Ravenest, I was involved in the OTO, Western US, though not part of, to my knowledge, of the current US Grand Lodge. I was part of this organization for less than 5 years -- mostly because of some of the weird behavior I witnessed. The bulk of my studies have been on my own.
Yes, I expect full physical manifestation during magical rites - though not of gods or angels. The OTO rites I attended were nothing more than Masonic-style ritual -- with no physical results. Consecrated planetary talismans made in flashing colors were not effective, no measurable results. No manifestiation/communication during exactly 12 Goetic evocations. Nothing. Did not get through the Enochian stuff, but after reading through Dee's original material, I see that it bears very little relation to what the GD taught, so I'm skeptical.
Magic is an act of will. If you've got thoughts floating around in your head like "the spirits of the Goetia are actually parts of the human brain", or "it is immaterial whether these things exist or not", "I don't expect anything to actually appear", the magic wont' work -- because you don't really believe in it. You have mentally set yourself up for failure. Your will has been effectively neutered. Not only must you believe that the magic will produce real, tangible results, but there must be an underlying, logical structure behind the methods you are using. The Esoteric/Kabbalah type of approach, as taught by the GD, to my mind is so full of flaws and holes that it is insufficient as a magical system (see my comments above).
Also, it may be that I'm a direct, no-nonsense guy. I wanted to use magic(k) to help me fulfill specific goals and achieve certain ends. GD/Crowley is, essentially 22 paths and 10 pit-stops to an end-result of supposed spiritual enlightment (which I never achieved by this route, and apparently, neither did Crowley, if his conduct is any indication). I found esoteric studies to be interesting, but essentially a dead-end street. It only leads to more... esotericism. And as I've said above, viewing the world through Kabbalah-colored glasses only narrows your view of reality, rather than increases your understanding of it.
I'm not saying that Crowley's rituals were not magical in a spiritual sense. They just didn't deliver the real deal (i.e. physical manifestation/tangible physical results). And it's not that I "didn't get the point" as you say. I did, found it was not to my taste, and I've moved on.
And like I've said, I've gotten actual physical results from Hoodoo spellcraft (hey, it's direct!). I've also done one evocation from the Heptameron, using the original methods outlined in the book (no GD or Crowley), and though the results were not complete, I experienced real physical phenomena -- frightening, in fact. It's too bad I had to shut the ritual down. I'm convinced that more experience will probably bear fruit, but at this point in time I think I will probably not pursue it further. I don't want to sound like a nut-job either, and for that reason I won't discuss this further.
Anyway, so much for my magical adventure. I'm a successful person now, and I have little reason for evoking spirits. Also, I've matured, and other things in life are much more important to me.
Also, re the New Aeon. I never said it was a non-event. I only stated that Thelema has not, and will not be the religion of the "new age".
Re animal sacrifice. If you eat the animal, and it is killed with at little pain as possible, fine. I doubt, however, that Crowley chowed down on that cat after he took its life.
Oh dear.... there are more Crowleys out there??????
