We, the Members & Adepts of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn, in order to form a more perfect vehicle for the creation of Adept Magi, to educate and prepare those who would aspire to the same high estate, and to secure the blessings of a community thereof to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn.
Article I: Legislature
Section 1: Origin of Power
1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in the College of the Adepts of the Rose Cross, which shall consist of all Adept Members of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn of the rank of 5=6 Adeptus Minor or higher and in good standing.
2. The Adepts of each Lodge constitute its College. Each Lodge or collection of Lodges shall form its own College to oversee its administration. The collective Adepts of the whole Order shall constitute the Collegium Ordinis, or College of the Order which shall oversee the administration of the Order as a whole.
Section 2: Duties of the College of a Lodge
1. The College of the Lodge shall annually select by nomination and ballot from their number their First Adept, styled Adeptus Princeps, and before each Equinox their Hierophant for the season.
2. Several Lodges may unite their Colleges into a Chapter and choose a single Adeptus Princeps for all of them, to aid in the administration and governance of the Lodges of the Region, and as a place of Communion for the Adepts of the Region. This may be done on application and approval of the Collegium Ordinis, by such rules and regulations as it may hereafter establish, on such pattern as it itself is formed, and of which it shall be the Mother Chapter thereof.
3. The College will select from its members the Dais Chiefs for the Lodge, namely the Cancellarius, the Imperator, and the Praemonstrator by nomination and ballot when there is a vacancy, and they shall serve their respective functions until they resign or are dismissed by the College after a majority vote of no confidence and a motion to dismiss ratified by two-thirds of the Adepti.
4. The College shall receive the report on the activities of the past year and the status of the Lodge from the Adeptus Princeps and the Chiefs of the Lodge annually and vote on the proposed budget of the Princeps-elect for the coming year.
5. The College shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the Adeptus Princeps of the College is tried, the Imperator shall preside. No Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Adepts present.
6. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of Honor, Trust, or Profit of the Order, but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to temporary or permanent exile from Communion with the College, demotion to the Grade of Portal, or expulsion from the Order according to Law.
7. The College shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on Day “C”, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day. All Members of the College are required to attend or write cause for their absence.
Section 3: Voting
1. The College shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as the College may provide.
2. The College may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member from the Session.
3. The College shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members on any question shall, at the Desire of one-fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal. Absent members may appoint proxy for that Session, for an issue or law, or write same, but not in trial.
Section 4: Legislation
1. All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the College; but the Areopagus may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
2. Every Bill which shall have passed the College, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the Adeptus Princeps of the College; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his Objections to the College, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two-thirds of that College shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Vote of the College shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal. If any Bill shall not be returned by the Adeptus Princeps within ten Days after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the College by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
3. Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the College may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the Adeptus Princeps; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the College, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
Section 5: Revenue
1. The College shall have Power to raise Funds, establish Dues and other Administrative Fees as may be deemed necessary, to pay the Debts and provide for the right Governance, continuous Improvement, general Welfare of the Lodge and when necessary its Defense.
Section 6: Restrictions
1. No Lodge shall, without the Consent of the Collegium Ordinis, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another Lodge, Order or other Body, or engage in War, unless actually attacked, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay, nor pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts.
Section 7: The College of the Rose Cross of the Order
Part 1: Constituency
1. All of the Adepts of the Order together constitute its College, styled Collegium Rosæ Crucis Ordinis, which is responsible to oversee the administration of the Order.
Part 2: Recursivity
1. The duties, responsibilities, and powers of the Collegium Ordinis or College of the Order, are the same as those of an individual Lodge with the following exceptions herein outlined.
Part 3: Presidency
1. The College of the Order in all its meetings shall be presided over by the Vox Collegi, or Speaker of the College, applying such regulations as the College shall ordain.
2. The Vox Collegi as President of the College shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. The Vox will be chosen by lot from the present members of the college at the beginning of each Session of the college and is released from that duty at the adjournment of the Session.
3. The Collegium Ordinis shall choose their Vox and other Officers and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment of the Officers of the Order.
Part 4: The Grand Neophyte
1. In order that the Members of the First Order be properly represented within the Collegium Ordinis, one member of the First Order holding any grade from 1=10 to 4=7 will be elected by all members of the First Order to sit in the College and Areopagus of the Order and have full speaking rights when the College or Areopagus meet, but may not chair any committee of the Collegium Ordinis, sit on any jury, nor be judge in any tribunal. This officer will be styled “Grand Neophyte” and invested with suitable insignia. Upon entering the Portal, the Grand Neophyte must resign this office.
Part 5: Enumeration of the Powers of the Collegium Ordinis
1. The Collegium Ordinis shall have Power:
- To raise Funds, establish Dues and other Administrative Fees as may be deemed necessary, to pay the Debts and provide for the right Governance, continuous Improvement, general Welfare of the Order and when necessary its Defense, but all such Dues and Fees shall be uniform throughout all Lodges of the Order;
- To borrow money on the credit of the Order;
- To regulate Commerce with foreign Bodies and amongst the Lodges;
- To establish a uniform Rule of Membership on all matters not established under this Constitution, and uniform Laws and regulations throughout the Order;
- To establish and maintain communications channels throughout the Order and its Administration;
- To promote the Progress of Magick and allied Arts, by supporting and publishing the works of member Authors and Inventors and their respective Writings and Discoveries in what manner the College deems most expedient;
- To constitute Tribunals inferior to the College;
- To declare War, to raise and support Martial Forces, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
- To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of Martial Forces;
- To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Areopagus and College of the Rose Cross of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn or in any Department or Officer thereof.
- To insure that no Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
- To insure that no Preference shall be given by any Regulation to any one Lodge over those of another, save what requirements are needed for the Mother Lodge to properly administer the Order.
- To insure that no Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law, and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time and subject to the scrutiny of any member of the Lodge or Order.
Article II: Executive
Section 1: Adeptus Princeps
1. The executive Power shall be vested in an Adeptus Princeps of the Collegium Rosæ Crucis Ordinis. This Princeps shall hold Office during the Term of One Year, and, together with the Adeptus Secundus and Adeptus Tertius chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows: An Election Committee will be chosen by lot from the Adepti to superintend the election. The votes of all members of the Collegium Ordinis shall be collected, the election having been announced and a deadline published of not less than thirty days.
2. All eligible shall vote by Ballot for three persons, one for each post of Adeptus Princeps, Adeptus Secundus, and Adeptus Tertius. The Election Committee shall collect the Ballots and shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each, which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the College of the Rose Cross of the Order directed to the Speaker of the College. The Vox shall, in the Presence of the College, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes for the Office shall be the Princeps; if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of possible votes and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the College shall immediately choose by Ballot one of them for Princeps and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said College shall in like Manner choose the Princeps. A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two-thirds of the Lodges. In like manner so shall the Offices of second and third Adept be chosen.
3. The College may determine the Time of the Elections, and the Day on which they must be received by the College, which Day shall be the same throughout the Order.
4. No person except an Adept of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn who has served a full term as a regularly Installed Hierophant of the Order shall be eligible to the Office of Adeptus Princeps, nor shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have been Four Years a member of the Order.
5. In order to assure smooth Functioning, consistent Vision, and competent Leadership, the office of the Adeptus Princeps will be last of three progressive offices. Each one-year office will require the vote of the College each year, with a general expectation that the officer will ascend to the next office in the series.
6. The Chief Executive Officer of the Order is the Adeptus Princeps or First Adept of the College of the Rose Cross of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn. This officer may be a Chief of a Lodge or the Order, or a committee chair, but not a Hierophant during the Principal term.
7. The First Adept is supported by the Second Adept styled “Adeptus Secundus,” and fulfills the duties of the First in absence. With the positive vote of the College the Second Adept will ascend to the Principate upon successful completion of the term of office as Second Adept. After election to the Principate and at the Session prior to said ascension the Adeptus Secundus will present a Budget to the College for the ensuing Principal year to be voted upon at that time.
8. The First Adept is further supported by the Third Adept, styled Adeptus Tertius, and fulfills the duties of the Second Adept in absence of the Princeps and in absence of the Secundus. With the positive vote of the College the Third Adept will ascend to the second Adeptship upon successful completion of the term of office as Third Adept. The duties of the First Adept may be divided among the Second and Third Adepts at the discretion of the First.
9. The First Adept is a voting member of all committees, tribunals and administrative Order bodies. The Second and Third Adepts are non-voting members of all committees, tribunals and administrative Order bodies.
10. In Case of the Removal of the Adeptus Princeps from Office, or Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Adeptus Secundus, and in turn the Adeptus Tertius, and the College may by Rule provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, severally of the Adeptus Princeps, Adeptus Secundus and Adeptus Tertius, declaring what Officer shall then act as Princeps, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or an Adeptus Princeps shall be elected.
11. Before entering on the Execution of the Office, the Adept shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: “On my honor and under the penalty of expulsion from the Order, I promise that I will faithfully execute the Office of Adeptus Princeps Collegium Rosæ Crucis Ordinis, and will to the best of my Ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn.” Like obligations will be taken by the Adepti Secundus and Tertius and by the Three Chiefs of the Order.
Section 2: Powers of the Adeptus Princeps
1. The Adeptus Princeps shall be Commander in Chief of the Martial Forces of the Order. He may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the Order, except in Cases of Impeachment.
2. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the College, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Adepts present concur, and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the College, shall appoint Chiefs, Ambassadors, other Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Tribunals, and all other Officers of the Order, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law, but the College may by Rule vest the Appointment of such inferior Offices, as they think proper, in the Princeps alone, or in the Heads of Departments.
3. The Adeptus Princeps shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the College, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Section 3: Responsibility to Report
1. The Adeptus Princeps shall annually give to the College Information of the State of the Order, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene the College, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the Order.
Article III: The Areopagus
Section 1: The Areopagus of a Lodge
1. The Areopagus of the Lodge, or council of experts will be composed of the Three Chiefs of the Lodge, each with their own areas of responsibility, the Current and Past Hierophant, the Chairs of the several committees established under their care, and the Adeptus Princeps of the Lodge, supported in a non-voting capacity by the Adepti Secundus and Tertius.
Section 2: The Areopagus of the Order
1. The Areopagus of the Order will be composed of the Three Chiefs of the Order, styled General, each with their own areas of responsibility, the Chairs of the several committees established under their care, the Grand Neophyte, and the Adeptus Princeps, supported in a non-voting capacity by the Adepti Secundus and Tertius.
Section 3: Responsibilities
1. The Praemonstrator is responsible for the Rites, Practices, Curriculum and Symbolism of the Lodge.
2. The Imperator is responsible for the Internal Discipline, External Security and the Treasury of the Lodge. Save for the duty of auditing the Treasury, which shall belong to the Cancellarius and certified by the Adeptus Princeps, the Imperator is responsible for monitoring all internal and external Conditions and Key Indicators and reporting on same.
3. The Cancellarius is responsible for the Communications, Publications and Records of the Lodge as well as the production and issuing of all Certificates and Charters.
4. The Hierophant is responsible for the performance of Ritual, presides over the Lodge when it is open and, together with the Dais Chiefs, makes the Equinoctial Report on behalf of the Lodge to the Order.
5. The Areopagus, severally and together will propose and maintain Regulations for the administration of their areas of responsibility and for the smooth operation of the Lodge.
Section 4: The Chiefs General
1. The Praemonstrator General, Imperator General and Cancellarius General of the Order have analogous responsibilities to the Chiefs of the Lodge, but their jurisdiction is the Order as a whole. The Praemonstrator General is the final authority on the Rites, Practices, Curriculum and Symbolism of the Order, the Imperator General for the Monitoring and Reporting of Key Indicators, and the collection of annual Funds, and the Cancellarius General for Order Communications, Documents, Certificates and Publications.
Section 5: Reporting
1. Each Equinox, each Chief of the Areopagus of the Lodge and their subordinate committee chairs will present to the College of the Lodge a report of their activities, the state of their area of care and any Key Indicators and Conditions deemed relevant by the Adeptus Princeps, the Areopagus, and the College. They will submit a written summary thereof to the Cancellarius Ordinis within ten days thereafter. The First Adept of the College will nominate New Chiefs and the College ratify by majority their appointment.
2. Each Day C, each Chief of the Areopagus of the Order and their subordinate committee chairs will present to the College of the Order a report of their activities, the state of their area of care and any key indicators and conditions deemed relevant by the Adeptus Princeps, the Areopagus, and the College of the Order. The Cancellarius Ordinis will publish a summary thereof, and the year’s submitted Equinoctial Lodge reports within ten days thereafter. The First Adept of the Order will nominate New Chiefs and the College Ratify by majority their appointment.
Section 6: Removal from Office
1. All members of the Areopagus shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Section 7: Division of Responsibilities
1. The Adeptus Princeps is responsible for setting the Agenda of all Sessions. The Adeptus Princeps shall propose Initiatives; submit Laws, which require Collegial Approval; promulgate Regulations, which do not require Collegial Approval but can be overturned by resolution of the College; and before taking office submit an Annual Budget.
2. The Chiefs are responsible for the administration of their several offices and may impose Regulations upon the functioning of the areas of their responsibility, which can only be overturned by a Principal Regulation (i.e. from the First Adept) or by resolution of the College.
3. The College will approve or deny all Legislation, and accept or reject all Budgets, or pass supportive resolutions by a majority. It shall overturn Areopaget or Principal Regulations only by a two-thirds vote.
4. While the First Adept allocates the Agenda, there will always be time for the Chiefs and Grand Neophyte and Speaker to address the College and for the Adepts of the College to propose Legislation or Topics for Resolution.
Article IV: Judiciary
Section 1: Investiture of Judicial Powers
1. The judicial Power of a Lodge of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn shall be vested in the College and in such inferior Tribunals as the College may from time to time ordain and establish.
Section 2: Jurisdiction
1. The College has jurisdiction over all matters appertaining to the Lodge or Lodges of which its Adepts are members. The College of the Order likewise has jurisdiction over all matters appertaining to the Order as a whole, between Lodges, and with all Persons and Bodies without the Order. The College of the Order is also the appellate court of all matters that cannot be settled within a Lodge of the Order and constitutes the Supreme and Final Court of Appeal.
Section 3: Tribunals
1. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Tribunals, shall be appointed by the Princeps with the advice and consent of the College from amongst the Adepts of the Order and shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, during the time of the enquiry and trial of the Matter for which they have been appointed. If the enquiry and trial are of the Princeps, the Imperator will make the Judicial appointment under the same conditions.
Section 4: Powers
1. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Rules of the Order, Regulations thereof and of the Lodges, as well as Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other Chiefs, Ministers and Consuls; to Controversies to which the Order shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more Lodges; between Members of different Lodges; between a Lodge and Members of that Lodge and between members of the same Lodge when requested by the Adepts or Chiefs of that Lodge; and between a Lodge, or the Members thereof, and other Orders and their membership.
2. In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a Lodge shall be Party, the College of the Lodge shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the College of the Order shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the College of the Order shall make.
3. The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury of Adepts, and such Trial shall be held in the Lodge where the said Crimes shall have been committed, but when not committed within any Lodge, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the College with jurisdiction may by Rule have directed.
Section 5: Treason
1. Treason against the Order, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
2. The College of any Lodge shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
Article V: Lodges
Section 1: Communion
1. Lodges of the Order are autonomous bodies that maintain communion with the Order by operating by the Principles and Constitution of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn, and the mutual will to be so with the College of the whole Order. They are therefore, on application to and acceptance by the College of the Order elected to that state by the two-thirds vote of the Collegium Ordinis and duly Chartered, which shall establish rules and procedures for same.
Section 2: Termination of Communion
1. Lodges may terminate their Communion with the Order by sending due notice to the Cancellarius of the Order with the signatures of three-quarters of the Adepts and Members of the Lodge. The College of the Order, after due investigation, trial and an affirmative vote of three-quarters of the Adepts of the Order, may terminate the communion of any Lodge with the Order by sending due notice of the withdrawal of the Lodge’s charter.
Section 3: Regulation of the Lodge
1. With the advice and consent of the Adepti of the Lodge, its Areopagus of the Lodge may make such rules and impose such dues as it sees fit for the proper maintenance and well being of the Lodge, save only that they do not conflict with this Constitution or such Laws, Regulations and Ordinances as the College of the Order may hereafter Legislate.
Section 4: Faith and Credit
1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each Lodge to the Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other Lodge. The Collegium Ordinis may by general Rules prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.
Section 5: Privileges and Immunities
1. The Members of each Lodge shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Members of the Order. A Person charged in any Lodge with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another Lodge, shall on demand of the executive Authority of the Lodge from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the Lodge having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
Section 6: Admission of Lodges
1. New Lodges may be admitted by the College of the Order into this Order, but no new Lodges shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other Lodge, nor any Lodge be formed by the Junction of two or more Lodges, or parts thereof, without the Consent of the Adepts of the Lodges concerned as well as of the Collegium Ordinis.
Section 7: Regulation of the Order
1. The Collegium Ordinis shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Jurisdiction or other Domain belonging to the Open Source Order and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the Order, or of any particular Lodge.
Section 8: Hierophantic Authority
1. Notwithstanding grade, seniority, or office, the installed Hierophant of the Lodge is the sole and supreme authority in the Lodge while the same may remain open.
Article VI: Membership and Advancement
Section 1: Membership
1. Membership in the OSOGD shall be by complete and successful passage of the 0=0 Neophyte ritual, performed in a Chartered Lodge in ample form only. Notice of the same shall be furnished to the Cancellarius General by or at the succeeding Equinox and recorded.
Section 2: Advancement
1. Advancement shall be by the successful completion of the requirements of the Grade as published by the Praemonstrator General, determined by suitable test, and the complete and successful passage of the succeeding Advancement Ritual, performed in a Chartered Lodge in ample form.
Section 3: Previous Attainment
1. Whereas some persons of advanced practice may seek to join the Order at the level of their previous attainment, they may do so with the consent of all Adepts of the Lodge they seek to join. If there are less than three Adepts in that Lodge the Areopagus Ordinis must also grant permission. The Adepts may impose such tests as to assure themselves of the aspirant’s advanced standing. However, while the Elemental advancements may be omitted if deemed appropriate by the Adepts of the Lodge, the 0=0 Neophyte Ritual, the Rite of the Portal and the 5=6 Adeptus Minor Ritual may at no time be omitted.
Section 4: Termination of Membership
1. Membership in the Order may be terminated in three ways:
- A member may Demit if parting from the Order in good terms. Demission may be reversed by agreement of all parties. Written notice of the same must be presented to the Chiefs of the Lodge of Membership and agreed to by Them. A copy of this will be filed and recorded by the Cancellarius General.
- A member may Resign, which is a full, permanent, and, in that lifetime, irreversible separation from the Order, initiated by the member. Written notice of the same must be presented to the Chiefs of the Lodge of Membership. A copy of this will be filed and recorded by the Cancellarius General.
- A member may be Expelled, which is likewise a full, permanent, and, in that lifetime, irreversible separation from the Order, enacted by the Areopagus or College after suitable enquiry and trial. Written notice of Expulsion must be presented to the Areopagus of the Lodge of Membership, communicated to the former member, and shall be filed and recorded by the Cancellarius General.
Article VII: Of the Third Order
Section 1: Of the Masters
1. Whereas the College of Adepts renders due respect to the Masters of the Sanctuary of the Silver Star or Third Order and as that Estate is rendered invisibly upon Adepti by the Cosmos, and as the administration of the Order must be Public and Transparent to the Adepts and Neophytes of the Order, Membership in the Third Order shall in no way grant especial Authority that circumvents this Constitution and the Duly Elected Officers of the Order and its Lodges.
Section 2: Of the Founding Chief Adept
1. Nevertheless, as the Founding Chief Adept abides permanently in a unique state of responsibility to the Order as a Whole, that One is granted perpetually the authority to vote on all committees, tribunals and administrative Order bodies, to call the same and the College of the Order and individual Lodges into Session and to address all such bodies when in Session. The Founding Chief Adept is further exempt from all Dues, Taxes and Excises established by Order or College and cannot be considered not in good standing for lack of payment. Finally, should in future incarnations One demonstrate to the Collegium Rosæ Crucis Ordinis that he or she is a reincarnation or emanation of that Deceased Officer, that One will be granted again these same special powers and privileges.
Article VIII: Amendments
1. The Collegium Ordinis, whenever two-thirds of It shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Adepti of two-thirds of the several Lodges, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Adepti of three fourths of the several Lodges, or by Conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the College of the Order.
Article IX: Supremacy of this Constitution in Law
1. This Constitution, and the Rules of the OSOGD which shall be made in Pursuance thereof, and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the Order, shall be the supreme Rule of the Order, and the Adepti in every Lodge shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Rules of any Lodge to the Contrary notwithstanding. The Chiefs and Officers before mentioned, and the Adepti of the several Lodges, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the Order and of the several Lodges, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution, but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or Trust under the OSOGD.