Modern Day Rosicrucianism
 An overview of modern day Rosicrucianism and recent history of the school of the rosy cross.
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Overview of Modern Day Rosicrucianism
| During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, various groups styled themselves Rosicrucian. The diverse groups who link themselves to a "Rosicrucian Tradition" can be divided into three categories: Esoteric Christian Rosicrucian groups, which profess Christ, Masonic Rosicrucian groups such as Societas Rosicruciana, and initiatory groups such as the Golden Dawn and the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC).
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A ceremonial collar belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French while serving as Master of a Rosicrucian Order jurisdiction based in Paris. |
Esoteric Christian Rosicrucian Schools
Esoteric Christian Rosicrucian schools provide esoteric knowledge related to the inner teachings of Christianity.
The Rosicrucian Fellowship, 1909/11. Teachings present the mysteries, in the form of esoteric knowledge, of which Christ spoke in Matthew 13:11 and Luke 8:10. The Fellowship seeks to prepare the individual through harmonious development of mind and heart in a spirit of unselfish service to mankind and an all-embracing altruism. According to it the Rosicrucian Order was founded in the year 1313 and is composed of twelve exalted Beings gathered around a thirteenth, Christian Rosenkreuz. These great Adepts have already advanced far beyond the cycle of rebirth; their mission is to prepare the whole wide world for a new phase in religion—which includes awareness of the inner worlds and the subtle bodies, and to provide safe guidance in the gradual awakening of man's latent spiritual faculties during the next six centuries toward the coming Age of Aquarius.
Order of the Rose Cross
According to masonic writers the Order of the Rose Cross is expounded in a major Christian literary work that molded the subsequent spiritual views of the western civilization, The Divine Comedy (ca. 1308–1321) by Dante Alighieri.
Other Christian-Rosicrucian oriented bodies include:
- Anthroposophical Society, 1912
- Lectorium Rosicrucianum, 1924
- Archeosophical Society, 1968
Freemasonic Rosicrucian bodies providing preparation either through direct study and/or through the practice of symbolic-initiatic journey.
- French Rite, 1786
- Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, 1801
- Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, 1866, in Scotia (SRIS; Scotland), in Civitatibus Foederatis (MSRICF/SRICF; United States) etc. This Masonic esoteric society reprinted the Rosicrucian manifestos in 1923. A well-known member was Arthur Edward Waite.
Initiatory Groups which follow a Degree system of study and initiation include:
- The Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, incorporated in the U.S. in 1915
- Rosicrucian Order of the Golden Dawn, California based Order
Rosicrucian Order
The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis (AMORC), also called Rosicrucian Order, is a philosophical and humanist worldwide fraternal organization. Members are known as students. The organization states it is devoted to "the study of the elusive mysteries of life and the universe". The organization is non-sectarian and it is open to both men and women of legal adult age (18 years old in most countries) regardless of their various religious persuasions.
The AMORC association was founded in 1915 in New York to support and organize the activities of a legendary Rose-Croix Order, which according to their tradition traces its origin to Ancient Egyptian mystery schools that they hold studied a wide variety of mystical subjects. The oral accounts they provide hold that these schools were founded during the joint reign of the Egyptian Pharaohs Tuthmosis III and Hatshepsut and included among their most esteemed pupils Pharaoh Akhenaten.
As the phrases "Rose-Croix" and "Rosicrucian" are in the public domain, there are a number of organizations that describe themselves as such. According to AMORC members and related publications, these organizations may or may not be related to a real Rosicrucian Order and most of them are not. AMORC claims to be an authentic modern manifestation of the ancient Order, keeping the teachings of their ancient Rose-Croix Order undiluted and the primordial tradition intact. Contemporary readers have been introduced once again to the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis and its principles in Dan Brown's latest novel The Lost Symbol.
