Gerald Gardner is generally considered the "father" of Wicca. We might therefore say that Aleister Crowley is the granddaddy of Wicca, or at least the strange uncle of Wicca. Gerald Gardner was initiated into the Ordo Templi Orientis by Aleister Crowley, and much of Gardner's Wiccan rituals contained Crowley material. The third degree initiation ceremony, which includes the Great Rite, is derived almost completely from Crowley's Gnostic Mass. Some say that this is flagrant plagarism. Others say Gardner was simply carrying out Crowley's plan for a new pagan religion. The rituals of the Ordo Templi Orientis were derived mostly from Freemasonry, with influence from Theosophy, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Yoga, Buddhism, and Rosicrucianism. The main public ritual of the OTO was the Gnostic Mass, written in 1911. A priest bears a Sacred Lance, a priestess bears a sword, paten and cakes. The priestess mixes water and salt in a font, with which she consecra...