Rosicrucianism: Difference between revisions
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'''Rosicrucianism''' refers to a movement which arose in Europe in the early 17th century. The word “Rosicrucian” is derived from the name “Christian Rosenkreutz” or “Rose Cross”. The existence of the order first came into public notice, when two Latin pamphlets, known as the <i>Fama Fraternitatis</i> and as <i>Confessio Fraternitati</i>were published in Germany, describing the foundation and aims of this esoteric order. These manifestos aroused a lot of excitement and a third publication, <i>The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz</i>, increased the mystery. <ref>Yates, Frances A. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment. Frogmore, St. Albans: Granada Publishing Limited, 1975. Print. Page 58</ref></br> | '''Rosicrucianism''' refers to a movement which arose in Europe in the early 17th century. The word “Rosicrucian” is derived from the name “Christian Rosenkreutz” or “Rose Cross”. The existence of the order first came into public notice, when two Latin pamphlets, known as the <i>Fama Fraternitatis</i> and as <i>Confessio Fraternitati</i>were published in Germany, describing the foundation and aims of this esoteric order. These manifestos aroused a lot of excitement and a third publication, <i>The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz</i>, increased the mystery. <ref>Yates, Frances A. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment. Frogmore, St. Albans: Granada Publishing Limited, 1975. Print. Page 58</ref></br> | ||
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==Four Distinct Theories | ==Four Distinct Theories== | ||
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<br>1) There is an assumption that the Rosicrucian Order existed historically in accordance with the description in <i>Fama Fraternitatis</i> which appeared in print in 1614. This pamphlet reminds the reader of God’s goodness, warns the intelligentsia of following false prophets and ignoring the true knowledge, and makes clear that a reformation is necessary.</br> | <br>1) There is an assumption that the Rosicrucian Order existed historically in accordance with the description in <i>Fama Fraternitatis</i> which appeared in print in 1614. This pamphlet reminds the reader of God’s goodness, warns the intelligentsia of following false prophets and ignoring the true knowledge, and makes clear that a reformation is necessary.</br> | ||
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== Connections with Theosophy == | == Connections with Theosophy == | ||
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Quite a few people have been influenced by both Rosicrucianism and [[Theosophy]], including artist [[Jean Delville]], occultist [[William Wynn Westcott]], novelist [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton]], scholar [[Alexander Wilder]], and medium [[Paschal Beverly Randolph]]. | Quite a few people have been influenced by both Rosicrucianism and [[Theosophy]], including artist [[Jean Delville]], occultist [[William Wynn Westcott]], novelist [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton]], scholar [[Alexander Wilder]], and medium [[Paschal Beverly Randolph]]. | ||
Revision as of 20:08, 15 May 2017
THIS SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Rosicrucianism refers to a movement which arose in Europe in the early 17th century. The word “Rosicrucian” is derived from the name “Christian Rosenkreutz” or “Rose Cross”. The existence of the order first came into public notice, when two Latin pamphlets, known as the Fama Fraternitatis and as Confessio Fraternitatiwere published in Germany, describing the foundation and aims of this esoteric order. These manifestos aroused a lot of excitement and a third publication, The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, increased the mystery. [1]
The object of the mysterious Order of Rosicrucians was to throw “occult light upon the misunderstood Christian Religion and the explain the mystery of Life and Being from the scientific standpoint in harmony with Religion. [2]
Four Distinct Theories
1) There is an assumption that the Rosicrucian Order existed historically in accordance with the description in Fama Fraternitatis which appeared in print in 1614. This pamphlet reminds the reader of God’s goodness, warns the intelligentsia of following false prophets and ignoring the true knowledge, and makes clear that a reformation is necessary.
2) Some Masonic brethren accept the historical existence of the “Brotherhood of the Rose Cross” and believe that it originated in mediaeval Europe as an outgrowth of alchemical speculation and that Johann Valentin Andrea, a German theologian, was the founder and might have reformed an existing society established by Sir Henry Cornelius Agrippa; some believe that Rosicrucians represented the first European invasion of Buddhist and Brahmin culture; and still others believe it was founded in Egypt during the philosophic supremacy of that empire.
3) The third theory takes the form of a sweeping denial of Rosicrucianism claiming that it was entirely a product of imagination.
4) The fourth theory asserts that the Rosicrucians actually possessed all the supernatural powers with which they were credited. According to this theory, the true Rosicrucian Brotherhood consisted of a limited number of highly developed adepts who possessed the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone and knew the process of transmuting the base metals into gold but taught that these were only allegorical terms concealing the true mystery of human regeneration through the transmutation of the “base elements” of man’s lower nature into the “gold” of intellectual and spiritual realization. [3]
Connections with Theosophy
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Quite a few people have been influenced by both Rosicrucianism and Theosophy, including artist Jean Delville, occultist William Wynn Westcott, novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, scholar Alexander Wilder, and medium Paschal Beverly Randolph.
Online resources
Books
- Texts and Publications at AMORC website.
Articles
- The Brethren of the Rosy Cross by Alexander Wilder
- The Rosicrucians at WisdomWorld.org
- Secret Doctrines of the Rosicrucians by Magnus Incognito
- Theosophy of the Rosicrucian by Rudolf Steiner
- Secret Symbols by the Rosicrucians by Franz Hartmann
Notes
- ↑ Yates, Frances A. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment. Frogmore, St. Albans: Granada Publishing Limited, 1975. Print. Page 58
- ↑ Heindel, Max. THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION. Oceanside, Ca.: Rosicrucian Fellowship, 1998. Print., page 518
- ↑ Hall, Manly P. The Secret Teachings of All Ages. Altenmünster: Jazzybee Verlag Jürgen Beck. Kindle edition, chapter „The Fraternity of the Rose Cross