{"id":2142,"date":"2025-07-04T10:14:40","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T17:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/?page_id=2142"},"modified":"2025-07-04T10:32:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T17:32:17","slug":"oto-a-high-control-group","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/oto-a-high-control-group\/","title":{"rendered":"OTO: A High-Control Group"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/oto-high-control-group-banner-1024x320.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/oto-high-control-group-banner-1024x320.png 1024w, https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/oto-high-control-group-banner-300x94.png 300w, https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/oto-high-control-group-banner-768x240.png 768w, https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/oto-high-control-group-banner-1536x480.png 1536w, https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/oto-high-control-group-banner.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2025, after 11 years of service, I resigned Ordo Templi Orientis and began to speak out against the patterns of abuse I witnessed while inside. These patterns include: protection of well-connected insiders, limited transparency, surveillance of members&#8217; private lives, punishment of dissent, and gaslighting and defamation of critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My purpose is to help those inside recognize these patterns\u2014to understand that this is not a case of a few loose canons, incompetent leaders, or bad decisions. It&#8217;s a system set up to erode of self of its members and to punish the telling of truth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Videos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PL4A_WUejuxB8ZZOUHPfYVO2a1c8OoWM7F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">OTO: Analysis of a High-Control Group<\/a>: This is the playlist on my YouTube channel containing videos about why I left, why I spoke up, and what happened to me when I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Blog Posts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Posts related to my analysis of OTO as a high-control group can be found under the <a href=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/tag\/oto-high-control-group-2\/\" title=\"\">OTO high control group tag<\/a>. Some noteworthy posts include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/letter-of-resignation-of-membership-from-oto\/\" title=\"\">My formal letter of resignation from OTO<\/a>: Addressed to the Executive Council Fri, May 23, 2025<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/public-statement-resignation-from-o-t-o\/\" title=\"Public Statement: Resignation from O.T.O.\">Public announcement of my resignation<\/a>: Made on Facebook the afternoon I resigned<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/why-i-really-left-it-wasnt-burnout\/\" title=\"Why I really left (it wasn\u2019t burnout)\">Why I Left<\/a>: Brief overview of patterns that made me resign<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/the-problem-isnt-how-you-said-it-its-that-you-said-it\/\" title=\"The problem isn\u2019t how you said it. It\u2019s THAT you said it.\">The problem isn&#8217;t how you said it. It&#8217;s THAT you said it.<\/a>: OTO tends to tone-police critics\u2014here&#8217;s why that matters.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/they-literally-paid-to-spy-on-me\/\" title=\"They (literally) paid to spy on me\">They (literally) paid to spy on me<\/a>: How my successor at Horizon paid to spy on me. OTO&#8217;s surveillance culture in action.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/they-called-it-psychosis\/\" title=\"They Called It Psychosis\">They Called It Psychosis<\/a>: Documenting the smear campaign against me that started the minute I resigned.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/when-letting-go-becomes-a-weapon\/\" title=\"When \u201cLetting Go\u201d Becomes a Weapon\">When &#8220;Letting Go&#8221; Becomes a Weapon<\/a>: Calling out the pattern of spiritualized gaslighting of dissenters\u2014and why I won&#8217;t shut up.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/when-the-leaders-are-the-dangerous-ones\/\" title=\"When the leaders are the dangerous ones\">When the Leaders are the Dangerous Ones<\/a>: The sheer amount of violence and threats I saw tolerated in OTO in my 11 years was as astonishing as it was unethical. <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/9VGYtyGy0vk?si=vejVQwF3sKYMVWBV\" title=\"\">Watch this video<\/a> next.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/control-compliance-and-consequences-my-2019-encounter-with-oto-leadership\/\" title=\"Control, Compliance, and Consequences: My 2019 Encounter with OTO Leadership\">Control, Compliance, and Consequences: My 2019 Encounter with OTO Leadership<\/a>: A noteworthy example of OTO&#8217;s high-control tactics in action.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Spirituality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My decision to leave OTO was not just a moral one; it was also a spiritual one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between 2021 and 2025, I underwent a process of spiritual and psychological development\u2014at times gradual, at times punctuated\u2014during which I recovered from trauma and developed a stronger sense of self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.kit.com\/transmission\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">The Arc of Transmission<\/a> is a free PDF bundle that documents the end-stage of this process, in which I woke up to who I was\u2014and to the fact that I was living in a system designed to suffocate true selfhood. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2025, after 11 years of service, I resigned Ordo Templi Orientis and began to speak out against the patterns of abuse I witnessed while inside. These patterns include: protection of well-connected insiders, limited transparency, surveillance of members&#8217; private lives, punishment of dissent, and gaslighting and defamation of critics. My purpose is to help those&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2142","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2142"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2161,"href":"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2142\/revisions\/2161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapis-mercurii.org\/lvx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}