Thus, by 1912, Crowley and Reuss had condensed the system of Craft and high-grade Freemasonry into a workable system of ten numbered degrees which incorporated the teachings and symbolism of a number of additional occult and mystical societies. Kellner's three degree Academia Masonica formed the VII°, VIII° and IX° of this system. The tenth degree (X°), "Rex Summus Sanctissimus," or "Supremus Rex," designated the National Grand Master General of O.T.O. for a particular country, region, or linguistic group. The ultimate authority in the Order worldwide was vested in the Frater Superior or Outer Head of the Order (O.H.O.)

    The National Grand Masters General had the authority to appoint their own representatives, called "Viceroys," in other countries with the same dominant language. Viceroys could also be accorded the X° by the O.H.O. The National Grand Masters General were expected to conduct the business of O.T.O. in accordance with the O.T.O. Constitution, but largely without day-to-day supervision by the international headquarters or "Central Office."

The Manifesto des MMM included photographs of Crowley's manor-house in Scotland, called Boleskine, which served as a "Profess-House" of the Order. It also included a list of dues and fees for each degree, as well as a list of "affiliation fees," whereby Freemasons could affiliate directly at the level corresponding to their own degree in Masonry. These lists were reprinted in the 1914 issue of the Oriflamme, along with the degree titles from Crowley's Manifesto translated into German.

    In 1912, the system of O.T.O., despite its various influences, remained principally Masonic. In the Jubilee Edition of the Oriflamme, Reuss stated that O.T.O. "is not a masonic order, pure and simple, but every member of our Order, man or woman...must proceed through the craft degrees of Freemasonry, also those of high-grade Freemasonry, before they can be illuminated and initiated members of our Order." However, the United Grand Lodge of England, to whom Crowley technically owed Masonic allegiance, objected to the performance of the Craft Degrees in England outside of its jurisdiction, and objected to the admission of women into Freemasonry. Therefore, Crowley included the following statement in his The Manifesto of the MMM: 

The O.T.O., although an Academia Masonica, is not a Masonic Body so far as the craft degrees are concerned in the sense in which that expression is usually understood in England; and therefore in no way conflicts with, or infringes the just privileges of, the United Grand Lodge of England.

    On February 15, 1913, Crowley adopted a constitution for the MMM, subject to the General Constitution of O.T.O. On March 19, 1913, Crowley and Reuss jointly chartered James Thomas Windram (Mercurius, 1877-1939) as the O.T.O.'s official representative in South Africa. Later in 1913, while visiting Moscow, Crowley composed the Gnostic Mass, which he "prepared for the use of the O.T.O., the central ceremony of its public and private celebration, corresponding to the Mass of the Roman Catholic Church".

    World War I broke out on July 28, 1914. Crowley moved to New York in October of 1914; the following year finding employment as a writer for George Sylvester Viereck's periodicals The Fatherland and The International, and as managing editor for the latter. In December of 1914, Crowley appointed Charles Stansfeld Jones (Parzival, 1886-1950) as Sovereign Grand Inspector General VII° and Crowley's personal representative in the City of Vancouver. In March of 1915, Windram appointed Ernest W. T. Dunn VII° (Maximus) as Acting Viceroy for Australasia.

    Despite his earlier disclaimer about the Craft Degrees in The Manifesto of the MMM, Crowley remained uncomfortable with the Masonic character of the O.T.O., for a number of additional reasons:

• In contrast with Reuss, Crowley believed that women could not be initiated as Freemasons; though he thought that they ought to be able to be initiated into O.T.O.
• He was frustrated with the elaborate preparations required to stage Masonic initiations, and with the length of the Masonic rituals and their excessive wordiness. Crowley perceived these factors to be impediments to successful implementation among modern working people.
• He believed that the symbolic content of the Masonic rituals had become garbled nearly to the point of uselessness.
• He wished to use the system of O.T.O. to help spread the teachings of Thelema.

    For these reasons, Crowley undertook to prepare revised rituals which would convey the significance of the Craft and high degrees concisely and dramatically, which would be suitable for the initiation of both men and women, which not infringe on the just privileges of the United Grand Lodge of England, and which would convey the basic teachings of Thelema. Crowley did so around 1915, and adopted the revised rituals for use in his own section of O.T.O., the MMM.Crowley wrote about his revised rituals to Arnold Krumm-Heller on June 22, 1930:

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