Rosicrucian

The Rosicrucian is a legendary and secretive order dating from the 15th or 17th century. It generally is associated with the symbol of the Rose Cross, which is also found in certain rituals beyond "Craft" or "Blue Lodge" Freemasonry. The Rosicrucian Order is viewed among earlier and many modern Rosicrucianists as an inner worlds Order, comprised of great "Adepts." When compared to human beings, the consciousness of these Adepts is like that of demi-gods. This "College of Invisibles" is regarded as the source permanently behind the development of the Rosicrucian movement.

Modern groups

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, various groups styled themselves Rosicrucian. Almost all claimed to be authentic heirs to a historical Rosicrucian tradition. These include the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC), the Confraternity of the Rose Cross (CR+C), Fraternitas Rosae Crucis, the Rosicrucian Fellowship, the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship, Societas Rosicruciana, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, and others as well.

Related Topics:
Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis - Confraternity of the Rose Cross - Fraternitas Rosae Crucis - Rosicrucian Fellowship - Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship - Societas Rosicruciana - Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn - Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia

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Esoteric Christianity groups vs. Para-Masonic groups

These diverse groups can be divided into two categories: the para-Masonic groups and the Esoteric Christianity groups. There has never been any connection between these two streams.

Related Topics:
Masonic - Esoteric Christianity

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Para-Masonic groups may be defined as being late heirs of the alchemy and hermetic knowledge created by the original 15th or 17th century "College of Invisibles". The inner structure of these groups is based upon Masonic lines, such as grades, initiations and titles.

Related Topics:
Masonic - Alchemy - Hermetic

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The Esoteric Christianity groups regard themselves as representing a "rebirth" in the New World of the inner worlds as described by the original Rosicrucian Order. Their mission is to prepare the whole world for a new phase in Religion during the next six centuries toward the Age of Aquarius.

Related Topics:
Esoteric Christianity - New World - Inner worlds - Religion - Age of Aquarius

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List of 'Para-Masonic' groups

• Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis
• Christian Bernard (1951 - ): current (2004) Imperator of AMORC; presented the Positio Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis http://home01.wxs.nl/~amorc.nl/enpositio.html in 2001 (AMORC Rosicrucian Year 3354).
• Julie Scott (1958 - ): current (2004) Grand Master of the English Grand Lodge for the AMORC.
• Gary L. Stewart: Imperator of AMORC from 1987 to 1990; founded the CR+C in 1996.
• Ralph Maxwell Lewis (1904 - 1987): the son of Harvey Spencer Lewis; was the Imperator of AMORC from 1939 to 1987.
• Harvey Spencer Lewis (1883 - 1939): founder and the first Imperator of AMORC from 1915 until 1939; also founded the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum (1929).
• Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship
• George Alexander Sullivan (1890-1942), founder of the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship
• Fraternitas Rosae Crucis
• Reuben Swinburne Clymer (1878 - 1966): succeeded Edward H. Brown as Supreme Grand Master of Fraternitas Rosae Crucis in 1922.
• Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825 - 1875): founder of the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis (1858).
• Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
• Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854-1918): a famous magician and one of the most influential figures in modern Occultism, co-founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1888.
• Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia
• William Wynn Westcott (1848 - 1925): became Magus of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia in 1890; author of the Rosicrucian Thoughts on the Ever-Burning Lamps of the Ancients (1903) http://www.levity.com/alchemy/westcott.html and other extensive writings in the fields of medicine and the occult literature.

List of 'Esoteric Christianity' groups

• The Rosicrucian Fellowship
• Max Heindel (1865-1919): founder of The Rosicrucian Fellowship in 1909/11; author of The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception (1909) and many other esoteric Christian and spiritual astrology writings.
• Anthroposophical Society
• Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925): founder of the Anthroposophical Society, lecturer of the Esoteric Christianity and the Mission of Christian Rosenkreutz http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/EsoChristian/EsoChr_index.html and author of many Rosicrucian Christianity lectures.
• The Heindel-Steiner Connection (2005) & Rosicrucianism and Religion (1995) by Charles Weber
• The Mystic Gallery "Rosicrucians" & The Mystic World Gallery by Reinhard Ponty (Art Gallery; 2002-2005)
• Lectorium Rosicrucianum
• Jan van Rijckenborgh (1896-1968) and Catharose de Petri (1902-1990): after leaving the The Rosicrucian Fellowship, founded the Lectorium Rosicrucianum in 1924 to deliver inner Christianity teachings.