The EGC system is closely related to the O.T.O. but revolves around the traditional ecclesiastical offices of Priest and Bishop, as found in the wandering Bishop tradition of esoteric Christianity. A number of new Thelemic groups with their own initiations and courses of study have sprung up since Crowley's death in 1947 and several are currently in operation. The largest O.T.O. group , under Hymenaeus Beta, has won court cases in which it asserted the right to the O.T.O. name and to its share of the Crowley estate. Today there are spiritual methods that improve on Crowley's curriculum, like isolation tanks, trance music, sigilization, and mind machines. The Protestant work ethic is obsolete and there's no reason a magical path has to cop a Victorian attitude.
Progress is possible through play as much as perseverance and perspiration.
The homogenizing and leveling effects of social bonding are always in tension with the freedom of the individual. The work of such scholars as Gershom Scholem, who researched the dynamic between traditional dogma and individual spiritual experience in Qabala, and Ellic Howe, who documented the social dynamics of the Golden Dawn, is useful in understanding Thelema as well. Thelemic groups have a dogmatic tendency that is in conflict with their commitment to freedom. There are many power dynamics involved in initiatic hierarchy and many people seek degrees for status and power. Establishing Silence through Yogic concentration, then calling upon and strongly imagining the Forces behind the sensible world and emanating downward from Kether, one may climb the Ladder of Lights and obtain Enlightenment.