FigLeafe

From across this grey land...

(Dead but dreaming)

THE ROSE CROSS  

A Historical and Philosophical View
 by
Prof. Carl Edwin Lindgren

Member, Royal Historical Society (London)  and Fellowship of Catholic Scholars

INTRODUCTION  

This brief work, is an attempt to provide historical and philosophical insight into the ancient Rosicrucian Order. The Fraternity, created in the early 17th Century, has for centuries intrigued and baffled students of Christian mysticism, esoteric philosophy and occultism. Professing an interest and mastery of Spiritual or Mental Alchemy, not to be confused with Physical Alchemy, these esoteric scholars and scientists attempted to transmute the evil in man into that which was divine or, in alchemic jargon, the transmuting of base metals into finest gold. "As above, so below..."

The secret doctrine of the Rosicrucians was built on esoteric truths of the ancient past. These truths, concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe and the spiritual realm. Some of these truths are also offered in higher degrees of Masonry and in certain arcane Oriental orders.

Who really started  the Fraternitas? Why was the Fraternity started? Was the Order actually started in 1616 or does it date from ancient Egypt? This work attempts to provide some answers to the aforementioned questions. Although some will agree with the information provided, there will be others who will scoff and insist on their own theories and interpretations.

With any historical work, especially one of this nature, it is difficult to remain totally objective. Most writers have their own theories, beliefs and prejudices which find their way whether consciously or unconsciously into their works. Hopefully the reader will appreciate the writer's candor and realize that through personal research, insight and diligent soul searching the author has arrived at what he believes to be an accurate interpretation. The reader should, however, remain free to search for the Path which best suits his personal inclinations and soul strivings.

CHAPTER I

THE WAY OF THE ROSY CROSS

The  Initiatory  Schools  had  their  beginnings  long before the rise of  the Egyptian Hierarchy (Randolph 1939, 274). According to Rosicrucian manifestos, these secret philosophies existed back to the time of Moses and Solomon, or even Adam (Cavendish 1977, 100; Randolph 1939, 274). Although the Fraternity of the Rose Cross (Rosicrucians) did not exist, a philosophical foundation, even then, was being laid for what was to later occur.  Through the philosophy of the early  Egyptians, the Platonians, Aristotelians, Pythagoreans, Essenes, Gnostics,  medieval Alchemists and Hermetists, a corner stone was being set for what was soon to become the Fraternity. With the formation of this Order, in  early 1616, the  Magus, Paracelsian, Gnostic and Alchemist were invited to join under one brotherhood (Clymer 1965, 1). As it were, all were placed on the level.

Influence for the creation of this Fraternity came from Egypt, India, Ethiopia and Persia. Although the Fraternitas (Fraternity) would not exist formally until the early 1600s, scholars and mystics such as Jean de Meung, Raymond Lully, Nicolas Flammel, Basil Valentine, Thomas Norton and George Ripley were already defining and  refining the Craft. Several writers, however, including H. Spencer Lewis (1993, 25), past imperator of the AMORC (The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis),* believe that the society had its origins in the great mystery schools of Egypt. Therefore the Order has continued throughout antiquity in various names and disguises, in sleeping and waking stages. He further states that Rose Cross may predate Freemasonry which also claims great antiquity from the time of Solomon=s Temple. Perhaps the two could have grown together as brothers from one great father philosophy (i.e., Great White Brotherhood - all being in search of the light which comes from the East). 

Some scholars believe that the first Rosicrucian type society was formed in 1598 by Simon Studion of  Nuremburg (Spence 1993, 341). This society known as the Militia Crucifera Evangelica consisted of an assembly of men of religious character. The Militia thereby, was  the "Door" for the creation of the Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis, in that it joined many engaged in the Great Work. Arthur Edward Waite (1961, 50), author of The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross believed that although there was no trace of the Rosicrucian Fraternity before the 17th century, "the Brotherhood ... was in embryo prior to the year 1604 and that Naometria [work by Studion] was its first memorial." This statement is substantiated by other scholars. According to the noted physician and scholar, Rev. Dr. R.S. Clymer, M.D. (1946, I, 152), former Supreme Grand Master of the Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis, though Studion did not live to see the creation of the Brotherhood of  the Rosy Cross, in spirit he was a Rose Cross.  

The Fama Fraternitatis.  

In 1614, a small pamphlet was published entitled the Communis et Generalis Reformatio Totius Mundi et Fama Fraternitatis Ordinis de Rosea-Cruce (8 vo. Casseliis).¹  The title, Fama Fraternitas et Confessio Fratrum Rosæ Crucis (Ratisbon, 1614) is also given (Clymer 1946, I, 219). Waite (1961, 115), however, takes issue with this edition stating he believes it to be mythical. During the same year, the booklet was also published in German (in Cassel and Ratisbon). The following year, editions appeared in Frankfurt am Mayn and Marburg. A Dutch edition was also released. Clymer (1965, 1) substantiates that the Fama Fraternitatis was first published in 1614 by the Würtemberg mystic Johann Valentin Andreæ (1586-1654)². However, John Ferguson in his work Bibliotheca Chemica (1906, I, 27) states that the Fama was, in fact, printed two years earlier in Cassel. Claude Jannet provides 1612 or 1613 as the year for the first Rosicrucian work (no title given, not the Fama) but with printing taking place in Venice (Waite 1961, 115). He further states that the Fama was published some three years later. There is, however, little evidence for these assumptions. Still others (e.g., Adam Haselmeyer) stated that they had seen, four years earlier (1610), a copy of the then unpublished MS of Fama (Case 1985, 3; Craven, n.d., 35, note Craven's date of Fama publication; Waite 1961, 114-16). Clymer (1929, 138) also agrees that a manuscript of the Fama probably existed as early as, if not earlier than, 1610.  

Much evidence, however, shows that Andreæ, an Initiate within the Secret Schools (Randolph 1939, 272-73), not only published the text, but also wrote its brief. Many say he wrote the entire work. This truth, however, is refuted by some scholars who are inclined to suggest that the manuscript was written by one of the following: Joachim Junge, Giles Guttman, Tauler  (Jones 1928, 856), Simon Studion (Waite 1961, 213) or even Martin Luther (Hermelink 1964, 97). Most scholars refute the claims for any one writing the manifesto other than Andreæ (Clymer 1929, 119 & 135).

This small anonymous work produced a frenzy of  interest when it was published. The text recounted the life of one Christian Rosencreutz (also spelt Rosenkreutz C a nom-de-plume assumed by Andreæ?) (c. 1378 A.D.), a medieval knight, who traveled extensively in Morocco and the Near East. This traveler hoped to obtain knowledge of true wisdom and the elixir of life (Ellewood 1981, 631). This work, although anonymous, was reported by many of the period to have been written by Rosencreutz, hidden after his death, and then rediscovered. The work called for a union of all learned men, in that they should join to re-establish moral values and "[establish] ...  a synthesis of science, through which would be discovered the perfect method of all arts" (Spence 1993, 340). With this cooperation, a new age of understanding and perfection could be established.  

According to Clymer (1965, 1), the work was half satirical but deeply mystical in nature. The Fama was an effort to provide insight into a society which was attempting to combine physical and spiritual (changing the baser man) alchemy, the Kabbala, mysticism and scientific advances within Protestant Christianity  (Cavendish 1977, 100).  As a Lutheran theologian and mystic, Andreæ based his belief on inner as well as outer experiences -- "transformation and spiritual renewal." Ex deo nascimur; In Jesu morimur; Per spiritum reviviscimus (From God we are born; In Christ we die; By the Holy Spirit we are reborn) (Wehr 1983, 171).  Clymer (1946, I, 152) states that the Fama is a combination of many esoteric ideas, concepts and instructions. These instructions are based on Paracelsian principles, a  revision of Studion's Naometria, teachings of Henricus Madathanus' Aureum Sævulum Redivivum (The Golden Age Restored) (1625) and symbolism (Madathanus). From the Fama itself comes, "Our Philosophy also is not a new invention, but as Adam after his fall hath received it, and as Moses and Solomon used it, also it ought not much to be doubted of ..."  

Who was Christian Rosenkreutz?  

According to the Fama, C.R.C.,** born in 1378 (note Confessio), was poor, although born of noble parentage. When he was five, he was placed in a cloister (monastery). After receiving his education, he traveled with Brother P.A.L.** who died in Ciprus (Cyprus or perhaps a synonym for a secret or not revealed place). C.R.C., however, continued on through the Holy Land in search of knowledge regarding medicine, science, philosophy and religion. Upon reaching Damcar in Arabia [this word could mean a symbolic place or as Clymer states "a certain place," a misspelling of Damas (Damascus), or "Blood of the Lamb" (  |  |  , )] he began studying with wise men of the area. After having traveled and studied for three years, he removed himself to Egypt and later to Fez. After having stayed in Fez for some time, where he was taught how to communicate with elementary spirits, he sailed to Spain in hopes of revealing his knowledge to the learned in Europe. Being ignored, criticized and laughed at by the literati of Spain he traveled to other countries with his new philosophy. He was likewise rejected by the elite of other nations until he returned "after a period of time," to Germany where in 1413 he formed the Society of the Rose and Cross. This original society consisted of four individuals including Rosencreutz, and fratri G.V., I.A. and I.O.** It was to these brethren that Rosencreutz unveiled the secrets which he had learned.  

Through the development of a mystical alphabet and language (Clymer 1946, I, 256: "the jargon of  the Alchemists"), they were able to maintain secrecy and progressed toward the transmuting of self into perfection (philosophy of Paracelsus). Their "works" included: the Axiomata (esoteric truths), Magicon, Protheus and Rota Mundi (study Dr. Clymer's books for a better understanding of what these concepts meant).

Members of the Society were bound by six rules. These included:  

·         to profess nothing, but to cure the sick, and that gratis;

·         to wear only the dress of the country in which they were;

·         that every year upon the day C., they should assemble at the  Domus Sancti Spiritus or to send a reason for their absence;

·         each frater to select a worthy person, who, after his demise shall succeed him;

·         the word C.R. shall be their seal, mark and character;

·         the Fraternity shall remain secret 100 years.

An entry by H. Hermelink (1964, 96) in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge also expresses the belief that the original Rosicrucians were Protestants who professed their belief in God and Christ while disavowing any connection with false prophets, heretics and the profane. The Fraternity also rejected those, who for their own physical gain through alchemy, desired to transmute base metals to gold. Their philosophy was, "Jesus on every side" (Hermelink 1964, 96). Regarding alchemy, True or Divine Alchemy is discussed in Clymer's The Great Work: Its Neophytes (161-66). Within these pages, Clymer explains that alchemy of the true alchemist is the taking of "mortal man, with all the carnality inherent in him from past generations, the weakness of his body, the evil of his desire, the inertia of his mind, turning him into a pilgrim entering the Path searching for reality and Spiritual Consciousness" (p. 163; also note Spiritual Alchemy 1959).

According to the New Catholic Dictionary (MacMaster 1967, 676) the Brotherhood built and stayed at the Domus Sancti Spiritus (House of the Holy Spirit). Although some scholars state that this was a physical structure or "its analogy with a mysterious building erected at Cairo ..." (Waite 1961, 130), this writer is more inclined to accept the suggestion that the "structure" was a state of being, not an actual building. It should be remembered that the Domus Sancti Spiritus is the Aentity@ which has "been seen by 100,000 people and was yet concealed from the world" (Spence 1993, 341).

This inner circle of brethren later formed a separate circle of four brothers (R.C., B., G.G. and P.D.) to complete the mystical work of the Rose Cross (Jones 1928, 856). These men, according to the legend, remained bachelors and swore a vow of physical virginity.

Some years later (1459), Rosenkreutz wrote Chymische Hochzeit. This text contained a series of hermetic, alchemic and occult writings. Upon his death in 1484, at age 106,  CˆRˆCˆ left instructions that his tomb should be sealed. He further stated that after 120 years, his tomb should be opened. According to legend, the tomb was opened in 1604 at which time a series of important manuscripts was discovered. These papers contained insights into his research in Spiritual Alchemy, Hermeticism, Christian gnosticism and occult symbolism.  

There are many opinions on the identity of Christian Rosenkreutz. Some scholars still believe that Rosenkreutz was actually a historical personality. Others believe Cˆ Rˆ Cˆ was merely a composite of many mystics, alchemists and initiates who had strived to unlock the secrets of God and nature while inwardly seeking perfection. Finally, there are those who present a sound thesis that the legendary Rosenkreutz was Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim or Paracelsus (note Clymer 1946, I, 86-129).

Clymer (1946 I, xix) states that "Paracelsus was Father Cˆ Rˆ Cˆ of the Confederation which later became the Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis ..." This is easily proven by a comparison between the life and philosophy of  Paracelsus and Christian Rosenkreutz. Although there are countless comparisons between Paracelsian principles and the Fraternity, one of the most evident is the relationship between man and the universe i.e., a comparison whereby man is a Microcosm (little world) or contains within himself the potentialities of the whole universe (Macrocosm). There is also reference to the Elemental Spirits which Paracelsus re-introduced. Finally, there is reference to the mystic writings of the Signatura Rerum  (Spence 1993, 342; Clymer 1929, 123).  

Some writers (e.g., Mrs. Henry Pott, Francis Bacon and his Secret Society, 1891 and Wigston's four volumes)³ have attempted to connect Francis Bacon (1st Baron Verulam) with the founding of the Rose Cross. H. Spencer Lewis (1993, 135), states that it was Bacon who wrote the pamphlets that brought about the revival of Rosicrucianism in Germany. Others believe that Bacon was "a Rosicrucian Adept of great importance" (note W. Wynn Westcott, Data of the History of the Rosicrucians and Westcott's Introduction to F. Leigh Gardner's Bibliotheca Rosicruciana -- A Catalogue Raisonne of Works on the Occult Sciences). Finally, his name is linked as imperator of the fraternity; the true Fraternitas never had an imperator as its head! No scholarly evidence exists for these assumptions (Clymer 1929, 119 & 142). It further seems improbable that an individual of Bacon's temperament (self-serving, aloof, incapable of self-sacrifice and inductive in nature) would have belonged to a society such as the Brotherhood of  Rose Cross. According to Robert Michael Cerello (1994) of The Francis Bacon Library:

The connection of Lord Bacon either to the Rosicrucian Brotherhood or to Freemasonry⁴ cannot be proven by direct testimony, eyewitness or otherwise. However, there is no doubt, given the facts of his familiarity with some of the symbols most central to these organizations and with their philosophical purposes, that Lord Bacon knew much about these organiza­tions. There is direct testimony quoted in Alden Brooks' Will Shakspere and the Dyer's Hand that Dyer, a leading candidate for the Shakespearean authorship himself, was hiring secret agents for service because they were Rosicrucians. The import of the tale is not that anyone objected to the noted alchemist and literary figure hiring Rosicrucians for such delicate secret service work but because he was restricting his hiring to Rosicrucians. ... The  purpose  of ... [the Fama, Confessio and The Chymical Wedding] was to announce a sort of  Reformation which the "invisible Brotherhood," who dressed as other men when among them in any country, were prepared  to lead. David Stevenson in The Origins of Freemasonry gives evidence for Lord Bacon's knowledge of Freemasonry's aims  and symbols. A.E. Waite in his book The Real History of the Rosicrucians refutes any connection between the two orders;  he refuses to believe in the Rosicrucian Order existing before  the seventeenth century, in which German sources published  the three works cited. In this he is undoubtedly wrong, if only because of the Dyer passage [Cerello is more inclined toward a date of 1580 c.]. Francis Yates has tried carefully and  imaginatively to argue a strong familiarity by Lord Bacon with the symbols and larger aims of this Brotherhood, exampling her thesis by the posthu­mous New Atlantis quite cogently. Her central works on the subject are The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, Routledge and K. Paul, London 1972 and The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age, same publisher, 1979. The connection of the move­ment to Protestant anti-Catholic  religionism  is obvious; its root  C in alchemy, Hermeticism and Medieval reformation schemes  C is also a fact.  

To avoid being drawn into a heated discussion which in itself would cover tomes and tomes of writing, it is sufficient merely to say, based on existing historical data, that Francis Bacon's founding or contribution to a "secret or esoteric society" was non-existent. He is, however, to be remembered for his groundwork in founding the noted Royal Society (1660). This was the cause which was dear to his heart, the bringing together of the learned of England and Europe in open forum for the advancement of learning (i.e., natural science). For further discussion, the reader should peruse Waite 1961, 18-34; Clymer 1946, I, 86-97; MacMaster 1967, 677; and Alexander Wilder, MD, FAS, The Metaphysical Magazine, June 1896.  

The Confessio Fraternitatis

In 1615, both a Latin and a German edition of the Confessio Fraternitatis R.C. ad eruditos Europæ (1615) were published in Cassel. Like the Fama, the work was unsigned (Craven, n.d., 37). Consisting of fourteen chapters, the mystical work's introduction denounced the Pope as the Antichrist. The introduction presents thirty-seven points relating to the Brotherhood's purpose. The book's first chapter also denounces Mahomet, while the other chapters attempt to reveal (expound upon) many of the secrets first mentioned in the Fama. Although it was not presented in the Fama, the later Confessio (ch. 6) provides the date 1378 as C.R.C.'s birth. Reference is also made to the Bible as being precious to the Order and a rule unto their lives. In the final chapter, a stern warning is given to any false seeker of the Fraternitas, that the "'partaker of our riches against the will of God, shall sooner lose his life in seeking us, than attain happiness by finding us'" (Craven, n.d., 38; note Waite 1961, 146-51 for listing and description of the thirty-seven points).  

In the same year, Julius Sperber's Echo der von Gott Hocherleuchteten Fraternitet des Löblichen Ordens Rˆ  Cˆ, ([The] Echo of the God-Illuminated Brotherhood of the Venerable Order Rˆ Cˆ etc.) was published at Danzig. Sperber, a Christian Initiate, had in 1600 authored the Kabalistic Prayers. In this work (i.e., Echo), Sperber states that the texts of the Fama and Confessio Fraternitatis were true and were known by "certain God-fearing people" for over nineteen years (Waite 1961, 254). The evidence for this pre-dating of Rosicrucian activity, according to Waite (1961, 254) is questionable. A further discussion of this work is found in Clymer's The Book of Rosicruciæ, 1946, I, xxiii.

The Chemical Wedding.

By 1616, a third text on Rosicrucianism had appeared. This manuscript, divided into seven chapters for the seven days, professed to have been written in 1459, was entitled  Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosenkreutz  (The Chemical Wedding or Nuptials of Christian Rosenkreutz) and was written in High Dutch supposedly by Christian Rosencreutz (Strasbourg).⁵ According to The Encyclopedia of Religion (Fogarty 1987, 476), this allegorical story was based on the historical marriage of Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I (formerly James VI of Scotland), to Frederick V. A  parable of  Hermetic marriage, Rosencreutz appears to be a guest at the wedding though some writers have elevated him to the marriage position (read Waite 1961, 158-181 for a better understanding of the Chemical Nuptials). Described "'as a very abstruse alchemical work, in which the universal alchemical process is taught under the figure of a marriage'" (Craven, n.d., 38 from Newcastle S.R. in Anglia, I, iii, 53), it is, therefore, revealed to the knowing, as an alchemistic initiatory process.

 Although not claiming authorship for the previous two works, Andreæ claimed that he had, indeed, written this allegorical work. The title of this work, (The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz), should be interpreted to mean "The Spiritual Marriage (of the Soul)" (Clymer 1929-30, II, 33). Case (1985, 37) does not believe that Andreæ's Christian Rosenkreutz is the same person as referred to in "the most godly highly-illuminated Father, our Brother, C.R.C. a German the chief and original of our Fraternity" as noted in the Fama and Confessio. Case's (1985) assumption is that since no names appear in the first two works, only initials, the works may have pertained to different individuals, and were written by different people.

Concerning this third manifesto, Waite (1961, 185 & 209)  states that Andreæ probably wrote the document in either 1602 or 1603 retaining it in partial secrecy until he had "dressed it up" and published it in 1616 with Rosicrucian trappings (names inserted in certain places to make the work appear current and relating to Christian Rosenkreutz). If this is true, and the work was a fabrication, why didn't Andreæ go one step further by including the name of C. Rosenkreutz's Order (i.e., the Rose Cross)?  

According to Hermelink (1964, 97), Andreæ later spoke out against the Rosicrucian movement stating that he was not in the accepted sense a Rose Cross. His work, Invitatio Fraternitatem Christi, ad sacri amoris Candidatos, published in 1617, presented this anti-Rosicrucian stance. Again in 1619, Andreæ wrote (anonymously) Turris Babel, sive Judiciorum de Fraternitate Rosaceæ Crucis Chaos (Tower of Babel, or Chaos of the Judgements of the Rose Cross) which consisted of 24 or 25 dialogues which to the profane seemed to repudiate his former belief in the Rosicrucian movement. Waite (1961, 201) shares this belief, believing that the work was a blatant attempt at mockery of the Fama. Some believe, however, that Andreæ did this in an attempt to appease the Church of Württemberg and retain his oath of silence. Clymer (1946, I, 221) states that Andreæ merely outwardly distanced himself from the Fraternity. Through later forming what was called a "Christian Fraternity" (The Brotherhood of Christ) Andreæ was able to observe and train those worthy of entry as Neophytes into the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis.    

Notes

     1.  Generally known as The Fama. The full English title is The Report of the Fraternity of the Meritorious Order of the Rosy Cross Addressed to the Learned in General and the Governors of Europe.

      2. Andreæ was a prolific writer. Some of his works (some under pseudonyms) include: Invitation to the Fraternity of Christ, the Flowered Rose (1617), Menippus, Mirror of the Vanities of our Contemporaries (1617), The Christian Citizen (1619), Plan for a Christian Community (1619) and Spiritual Leisures (1619) (Clymer 1946, I, 222-23).

3.  Bacon, Shakespeare and the Rosicrucians (1888); Hermes Stella (1890), Francis Bacon-Poet, Prophet, Philosopher-versus Phantom Captain Shakespeare, The Rosicrucian Mask (1891); and The Columbus of Literature, or Bacon's New World of Science (1892).  

4.  Note Waite's A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry  for listing of several individuals who shared both membership in the Rosicrucian Fraternity and  Freemasonry. As with Rosicrucians, "No genuine Mason, imbued with the spirit of liberality, will ... exclude from fellowship any Brother who believes in the existence of God, the Brotherhood of  Man and the Immortality of the Soul" (Buck, Mystic Masonry). Much of  the teachings (on a spiritual basis) of the Rosicrucians are similar ((i.e., the attainment of the Master's Word  (Illumination), its power, its eventual loss (loss of  Light through disobedience and "sin"), the search for its recovery, the Ineffable Name  in connection with the Lost Word and the building and restoration of the Temple (regeneration of the body)). The concept of "bringing to Light," although symbolic in the Master Mason  is actually brought to reality in the Rosicrucian (Clymer 1993).   

5.  In 1690, an English translation was published entitled The Chemical Wedding. This edition was written by R. Foxcroft, a Fellow  of  King's College, Cambridge.

* The AMORC (Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis) and  Dr. H. Spencer Lewis are covered in the two-volume set of  Dr. Clymer's The Rosicrucian Fraternity in America.