Rosicrucian Fellowship
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The Rosicrucian Fellowship Emblem
The Rosicrucian Fellowship Emblem

The Rosicrucian Fellowship - "An International Association of Christian Mystics" - was founded in 1909/11 by Max Heindel as herald of the Aquarian Age and with the aim of publicly promulgating "the true Philosophy" of the Rosicrucians.[1] [2]

The Rosicrucian Philosophy is Esoteric Christian and claims to present the mysteries, in the form of esoteric knowledge, which the Christ spoke of in Matthew 13:11 and Luke 8:10. This Christian mystic philosophy presents deep insights into the Christian Mysteries and establishes a meeting ground for art, religion, and science. It seeks to prepare the individual through harmonious development of the mind (occultist) and the heart (mystic) in a spirit of unselfishness service to mankind and an all-embracing altruism.[3]

The Rosicrucian Fellowship conducts Spiritual Healing Services and offers correspondence courses in Esoteric Christianity Philosophy, Spiritual Astrology, and Bible Interpretation. Its work is described to be conducted according to the commands of Christ-Jesus, namely, "Preach the Gospel and Heal the Sick."[4] Its headquarters are located in Mount Ecclesia, Oceanside (California), in the United States, and its students are found throughout the world organized in centers and study groups.[5]

Contents

Origins & foundation

In 1908 its founder, Max Heindel, was reported to have been chosen and prepared by the Elder Brothers of the Order of the Rose Cross (the Rosicrucian Order) to reveal the Esoteric Christian teachings of the Rosicrucian Philosophy, also known as Western Wisdom Teachings.[6] In November 1909 these teachings were printed in The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception and were subsequently developed in other books, lectures and lessons. Heindel also founded a Christian Esoteric magazine titled Rays from the Rose Cross in June 1913.[7]

C.R.C., the Founder's Cross
C.R.C., the Founder's Cross

The Rosicrucian Fellowship's formal constitution occurred on August 8, 1909, in Seattle, Washington. It is described that, during the simple ceremony, the Brothers of the Rose Cross manifested their presence.

Later, in October 28, 1911, its international headquarters, till today, were physically launched at Mount Ecclesia in the city of Oceanside, California. The ceremony of ground-breaking consisted in planting a large Cross with the initials C.R.C. (meaning Christian Rose Cross, the Head of the Rosicrucian Order) painted in gilt letters on the three upper ends and with a climbing rose. Among those gathered at the ceremony, there were reported three invisible leaders, beyond the stage of ordinary humanity, and nine members of the Rosicrucian Fellowship.

The Healing Temple "The Ecclesia" was erected, for the purpose of affording more powerful means for the healing of disease, and dedicated on December 25, 1920. Spiritual Healing meetings are held in this holy place at a regular time each day by the Probationers who have consecrated their lives to this work.

According to Max Heindel, the invisible Order of the Rose Cross is an Order in the inner worlds founded in the year 1313 and composed of twelve high spiritual beings gathered around a thirteenth, whose symbolic name is Christian Rosenkreuz. These great Adepts are presented as belonging to the human evolution but have already advanced far beyond the cycle of rebirth;[8] their mission is explained as aiming 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: "to prepare a new phase of the Christian religion to be used during the coming age now at hand, for as the world and man evolve so also must religion change."[9]

Admission of men and women into the Rosicrucian Fellowship is free of membership dues or fees, as no price is set upon its teachings,[10] and its funding is based upon voluntary giving as one is able to contribute; however, they do not admit professional astrologers, mediums, divinators-palmists or hypnotists. After a preliminary period, and although the Fellowship - which acts only as a preparatory school in the physical world - recognizes a sum of seven (7) grades, the Fellowship's study progress is mainly based upon a system of three grades: regular student, probationer and disciple.[11] After a two-year term of being a regular student of the Fellowship, a person who abstains from all flesh food, tobacco, mind-altering drugs, and alcohol may apply for probationership. When the Probationer has complied with the necessary requirements and completed the term of probation he may send request for individual instruction. The Disciple grade has been rarely attributed in a formal way and access to this stage is conferred to the neophyte, upon merit,[12] by the hierophant of the Order in the supraphysical worlds. Once admitted into the discipleship, the spiritual unfoldment of the advanced soul within the Order of the Rose Cross is conducted through the process of the nine (9 degrees) Lesser Initiations of the Christian Mysteries.[13]

Western Wisdom Teachings

Life as a School: doctrine of Rebirth and Law of Cause and Consequence

[edit] 3rd Natal Chart of The Rosicrucian Fellowship at Mount Ecclesia (1911).
[edit] 3rd Natal Chart of The Rosicrucian Fellowship at Mount Ecclesia (1911).

These teachings advocate the dualistic view: on one hand, they hold that man is a Spirit enfolding all the powers of God and that these powers are being slowly unfolded by a series of existences in a gradually improving earthy body; on the other hand, that this process of development has been performed under the guidance of exalted Beings who are yet ordering our steps, though in a decreasing measure, as man gradually acquires intellect and will.

Man is then seen as a Spirit attending the school of life for the purpose of unfolding latent spiritual power, and that for this purpose he lives many lives in earthly bodies, "Rebirth",[14] of increasingly fine texture which enable him to express himself better and better and improving his character. Connected to rebirth there is the "Law of Cause and Consequence" - the most fundamental law in human destiny, that it is not a static law - through which we constantly set new causes into operation which will create new destiny to balance and improve the old destiny brought from the past, it teaches that all the causes set into action in one life cannot be ripen in one existence, but "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap".

Evolution

According to the Rosicrucian Philosophy, also known as Mystic Christianity, the evolution of man, in our present Great Day of Manifestation, is divided into seven Periods:[15]

  • involution: the Saturn Period, the Sun Period, the Moon Period;
  • the Earth Period (firsthalf was still involution, secondhalf is towards evolution);
  • evolution: the Jupiter Period, the Venus Period, the Vulcan Period.

According to it, we are presently in the secondhalf of the Earth Period: we have just passed the end of our involution and are beginning our evolution, or the spiritualization of matter and our return to God our Father.

In this scheme of evolution, Christ is the highest Initiate of the Sun Period. This means that this Initiate, Christ, has completed His union with the Second aspect of God, or WISDOM. According to Mystic Christianity, the three Aspects of God are WILL, WISDOM and ACTIVITY. The entity we call the Father, has completed His union with the First aspect of God, WILL; then comes the Son, also called Christ; then Jehovah, the Highest Initiate of the Moon Period, who has completed His union with the Third aspect of God, or ACTIVITY.[16]

The Seven Worlds & the Seven Cosmic Planes

The sevenfold constitution of Man (see below) is related to five of the Seven worlds, each one susceptible to be subdivided in seven sub-regions and each world more subtle and inter penetrating in a concentric way the preceding one; some of them are related to the planet and the higher ones to the whole solar system:[17]

  • The World of God
  • The World of Virgin Spirits: home of the virgin spirits, differentiated within God Himself as "sparks from a Flame" at the beginning of Manifestation, prior to the beginning of pilgrimage through matter
  • The World of Divine Spirit: related to the Ego's Divine Spirit aspect; home of The Father; inhabited by the Lords of Wisdom, a Hierarchy of Elohim astrologically associated to Virgo ()
  • The World of Life Spirit: related to the Ego's Life Spirit aspect; home of the Christ (The Son, the Solar Logos); inhabited by the Lords of Individuality, a Hierarchy of Elohim astrologically associated to Libra (); higher Memory of Nature (events from the earliest dawn of our present manifestation, open only to Adepts and higher Spiritual Beings)
  • The World of Thought, the world of tone:
    • Region of Abstract Thought: related to the Ego's Human Spirit aspect; the home of Jehova, The Holy Spirit[18] (not to be confounded with the Holy “Ghost”,[19] that is, the Holy Spirit aspect -- the holy creative force -- of God and man,[20] referred to in numerous places in the Bible); inhabited by the Lords of Form, a Hierarchy of Elohim astrologically associated to Scorpio (); the "Third heaven" state of consciousness; Germinal idea(s)
    • Region of Concrete Thought: related to the Mind; inhabited by the Lords of Mind, a Hierarchy of Elohim astrologically associated to Sagittarius (); the "Second heaven" state of consciousness; Archetypes; Memory of Nature in the highest subdivision (covering the essence of a whole life or event); ocean of harmony: the Music of the Spheres

« The Great Silence »

  • The Desire World, the world of color: related to the Desire body;[21] home of the Archangels, astrologically associated to Capricorn (); the abode of deceased persons, for some time subsequent to the event of death
    • higher regions, Attraction, the "First heaven" state of consciousness
    • intermediate region, Interest and Indifference
    • lower regions, Repulsion, the "Purgatory" state of consciousness
  • The Physical World, composed of seven (7) sub-regions:
    • Etheric Region: related to the Vital body; home of the Angels (seen as being one step beyond the human stage, as humans are a degree in advance of the animal evolution), astrologically associated to Aquarius (); Memory of Nature in the reflecting ether (pictures at least several hundred years back or much more in some cases, almost as the pictures on a screen, scene shifts backward). The etheric region is subdivided in four (4) sub-regions according to the levels of density of the aether permeating our physical planet Earth: Reflecting Ether, Light Ether, Life Ether and Chemical Ether
    • Chemical Region: the physical Earth as perceived through the five senses enhanced by the current technological equipment, subdivided in three (3) sub-regions according to the three main states of matter: gaseous, liquid and solid. It is the current home of the self-conscious Mankind, astrologically associated to Pisces (). The Chemical region of the physical world is home to four life waves, or kingdoms, at a different stage in the evolutionary path: mineral life is the first and lowest level of spiritual evolution on Earth; then comes plants, with actual life, then animals (cold-blooded animals, then warm-blooded), and finally the human being. The beings belonging to each life wave either evolve through the work of the individual Spirit (human being) or are yet evolving under a group spirit,[22] have a different state of consciousness,[23] and have acquired more or less subtle bodies,[24] according to the development stage of each life wave.

The material worlds (Physical world, Desire world and World of Thought/Region of Concret Thought) are considered to be a reverse reflection of the Spiritual worlds (World of Thought/Region of Abstract Thought, World of Life Spirit and World of Divine Spirit).[25]

The Seven Worlds are planes of evolution of the Solar systems which constitute the seventh Cosmic Plane; there are six superior Cosmic Planes, possibly each one of them with a different and larger structural and dynamic expression in the physical Universe.[26]

The Seven-fold constitution of Man

It also teaches that man is a complex being who possesses (inverse order provided, from lowest or most dense to highest or most subtle):

A threefold body

  • a Dense body, which is the visible instrument he uses here in this world to fetch and carry (the body we ordinarily think of as the whole man);
  • a Vital body, which is made of ether and pervades the visible body as ether permeates all other forms, except that human beings specialize a greater amount of the universal ether than other forms (that ethereal body is our instrument for specializing the vital energy of the sun and it is seen by clairvoyant vision to extend about an inch and a half outside our visible body);
  • a Desire body, which is our emotional nature and this finer vehicle pervades both the vital and dense bodies (it is seen by clairvoyant vision to extend about 16 inches outside our visible body, which is located in the center of this ovoid cloud as the yolk is in the center of an egg).

A mind (link or focus)

The Mind, which functions like a mirror, reflects the outer world and enables the Ego to transmit its commands as thought and word, and also to compel action.

Painting of the Invisible Helper (symbolical representation)
Painting of the Invisible Helper (symbolical representation)

A threefold Spirit

On the other hand, it teaches the Ego (not to be confused with the ego as defined by psychology) is the threefold Spirit, the God Within, which uses these vehicles to gather experience in the school of life. The three aspects of the Spirit are (from highest to lowest aspect):

  • the Divine Spirit aspect;
  • the Life Spirit aspect;
  • the Human Spirit aspect.

Evolving the "Astral body" (Soul body)

According to the Western Wisdom Teachings, the term "Astral body", a vehicle evolved from the work of transmutation upon the etheric body (the two superior ethers), is not to be confounded with the Desire body since during the soul flights the desire body molds itself readily into this prepared matrix and when the individual returns to the physical body, the effort of will whereby he enters it automatically dissolves the intimate connection between the desire body and the astral or soul body. According to it, the term "Astral body" was employed by the mediaeval Alchemists because of the ability it conferred upon the one who has it to traverse the "starry" regions. The "Astral body" is regarded, according to this esoteric philosophy, as the "Philosopher's Stone" or "Living Stone" of the alchemist, the "Wedding Garment" (golden) that Christ speaks of in the Gospel of Matthew[27], the "Soul body" that Paul mentions in the First Epistle to the Corinthians[28] or the "Diamond Soul" spoken of in some of the ancient philosophies ("for it is luminous, lustrous, and sparkling--a priceless gem"), and will eventually be evolved by humanity as a whole.

The Ten-fold constitution of Man

The human being is seen as a threefold Spirit, possessing a mind, by means of which he governs the threefold Body. This threefold body he transmutes into a threefold Soul,[29] upon which he nourishes himself from impotence into omnipotence:[30]

  • Conscious Soul: extracted as pabulum from the Dense body (which was emanated from the Divine Spirit aspect);
  • Intellectual Soul: extracted as pabulum from the Vital body (which was emanated from the Life Spirit aspect);
  • Emotional Soul: extracted as pabulum from the Desire body (which was emanated from the Human Spirit aspect).

Death as a Birth

As the physical body is a vehicle which the Spirit uses to gain experience in this school day of life, death is but a passing of the Spirit into a larger sphere: a birth, which should be prepared for with the greatest care. At the end of this life the Ego must assimilate what it has experienced. At what is called death the Spirit withdraws with the two higher vehicles, which are tied to the etheric and physical bodies by a slender cord: the silver cord which the Bible speaks of in the 12th chapter of Ecclesiastes.

At death the desire and mental bodies leave the physical, taking with them but one permanent etheric atom, which during life was deposited within the left ventricle of the heart. This atom, like the negative film of the camera, has been impressed with all the experiences of the life just ended. At death the force of this atom leaves the body and all these impressions are transferred from the vital body (which is the storehouse of these experiences) into the desire body, which then forms the basis of the man or woman's life in purgatory and the first heaven. This transfer is done by the Spirit during the first three and one-half days (84 hours) after the rupture of the connection between the seed atom and the heart, ordinarily known as death: death is not complete until this transfer has been accomplished. During this time sensation is still present, and the Spirit suffers through inharmonious surroundings, including postmortem examination and embalming.

All in all, the Rosicrucian method of caring for the dead, regarding death as a birth into the spiritual worlds which should be prepared for with the greatest care, requires a "post mortem interval", or preservation period, of the physical body for three and half days (84 hours), for life review purpose (in a pacific death; not in a sudden impact such as: shock, accident, catastrophe, heart attack or suicide), before cremation or any other way of body disposal.[31]

The Cosmic Christ and the Christ Within

According to the Rosicrucian Philosophy, the Bible Teaching enables us to become aware of the fact that Christ must be born within. There is a very clear distinction between the Christ which is born within us, our true Saviour, and the Cosmic Christ, that is to say the Christ without. The Christ without, or the Cosmic Christ, helps us in the task of having Christ born within; however, it is our task to form the Christ within. The Christ within,[32] or Soul body, is the vehicle mankind will need to live in the Sixth Epoch or New Galilee.[33]

Heindel's occult and mystic writings

Max Heindel (1865-1919), a lecture
Max Heindel (1865-1919), a lecture

Max Heindel, the founder of The Rosicrucian Fellowship, suffering a severe heart condition and with an adverse financial situation, but with an indomitable will and great energy, was able to accomplish the great work for the Brothers of the Rose Cross. With the help, support and inspiration of his wife Augusta Foss, to whom in August 1910 he was joined in marriage, he gave successful teaching lectures; he sent correspondence lessons to the students, who formed groups in many of the larger cities and he wrote volumes which are translated into many languages all over the world:

Rosicrucian mission

It is referred that the mission of the Mystery School of the western world known as the Rosicrucian Order, working through The Rosicrucian Fellowship, is to promulgate a scientific method of development suited particularly to the Western people where by the wedding garment may be wrought, so that mankind may hasten the day of the Lord.[34]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Cf. Confessio Fraternitatis, the second Rosicrucian manifesto printed in 1615, which states: "What think you, loving people, and how seem you affected, seeing that you now understand and know, that we acknowledge ourselves truly and sincerely to profess Christ, condemn the Pope, addict ourselves to the true Philosophy, lead a Christian life, and daily call, entreat and invite many more unto our Fraternity, unto whom the same Light of God likewise appeareth?"
  2. ^ Cf. «Rosicrucian Societies in America», in Rays from the Rose Cross, vol.88, nº4, July/August 1996, p.38
  3. ^ Article by The Rosicrucian Fellowship: Rosicrucian Fundamentals in Questions and Answers
  4. ^ Article: How the Rosicrucians Heal the Sick
  5. ^ Heindel, Max, Our Work in the World (issued 1912), in Teachings of an Initiate (posthumous work), ISBN 0-911274-19-7
  6. ^ Article: The Birth of the Rosicrucian Fellowship
  7. ^ Article: Complete Historical Notes on The Rosicrucian Fellowship
  8. ^ Article: The Brothers of the Rose Cross
  9. ^ Article: The Rosicrucian Interpretation of Christianity
  10. ^ Cf. Matthew 10:7-8 vs. Fama Fraternitatis, the first Rosicrucian manifesto (ca. 1614) which states: "Their agreement was this: First, That none of them should profess any other thing, then to cure the sick, and that gratis"
  11. ^ Beryl Hamilton, The Rosicrucian Way: the Voice of the Rose, in Rays from the Rose Cross Magazine, January/February, 1996
  12. ^ Heindel, Max, Christian Rosenkreuz and the Order of Rosicrucians (Initiation), 1909
  13. ^ Heindel, Max, Freemasonry and Catholicism (Chapter VIII: The Path of Initiation), ISBN 0-911274-04-9
  14. ^ Diagram by Max Heindel: An Average Human Life Cycle
  15. ^ Diagram: The 777 Incarnations
  16. ^ Diagram: The Vehicles of the Highest Initiates & Ordinary Humanity
  17. ^ Diagram: The Seven Worlds
  18. ^ Cf. Psalm 51:11/Isaiah 63:10,11-14 (concordance Hebrew)
  19. ^ Cf. Matthew 12:31/Psalm 19:12-13/1Cor 3:16-17 vs. The Unpardonable Sin Explained, YouTube video (3 parts) by adeepthinker
  20. ^ Article: The Pros and Cons of Abortion: Holy Creative Force
  21. ^ Diagram: Currents in the Desire Body
  22. ^ Diagram: The Four Kingdoms
  23. ^ Diagram: The Consciousness of the Four Kingdoms
  24. ^ Diagram: The Vehicles of the Four Kingdoms
  25. ^ Diagram: The Material World a Reverse Reflection of the Spiritual Worlds
  26. ^ Diagram: The Supreme Being, the Seven Cosmic Planes, and God
  27. ^ Cf. Matthew 22:1-14
  28. ^ Cf. 1Cor 15:44 (concordance Greek/Textus Receptus): "It is sown a soul body [Gr. "soma" – body and "psuchicon" – psu(y)che – soul; mistranslated "natural body"]; it is raised a spiritual body (...)"
  29. ^ Cf. 1Thess 5:23: a distinction of "spirit [Gr. pneuma] and soul [psuche] and body [soma]" in the Bible; see also concordance Greek/Text Receptus
  30. ^ Diagram: The Tenfold constitution of Man
  31. ^ Article: The Rosicrucian Method of Caring for the Dead
  32. ^ Cf. Galatians 4:19
  33. ^ Heindel, Max, How Shall We Know Christ at His Coming?, May 1913 (stenographic report of a lecture, Los Angeles), ISBN 0-911274-64-2
  34. ^ Article: Eastern and Western Spiritual Alternatives

Literature

Students' writings

Portugal
  • Coriel, Maria (pseudonym), O Céu dentro de Nós, ISBN 978-989-8032-04-1, Chá das Cinco (Parede), 207 pages, 2007
  • de Carvalho, Delmar Domingos, A Rosacruz e Portugal, ISBN 978-972-591-726-X, Editorial Minerva (Lisbon), 200 pages, 2007 www
  • de Carvalho, Delmar Domingos, Mozart, esse desconhecido, Editorial Minerva (Lisbon), 2007 www
  • de Carvalho, Delmar Domingos, A Flor da Esperança, Hugin Editores (Lisbon), 2004 www
  • de Carvalho, Delmar Domingos, A V Via Rumo à Cidade da Rosa, Hugin Editores (Lisbon), 2002 www
  • Macedo, António de, O Neoprofetismo e a Nova Gnose, ISBN 972-794-206-7, Hugin Editores (Lisbon), 172 pages, 2003 www
  • Macedo, António de, Laboratório Mágico - Ensaios Alquimísticos, ISBN 972-794-100-1, Hugin Editores (Lisbon), 474 pages, 2002 www
  • Macedo, António de, Instruções Iniciáticas - Ensaios Espirituais, ISBN 972-8534-00-0, Hugin Editores (Lisbon), 2nd ed., 346 pages, 2000 www
  • Monteiro, António, A Ordem Rosacruz, ISBN 9789721016736, Edições Europa-América (Lisbon), 176 pages, 1981
  • Rodrigues, Francisco Marques (1899-1979), Estudos Bíblicos - Ensinamentos da Tradição Esotérica Cristã (Vol. I), Fraternidade Rosacruz de Portugal, ISBN 972-9381-13-5, 2005 (posthumous work)

United States

Third-party comments

  • Bayard, Jean-Pierre, Les Rose-Croix (subchapter of third chapter: L'Association Rosicrucienne Max Heindel), M.A. Éditions, Paris, 1986
  • Lindgren, Carl Edwin, The Rose Cross: A Historical and Philosophical View (section of Chapter III: The Rosicrucian Fellowship), Journal of Religion and Psychical Research, Volume19, Number 3:143-152, 1995 www
  • Martin, Walter, The Kingdom of the Cults, Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1965, 1977, 1985, p.507

See also

Lineage

School

Central concepts

Miscellaneous Concepts

External links
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