The Rosicrucians – what is this secret society?

What on earth are the Rosicrucians? This is a secret society that defies description – but maybe that’s what they want! Back in 1926, a bitter row between American Rosicrucians burst into the public glare when an open letter was sent to the newspapers airing their dirty laundry. This was a rare occurrence when the world of the Rosicrucians was briefly visible before submerging again into the dark. The letter is a good entry point to the beliefs and practices of the Rosicrucians.

The letter revealed an internal bust up within the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis (AMORC), which remains the largest avowedly Rosicrucian organisation in the world today. Ex-members and the current leadership accused each other of getting too close to the Freemasons. This was clearly viewed as a total no-no. And each side had allegedly done great damage to the Rosicrucian brand with their suspicious conduct.

So who exactly are the Rosicrucians?

These are the three foundational manifestoes of the Rosicrucians:

• Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis (Report of the Fraternity of the Rose Cross) – published in 1610
• Confessio Fraternitatis (Confessio oder Bekenntnis der Societät und Bruderschaft Rosenkreuz) – published in 1615
• Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz – published in 1616

My philosophical instincts are always to boil things down to their basics – but that’s not an easy job with Rosicrucianism. But let me have a go. Some of you may hate my simplistic summary but I think most of you will thank me.

Let’s start with the Fama Fraternitatis. In this tome, the so-called “Brothers of the Fraternity of the Rose Cross” hail the great discoveries that are being made by enlightened minds in philosophy and science and yet bemoan the fact that humanity remains in darkness. Why is this? Because there are still people either clinging to authority out of misplaced deference or those in powerful positions themselves – like the pope – who has no interest in creating a different kind of society.

A mere blog post isn’t going to be enough to dissect the ideas and stories in Fama Fraternitatis but the gist is that the enlightened mind is not only unconstrained by traditional religion but also doctrines and dogmas that Rosicrucians believe creep into the scientific world. So, a Rosicrucian is quite happy to discuss alchemy and magic alongside physics and chemistry. In this, we see the influence of a 16th century scientist, Paracelsus (c.1493-1541), who combined his medical studies with an interest in the occult.

This manifesto was published by a German, Wilhelm Wessel, who then produced the Confessio – the second manifesto. This document admitted that many people may have been left scratching their heads by the Fama Fraternitatis, so things were going to be made a bit clearer. Now there was an invitation to join the Rosicrucians and start building a “new fortress of truth”. But only those who wanted to understand the nature of the world could enter. Treasure seekers, seduced by the “glistening of gold” could stay away. In fact, they would be banned.

Then the following year in Strasbourg, up popped the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz. This pamphlet was a novel intended to illustrate the Rosicrucian message through storytelling. It involves a very exclusive royal wedding that requires the invitees to undergo a test – being weighed in the balance as it were – before they can enter. They then witness the decapitation of the royal family who are then brought back to life through alchemy.

All three manifestoes present a character called Christian Rosenkreuz (1378-1484) who is the founder of the Rosicrucians. He journeys through many lands imbibing the wisdom of the Arabs, Jews, Persians, and others. Is he a real or imaginary figure? We do not know.

Robert Wentworth Little – Rosicrucian

Robert Wentworth Little (1840-1878) worked at the United Grand Lodge of England as a cashier but soon developed some very grand ideas. In his twenties (and he died young at just 38 years old), he founded four Masonic orders including the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (Rosicrucian Society of England). Strictly speaking, this order is not completely integrated into the world of Freemasonry but in some way allied.

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Three members of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia went on to found the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. This became one of the major influences on what one might call ‘modern occultism’ in Britain as well as the revival of Wicca beliefs. Its most famous initiate was the occultist Aleister Crowley, who joined in 1898. This was revealed in a courtroom during a 1934 libel case that Crowley brought against the author Nina Hamnett over comments about Crowley in her book Laughing Torso. It’s also believed that the author of the novel Dracula – Bram Stoker – was a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

FIND OUT MORE: Who are the Illuminati?

Harvey Spencer Lewis – Rosicrucian

Harvey Spencer Lewis was the founder of the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC) mentioned at the top of this blog post after an internal bust up between members. A global organisation based in the United States and led by an ‘Imperator’. It still owns the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San José, California. Lewis collected ancient Egyptian artefacts which he believed had mystic significance. AMORC also funded archaeological digs in Egypt including the excavation of the pharaoh Akhenaten’s long lost capital at Amarna. It’s claimed that Walt Disney, Gene Roddenberry (creator of Star Trek), and the musician Leonard Cohen were members of AMORC but that needs further verification.