Product Code Database
Rosicrucianism () is a spirituality and cultural movement that arose in early modern Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts announcing to the world a new esoteric order. Rosicrucianism is symbolized by the Rose Cross or Rosy Cross. There have been several Rosicrucian (or Rosicrucian-inspired) organizations since the initial movement was founded, including the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross (1750s–1790s), the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (1865–present), and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1887–1903).
In 1616 a third anonymous volume was published, the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz. In his posthumously published autobiography, Johann Valentine Andreae acknowledged its origin in a romantic fantasy that he wrote before he was 16 years old (1602), among other likewise forgotten juvenilia, and which he elaborated in response to the Fame and Confession, and said of it that "the Chymical Wedding, with its fertile brood of monsters, a ludibrium which surprisingly some esteem and explicate with subtle investigations, is plainly futile and betrays the vanity of the curious" ( Nuptiae Chymicae, cum monstrorum foecundo foetu, ludibriu, quod mireris a nonullis aestimatum et subtili indagine explicatum, plane futile et quod inanitatem curiosorum prodat).. He called Rosicrucianism a "ludibrium" (a lampoon or parody) during his lifetime, in writings advocating social and religious reform through a sectarian Christian organization of his design. Some scholars of esotericism suggest that Andreae disowned Rosicrucianism to shield his clerical career from the wrath of the religious and political institutions of the day. "It is clear from his " Turris Babel", " Mythologia Christiana", and other works, that he considered the manifestos a reprehensible hoax." This augmented controversies as to whether they were a hoax, whether the "Order of the Rosy Cross" existed as described in the manifestos, or whether the whole thing was a metaphor disguising a movement that really existed, but in a different form.
The promise of a spiritual transformation at a time of great turmoil, the manifestos influenced many figures to seek esoteric knowledge. Seventeenth-century occult philosophers such as Michael Maier, Robert Fludd, and Thomas Vaughan interested themselves in the Rosicrucian worldview. In his work " Silentium Post Clamores" (1617), Michael Maier described Rosicrucianism as having arisen from a "primordial tradition", saying "Our origins are Egyptian, Brahminic, derived from the mysteries of Eleusis and Samothrace, the Zoroastrianism of Persia, the Pythagoreanism, and the Arabs".
In later centuries, many esoteric societies claimed to derive from the original Rosicrucians. The most influential of these societies was the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which derived from Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia and counted many prominent figures among its members. The largest is the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, a multinational organization based in Rosicrucian Park, San Jose, California, US. Paul Foster Case, founder of the Builders of the Adytum as a successor to the Golden Dawn, published The true and invisible Rosicrucian Order, elaborating the Qabalistic basis and interpretation of the Fame and Confession.
During the lifetime of C.R.C., the order was said to comprise no more than eight members, each a doctor and "all bachelors of vowed virginity."Fama Fraternitatis RC Each member undertook an oath to heal the sick without accepting payment, to maintain a secret fellowship, and to find a replacement for himself before he died. Three such generations had supposedly passed between c. 1500 and c. 1600: a time when scientific, philosophical, and religious freedom had grown so that the public might benefit from the Rosicrucians' knowledge, so that they were now seeking good men.Gorceix, Bernard (1970), La Bible des Rose-Croix, Paris: a work of reference, containing translations of the three Rosicrucian Manifestos, recommended in Accès de l'Ésoterisme Occidental (1986, 1996) by Antoine Faivre (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Sorbonne)
The first Rosicrucian manifesto was influenced by the work of the respected hermetic philosopher Heinrich Khunrath, of Hamburg, author of the Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae (1609), who was in turn influenced by John Dee, author of the Monas Hieroglyphica (1564). The invitation to the royal wedding in the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz opens with Dee's philosophical key, the Monas Hieroglyphica symbol. The writer also claimed the brotherhood possessed a book that resembled the works of Paracelsus. Adam Haslmayr a friend of Karl Widemann wrote him a letter about Rosicrucian people who revealed the Theophrastiam 24 December 1611.
In his autobiography, Johann Valentin Andreae (1586–1654) claimed that the anonymously published Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz was one of his works, and he subsequently described it as a ludibrium. In his later works, he makes alchemy an object of ridicule and places it along with music, art, theater, and astrology in the category of less serious sciences. According to some sources, his role in the origin of the Rosicrucian legend is controversial.Cf. Frances Yates (1972), The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, London & Edighoffer, Roland (I-1982, II-1987), Rose-Croix et Société Idéale selon Johann Valentin Andreae, Paris But according to others, it was generally accepted.Cf. Dickson, Donald R. (1996), "Johann Valentin Andreae's Utopian Brotherhoods", Renaissance Quarterly 22 December 1996
The peak of the "Rosicrucianism furore" was reached when two mysterious posters appeared on the walls of Paris in 1622 within a few days of each other. The first said "We, the Deputies of the Higher College of the Rose-Croix, do make our stay, visibly and invisibly, in this city (...)", and the second ended with the words "The thoughts attached to the real desire of the seeker will lead us to him and him to us."Cited by Sédir in Les Rose-Croix, Paris (1972), pp. 65–66
The legendary first manifesto, Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis (1614), inspired the works of Michael Maier (1568–1622) of Germany; Robert Fludd (1574–1637) and Elias Ashmole (1617–1692) of England; Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens, Gotthardus Arthusius, Julius Sperber, Henricus Madathanus, Gabriel Naudé, Thomas Vaughan and others.Sédir (1972), Les Rose-Croix, Paris, pp. 59–68 Rosicrucianism was associated with Protestantism (Lutheranism in particular).
In Elias Ashmole's Theatrum Chimicum britannicum (1650) he defends the Rosicrucians. Some later works impacting Rosicrucianism were the Opus magocabalisticum et theosophicum by George von Welling (1719)of alchemical and paracelsian inspirationand the Aureum Vellus oder Goldenes Vliess by Hermann Fictuld in 1749.
Michael Maier was appointed Pfalzgraf (Count Palatine) by Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. He also was one of the most prominent defenders of the Rosicrucians, clearly transmitting details about the "Brothers of the Rose Cross" in his writings. Maier made the firm statement that the Brothers of R.C. existed to advance inspired arts and sciences, including alchemy. Researchers of Maier's writings point out that he never claimed to have produced gold, nor did Heinrich Khunrath or any of the other "Rosicrucianists". Their writings point toward a symbolic and spiritual alchemy, rather than an operative one. In a combination of direct and veiled styles, these writings conveyed the nine stages of the involutive-evolutive transmutation of the threefold body of the human being, the threefold soul and the threefold spirit, among other esoteric knowledge related to the "Path of Initiation".
In his 1618 pamphlet, Pia et Utilissima Admonitio de Fratribus Rosae Crucis, Henrichus Neuhusius wrote that the Rosicrucians departed for the east due to European instability caused by the start of the Thirty Years' War. In 1710, Sigmund Richter, founder of the secret society of the Golden and Rosy Cross, also suggested the Rosicrucians had migrated eastward. In the first half of the 20th century, René Guénon, a researcher of the occult, presented this same idea in some of his works.Guénon, René, Simboles de la Science Sacrée, Paris 1962, pp. 95ff Arthur Edward Waite, an eminent author of the 19th century, presented arguments contradicting this idea.Waite, Arthur E. (1887), The Real History of the Rosicrucians – founded on their own Manifestos, and on facts and documents collected from the writings of Initiated Brethren, London, p. 408 It was in this fertile field of discourse that many Rosicrucian societies arose. They were based on the occult, inspired by the mystery of this "College of Invisibles".
Some modern scholars, for example Adam McLean and Giordano Berti, assume that among the first followers of the Rose Cross there was also the German theologian Daniel Cramer, who in 1617 published a treatise entitled "Societas Jesus et Rosae Crucis Vera" (The True Society of Jesus and the Rosy Cross), containing 40 emblematic figures accompanied by biblical quotations.See. Adam McLean (editor), The Rosicrucian Emblems of Daniel Cramer: The True Society of Jesus and the Rosy Cross (Edinburgh, 1991), and Giordano Berti (editor), The Sibyl of the Heart (Boves, 2015).
The literary works of the 16th and 17th centuries were full of enigmatic passages containing references to the Rose Cross, as in the following (somewhat modernized):
The idea of such an order, exemplified by the network of astronomers, professors, mathematicians, and natural philosophers in 16th-century Europe promoted by such men as Johannes Kepler, Georg Joachim Rheticus, John Dee and Tycho Brahe, gave rise to the Invisible College. This was the precursor to the Royal Society founded in 1660."The origins of the Royal Society lie in an 'invisible college' of natural philosophers who began meeting in the mid-1640s to discuss the new philosophy of promoting knowledge of the natural world through observation and experiment, which we now call science." http://royalsociety.org/about-us/history accessed 2 May 2014 It was constituted by a group of scientists who began to hold regular meetings to share and develop knowledge acquired by experimental investigation. Among these were Robert Boyle, who wrote: "the cornerstones of the Invisible (or as they term themselves the Philosophical) College, do now and then honour me with their company...";Cited by R Lomas (2002) in The Invisible College, London John Wilkins and John Wallis, who described those meetings in the following terms: "About the year 1645, while I lived in London (at a time when, by our civil wars, academical studies were much interrupted in both our Universities), ... I had the opportunity of being acquainted with divers worthy persons, inquisitive of natural philosophy, and other parts of human learning; and particularly of what hath been called the New Philosophy or Experimental Philosophy. We did by agreements, divers of us, meet weekly in London on a certain day and hour, under a certain penalty, and a weekly contribution for the charge of experiments, with certain rules agreed amongst us, to treat and discourse of such affairs..."Cited by H. Lyons (1944) in The Royal Society 1660–1940, Cambridge
The change from "operative" to "speculative" Masonry occurred between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 18th century. Two of the earliest speculative Masons for whom a record of initiation exists were Sir Robert Moray and Elias Ashmole. Robert Vanloo states that earlier 17th century Rosicrucianism had a considerable influence on Anglo-Saxon Masonry. Hans Schick sees in the works of Comenius (1592–1670) the ideal of the newly born English Masonry before the foundation of the Grand Lodge in 1717. Comenius was in England during 1641.
The Gold und Rosenkreuzer (Golden and Rosy Cross) was founded by the alchemist Samuel Richter who in 1710 published Die warhhaffte und vollkommene Bereitung des Philosophischen Steins der Brüderschaft aus dem Orden des Gülden-und Rosen-Creutzes ( The True and Complete Preparation of the Philosopher's Stone by the Brotherhood from the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross) in Breslau under the pseudonym Sincerus RenatusNicholas Goodrick-Clarke, The Occult Roots of Nazism, p. 59 in Prague in the early 18th century as a hierarchical secret society composed of internal circles, recognition signs and alchemy treatises. Under the leadership of Hermann Fictuld the group reformed itself extensively in 1767 and again in 1777 because of political pressure. Its members claimed that the leaders of the Rosicrucian Order had invented Freemasonry and only they knew the secret meaning of Masonic symbols. The Rosicrucian Order had been founded by Egyptian "Ormusse" or "Licht-Weise" who had emigrated to Scotland with the name "Builders from the East". In 1785 and 1788 the Golden and Rosy Cross group published the Geheime Figuren or "The Secret Symbols of the 16th and 17th century Rosicrucians".
Led by Johann Christoph von Wöllner and General Johann Rudolf von Bischoffwerder, the Masonic lodge (later: Grand Lodge) Zu den drei Weltkugeln ( The Three Globes) was infiltrated and came under the influence of the Golden and Rosy Cross. Many Freemasons became Rosicrucianists and Rosicrucianism was established in many lodges. In 1782 at the Convent of Wilhelmsbad the Alte schottische Loge Friedrich zum goldenen Löwen ( Old Scottish Lodge Friedrich at the Golden Lion) in Berlin strongly requested Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and all other Freemasons to submit to the Golden and Rosy Cross, without success.
After 1782, this highly secretive society added Egyptian, Greek, and Druidic mysteries to its alchemy system.Bayard, Jean-Pierre, Les Rose-Croix, M.A.Édition, Paris 1986 A comparative study of what is known about the Gold and Rosenkreuzer appears to reveal, on the one hand, that it has influenced the creation of some modern initiatory groups and, on the other hand, that the Nazis (see The Occult Roots of Nazism) may have been inspired by this German group.
According to the writings of the Masonic historian E.J. Marconis de Negre,de Negre, E.J. Marconis (1849), Brief History of Masonry who together with his father Gabriel M. Marconis is held to be the founder of the "Rite of Memphis-Misraim" of Freemasonry, based on earlier conjectures (1784) by a Rosicrucian scholar Baron de WesterodeNesta Webster's, Secret Societies and Subversive Movements , London, 1924, p. 87 and note 37 and also promulgated by the 18th century secret society called the "Golden and Rosy Cross", the Rosicrucian Order was created in the year 46 when an Gnosticism sage named Ormus and his six followers were converted by one of Jesus' disciples, Mark. Their symbol was said to be a red cross surmounted by a rose, thus the designation of Rosy Cross. From this conversion, Rosicrucianism was supposedly born, by purifying Egyptian mysteries with the new higher teachings of early Christianity.Further research in Legend and Mythology: Ormus by Sol, The Book of THoTH, 2004
Another notable figure for both egyptian freemasonry and rosicrucianism in Italy was Giustiniano Lebano who held high offices in the Memphis Misraim rite and was an influential figure in the later esoteric developments of the peninsula, including influencing Giuliano Kremmerz and the members of the UR Group. Giustiniano Lebano - Gran Hyerophanti e Gran Maestri. The Neapolitan branch of the Memphis-Misraim rite, Grande Oriente Egizio, instructed Giuliano Kremmerz to create the Brotherhood of Myriam with the aim of practising therapeutic magic for those affected by disease, including non-initiates.Massimo Introvigne Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia. Cesnur. 3rd December at the
According to Maurice Magre (1877–1941) in his book Magicians, Seers, and Mystics, Rosenkreutz was the last descendant of the Germelshausen, a German family from the 13th century. Their castle stood in the Thuringian Forest on the border of Hesse, and they embraced Albigensian doctrines. The whole family was put to death by Landgrave Conrad of Thuringia, except for the youngest son, who was then five years old. He was carried away secretly by a monk, an Albigensian adept from Languedoc, and placed in a monastery under the influence of the Albigenses, where he was educated and met the four Brothers later to be associated with him in the founding of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood. Magre's account supposedly derives from oral tradition.
Around 1530, more than eighty years before the publication of the first manifesto, the association of cross and rose already existed in Portugal in the Convent of the Order of Christ, home of the Knights Templar, later renamed Order of Christ. Three bocetes were, and still are, on the abóboda (vault) of the initiation room. The rose can clearly be seen at the center of the cross.Macedo, António de (2000), Instruções Iniciáticas – Ensaios Espirituais, 2nd edition, Hughin Editores, Lisbon, , p. 55Gandra, J. Manuel (1998), Portugal Misterioso ( Os Templários), Lisbon, pp. 348–349 At the same time, a minor writing by Paracelsus called Prognosticatio Eximii Doctoris Paracelsi (1530), containing 32 prophecy with allegory pictures surrounded by enigmatic texts, makes reference to an image of a double cross over an open rose; this is one of the examples used to prove the "Fraternity of the Rose Cross" existed far earlier than 1614.Stanislas de Guaita (1886), Au seuil du Mystère
Esoteric Christian Rosicrucian schools provide esoteric knowledge related to the inner teachings of Christianity.Skogstrom, Jan (2001), Some Comparisons Between Exoteric & Esoteric Christianity , a table comparing exoteric and esoteric Christian beliefs
The Rosicrucian Fellowship, 1909 at Mount Ecclesia (groundbreaking for first building: 1911). Teachings present the 'mysteries', in the form of esoteric knowledge, of which Christ spoke in Matthew 13:11 and Luke 8:10. The Fellowship seeks to prepare the individual through harmonious development of mind and heart in a spirit of unselfish service to mankind and an all-embracing altruism. According to it the Rosicrucian Order was founded in 1313 The Rosicrucian Interpretation of Christianity by The Rosicrucian Fellowship and is composed of twelve exalted Beings gathered around a thirteenth, Christian Rosenkreuz. These great adepts have already advanced far beyond the cycle of reincarnation. Their mission is to prepare the 'whole wide world' for a new phase in religion, which includes awareness of the inner worlds and the subtle bodies, and to provide safe guidance in the gradual awakening of man's latent spirituality faculties during the next six centuries toward the coming Age of Aquarius. The Rosicrucian Mysteries by Max Heindel. Accessed 29 March 2006
Several Russians of a mystical mind took advantage of the Edict of Toleration of religion in 1905 to form or resurrect what they considered the ancient forms of esoteric Orders. These were the new Rosicrucians. Their inspired mentors compiled volumes of mystic philosophy which they combined with their personal notions of what the ancient Orders were, and so formed groups. The three principal neo-Rosicrucian Orders of early Soviet Russia were Emesh Redivivus, the Orionist-Manicheans, and the Lux Astralis. Due to suppression by the Soviets they had disbanded by 1933.Shubin, Daniel H., New Rosicrucians of early Soviet Russia , 2020.
According to Masonic writers, the Order of the Rose Cross is expounded in a major Christian literary work that molded the subsequent spiritual beliefs of western civilization: The Divine Comedy (ca. 1308–1321) by Dante Alighieri.Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, "XXX: Knight Kadosh", p. 822, 1872René Guénon, El Esoterismo de Dante, pp. 5–6, 14, 15–16, 18–23, 1925Manly Palmer Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages: The Fraternity of The Rose Cross, p. 139, 1928
Other Christian-oriented Rosicrucian bodies include:
Freemasonic Rosicrucian bodies providing preparation either through direct study and/or through the practice of a symbolic initiatory journey.
Initiatory groups which follow a degree system of study and initiation include:
| Dissolved |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Dissolved |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Dissolved |
| Active |
| Active |
| Dissolved |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
| Active |
target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[37] archived from the original What is Rosicrucianism all about?
|
|
