玫瑰十字架 —历史和哲学观点
卡尔·埃德温·林格伦教授
皇家历史学会（伦敦） 和天主教学者团契
介绍
这部简短的作品试图提供 对古代玫瑰十字会的历史和哲学见解。兄弟会创建于 17 世纪初，几个世纪以来一直吸引和困惑基督教神秘主义、深奥哲学和神秘主义的学生。这些深奥的学者和科学家自称对精神或精神炼金术感兴趣并精通，不要与物理炼金术混淆，他们试图将人类的邪恶转化为神圣的东西，或者用炼金术术语来说，将贱金属转化为最好的黄金. “以下如上…”
玫瑰十字会的秘密教义是建立在古老的深奥真理之上的。这些对普通人隐藏的真理提供了对自然、物质宇宙和精神领域的洞察力。其中一些真理也在更高程度的砌体和某些神秘的东方秩序中提供。
谁真正开始了兄弟会？兄弟会为什么开始？该社团实际上是在 1616 年开始的，还是起源于古埃及？这项工作试图为上述问题提供一些答案。尽管有些人会同意所提供的信息，但也会有其他人会嘲笑并坚持自己的理论和解释。
对于任何历史著作，尤其是这种性质的著作，都很难保持完全客观。大多数作家都有自己的理论、信仰和偏见，这些理论、信仰和偏见会自觉或不自觉地融入他们的作品中。希望读者能够欣赏作者的坦率，并意识到通过个人研究、洞察力和勤奋的灵魂探索，作者已经得出了他认为准确的解释。然而，读者应该继续自由地寻找最适合他个人倾向和灵魂追求的道路。
第一章
玫瑰色十字架之路
启蒙学校早在埃及等级制度兴起之前就已经开始了（Randolph 1939, 274）。根据玫瑰十字会的宣言，这些秘密哲学可以追溯到摩西和所罗门甚至亚当的时代（Cavendish 1977, 100; Randolph 1939, 274）。尽管玫瑰十字兄弟会（玫瑰十字会）并不存在，但即使在那时，也为后来发生的事情奠定了哲学基础。通过早期埃及人、柏拉图学派、亚里士多德派、毕达哥拉斯派、艾赛尼派、诺斯替派的哲学，中世纪的炼金术士和赫尔墨斯主义者，正在为即将成为兄弟会的地方奠定基石。随着这个社团的形成，在 1616 年初， Magus、Paracelsian、诺斯替教和炼金术士被邀请加入一个兄弟会（Clymer 1965, 1）。事实上，所有的人都被在一条水平线上。
建立这个兄弟会的影响来自埃及、印度、埃塞俄比亚和波斯。尽管Fraternitas （博爱）直到 1600 年代初才正式存在，但 Jean de Meung、Raymond Lully、Nicolas Flammel、Basil Valentine、Thomas Norton 和 George Ripley 等学者和神秘主义者已经在定义和精炼工艺。然而，一些作家，包括 H. Spencer Lewis (1993, 25)，过去的 AMORC（古代神秘秩序玫瑰十字会）的元首，* 相信该社会起源于埃及伟大的神秘学派。因此，该社团在整个古代以各种名称和伪装，在睡眠和清醒阶段继续存在。他进一步指出，玫瑰十字可能早于共济会，共济会也声称从所罗门圣殿时代开始就很古老。也许两人本可以从一个伟大的父系哲学（即伟大的白人兄弟会——所有人都在寻找来自东方的光明）一起成长为兄弟。
一些学者认为，第一个玫瑰十字会型社会是 1598 年由纽伦堡的 Simon Studion 成立的 （Spence 1993, 341）。这个被称为福音十字军民兵的社会由一群具有宗教特征的人组成。因此，民兵是创建Fraternitas Rosć Crucis 的“门” ，因为它加入了许多从事伟大工作的人。亚瑟·爱德华·韦特 (Arthur Edward Waite) (1961, 50)，《玫瑰十字兄弟会》的作者认为，尽管在 17 世纪之前没有玫瑰十字会的踪迹，但“兄弟会……在 1604 年之前处于萌芽状态，而Naometria[Studion 的作品] 是它的第一个纪念物。”这一说法得到了其他学者的证实。根据著名的医生和学者，Rev. Dr. RS Clymer, MD (1946, I, 152)，前 兄弟会最高大师Rosć Crucis，虽然 Studion 没有活着看到 玫瑰十字兄弟会的创建，但在精神上他是玫瑰十字。
兄弟会。
1614 年，出版了一本名为Communis et Generalis Reformatio Totius Mundi et Fama Fraternitatis Ordinis de Rosea-Cruce (8 vo. Casseliis) 的小册子。1 还给出了标题Fama Fraternitas et Confessio Fratrum Rosć Cruci s (Ratisbon, 1614) (Clymer 1946, I, 219)。
然而，Waite (1961, 115) 对这个版本提出质疑，称他认为这是神话。同年，这本小册子还以德文出版 （在 Cassel 和 Ratisbon）。次年，版本出现在法兰克福梅恩和马尔堡。还发行了荷兰语版本。Clymer (1965, 1) 证实Fama Fraternitatis由符腾堡神秘主义者约翰·瓦伦丁·安德烈奇 (1586-1654) 2于 1614 年首次出版。然而，约翰弗格森在他的著作Bibliotheca Chemica (1906, I, 27) 中指出，事实上， Fama是两年前在卡塞尔印刷的。Claude Jannet 提供了 1612 或 1613 作为第一部玫瑰十字会作品的年份（没有给出标题，不是Fama），但印刷在威尼斯进行（Waite 1961, 115）。他进一步指出，Fama大约三年后出版。然而，这些假设几乎没有证据。还有一些人（例如，Adam Haselmeyer）表示，他们在四年前（1610 年）看到了当时未出版的Fama的副本（Case 1985, 3; Craven, nd, 35，注意 Craven 出版Fama的日期；Waite 1961, 114-16)。Clymer (1929, 138) 也同意Fama的手稿可能早于（如果不早于）1610 年就已经存在。
然而，许多证据表明，秘密学校的入门者安德烈奇 (Randolph 1939, 272-73) 不仅出版了文本，还撰写了摘要。许多人说他写了整部作品。然而，一些学者驳斥了这一事实，他们倾向于认为手稿是由以下人之一撰写的：Joachim Junge、Giles Guttman、Tauler (Jones 1928, 856)、Simon Studion (Waite 1961, 213) 甚至马丁路德 (Hermelink 1964, 97)。大多数学者驳斥了除 Andreć 之外的任何人撰写宣言的说法（Clymer 1929, 119 & 135）。
这部匿名的小作品一经 出版就引起了人们的狂热关注。文本讲述了一位中世纪骑士 Christian Rosencreutz（也拼写为 Rosencreutz C 一个由 Andreć 假设的化名？）（约公元 1378 年）的生平，他在摩洛哥和近东广泛旅行。这位旅行者希望获得关于真正智慧和长生不老药的知识（Ellewood 1981, 631）。这部作品虽然是匿名的，但据当时的许多人报道，它是由 Rosencreutz 撰写的，在他死后被隐藏起来，然后被重新发现。这项工作呼吁所有有学问的人联合起来，因为他们应该联合起来重建道德价值观并“[建立]…… 科学的综合，通过它可以发现所有艺术的完美方法”（Spence 1993, 340）。通过这种合作，可以建立一个理解和完美的新时代。
根据 Clymer (1965, 1) 的说法，这部作品是半讽刺的，但本质上是非常神秘的。Fama旨在提供对一个试图将身体和精神（改变卑鄙的人）炼金术、卡巴拉、神秘主义和新教基督教中的科学进步结合起来的社会的洞察力( Cavendish 1977, 100)。 作为路德会的神学家和神秘主义者，安德烈奇的信仰基于内在和外在的体验——“转变和精神更新”。Ex deo nascimur; 在耶稣莫里穆尔；Per spiritum revviscimus（我们从神而生；在基督里我们死；靠圣灵我们重生）（Wehr 1983, 171）。 Clymer (1946, I, 152) 指出Fama是许多深奥的想法、概念和指令的组合。这些说明基于 Paracelsian 原则、 Studion 的Naometria 的修订版、Henricus Madathus 的Aureum Sćvulum Redivivum（恢复的黄金时代）（1625 年）和象征主义（Madathanus）的教义。从 法玛本身而来，“我们的哲学也不是一个新发明，但亚当堕落后接受了它，并且正如摩西和所罗门所使用的那样，它也不应该有太多的怀疑……”
克里斯蒂安·罗森克鲁兹是谁？
根据Fama的说法，CRC，** 出生于 1378 年（注Confessio），虽然出身贵族，但很穷。五岁时，他被安置在一个修道院中。接受教育后，他与死在塞浦路斯（塞浦路斯或可能是一个秘密或未透露地方的同义词）的 PAL** 弟兄一起旅行。然后，他继续穿越圣地，寻找有关医学、科学、哲学和宗教的知识。在到达阿拉伯的 Damcar [这个词可能意味着一个象征性的地方，或者正如 Clymer 所说的“某个地方”，Damas（大马士革）或“羔羊之血”的拼写错误（/ | | ， )] 他开始与该地区的智者一起学习。经过三年的旅行和学习，他移居埃及，后来又移居非斯。在非斯逗留了一段时间，在那里他被教导如何与初级精神交流后，他乘船前往西班牙，希望将他的知识展示给欧洲的学者。被西班牙文人忽视、批评和嘲笑，他带着他的新哲学游历了其他国家。他同样被其他国家的精英拒绝，直到他“一段时间后”返回德国，并于 1413 年在德国成立了玫瑰与十字架协会。
这个原初社团由四个人组成，包括 Rosencreutz 和fratri GV、IA 和 IO** Rosencreutz 正是向这些弟兄们揭开了他所知道的秘密。
通过开发神秘的字母和语言（Clymer 1946, I, 256: “The jargon of the Alchemists”），他们能够保持秘密并朝着将自我转变为完美的方向前进（Paracelsus 哲学）。他们的“作品”包括：Axiomata（深奥的真理）、Magicon、Protheus 和Rota Mundi （研究 Clymer 博士的书籍以更好地理解这些概念的含义）。
协会成员受六项规则的约束。其中包括：
- 什么都不说，只是治病，而且是免费的；
- 只穿他们所在国家的衣服；
- 每年的 C. 日，他们应该聚集在 Domus Sancti Spiritus 或告知他们缺席的理由；
- 每个兄弟都选择一个有价值的人，他死后将接替他；
- CR一词应为其印章、标记和字符；
- 兄弟会应保密 100 年。
H. Hermelink (1964, 96) 在《新沙夫-赫尔佐格宗教知识百科全书》中的一篇文章也表达了这样一种信念，即最初的玫瑰十字会是新教徒，他们自称信仰上帝和基督，同时否认与假先知、异教徒和宗教信仰者有任何联系。兄弟会还拒绝了那些为了通过炼金术获得物质利益而希望将贱金属转化为黄金的人。他们的哲学是，“耶稣在每一边”（Hermelink 1964, 96）。关于炼金术，Clymer 的The Great Work: Its Neophytes中讨论了真正或神圣的炼金术 (161-66)。在这些页面中，克莱默解释说，真正的炼金术士的炼金术是对“凡人，带着他从过去几代人身上固有的肉体，他身体的虚弱，他的欲望的邪恶，他的思想的惰性，转向他成为一名朝圣者，进入寻找现实和精神意识的道路”（第 163 页；另请注意Spiritual Alchemy 1959）。
根据《新天主教词典》（MacMaster 1967, 676），兄弟会建造并居住在Domus Sancti Spiritus（圣灵之家）。尽管有些学者说这是一个物理结构或“它类似于在开罗建造的神秘建筑……”（Waite 1961, 130），但作者更倾向于接受“结构”是一种状态的建议。是，不是一个实际的建筑。应该记住，Domus Sancti Spiritus是A实体@ ，它“被 100,000 人看到，但仍被世人隐藏”（Spence 1993, 341）。
这个内部的弟兄圈子后来形成了一个由四兄弟（RC、B.、GG 和 PD）组成的单独圈子，以完成玫瑰十字的神秘工作（Jones 1928, 856）。根据传说，这些男人仍然是单身汉，并发誓要保持童贞。
几年后（1459 年），罗森克鲁茨写了《Chymische Hochzeit》。该文本包含一系列密封、炼金术和神秘学的著作。当他在1484逝世，享年106岁 ，Ç [R ç留下了他的墓应密封的说明。他进一步表示，120年后，他的坟墓应该被打开。据传说，该墓于 1604 年开放，当时发现了一系列重要的手稿。这些论文包含对他在精神炼金术、赫尔墨斯主义、基督教诺斯替主义和神秘象征主义方面的研究的见解。
关于克里斯蒂安·罗森克鲁兹的身份，众说纷纭。一些学者仍然认为罗森克鲁茨实际上是一个历史人物。其他人相信其只不过是许多神秘主义者、炼金术士和新人的综合体，他们在内心寻求完美的同时努力解开上帝和自然的秘密。最后，有些人提出了一个合理的论点，即传说中的 Rosenkreutz 是 Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim 或 Paracelsus（note Clymer 1946, I, 86-129）。
Clymer (1946 I, xix) 指出“帕拉塞尔苏斯是联邦的 C R C 神父，后来成为Fraternitas Rosć Crucis …” 帕拉塞尔苏斯和克里斯蒂安·罗森克鲁兹。尽管帕拉塞尔斯原则与博爱有无数的比较，但最明显的一个是人与宇宙之间的关系，即人是一个微观世界（小世界）或在他自己内部包含整个宇宙的潜力（宏观世界）的比较。 ）。还提到了帕拉塞尔苏斯重新引入的元素精神。最后，参考了Signatura Rerum 的神秘著作（Spence 1993, 342; Clymer 1929, 123）。
一些作家（例如，亨利·波特夫人、弗朗西斯·培根 和他的秘密社团，1891 年和威格斯顿的四卷本）3 试图将弗朗西斯·培根（第一代维鲁拉姆男爵）与玫瑰十字的建立联系起来。H. Spencer Lewis (1993, 135) 指出，正是培根撰写了这些小册子，促成了德国玫瑰十字会的复兴。其他人认为培根是“一位非常重要的玫瑰十字会专家”（注意 W. Wynn Westcott，玫瑰十字会历史数据和 Westcott 对 F. Leigh Gardner 的玫瑰十字会的介绍——神秘科学著作的目录）。 最后，他的名字与兄弟会的元首联系在一起；真正的兄弟会 从来没有一个元首为首！这些假设不存在学术证据（Clymer 1929, 119 & 142）。一个像培根那样的性情（自私、冷漠、不能自我牺牲和本性感应）的人似乎不太可能属于 罗斯十字兄弟会这样的社会。根据弗朗西斯培根图书馆的 Robert Michael Cerello (1994) 的说法：
培根勋爵与玫瑰十字会或共济会4的联系无法通过直接证词、目击者或其他方式证明。然而，毫无疑问，鉴于培根勋爵对这些组织最核心的一些符号及其哲学目的非常熟悉，因此培根勋爵对这些组织了解很多。奥尔登布鲁克斯的 威尔·莎士比亚和戴尔之手引用了直接证词戴尔本人是莎士比亚作者身份的主要候选人，他正在雇用秘密特工服务，因为他们是玫瑰十字会成员。这个故事的意义并不是因为有人反对这位著名的炼金术士和文学人物雇佣玫瑰十字会进行如此微妙的秘密服务工作，而是因为他将自己的雇佣限制在玫瑰十字会。… [the Fama , Confessio和The Chymical Wedding ] 的目的是宣布一种“隐形兄弟会”准备领导的改革，他们在任何国家都打扮成其他人。共济会的起源中的大卫史蒂文森为培根勋爵了解共济会的目标 和象征提供了证据。AE Waite 在他的《玫瑰十字会的真实历史》一书中驳斥了这两个社团之间的任何联系。 他拒绝相信 17 世纪之前存在的玫瑰十字会组织，德国消息来源在该组织中发表了引用的三部作品。在这点上他无疑是错误的，哪怕只是因为 Dyer 的文献[Cerello 更倾向于 1580 c.]。弗朗西斯·耶茨（Francis Yates）仔细而富有想象力地试图证明培根勋爵对这个兄弟会的象征和更大的目标非常熟悉，她死后的新亚特兰蒂斯的论文就是一个例子相当中肯。她在这个主题上的核心著作是玫瑰十字会启蒙运动、劳特利奇和 K. 保罗，伦敦 1972 年和伊丽莎白时代的神秘哲学，同一出版商，1979 年。该运动与新教反天主教宗教主义的联系是显而易见的；它在炼金术、赫尔墨斯主义和中世纪改革方案中的根植也是事实。
为了避免被卷入一场本身就包括著作和著作的激烈讨论中，仅仅根据现有的历史数据说弗朗西斯·培根对“秘密或深奥的社会”的创立或贡献是不存在的就足够了. 然而，他因创立著名的皇家学会（1660 年）的基础而被人们铭记。这是他心爱的事业，将英国和欧洲的学者聚集在开放论坛上以促进学习（即自然科学）的进步。为了进一步讨论，读者应该仔细阅读 Waite 1961, 18-34; 克莱默 1946, I, 86-97; 麦克马斯特 1967, 677; 和亚历山大·怀尔德，医学博士，FAS，形而上学杂志，1896 年 6 月。
兄弟会忏悔录
1615 年，《 Confessio Fraternitatis RC ad eruditos Europć》 （1615 年）的拉丁文和德文版本都在卡塞尔出版。像Fama一样，这项工作没有签名（Craven，nd，37）。这部神秘著作由十四章组成，前言谴责教皇是敌基督者。引言提出了与兄弟会宗旨相关的三十七点。这本书的第一章还谴责了穆罕默德，而其他章节则试图揭示（阐述）许多在法玛中首次提到的秘密。虽然没有出现在Fama中，但后来的Confessio （第 6 章）提供了 1378 年作为 CRC 的出生日期。还提到圣经对骑士团来说是宝贵的，是他们生活的准则。在最后一章中，对兄弟会的任何虚假寻求者发出严厉警告，“‘违背上帝旨意分享我们财富的人，宁可在寻找我们时丧命，也不愿通过找到我们而获得幸福’”（ Craven, nd, 38；注意 Waite 1961, 146-51 列出和描述三十七点）。
同年，Julius Sperber 的Echo der von Gott Hocherleuchteten Fraternitet des Löblichen Ordens R _ , ( [ The ] Echo of the God-Illuminated Brotherhood of the Verable Order R C etc.) 在但泽出版。Sperber 是一名基督徒入门者，他于 1600 年撰写了Kabalistic Prayers。在这部作品（即Echo）中，Sperber 指出Fama和Confessio Fraternitatis的文本是真实的，并且被“某些敬畏上帝的人”认识了 19 年多（Waite 1961, 254）。根据 Waite (1961, 254) 的说法，这种早于玫瑰十字会活动的证据是值得怀疑的。在 Clymer 的The Book of Rosicrucić , 1946, I, xxiii中可以找到对这项工作的进一步讨论。
化学婚礼。
到 1616 年，出现了关于玫瑰十字会的第三篇文章。这份手稿在 7 天中分为七章，自称写于 1459 年，题为Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosenkreutz （克里斯蒂安·罗森克鲁茨的化学婚礼或婚礼），据说是由克里斯蒂安·罗森克鲁茨（斯特拉斯堡）用高地荷兰语写成的。5根据《宗教百科全书》 （Fogarty 1987, 476），这个寓言故事基于詹姆斯一世（前苏格兰的詹姆斯六世）的女儿伊丽莎白公主与弗雷德里克五世的历史婚姻。 密封婚姻，Rosencreutz 似乎是婚礼的客人，尽管一些作家将他提升到婚姻的位置（阅读 Waite 1961, 158-181 以更好地理解化学婚礼）。被描述为“’作为一个非常深奥的炼金术工作，其中普遍的炼金术过程是在婚姻的形象下教授的’”（Craven, nd, 38 from Newcastle SR in Anglia, I, iii, 53），因此，作为炼金术的启蒙过程，向知者揭示。
尽管没有声称前两部作品的作者身份，安德烈奇声称他确实写过这部寓言作品。这部作品的标题（Christian Rosencreutz 的化学婚礼）应解释为“（灵魂的）精神婚姻”（Clymer 1929-30, II, 33）。Case (1985, 37) 不相信 Andreć 的 Christian Rosenkreutz 与Fama 和忏悔录. 凯斯（1985）的假设是，由于前两部作品中没有名字，只有首字母，这些作品可能属于不同的个人，并且是由不同的人写的。
关于这第三份宣言，Waite (1961, 185 & 209) 指出，安德烈奇可能在 1602 年或 1603 年写了这份文件，部分保密，直到他“修饰”并在 1616 年用玫瑰十字会的装饰（名字插入某些地方使作品看起来是最新的并且与克里斯蒂安·罗森克鲁兹有关）。如果这是真的，而且这项工作是捏造的，为什么安德烈奇不更进一步，包括 C. Rosenkreutz’s Order（即玫瑰十字勋章）的名称？
根据 Hermelink (1964, 97) 的说法，安德烈克后来公开反对玫瑰十字会运动，声称他不是公认的玫瑰十字会。他的作品Invitatio Fraternitatem Christi, ad sacri amoris Candidatos于 1617 年出版，展示了这种反玫瑰十字会的立场。再次在 1619 年，安德烈奇（匿名）写了Turris Babel, sive Judiciorum de Fraternitate Rosaceć Crucis Chaos（巴别塔，或玫瑰十字审判的混沌），其中包含 24 或 25 段对话，世俗人士似乎否定了他的前任信仰玫瑰十字会运动。Waite (1961, 201) 也认同这一观点，认为该作品是对法玛。然而，有些人认为，安德烈奇这样做是为了安抚符腾堡教会并保持他的沉默誓言。Clymer (1946, I, 221) 指出，安德烈奇只是在外表上与博爱保持距离。通过后来组建所谓的“基督教兄弟会”（基督兄弟会），安德烈奇能够观察和训练那些值得作为新手进入Fraternitas Rosae Crucis的人。
笔记
1. 一般称为The Fama。完整的英文标题是《玫瑰十字勋章兄弟会致普通学者和欧洲州长的报告》。
2. Andreć 是一位多产的作家。他的一些作品（一些化名）包括：基督兄弟会的邀请，开花的玫瑰 （1617），Menippus，我们同时代人的虚荣之镜 （1617），基督教公民（1619），基督教社区计划（1619）和精神休闲 （1619）（克莱默 1946，I，222-23）。
3.培根、莎士比亚和玫瑰十字会（1888）；Hermes Stella (1890), Francis Bacon-Poet, Prophet, Philosopher-versus Phantom Shakespeare, The Rosicrucian Mask (1891); 和文学的哥伦布，或培根的科学新世界（1892 年）。
4. 请注意 Waite 的《共济会新百科全书》 ，其中列出了同时属于 Rosicrucian Fraternity 和 Freemasonry的几个人。与玫瑰十字会一样，“没有真正的共济会，充满慷慨的精神，不会……将任何相信上帝存在、人类兄弟会 和灵魂不朽的兄弟排除在团契之外”（巴克，神秘砌体） . 玫瑰十字会的许多教义（在精神基础上）是相似的（（即，获得大师的话语 （照明），它的力量，它最终的损失（失去光通过不服从和“罪”），寻找它的恢复， 与失落的话语有关的不可言喻的名字以及圣殿的建造和恢复（身体的再生））。“带来光明”的概念虽然在梅森大师中具有象征意义，但实际上在玫瑰十字会中实现了（Clymer 1993）。
5. 1690 年，出版了题为《化学婚礼》的英文译本。此版本由剑桥大学国王学院研究员R. Foxcroft 撰写。
* AMORC（古代和神秘的玫瑰十字会）和H. Spencer Lewis 博士包含在Clymer 博士的美国玫瑰十字会联谊会 的两卷集中。
** CRC（被认为是指 Rosencreutz）和 P.AL 是文本中使用的首字母。没有名称用于参考首字母。
第二章
玫瑰十字兄弟会 – 1616-1800
许多人在 1600 年代初期要求进入Fraternitas Rosć Crucis，哥廷根图书馆的未答复信件证明了这一点。然而，他们的请求没有得到回应（“许多人被召唤，但很少有人被选中”）。然后，就像今天一样，人们不会通过仪式和外在展示加入玫瑰十字会（如在一些自称玫瑰十字会的秘密团体中）；相反，一个人变成了玫瑰十字。
一些人无法获得满意的信息，对搜索感到失望。他们怀恨在心，愤愤不平地公开反对兄弟会。1为了回应这种难以置信的强烈抗议，“伟大的赫尔墨斯主义者”迈克尔迈尔 (1568-1622) 写了Silentium Post Clamores (1617)。在这项工作中，迈尔试图解释为什么会员请求得到了沉默的答复。
然而，不可能确定谁获得了进入，谁没有，因为每个新手都发誓保持沉默：“没有人应该承认自己是玫瑰十字会”（Clymer 1929-30, II, 34）。许多人认为兄弟会是一个骗局，到 1620 年，从所有外表看来，玫瑰十字会和他们的出版物都变得默默无闻。然而，这种“睡眠”是为了掩盖教团的活动免受世俗和秘密团体的影响。这一行为也是对开始流传的古怪传说的回应C传说，例如玫瑰十字会如何无限期地延长他们的生命，不吃不喝并享受完美的健康（Trowbridge 1961, 82）。事实上，兄弟会还在继续，缓慢而秘密地成长。
根据Rosicrucić 书 （Clymer 1946, I, xxiii-xxvi），这个 17 世纪早期的联邦由 John Valentine Andreć、John Baptista van Helmont、Henry Khunrath、Julius Sperber、比萨的 Berigard、Jean D’ Aspagnet 共同创立和亨利库斯·马达塔纳斯。Maier 1很快成为 Rosy Cross 的第一位至尊大师。1617 年 7 月 8 日，光之兄弟罗伯特·弗拉德（也称为弗拉德或洪水）成为兄弟会英格兰大师 (Clymer 1946, I, 191)。此前，在 1615 年 11 月 9 日，弗洛德访问了德国的迈尔，在那里他接受了兄弟会外部戒律的初步指导（Clymer 1946, I, 178）。对此，许多学者错误地认为是迈尔在英国访问了弗拉德（虽然迈尔在之前的一次英格兰访问中认识了弗拉德，但他并没有在英格兰期间发起弗拉德）。此外，许多与弗洛德在 1615 年相同的州开始加入兄弟会。如前所述，个人不会被授予或发起玫瑰十字勋章：而是一个人成为玫瑰十字勋章；通过有意识的、有意识的行动来改变自我。
根据 Waite (1961, 107-08) 的说法，Fludd 对玫瑰十字的精神解释（即兄弟会的象征是中间有一朵玫瑰的红十字）是十字架象征着基督，而它的红色则象征着圣血“洗净一切罪孽”（对古埃及人来说是光明的象征，对共济会来说“……在所罗门王的圣殿中有所预示”）。* 十字架中央的红玫瑰代表神圣炼金术在净化那些不洁和被玷污的东西——即所有卑鄙的东西变成更精细的金子（另请注意Craven，nd，142-43）。根据一些人（例如，Fludd等 .) 玫瑰十字符号只不过是“被他的玫瑰红血染成的基督的十字架”（Waite 1961, 108）。对于十字架和玫瑰的象征语言的变体，请注意 Clymer (1929, 183-97; 1946, I, 17-24) 和 David R. Clark’s, MA, IX E The Cross and its Symbolism。
Fludd 是一名医生（伦敦内科医学院院士），也是英格兰第一位玫瑰十字勋章的大师，他继续捍卫他心爱的兄弟会，直到 1637 年 9 月 8 日去世。2Fludd 去世前两年，他被介绍给古物学家和占星家 Elias Ashmole（1617-92 年）。阿什莫尔通过著名的化学家和伟大工程的追随者威廉巴克豪斯询问了加入兄弟会的事情。1646 年，阿什莫尔接受了弗鲁德和巴克豪斯的培训，被接纳为新人，被任命为英格兰最高大师（克莱默 1947, II, 257）。占星家阿什莫尔也可能负责将神秘主义引入共济会（Jones 1928, 857）。阿什莫尔被任命为至尊大师后，与托马斯·沃顿、威廉·莉莉、乔治·沃顿爵士、 约翰·休伊特和约翰·皮尔森一起在伦敦成立了玫瑰十字会社（Jones 1928, 857；另请注意第 xxxi 卷）大都会百科全书 1845）。然而，应该指出的是，一些学者认为阿什莫尔从未与玫瑰十字有关（French 1972, 14）。Waite (1961, 372)，通常是一个怀疑论者，他说：“我继续认为，如果在 Fludd 去世和他 [Ashmole] 自己过世的日期之间，英格兰还有在世的骑士团成员，那么他很可能是其中之一……”（即玫瑰十字）。
在 17 世纪，著名的神秘主义者托马斯·沃恩 (Thomas Vaughan) (1612-66) 虽然否认与兄弟会有关联 (Clymer 1929, 95)，但他出版了《法玛》和《忏悔录》，为兄弟会做出了巨大贡献。1652 年，他以 Eugenius Philalethes 的笔名出版了英文版（Case 1985, 4; Cavendish 1977, 102-03），将玫瑰十字的哲学介绍给了更大的英国学者舞台。这一举动导致许多被误导的人认为沃恩本人就是一名玫瑰十字会成员。怀着这种信念，Waite (1961, 374) 急忙指出“沃恩对骑士团的历史毫无贡献……”
与所有历史时期一样，有些人继续攻击他们害怕或不理解的东西。3 其中一位是 Abbé de Villars，他在 1670 年撰写了《加巴利斯伯爵》或《阴谋家和玫瑰十字会的奢侈之谜》（Melton 1978, 178）。在这部作品中，德维拉尔攻击玫瑰十字会是反基督教的。早些时候，在 1621 年，Philipp Geiger 写了 Warnung für die Rosenkreutzer Ungeziefer（对玫瑰十字会害虫的警告），对玫瑰十字会发起了报复性攻击。
美国的玫瑰十字？
一些人认为，玫瑰十字会作为一个有组织的组织，于 1694 年来到美国（Melton 1978, 179）。这个秩序，被称为完美之章，由年轻的神秘主义者约翰内斯·克尔皮乌斯在宾夕法尼亚州的日耳曼敦建立。凯尔皮乌斯于 6 月 23 日乘坐“莎拉玛丽亚”号离开伦敦抵达费城（Waite 1961, 604）。凯尔皮乌斯（Kelpius）的团队（随他而来）在维萨希肯河岸定居，建造了天文台、寺庙和生活区。十四年后，凯尔庇乌斯死于消耗。随着他的去世，他在 35 岁（1708 年）时也出现了异象的死亡。尽管又存活了几年，但这个强调独身的团体慢慢地消失了。有关此团契的更多信息，请阅读Magister Johannes Kelpius (1917) 和 The Hon 的日记。约翰 W. 马丁 (1931-32) 的“维萨希克游行”。
这群宗教和神秘学爱好者可能拥有玫瑰十字会的文件。然而，人们普遍认为，这个教团不是玫瑰十字会，而是由德国有远见的人组成，他们的教义来自卡巴拉和雅各布·博姆 (note Clymer IV, 1931-32, 117-123)。
18 世纪欧洲的兄弟会。
根据琼斯 (1928, 857) 的说法，1710 年（或 1714 年），西格蒙德·里希特 (Sincerus Renatus) 发表了Die Wahraffte und Vollkommene Bereitung des Philosophiscens Steins … Orden des Gulden und Rosen Kreutzes …根据金玫瑰十字兄弟会秘法的哲学之石）。在这项工作中列出了玫瑰十字会要遵循的 52 条规则。六十七年后，玫瑰和金十字弟兄会改革宗仪式成立（Jones 1928, 857; note Clymer 1929, 178-79）。
里希特的作品，就像后来的金色和玫瑰色十字架一样，部分基于 Henricus Madathanas 的Aureum Sćvulum Redivivum （恢复的黄金时代）（1625 年）及其象征意义的早期教义。1785 年出版的题为《十六和十七世纪玫瑰十字会的秘密象征》的宣言展示了马达萨纳斯的象征意义。应该记住（第一章）Madathanus 提出了真正的哲学启蒙的主题：“伟大的工作或启蒙是三角形中心的真正中心的准备、建造和发现”（Clymer 1949 , 三, 83)。
德国金色和玫瑰色十字勋章的基础由约翰·阿莫斯·夸美纽斯于 17 世纪奠定。他的Collegium Lucas（与Fraternitas协会C Brothers of Light 的公开社团）是兄弟会的一个兄弟试图在一段时间的沉默之后将伟大工作的公开方面展示在公众面前。
有人说金色和玫瑰色十字架“催生了象征性的砌体，作为外部活动联系那些值得追随的人的手段”（Clymer 1949, 80）。但是，没有任何文件可以证实这一说法。在欧洲众所周知（英格兰除外），Fraternitas，首先必须是经过验证的梅森（第 80-1 页）。
克莱默 (p. 83) 说，里希特弟兄作为A门，”带领那些外在表现的有价值的成员（金色和玫瑰色十字架，许多是共济会）进入兄弟会之光。
美国第一位至尊大师 Paschal Beverly Randolph, MD (1939, 114) 指出，FA Mesmer 博士也是玫瑰十字勋章（即德国金玫瑰十字勋章）的成员，他建立了一个名为Mesmerists 或 Magnetists（请记住，Fraternitas有许多“门”，每个门都有很多名字，即使在今天也是如此）。
玫瑰十字和共济会。
Christoph Gottlieb von Murr 于 1803 年出版了Uber den wahren Ursprung der Rosenkreuzer。… _ 在这项工作中，von Murr 提出了他的论点，即玫瑰十字会和共济会在 1633 年之前是相同的（Westcott nd, 66）。 关于这个问题，Thomas de Quincey 发表了对 RC-共济会起源的历史批判性调查，这是对 JG Buhle 的Ueber den Ursprung und die vornehmsten Schicksale der Orden der RK und Freymaurer, eine Hist 的评论。Krit (Untersuchung, 8 vo. 1804) 和 CF Nicolai 的德语散文（例如Das Entstehen der Freymaurergesellschaft） （韦斯科特 nd，68）。在这些作品中，建议共济会是更神秘的玫瑰十字会 的后代（母女关系） 。 然而，Waite (1994, 77) 对这种说法提出质疑，称这种关系是“一种精神上的亲和力”。然而，Waite (1994, 355) 确实注意到了它们的象征意义之间的相似性，以及共济会十八级（古代和公认的苏格兰仪式）和旧的玫瑰十字兄弟会之间的关系。这个学位（Rose Croix de Heredom 骑士）由 Lyons = Freemasons 于 1623 年创立。
革命战争期间的兄弟会。
1654 年，一位“Eugenius Philalethes”**访问了美国。在这次访问结束时，美国兄弟会的活动被置于三人委员会的直接监督和权力之下（Clymer 1963）。该委员会将继续掌权，直到 Paschal Beverly Randolph 博士于 1858 年被选为美洲第一位至尊大师（至尊大穹顶）（Clymer 1947, II, xxvii；阅读The Book of Rosicrucić的第 I、II、III 卷） 1654-1800 年代的历史）。在 17 世纪和 18 世纪，玫瑰十字会继续以个人和小团体的形式来到美国。后来，在 1772 年，他们在美国成立了第一个玫瑰十字勋章大委员会，并在费城集会（Clymer 1965, 3）。然而，在托马斯·沃恩（Thomas Vaughan）（1650 c.）出现在美国和托马斯·潘恩（Thomas Paine）于 1774 年抵达之间，兄弟会的所有活动都是秘密的（Clymer 1947, II xxvii）。
托马斯·潘恩于 1774 年 11 月 30 日抵达美国是应本杰明·富兰克林的要求，他鼓励潘恩参与美国即将到来的革命。富兰克林在加入玫瑰骑士团时被介绍给潘恩（注意克莱默的骑士团，1917a）。 潘恩除了在骑士团中的骑士身份外，还是兄弟会世界理事会的成员（克莱默说）。
虽然距离美国建造至尊大穹顶还有八十年的时间，但许多因参与独立战争或独立宣言而声名鹊起的美国早期爱国者也参与了共济会和兄弟会的工作. 没有人比我们国父乔治华盛顿更出名了。尽管在他的一生中，华盛顿被归类为无名者（一个没有透露参与兄弟会的人），但在他死后，据透露他曾是世界理事会的成员（请注意克莱默的许多作品）。
笔记
1. Maier 的一些作品包括：Silentium Post Clamores和 Themis Aurea（被一些人认为是第二个Fama）。
2. Fludd 的一些作品包括：Apologia Compendiaria Fraternitatem de Rosea Cruce Suspicionis et Infamiae Maculis Asspersam … (Leydć, 1616) 、Tractatus Apologeticus Integritatem Societatis de Rosea Cruce defendens (1617) 和Summum Bonum … (pseu. Joachimum Frizium , 1629)。Waite (1961, 295) 拒绝了 Fludd 的作者身份。
3. 充满敌意的斥责作品包括：Gabriel Naudé (1623) 和 Petrus Gassendus、Franciscus Lanovius 和 Marin Mersenne 对 Fludd 的攻击。需要注意的是，卡西米尔学院的校长安德鲁·利鲍 (Libavius) 最初认为博爱只是一个人的想象（1615 年）。然而，后来，他的观点发生了变化（有人说没有），他鼓励他的同事加入（Craven, nd, 41-2; Waite, 1961, 235-40）。Fludd 通过出版Sophić cum Moria Certamen（法兰克福，1629 年）回应了梅森的批评。还要注意耶稣会士对Rosa Jesuitica（约 1620 年）中玫瑰十字会的看法。注意皇家 共济会 Cyclopćdia(1877, 617) 有关基于玫瑰十字会的命令的信息。在 F. Leigh Gardner 的 Rosicruciana – A Catalog Raisonne of Works on the Occult Sciences中可以找到更多关于玫瑰十字会的书籍清单。
* Masonic Rose Croix，第 18 级古代和公认的苏格兰仪式和法国仪式的顶峰（鹰骑士和鹈鹕），表示玫瑰（基督）和十字架（他的激情的工具）C 即十字架上的基督. 法国人在一定程度上改变了仪式，对原始的基督教仪式进行了更加封闭的解释（Clymer 1929, 178-79）。 有关 Rose Croix 学位的信息可以在 Kessinger Publishing Co. 制作的数百份复制品中找到。共济会的奥秘（The Morgan Exposé) 展示了一系列声称是真实的仪式。尽管作为历史参考很有价值，但该文件具有误导性。JSM Ward 弟兄所著的《共济会高级学位》第 6 章 有趣地介绍了 Herdom 的 Rose Croix 的历史、哲学和玫瑰十字会的影响。最后，高级共济会教科书 （编译器未知）为读者提供了玫瑰十字骑士的美丽历史和仪式。第 189-196 页提供了该共济会学位与兄弟会学位之间的历史评论和相关性。
** 有些人认为这个“Eugenius Philalethes”不是 Vaughan，而是一个使用 Vaughan 的 nom de plume 的玫瑰十字会成员。
The Rose Cross Order – Rosicrucians by Prof. Carl Edwin Lindgren, DEd
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 Rosć 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 Rosć 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 Rosć 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 Andreć (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 Andreć, 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 Andreć (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 Andreć?) (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, Andreć 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 Sćvulum 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, CRC 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 C R C 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 C R C of the Confederation which later became the Fraternitas Rosć 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 Europć (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 R C, ([The] Echo of the God-Illuminated Brotherhood of the Venerable Order R C 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 Rosicrucić, 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, Andreć 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 Andreć’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 Andreć 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 Andreć go one step further by including the name of C. Rosenkreutz’s Order (i.e., the Rose Cross)?
According to Hermelink (1964, 97), Andreć 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, Andreć wrote (anonymously) Turris Babel, sive Judiciorum de Fraternitate Rosaceć 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 Andreć did this in an attempt to appease the Church of Württemberg and retain his oath of silence. Clymer (1946, I, 221) states that Andreć merely outwardly distanced himself from the Fraternity. Through later forming what was called a “Christian Fraternity” (The Brotherhood of Christ) Andreć 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. Andreć 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.
** C.R.C. (believed to mean Rosencreutz) and P.A.L. are initials used in the text. No names are used in reference to initials.
CHAPTER II
THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE CROSS – 1616-1800
Many, during the early 1600s, requested entry into the Fraternitas Rosć 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 Rosicrucić (Clymer 1946, I, xxiii-xxvi), this early 17th century Confederation was co-founded by John Valentine Andreć, 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 Encyclopćdia 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 Sćvulum 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 Rosicrucić 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 … (Leydć, 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 Sophić cum Moria Certamen (Frankfurt, 1629). Also note the Jesuits’ opinion of the Rosicrucians in Rosa Jesuitica (c. 1620). Note The Royal Masonic Cyclopćdia (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.
** There are some who believe that this “Eugenius Philalethes” was not Vaughan but rather a Rosicrucian using Vaughan’s nom de plume.
