FigLeafe

From across this grey land...

(Dead but dreaming)

CHAPTER II

     THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE CROSS -  1616-1800

    Many, during the early 1600s, requested entry into the Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis, as attested by unanswered letters in the Gottingen library. Their pleas, however, went unanswered ("Many are called but few are chosen"). Then, as today, one does not join the Rosicrucians through rituals and outward displays (as in some clandestine groups calling themselves Rosicrucian); rather, one BECOMES a Rose Cross.

Some people, unable to obtain satisfactory information, became disillusioned by the search. Bitter and resentful, they spoke out against the Fraternity.¹ In answer to this outcry of disbelief, the "Great Hermeticist" Michael Maier (1568-1622) wrote Silentium Post Clamores (1617). In this work, Maier tried to explain why requests for membership were answered with silence.  

It is impossible, however, to determine just who gained entry and who did not, as each neophyte was sworn to an oath of silence : "none should confess to be Rosicrucians" (Clymer 1929-30, II, 34). Many considered the Brotherhood a hoax and by 1620 to all outward appearances, the Rosicrucians  and their publications slipped into obscurity. This "sleep," however, was to mask the activities of the Order from the profane and clandestine groups. This act was also a  response to outlandish legends beginning to circulateClegends such as how Rosicrucians could prolong their life indefinitely, do without food or drink and enjoy perfect health (Trowbridge 1961, 82). In fact, the Brotherhood continued, growing slowly and secretly.

According to The Book of Rosicruciæ (Clymer 1946, I, xxiii-xxvi), this early 17th century Confederation was co-founded by John Valentine Andreæ, John Baptista van Helmont, Henry Khunrath, Julius Sperber, Berigard of Pisa, Jean D' Aspagnet and Henricus Madathanas. Maier¹ soon became the Rosy Cross's first Supreme Grand Master. On 8 July 1617, Robert Fludd (also Flud or Flood), a Brother of Light, became the Fraternitas Grand Master of England (Clymer 1946, I, 191). Previously on 9 November 1615, Fludd had visited Maier in Germany where he had received initiatory instruction into the outer precepts of the Brotherhood (Clymer 1946, I, 178). Regarding this, many scholars incorrectly state it was Maier who visited Fludd in England (although Maier had on a prior visit to England become acquainted with Fludd, he did not initiate Fludd while in England). Also, many of the same state that Fludd was in 1615 initiated into the Brotherhood. As previously stated, an individual is not made or initiated a Rose Cross: rather one becomes a Rose Cross; a transmutation of self through willful, conscious action.           

According to Waite (1961, 107-08), Fludd's spiritual interpretation of the Rose Cross (i.e., the symbol of the Fraternity being a red cross with a rose in the center) is that the cross symbolizes the Christ and its red color the divine blood which "cleanses from all sin" (to ancient Egyptians a symbol of Light and to Masons "... foreshadowed in King Solomon's Temple").* The red rose centered in the cross represented the labor of Sacred and Divine Alchemy in the purging of that which is unclean and defiled -- i.e., the transmutation (change) of all that is base into finer gold (also note Craven, n.d., 142-43). According to some (e.g., Fludd,  et al.) the Rose Cross symbol is nothing more or less than "the Cross of Christ dyed by his rose-red blood" (Waite 1961, 108). For a variation of the symbolic language of the cross and rose, note Clymer (1929, 183-97; 1946, I, 17-24) and David R. Clark's, MA, IXE The Cross and its Symbolism.

Fludd, a physician (Fellow of the London College of Physicians) and first Grand Master of the Rosy Cross in England, continued to defend his beloved Brotherhood until his death on 8 September 1637.² Two years before Fludd's death, he was introduced to antiquary and astrologer, Elias Ashmole (1617-92). Ashmole had inquired through William Backhouse, a noted chemist and follower of the Great Work, about entry into the Fraternity. Accepted as a Neophyte, trained by Fludd and later by Backhouse, Ashmole, in 1646, was inducted as Supreme Grand Master of England (Clymer 1947, II, 257). Astrologer Ashmole may also have been responsible for introducing mysticism into the Masonic Order (Jones 1928, 857). Upon his induction as a Supreme Grand Master, Ashmole, along with Thomas Wharton, William Lilly, Sir George Wharton,  John Hewett and John Pearson, formed a Rose Cross lodge in London ( Jones 1928, 857; also note vol. xxxi of Encyclopædia Metropolitana 1845). It should be noted, however, that some scholars believe Ashmole was never associated with the Rose Cross (French 1972, 14). Waite (1961, 372), usually a skeptic, states, "I continue to think that if there were living members of the Order in England between the death of Fludd and the date of his [Ashmole] own passing, it is probable that he was one of them ..." (i.e., a Rose Cross).

During the 17th century, the celebrated mystic Thomas Vaughan (1612-66), although denying association with the Fraternity (Clymer 1929, 95), contributed greatly to the Brotherhood with his publication of the Fama and the Confessio. In 1652, under the pen name of Eugenius Philalethes, he published an English version (Case 1985, 4; Cavendish 1977, 102-03) which presented the philosophy of the Rose Cross to a larger arena of English scholars. This action caused many misinformed people to assume that Vaughan was himself a Rosicrucian. To this belief, Waite (1961, 374) hastens to state that "Vaughan contribute[s] nothing to the history of the Order ..."

As in all historical periods there were people who continued to attack what they feared or didn't understand.³ One such individual was the Abbé de Villars who in 1670 wrote The Count of Gabalis or Extravagant Mysteries of the Cabalists and Rosicrucians (Melton 1978, 178). In this work, de Villars attacked Rosicrucians as being anti-Christian. Earlier, in 1621, Philipp Geiger had written Warnung für die Rosenkreutzer Ungeziefer (Warning to Rosicrucian Ver­min) which launched a vengeful attack upon the Rose Cross Order.  

The Rose Cross in America?  

Some believe that the Rosicrucians, as an organized order, came to America in 1694 (Melton 1978, 179). This Order, known as the Chapter of Perfection, was established in Germantown, Pennsylvania by the young mystic Johannes Kelpius. Kelpius had left London on the "Sarah Maria" reaching Philadelphia on 23 June (Waite 1961, 604). Settling on the banks of the Wissahickon, Kelpius's group (which came with him) built an observatory, temple and living quarters. Kelpius, fourteen years later died from consumption. With his death, at age 35 (1708) also came the death of a vision. Although surviving several more years, the group, with their emphasis on celibacy slowly died away. For more information concerning this Order, read The Diarium of Magister Johannes Kelpius (1917) and The Hon. John W. Martin's (1931-32) "The Wissahick Parade."

This group of religious and occult enthusiasts may have been in possession of Rosicrucian documents. It is generally agreed, however, that this Order was not Rosicrucian but rather was composed of German visionaries who had derived their teachings from the Kabbalah and Jacob Boehme (note Clymer IV, 1931-32, 117-123).  

The Brotherhood in 18th Century Europe.  

According to Jones (1928, 857), in 1710 (or 1714), Sigmund Richter (Sincerus Renatus) published Die Wahraffte und Vollkommene Bereitung des Philosophiscens Steins ... Orden des Gulden und Rosen Kreutzes ... (The Perfect and True Preparation of the Philosophical Stone According to the Secret Method of the Brotherhood of the Golden and Rosy Cross). Within this work was a listing of 52 rules by which the Rosicrucians were to follow. Sixty-seven years later, the Reformed Rite of the Brethren of the Rose and Golden Cross was formed (Jones 1928, 857; note Clymer 1929, 178-79).  

Richter's work, like the  later Golden and Rosy Cross, was based in part on the earlier teachings of Henricus Madathanas' Aureum Sævulum Redivivum (The Golden Age Restored) (1625) and his symbolism. A manifesto entitled The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century, published in 1785 presented Madathanas' symbolism. It should be remembered (Ch. I) that Madathanus had presented the theme of true Philosophical Initiation: "that the Great Work, or Initiation, was the preparation, building and finding of the TRUE CENTER OF THE CENTER OF THE TRIANGLE" (Clymer 1949, III, 83). 

The foundation for the German Golden and Rosy Cross,  had been laid in the 17th century by John Amos Comenius. His Collegium Lucas (exoteric society with Fraternitas associationCBrothers of Light) was an attempt by a brother of the Fraternity to bring before the public, after a period of Silence, the exoteric aspects of the Great Work.       Some say that the Golden and Rosy Cross "gave birth to symbolic Masonry as a means for outer activity to contact those who would be worthy Acolytes" (Clymer 1949, 80). There is, however, no documentation to substantiate this claim. It is known in Europe that (with the exception of England), a Neophyte or Acolyte of the Fraternitas, must first have been a proven Mason (p. 80-1).

Clymer (p. 83) states that Brother Richter, acting as the ADoor," led those worthy members of the outward expression (the Golden and Rosy Cross, many being Masons) into the Light of the Fraternitas.

Paschal Beverly Randolph, M.D. (1939, 114), the first Supreme Grand Master in America, states that Dr. F. A. Mesmer was also a member of the Rose Cross (i.e., German Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross) who established a following called the Mesmerists or Magnetists (remember, the Fraternitas has had many "Doors," each having been known by many names, even today).  

Rose Cross and Freemasonry.  

Christoph Gottlieb von Murr, in 1803, published Uber den wahren Ursprung der  Rosenkreuzer. ... In this work, von Murr advanced his thesis that the Rosicrucians and Freemasons were identical until 1633 (Westcott n.d., 66).  Concerning this issue, Thomas de Quincey published Historico-Critical Inquiry into the Origin of the R.C.- Freemasons which was a commentary on J.G. Buhle's  Ueber den Ursprung und die vornehmsten Schicksale der Orden der R.K. und Freymaurer, eine Hist. Krit (Untersuchung, 8 vo. 1804) and C.F. Nicolai's German essays (e.g. Das Entstehen der Freymaurergesellschaft)  (Westcott n.d., 68). In these works, suggestion was made that the Freemasons were  an offspring (mother-daughter relationship) of  the more arcane Rosicrucians. Waite (1994, 77), however, takes issue with this argument stating that the relationship was of "a spiritual affinity." Waite (1994, 355) does, nevertheless, note the similarity between their symbolism, and the relationship between the Freemasonry Eighteenth Degree (ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE) and the older Rose Cross Fraternity. This degree (Knight of the Rose Croix de Heredom) was started by Lyons= Freemasons in 1623.  

The Fraternity During the Revolutionary War.  

In 1654, a "Eugenius Philalethes"** visited America. At the conclusion of this visit, the activities of the Fraternitas in America were placed under the direct supervision and authority of the Council of Three (Clymer 1963). This Council was to remain in authority until Dr. Paschal Beverly Randolph's selection as the Americas' first Supreme Grand Master (Supreme Grand Dome) in 1858 (Clymer 1947, II, xxvii; read vols. I, II, III of The Book of Rosicruciæ for history between 1654-1800s). Rosicrucians continued to come to America, individually and in small groups, during the 17th and 18th centuries. Later, in 1772, they formed the first Great Council of the Order of the Rosy Cross in America, which assembled in Philadelphia (Clymer 1965, 3). However, between Thomas Vaughan's (1650 c.) appearance in America and Thomas Paine's arrival in 1774, all of the activities of the Fraternitas were secret (Clymer 1947, II xxvii).

Thomas Paine's arrival in America on 30 November 1774 was at the request of Benjamin Franklin who had encouraged Paine's participation in America's forthcoming revolution. Franklin had been introduced to Paine upon his entry into the Order of the Rose (note Clymer's Knights of Chivalry, 1917a).  Paine, besides his knighthood in the Order, was also a member of the Fraternitas World Council (states Clymer). 

Although it would be another eighty years before the creation of a Supreme Grand Dome in America, many of America's early patriots, who became famous due to their involvement with the Revolutionary War or Declaration of Independence, were also involved in Masonic and the Fraternitas' work. None is better known than the Father of our Country, George Washington. Although during his life Washington was classified as an Unknown (one who doesn't reveal involvement in the Fraternity), after his death, it was revealed that he had been a member of the World Council (note many of Clymer's works).    
Notes 

     1.  Some of Maier's works include: Silentium Post Clamores and Themis Aurea (considered by some as a second Fama).

      2. Some of Fludd's works include: Apologia Compendiaria Fraternitatem de Rosea Cruce Suspicionis et Infamiae Maculis Asspersam ... (Leydæ, 1616), Tractatus Apologeticus Integritatem Societatis de Rosea Cruce defendens (1617) and Summum Bonum  ... (pseu. Joachimum Frizium, 1629). Waite (1961, 295) rejected Fludd's authorship.

3.  Works of hostile rebuke included: Gabriel Naudé (1623) and attacks on Fludd by Petrus Gassendus, Franciscus Lanovius and Marin Mersenne. It should be noted that Andrew Libau (Libavius), a principal of the College of Casimir initially believed that the Fraternity was merely one's imagination (1615). Later, however, his opinion changed (some say not) in that he encouraged his colleagues to join (Craven, n.d., 41-2; Waite, 1961, 235-40). Fludd, answered Mersenne's criticisms through the publication of Sophiæ cum Moria Certamen (Frankfurt, 1629). Also note the Jesuits' opinion of the Rosicrucians in Rosa Jesuitica (c. 1620). Note The Royal Masonic Cyclopædia (1877,  617) for information concerning a Rosicrucian based order. A further listing of books on Rosicrucianism is found in F. Leigh Gardner's  Rosicruciana -- A Catalogue Raisonne of Works on the Occult Sciences.

      * Masonic Rose Croix, 18th degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and pinnacle of French Rite (Knight of the Eagle and Pelican), signifies the rose (Christ) and the cross (instrument of his passion) C i.e., Christ on the Cross. The French changed the ritual to some degree, making a more Hermetic interpretation of the original Christian rite (Clymer 1929, 178-79).  Information concerning the Rose Croix degree may be found in the hundreds of reproductions produced by Kessinger Publishing Co. The Mysteries of Freemasonry (The Morgan Exposé) presents a series of rituals which purports to be authentic. Although valuable as a historical reference the document is misleading. Chapter 6 of The Higher Degrees in Freemasonry by Brother J.S.M. Ward  provides an interesting presentation of the Rose Croix of Heredom's history, philosophy and Rosicrucian influence. Finally The Text-Book  of Advanced Freemasonry (compiler unknown) provides the reader with a beautiful history and ritual of the Knight of  the Rose Croix. Pages 189-196 provide historical remarks and correlation between this Masonic degree and that of the Fraternitas.