept to become a Brother of the Left Hand Path. If successful, the adept stripped of all their attainments and of their self as well, even of their Holy Guardian Angel, and becoming a Babe of the Abyss, who, having transcended the Reason, does nothing but grow in the womb of its mother,
Babalon.
The Order of the S∴S∴ (Silver Star) Magister Templi (8°=3□):
Babalon is on the other side of the Abyss (beckoning in the sphere of
Binah on the Tree of Life). If the adept gives himself to her—the symbol of this act is the pouring of the adept's blood into her
graal—he becomes impregnated in her (a state called "Babe of the Abyss"), then he is reborn as a Master and a Saint that dwells in the City of the Pyramids, becoming a
Master of the Temple (). The principal business of this grade is to obtain a perfect understanding of the
Universe. The Magister Templi is pre-eminently the Master of
Mysticism, that is, his
Understanding is entirely free from internal contradiction or external obscurity; his Work is to comprehend the existing Universe in accordance with his own Mind. This grade corresponds to
Binah on the
Tree of Life. Crowley also linked it with the experience he called "Shivadarshana" and with the Four Formless States of
Buddhism, although he cautions against treating these criteria as sufficient for the grade. The City of the Pyramids is the home to those adepts that have crossed the great
Abyss, having spilled all their blood in the
Graal of
Babalon. They have destroyed their earthly ego-identities, becoming nothing more than piles of dust (i.e., the remaining aspects of their True Selves without the self-sense of "I"). It is a step along the path of spiritual purification, and a spiritual resting place for those who have successfully shed their attachments to the mundane world. The City exists under the
Night of Pan, or N.O.X. Pan is both the giver and the taker of life, and his Night is that time of symbolic death where the adept experiences unification with the All through the ecstatic destruction of the ego-self. In a less poetic symbolic sense, this is the state where one transcends all limitations and experiences oneness with the universe.
Magus (9°=2□): The Magus seeks to attain
Wisdom (symbolized by entering
Chokmah on the Tree of Life), declares his law, and is a Master of all
Magick in its greatest and highest sense. His will is entirely free from internal diversion or external opposition; His work is to create a new
Universe in accordance with his
Will. This grade corresponds to
Chokmah on the
Tree of Life. It also bears some resemblance to
Nietzsche's "new philosopher" who creates values, although with more focus on self-transcendence according to Crowley biographer Lawrence Sutin. The state of being a Magus is described in Crowley's
Liber B vel Magi. Of the Magi, Crowley writes: Elsewhere, he admits the possibility of someone reaching this rank without uttering a new magick Word. Such a Magus, he says, would identify himself or herself with the Word of the current Aeon and work to establish it. In
Magick Without Tears, Crowley suggests (without actually saying so) that the Secret Chiefs of the A∴A∴ have reached at least the rank of Magus, in some sense.
Ipsissimus (10°=1□): The state of Ipsissimus is the very highest grade possible (symbolized by the sphere of
Kether on the Tree of Life), beyond the comprehension of the lower degrees. An Ipsissimus is free from limitations and necessity and lives in perfect balance with the manifest universe. Essentially, the highest mode of attainment. This grade corresponds to
Kether on the
Tree of Life. Ipsissimus is quite hard to translate directly from Latin to English, but it is essentially the superlative of "self", translating rather approximately to "His most Selfness", or "self-est". (cf.
generalissimus for the same superlative form in use for a grade from same Latin root.) Crowley named as a condition of this grade the trance
Nirodha-samapatti, which reduces heartbeat and other life functions to the bare minimum.
Theravada Buddhist monks traditionally attain nirodha-samapatti by producing the aforementioned Formless States one after the other, and perceiving in each what they call the Three Characteristics of all existence: sorrow or tendency towards sorrow, change or unreliability, and insubstantiality or lack of self. Crowley and the A∴A∴ however seek to replace this threefold concept of existence with the quest for balance as both a motive for discipline and the means of achieving their end goal. In
Liber B vel Magi they urge the Magus seeking further progress to identify the Buddhist Three Characteristics with the opposite states. "Wherein Sorrow is Joy, and Change is Stability, and Selflessness is Self." Crowley's version of nirodha includes "seeing first the truth and then the falsity of the Three Characteristics" according to his published theory. The Ipsissimus should keep the achievement of this final grade secret, even from the rest of the Order, and continue with the work of the Magus while expressing the nature of an Ipsissimus in word and deed. Crowley writes: ==See also==