contents - AMORC

TheRosicrucianOrderSN’T IT AMAZING how powerful a clear,personal philosophy of life can be; howeverything seems to flow so harmoniously forthose who have dared to take charge of their destiny?Analysing their real needs, they soon realised that morethan anything else, they needed to rely upon their owninsights rather than those of others, take their owndecisions rather than rely on those taken by others.If you are searching for a deeper understandingof yourself, and especially if you seek to gain greatermastery over your life, the Rosicrucian Order can help.For centuries, Rosicrucians have assisted peopleto find within themselves a “higher knowledge” whichembryonically exists in all human beings. Developingthis inner understanding to its limits leads to whatreligions and philosophies of all ages have referred tosimply as “Illumination”, a state of joy, perfection andachievement beyond our wildest dreams.Gaining this knowledge and experience is not apurely academic exercise; it is a graded series of practicalsteps needed in order to gain first proficiency andeventually full mastery over our daily thoughts andactions.The Rosicrucian approach to inner developmenthas brought happiness, peace and success into the affairsof thousands of people over the centuries, and you toocan benefit from it. If you wish to know more aboutthis unique system of inner development, simply writeto us, requesting a copy of our free introductory booklet“The Mastery of Life”. This will explain the RosicrucianOrder and its teachings in greater detail and you candecide for yourself whether or not this path is for you.Mail To: Dept Bcn52, Rosicrucian Order, P.O. Box 35,Crowborough TN6 1ZX, ENGLANDTel: 01892-653197 -- Fax: 01892-667432Email: membership@amorc.org.ukWebsite: www.amorc.org.ukThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

Published quarterly by theEnglish speaking jurisdictionfor Europe and Africa of theROSICRUCIAN ORDER A.M.O.R.C.P.O. BOX 35CROWBOROUGH,EAST SUSSEX TN6 lZXENGLANDTel: 01892-653197Fax: 01892-667432Email: RCBeacon@amorc.org.ukWeb: www.amorc.orgJune 2005, Vol 14, No. 3CONTENTS2 Reflections of a Mystic - by D. Weber, SRC4 Scientific Mysticism - Part 4 - by William Hand, FRC8 A Wise Woman - anonymousOfficial English LanguageMagazine of theRosicrucian Order, AMORC(Europe and Africa)Issued free to members as anincidence of membershipEditor:Bill AndersonSub-Editor:Paul GoodallDesign and Layout:Richard BonwickStatements made in this publicationare not the official expressions ofthe organisation or its officersunless declared to be officialcommunications.All material in the RosicrucianBeacon is copyright and may not bereproduced in any form without theprior consent of the publishers andindividual contributors.Changes of address must reach usby the first of the month preceedingpublication.9 Rosicrucian History from Its Origins to the Present - Part 16- by Christian Rebisse, FRC19 The Candle - anonymous20 When The Seeker Comes Calling - by Stephen Tanham, FRC23 The Rose - by Anthony Harley24 The Four Wives - by Amelia27 The Ouroborus - by Paul Goodall, FRC30 Great Libraries - Centres of Civilisation -DAR AL-ILM: Cairo - by Pensator36 Past, Present and Future - by Jenny Butler, SRC37 The Detached Heart - by Connie James, SRC40 Einstein’s Quest For Oneness - by Marc Cornwall, FRC44 Knowing God - by H. Spencer Lewis, FRC46 Around The JurisdictionCOVER SPREAD“Mid Summer Evening Light”The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 20051

The sublimity of the humanpersonality is the good.by D. Weber, SRCS A METAPHYSICAL WAY OF LIFE,mysticism considers the psychic andspiritual worlds of greater consequencethan their physical counterpart, theeveryday world of material reality.Although Rosicrucians do not negatethe important role of the physical, neverthelessas mystics, their highest priority is the search fortruth. And in that search, each mystic eventuallydiscovers that within the being of every livinghuman, there exists a core of goodness exceedingall human understanding, and this they call“God.” The aim of every mystic therefore is torealise and externalise this God in every act oflife, thereby bestowing upon matter a purity anddignity worthy of this divine source.The mystical life is achieved by a longprocess of spiritual refinement, and one lifetimeis but a beginning. Many have sought the mysticallife. The ascetic forsakes the world and seeks touncover his or her concept of this “inner God,”not knowing that a more stable path lies in2The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

engaging with the world rather than rejectingit. Most people are caught in the maelstrom ofhuman responsibilities and cannot or do notwish to retire from the physical world. Yet, manypeople, despite their daily challenges, also seekthe divine in periods of solitude from dailyaffairs. Both the ascetic and the modern mysticwho fully engages with life on all levels, considersthe crucible of life an opportunity to temper themetal of the soul. We seek that for which mankindhas always sought; that which we hope will bringabout a union with God and a reintegration of thewarring forces within ourselves.As mystics we yearn for truth; we searchfor it through meditation and feel an inexpressiblehappiness when we discover or realise the Godwithin. It is then for us a light, dispelling thedarkness of doubt and confusion. We are ableto see and love all life everywhere, and fortifiedwith an inner serenity, we can meet adversityand suffering and accept them as part of the totalhuman experience to be used as stepping-stonesin our ascent toward perfection.HumilityHumility is indispensable, being invariablythe sweetest flower in the inner garden and ofthe greatest value. Genuine humility impliesa profound knowledge of human psychology;it is a cloak that protects and defends truewisdom. Humility is not ignorance. Rather, itis an introspective consciousness, a progressiverealisation of divine unity which prevents us frombeing aroused by envy and keeps us aware of theconsequences of our own thought. Freed fromlower-level thinking, we are therefore protectedfrom our own pride and vanity and realise theinner peace of tolerance and love.As the disciples of mysticism, teachers,sages and saints alike have sought wisdomwithin the inner silence of the soul. Mysticismis not a dazzling light that blinds. Neither is ita flickering, perishable flame that confuses theaspirant. It is a permanent, dependable light,dissolving the errors of darkness.Mysticism Must Be LivedThe greatest mystics of history did not limitthemselves to merely writing down their message.It was their life in thought, word and deedthat spoke most of who they were. Unlike theartist who leaves a masterpiece to enlighten andinspire posterity, the mystic finds it impossible tosever a part of the total consciousness and makeof it a complete and comprehensive message thatsays it all.It is well for the aspirant to rememberamong other lessons the teachings of Jesus theChrist, that “… unless a corn of wheat falls into theground and dies, it stays alone. But if it dies, it bringsforth much fruit.” (John 12:24) To understand thisparable is to understand a profound mysticaltruth.Although humanity appears to be racingtoward its own early demise, we understandthat the race is yet in its infancy and that menand women are still playing with their lives, likechildren pursuing fantasies. Intangible, sacredThere must be self-discipline in thestudy and application of the basicprinciples of life and constant practiceof moral and virtuous habits.and permanent values are ignored, and so many,many people occupy themselves with trivia andall that is transitory. In a turbulent and disquietingworld, only the inner God is real, though sadly, sofew are fully conscious of this yet.Mystics of past centuries sought perfectionthrough the practice of moral virtues, and so toodo the mystic of today. Francis of Assisi, John ofthe Cross, eminent Muslim, Christian and Jewishmystics of past centuries, the seventeenth centuryGerman mystic Jacob Boehme, and many others,have been fountains of human inspiration.Time must be allotted for retreat, formeditation. There must be self-discipline in thestudy and application of the basic principles oflife and constant practice of moral and virtuoushabits. These are necessary to awaken and developthe psychic and spiritual elements of the aspirant.“Mysticism is exalted grace,” said Plato. And SaintTeresa, in describing the inner ecstasy, spoke of“a going within to experience the feelings of the soul...a closing of eyes, ears and mind and realising life aspure soul.”These heights are gained throughprogressive discipline, and the mystic discoversthat the wisdom thereby gained strengthens onein divine light. It girds us with spiritual power andreveals the real treasure of life: the sanctity of thatinner God and the sublimity of the human soul.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 20053

Part 4by William Hand, FRCIn Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this series we looked at the excitingdevelopments in the science of Quantum Physics,Systems Theory and String Theory. We now have thenecessary tools to begin to explore many mystical topicsin a scientific framework.IN THIS ARTICLE WE WILL BEGINto formulate ideas (which scientists callhypotheses) on how various aspectsof mysticism may work. Before we dothis, it must be stressed that what ispresented here are just ideas; they may be correct,but they may also turn out to be wrong. Someoneonce said “being an expert is no guarantee againstbeing dead wrong.” and we should all rememberthat. Having said this, however, the ideas aresoundly based and I hope they will stimulatefurther ideas and possibly one day, even someexperiments. Therefore, in this article I wouldlike to consider the broad topic of “Extra-Sensory4The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

Perception” or ESP as it is usually termed, since Iam sure that most readers will have had at leastone experience of this to relate to. So let’s beginthe journey of exploration!Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP)In any scientific investigation of a phenomenonone has to begin by understanding what thephenomenon is and indeed whether there isactually anything worth investigating. The broadand generally accepted definition of ESP is theprocess of becoming aware of something in theworld by means other than the five senses ofsight, hearing, touch, taste and smell.The accepted definition of ESP is the processof becoming aware of something in theworld by means other than the five senses.However, we always have to be verycareful in trying to identify genuine ESP. Manypet owners, and especially those with dogs, saythat their animals have a sixth sense, that is, theyseem to become aware of things either before theyoccur or without apparently perceiving themwith the normal senses. Remember however,that dogs have an acute sense of smell extendingfar beyond the range of our own limited ability.Therefore, the ability of an animal to find itsway in the dark or to follow a trail may seemremarkable to us but it is just a matter of theanimal using its everyday senses.Perhaps a little less obvious are the caseswhere owners say their dog has a precognition ofevents like knowing minutes beforehand whensomeone it loves will return home. This too canhave a simple explanation, it is possible that thedog is picking up familiar sounds beyond ourrange of hearing or maybe sensing sound wavesthrough a heightened sense of touch in its legs.Of course, these explanations are difficultto prove but the experiences by themselves wouldhardly provide credible evidence for the existenceof ESP in animals. Perhaps a little more remarkableare the documented accounts of animals runningaway from the shoreline before the tragic tsunamiin the Indian Ocean made landfall in December2004. Could these be attributed to ESP? In theory,this is possible, but there are also alternativeexplanations. For example, the animals may havedetected earth tremors or a sudden change in thesound of the sea that may then have triggered aninstinctive primitive response to flee; and if onehas to move away then one is naturally going tohead inland. I hope I am conveying, by the use ofthese illustrations, that the question of providingreasonable evidence for the existence of ESP isnot as simple as might first appear.We can, however, find similar examples ofESP in human experiences, and some of the mostwidely documented evidence dates from wartime,particularly during the First World War. Thereare numerous accounts of women appearing toknow not only that their husbands had perishedin battle, but sometimes even the time of deathof their loved one, before receiving thenews by normal channels. Also there canbe few people on this earth who havenot experienced what is commonly calleda hunch or intuition or just a simply afeeling of “knowing” that something hashappened or is about to happen in their lives.These experiences cannot be dismissed since theyare common and do need to be explained. Morecontentious examples of ESP include dowsing,divination, remote viewing and telepathy.I do not wish to become bogged down intrying to present hypotheses for how specificexamples of ESP such as telepathy may operate.Rather I am seeking an understanding of thecommon attribute of all types of ESP phenomena,that is, the process of becoming aware ofsomething other than through our everyday fivesenses of sight, hearing, feeling, touch and taste.Understanding ESPHow could ESP work? Let us step back andanalyse the situation. When we see somethingwith our eyes, what happens is that photons oflight reflected from the object are focussed ontosight receptors, called cones and rods, at the backof our eyes and the resulting pattern of nervestimuli is then interpreted as an image by ourbrains. This process of seeing is well understoodby science, except perhaps precisely how thebrain does the interpretation. So, we are seeingwith our brains, not with our eyes.This is also true for the other four senses.All our interactions with the world are ultimatelyinterpreted in our brains and constitute ourreality of the material world we live in. Some ofthese external stimuli also provoke a responsefrom us and our interaction with the worldThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 20055

around us then becomes complete. The responsesare sometimes of an internal rather than anexternal nature. For example, the act of readinga book may impart some new knowledge tous, causing us to think and contemplate on itsimplications. In the human brain then, the imageof the printed words in a book can becomelinked with thoughts and possibly subsequentactions. This demonstrates one of many links thatexist between mind and matter. This linkage isimportant as it provides the starting pointfor a better understanding of ESP.In Part 1 of this series we lookedat Quantum Physics and considered thedifference between actuality and reality.Briefly actuality is the true underlyingessence of something; reality is our personalperception of that essence. All realities are differentdepending on how we come to know of thething we are observing, perceiving, experiencing.Therefore actuality + observation give us reality.For all organisms that we commonly describe asbeing conscious, for example, plants, animals andhumans, the “observation” part of the process thencan be replaced by the word consciousness. It canfurthermore be said that actuality + consciousness> reality. In other words, the combination ofthe state of actuality and the expression of ourconsciousness is greater than reality itself.Although we have no control over“actuality” as it exists as it is, full stop, we do havecontrol over our consciousness, for we “make upour mind” and focus our awareness (see Part 1).If our consciousness was restricted to processingthe inputs from our five senses, then our “reality”would consist entirely of the material worldand our interaction with that world throughour thoughts and actions. It follows that ESPmust arise from acts of consciousness other thanthrough the five physical senses. I know thatsome readers will now be declaring that this isobvious. But what we have arrived at throughthe application of logic is the key and centralrole that consciousness plays in ESP. It tells usthat any ESP experience is a valid reality andone of many that we can choose. Another way oflooking at it is to say that ESP is the result of arelationship between actuality and consciousness.So for ESP to occur, a mechanism has to existrelating “consciousness” to “actuality.”Quantum Physics tells us that actuality isvibratory in nature (quantum waves) and StringTheory tells us that actuality is multi-dimensional.Uniting consciousness with vibrations of actualitywill involve an exchange of information andenergy between the vibrations of the matrixcomprising our consciousness with the vibrationsof the thing we are becoming aware of. This is anapplication of Systems Theory introduced in Part2 of this series. The exchange of information andenergy will take place in multi-dimensions andnot necessarily within the confines of “normal”The linkage between mind and matter isimportant as it provides the starting pointfor a better understanding of ESP.three-dimensional space plus time. It followsthen, that ESP is likely to arise as a result of aprocess that involves information and energyexchanges in the hidden dimensions of StringTheory.Our hypothesis therefore, is that ESP is theresult of a process involving the interaction andconsequent exchange of information and energybetween strings vibrating in multi-dimensions.Mystically, the process is an act of love since love inits multitudinous forms arises from informationenergyexchanges.Does The Hypothesis Fit InWith Common Experience?Scientifically this is a very good and necessaryquestion to ask because if we can find just oneexample that does not fit in with the hypothesis,then the hypothesis must be either wrong orincomplete. So what examples do we have ofESP?Let us consider intuition or hunches. Wehave all had these; they are common and occurrelatively frequently. To solve a problem or toanswer a question by intuition normally requiresone to cease dwelling on the issue objectively.Then the answer comes in that instant whenone is relaxed and not generally thinking aboutanything. It flashes into objective consciousnessas if from nowhere as a complete solution andyou somehow know that it is right. The usualsimple explanation is that it is the subconsciousmind at work. This is true but does not sayanything about the process.Our hypothesis is that intuition arises fromthe interaction of strings in dimensions outside of6The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

normal four-dimensional space-time. So what isinteracting? Suppose our problem is that we havea choice of two houses to buy. Both are similarlypriced and both offer similar amenities andlocation but we cannot make up our mind whichto purchase. One of our hobbies is gardening andour mind is cluttered with gardening experiences;the smell of flowers, the joy of watching treesgrow and the thrill of picking and eating homegrown vegetables. Each of these experiencesis recorded, not only as neural connections inour brains but as vibratory patterns of stringsthat comprise our thoughts and expressions ofjoy. The houses we would like to buy bothhave gardens and those gardens too compriseIntuition arises from the interaction ofstrings in dimensions outside of normalfour-dimensional space-time.vibrations of strings in all dimensions. But in onehouse there is a problem, the soil has becomecontaminated and what once had the capacity forabundant growth, no longer has that potential.The string vibrations from this garden no longercontain the familiar pattern of completely healthyplants and trees. These vibrations are thereforeout of harmony with our internal desires orthe vibratory string pattern we are seeking. Aharmonious link can therefore not be made withthis garden. Fortunately, the other garden is fineand the exchanges of information and energybetween the strings create a new pattern of mydesires, my plants, and my experiences occurringin the garden. This vision is therefore realised in aquiet moment and the choice is made.There are many things happening herebut the key starting point is that the desire for anice garden motivated by willpower triggers thesubconscious question: are the string patternsin harmony? Perhaps this is where the commonsaying that “the vibes are wrong” comes from?Of course we could have made the correct choiceof garden by objectively analysing the soil andphysically finding the contamination, but thenwe would have had to think of doing this in thefirst place, since soil analysis is not normallyundertaken in purchasing a property. And whywould we even think of having the soil analysed;intuition perhaps?!In the illustration just discussed, weconsidered a rather static “sensing” of aproblem; but what about more dynamicexamples of ESP such as perceiving thedeath or distress of a loved one? Howmight this fit into our hypothesis? The keyhere is the term “loved one.” We always have aspecial bond with those closest to us. This lovingintimacy means that harmonious vibrations aregradually built up between the two parties. Ifone then becomes in distress, or indeed dies, theharmony is disturbed and discordant vibrationsof strings begin to emanate and be picked up.This can come as a shock to the receiving personsince it is highly likely to project suddenly intoobjective consciousness thereby creating theintuitive knowledge that something catastrophichas happened. This often works over vast distancessince in the hidden dimensions of String Theory,distance and time do not have the meanings they havein our everyday objective world.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 20057

Critics at this stage may say that thisis all very well and point out that we are justmanipulating things to fit in with the hypothesis.This is a valid opinion, but the aim of this partof the article is to check whether examples ofESP could be explained by our hypothesis. If theycould not, then the hypothesis would need to berevised. Clearly we have not looked at all possiblemanifestations of ESP but we have consideredthe generic process of obtaining knowledge bymeans outside of our five normal senses. At theoutset I admitted that the explanations offeredhere could be totally wrong since at this stagewe do not have verifiable evidence of the processthat is going on in ESP. There may be alternativeand better explanations and at this stage we haveto wait for further advances in theoretical andexperimental physics that could either put ourhypothesis on a more solid footing or start to castserious doubt on it. Only time will tell.However, it is obvious that any credibletheory of the working of ESP has to explainboth sensing at a distance and sensing locallythrough means other than with the five everydaysenses. Perhaps more controversially, if we acceptthat some examples of ESP are prophetic (as indreams, for example), then that theory wouldalso have to take the element of time out of theequation. Our present hypothesis does this byconsidering string interactions in the hiddendimensions.In Part 5 of this series I will start to lookat the extremely difficult topic of consciousness.What is it and why are there different types ofconsciousness? Is there a link between them andwhy is it that consciousness alone is the primaryforce behind all reality?-- anonymous --A wise woman who was travelling in the mountainsfound a precious stone in a stream. The next day she metanother traveller who was hungry, and the wise womanopened her bag to share her food. The hungry travellersaw the precious stone and asked the woman to give itto him. She did so without hesitation.The traveller left, rejoicing in his good fortune. Heknew the stone was worth enough to give him securityfor a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to returnthe stone to the wise woman. “I’ve been thinking,” he said,“I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in thehope that you can give me something even more precious; letme have what you have within you that enabled you to giveme the stone.”8The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

A Journey to the Eastby Christian Rebisse, FRCLTHOUGH HARVEY SPENCER LEWISconsidered her as a co-founder of theAncient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis,May Banks-Stacey (1846-1919) remainsrelatively unknown. It is important forus therefore, to pause to look at the unusualjourney of this Rosicrucian. 1 May Banks-Stacey,born Mary Henrietta Banks, was the daughter ofThaddeus Banks, an eminent lawyer, and DeliaCromwell-Reynolds. She was an excellent studentand gained a lawyer’s diploma. She was also acompetent musician with a magnificent voice. Atalented woman of great class, she was part ofseveral high society circles in Washington and laterin New York. Married in 1869, May Banks-Staceybecame widowed when only forty years old. Herhusband, Colonel Stacey May Humphreys (1837-1886), died in 1886 in New York where the Staceyswere living at the time. This new circumstancewas to allow the young widow to devote time toThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 20059

activities which, until then, she had no doubt beenunable to participate in.The EastAfter the death of her husband she often lived withher son, Captain Cromwell Stacey. As with manyin the military, his activities took him abroad. 2His mother often accompanied him, allowingher the opportunity of travelling to China, Japan,India, Tibet, the Philippines, Europe, Cuba andAustralia. 3 The daughter of May Banks-Staceyconfirmed that her mother had met the Zuluking and many other native chiefs, and that shestudied the thoughts of Baha’ulla (1817-1892), thefounder of the Bahai faith.She was a member of the TheosophicalSociety and, as it happens, part of the TheosophistInner Circle: an inner, esoteric circle that HelenaBlavatsky (1831-1891) had formed within theSociety and whose members were directly boundto her by oath. 4 The co-founder of AMORCwas also interested in the Orient, particularlythe teachings of Swami Vivekananda (1862-1902), a disciple of Ramakrishna, who had leftBombay for the United States in May 1893. 5 Alongwith personalities like Gandhi, Vivekanandarepresented Hinduism in the Parliament of Religionsthat opened in Chicago on 11 th September 1893.He gained wide acceptance and was invited tostay in America. For three years he travelledthe country giving lectures and seminars inwhich he introduced the Vedanta and teachingsof Ramakrishna. His ideas had an influenceon all those who belonged to the New Thoughtmovement at the time. Romain Rolland has shownthat Mrs. Eddy, the founder of Christian Science,was herself influenced by him, and it is likely thatthe same went for William Walker Atkinson, themost oriental of the New Thought masters. 6 Onthe other hand, Swami Vivekananda’s teachingsalso contributed to slowing down the expansionof the Theosophical Society by presenting a moreauthentic face of the Orient. During the years1894 and 1896 Ramakrishna’s disciple conductedclasses in New York, of which May Banks-Staceyprobably attended since it was during theseyears that she became acquainted with Easternphilosophy.The Manhattan Mystic CircleThe family of May Banks-Stacey were involvedin Freemasonry. One of her ancestors, JamesBanks (1732-1793), was one of the foundingmembers of the first lodge in New Jersey in 1761(St. John’s Lodge No.1), in which he served asjunior warden. 7 We do not know if her fatherwas an actual Mason but it is highly likely,given that May was a member of the EasternStar, one of the oldest mixed Masonic groups.Access to this organisation came out of whatwas called “adopted Masonry” 8 and was thepreserve of mothers, wives, sisters or daughtersof Freemasons. It should be noted however, thatindications that she belonged to the Eastern Starare not conclusive and perhaps do not refer to theMasonic organisation but to an Order of the samename founded by Annie Besant in parallel withthe Theosophical Society. 9 This would be a logicalpossibility given that May Banks-Stacey was verymuch involved in that movement.She was also a member of an adoptedMasonic rite called the Manhattan Mystic Circlethat she seems to have instigated. This marginalorganisation, starting in February 1898, appearedas a mutual aid and charitable society made upof daughters, wives, sisters and sisters-in-lawof Freemasons. According to its Constitution andBy-laws of the Manhattan Mystic Circle, Lodge No.1 O.M., the director of the Lodge was called the“Illustrious Mistress.” May Banks-Stacey appearsto have held this role, if we can believe handwrittennotes on a copy of a constitution wehave been able to consult. 10 Outside of esotericactivities she was also interested in the life ofher country. She belonged to the Daughters of theAmerican Revolution and was a member of theNational Society of Colonial Dames, both patrioticorganisations. In 1898, she became First Vice-President of the New York Women’s RepublicanAssociation that worked for the presidentialcampaign.EgyptAs her daughter detailed in a letter, May Banks-Stacey was well versed in occultism, whetherastrology, chiromancy or white magic. She addedthat during her travels in India and Tibet, hermother acquired a great amount of knowledge:“I think she preferred Egypt to all other countries.She told me about certain impressions she had hadwhile visiting ancient temples, the feeling that therewas a time when she must have been Egyptian inone of her many incarnations.” 11 It was in Egypt,according to Harvey Spencer Lewis, that some10The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

The Future, February 1908 edition.Rosicrucians gave May Banks-Stacey a “mysticaljewel” and sealed documents that they asked herto keep until another person presented her withan exact copy of one of the seals and asked for herassistance in establishing the Rosicrucian Orderin America.Who were these initiates she met in Egypt?Harvey Spencer Lewis did not say. By mentioningthe Rosicrucians, did he refer to those Freemasonswho were holders of the Rose-Croix degree? 12 Letus not forget that around 1863, Jacques-EtienneMarconis de Nègre granted a letter of patent tothe Marquis Joseph de Beauregard to create aSovereign Sanctuary of Memphis in Egypt, a rite thatgives a particular significance to the Rose-Croixdegree. The Rosicrucian tradition also featuredDemétrios Plátonos Semelás (1883-1924), a GreekMartinist living in Cairo, who actually claimedto have received the inheritance of the Rose-Croixof the Orient in a monastery on Mount Athos, theholy mountain in northern Greece, in 1902. 13 InOctober 1911, he conferred an initiation of the“aspirant R.C. degree” upon Georges Lagrèze,an inspector of the Martinist Order, travellingthrough Egypt at the time. Tradition has it that thelatter then transmitted this initiation to Papus. 14Was the Rosicrucian that May Banks-Stacey metin Egypt, Semelás? That remains one hypothesis.However, if that were the case, it would resolvevarious enigmas, particularly the fact that in1913, Harvey Spencer Lewis was in contact withEugène Dupré, Semelás’ assistant. 15According to Harvey Spencer Lewis, afterEgypt, May Banks-Stacey went to India where,having presented the documents she receivedin Egypt, she was initiated into the RosicrucianOrder. She was named legate of the organisationfor America but it was pointed out to her that theOrder would not be established in that countryuntil 1915, under the patronage of France. Thisepisode in the life of the co-founder of AMORCremains enigmatic, because there is no proofof this initiation in India. It is tempting to readinto this a possible visit to Adyar in Madras (themodern Chennai in Tamil Nadu state, India), theseat of the Theosophical Society of which she wasa member, and which had always had a certainRosicrucian affinity. We should remember that atthe time of the creation of the Theosophical Society,its leaders wavered between several names forthe organisation, including that of “Rosicrucian.”After the death of Helena Blavatsky, this tendencybecame more marked with Annie Besant whocreated the Eastern Star, and then in Londonin 1912 the Order of the Temple of the Rosy Cross,an ephemeral movement whose activities wereinterrupted in 1918. Was it the Theosophical Societythat May Banks-Stacey contacted in India? Thehypothesis seems plausible. Following that Indianventure, Harvey Spencer Lewis states that shestopped over in London, where she met a certain“BE, Deta Conts,” whom she described as aneminent student of occultism. She then returnedto New York where she launched herself intoMasonic activity.The New OntologyIn the previous article, it was stated that May Banks-Stacey was a member of the New York Institute forPsychical Research founded by Harvey SpencerLewis. We do not know the date that she joined,but in his autobiography, Lewis records that he mether there at the end of 1907. At the time, althoughonly twenty-four years old and employed as aphotographer for a New York newspaper, he wasalways busy at the New York Institute of PsychicalResearch and beginning to write articles on thepsychic sciences and esotericism.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200511

In February 1908, he collaborated on themagazine The Future, a monthly publicationbelonging to the New Thought movement. 16 Underthe pseudonym of “Professor Lewis” he wrotearticles on astrology. 17 Using the name “RoyleThurston” he published the first article of a seriesentitled The New Ontology, which he describedas being a series of lessons about a new scienceexplaining life and death, as well as all spiritualphenomena. He touched on topics such as thevital force, food, health, magnetism, hypnosisand psychic energies. His collaboration with thismagazine lasted only a short time because, twomonths later, he had an experience that changedhis life forever.A Mystical ExperienceBecause of these activities, Harvey SpencerLewis had had no opportunity to return to theMetropolitan Church on 7 th Avenue in New York.However, in the spring of 1908, he felt the needto return to this place, which, seven years earlier,had been his spiritual home. On the Thursdayafter Easter, about 4:30 in the afternoon, he wentto the church and sat down in a pew to meditate.It was then that he felt the presence of an invisiblebeing who he perceived as a man with a longwhite beard and radiating an impression of peaceand harmony.This mysterious being told him that theknowledge he aspired to would not be found inbooks, but within the depths of himself, and thathe should travel to France to be initiated into theRosy Cross. Who was this mysterious man? Wasit really a spiritual being? Did it correspond tothe perception of the archetypal wise old mandescribed by Carl Gustav Jung? Whatever theanswer, the mystical experience touched HarveySpencer Lewis profoundly and so became thebeginning of his “pilgrimage to the East.”In the hope of obtaining more informationabout Rosicrucianism in France, he decided to writeto a bookshop owner in Paris whose catalogue hepossessed. We have not been able to identifythe person in question, who is also describedas being an editor-in-chief of a newspaper. Itwas possibly Henri Durville’s bookshop, whichserved as a library and publication society at thesame time and was located at 23 Rue Saint-Merriin the 4 th Arrondisement of Paris. Specialising inmagnetism, as well as being a library with morethan 8,000 books and magazines about magnetismand occultism, the shop in fact offered interestedpeople rare books.It had a collection of around 7,000engravings, portraits, autographs and otherdocuments in line with its speciality. Asa publishing house, it had a very importantcatalogue of works dispatched to many countries.Henri Durville was also director and editorialsecretary of the Journal du magnétisme. Accordingto the October 1909 edition of this magazine,there was a College of Magnetism in New Yorkdirected by Dr. Babbitt working in connection withDurville’s Société magnétique de France (Society ofMagnetism in France). 18 Whatever the identity ofthis bookshop to which Harvey Spencer Lewiswrote, he soon received this reply:“If you were to come to France, and if itwould not be an inconvenience for you to callat the studio of M…., professor of languages,residing at …..Boulevard Saint-Germain, hemight be able to tell you something about thesociety about which you are enquiring. It wouldbe a good idea to show him this letter. Certainly,a letter telling him of your arrival, with the dateand name of your ship, would be courteous.” 19The Journey to FranceWhile his financial situation did not allowhim to consider such a journey, an unexpectedopportunity arose the following week. His father,Aaron Lewis, who was an expert in documentsand a reputable genealogist, needed an assistantto undertake some research in France on behalfof the Rockefeller family. And so, on 24 th July1909, the two boarded the Amerika, a ship ofthe Hamburg Amerika Line, and headed forEurope. It arrived in Cherbourg on Sunday 1stAugust and they travelled on to Paris by train.The days that followed were wholly devoted togenealogical research and it was not until thefollowing week that Harvey Spencer Lewis couldvisit the languages professor of the BoulevardSaint-Germain and the bookshop owner.In his account, A Pilgrim’s Journey to the East(see footnote 19), it is recorded that his meetingswith the professor occurred on Saturday 7 thand Monday 9 th of August. He was a man ofaround forty-five years of age, who spoke perfectEnglish. He questioned Lewis at length to soundout his intentions. During the second meeting, herecommended that his American visitor travel tothe Midi, the South of France, where he would12The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

Harvey Spencer Lewis in his office.receive further instructions.As stated previously, the contact with thelanguages professor could have been organisedby Henri Durville. However, we may well wonderif our traveller didn’t pursue his investigations bygoing to the famous Librairie du Merveilleux, abookshop established by Lucien Chameul. Thisis where Papus and his friends organised the firstmeetings of the Martinist Order and the KabbalisticOrder of the Rose-Croix, and where magazinessuch as L’Initiation and La Voile d’Isis (The Veil ofIsis) were launched. As a veritable meeting placefor every occultist in Paris, the bookshop hadbeen purchased by Pierre Dujols and AlexandreThomas. 20 In 1909, these two men were workingon an edition of Sept Livres de l’archidoxe magique(The Seven Books of the Magical Archidox) byParacelsus, which was to be published under theauspices of the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Croix.Furthermore, the alchemist Pierre Dujols (1862-1926), whom some believed to be Fulcanelli, the20 th century’s most enigmatic alchemist, wasinterested in the Rosy Cross and in a work entitledLa Chevalerie amoureuse, troubadours, félibriges etRose-Croix (Amorous Chivalry, Troubadours,Felibriges and the Rose-Croix). The Felibrigeswere a group of Provençal poets, a movementof which he referred to in several places inconnection with Toulouse and the Académie desJeux floraux (Academy of Floral Games), a literarysociety. In his book Dujols states: “Well informedpeople still talk secretly about the contemporaryRosicrucians in Toulouse.” 21In his autobiography, Harvey SpencerLewis included other facts stating that thosewhom he contacted in Paris suspected him ofwanting to penetrate some Freemasonic secret.On this point, he referred to his contact with theParisian bookshop owner whom he describedas being one of the officers in a branch ofFreemasonry, possessing old manuscripts, seals,jewels and accessories belonging to inactiveRosicrucian lodges. Despite their suspicions, hewas finally directed to those who were to guidehim towards the light he sought, and he wasadvised to make his way to Toulouse.Why did his contacts not recommendthat he enter into communication with JoséphinPéladin and Papus, who, at the time, were wellknownfor their Rosicrucian activities? In fact, inThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200513

The Capitole of ToulouseJune 1908, the previous year, Papus had presidedover a Spiritualist Congress that gathered morethan seventeen initiatic organisations together. 22However, this important event couldn’t hidethe crisis facing the initiatic groups directed byPapus, particularly the Kabbalistic Order of theRose-Croix. Since the death of Stanislas de Guaïtain 1897, this group had actually been inactive.During the same year, Péladin placed the Orderof the Rose-Croix, the Temple and the Grail intodormancy. So it is understandable why HarveySpencer Lewis had not been pointed towardsthese organisations, but rather, as we shall see,towards the region where they had their origins:Toulouse.Toulouse: La Ville RoseOnce again, luck, if not Divine Providence, smiledupon our traveller, because his father had justplanned to leave for the South of France to pursuehis genealogical research for the Rockefellerfamily. The following day, Tuesday 10 th August,they left Paris and following some adventuresthat Harvey Spencer Lewis interpreted as tests,they arrived in Toulouse on the Wednesday.The next day, his father continued his work andprobably went to the donjon of the Capitole toconsult the city’s archives 23 while Harvey wentto the Capitole’s Salle des Illustres (Hall of Fame)where he met a person which, thanks to whom,brought his quest finally to an end. In fact, aftera brief discussion this person gave him a note onwhich was written the name of the avenue wherehe was to meet some Rosicrucians.Harvey Spencer Lewis did not disclose thename of this person; he was happy just to indicatehis profession as that of a photographer. Later,his son Ralph Maxwell Lewis indicated thathe was actually a distinguished photographer.In all likelihood, he was Clovis Lassalle (1864-1937), who specialised in projects for fine arts,archaeology, commerce and industry. Thishypothesis was confirmed in a letter dated 26 thAugust 1909, found in Harvey Spencer Lewis’personal archives. 24 Moreover, it is interestingto note that this photographer had met FirminBoissin several times at the residence of the Privatfamily, friends of his who were printers. 25 Nowit should be noted, as we saw previously in Part13 of this series: The Rose Garden of the Magi, thatit was Firmin Boissin who introduced AdrienPéladin and Stanislas de Guaïta into the Rose-Croix.Harvey Spencer Lewis took a taxi to theaddress the photographer had given him, left thecity centre, crossed the river Garonne and travelledfor some kilometres before finding himselfopposite a building bearing an old tower similarto the one featured on an image the professor inParis had shown him some days earlier. 26 Havingascended the steps of a circular staircase leadingto an upper floor, Harvey Spencer Lewis wasmet by an elderly man with a long grey beardand slightly wavy long white hair. The room heentered was square and the walls were lined withbooks. This man was the archivist of a mysteriousRosicrucian Order, a group of initiates from theClovis Lassalle14The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

Languedoc with only a few members left whomet in strictest confidence. Lewis pointed outthat his contact was also a member of the samegroup of Freemasons to which the bookshopowner he met in Paris belonged. After showinghim the archives, the old man declared that hewas judged worthy of knowing more and that hewas to meet the Grand Master of the Order thatsame day.InitiationAround three o’clock that afternoon, Lewis againtook a taxi to the address indicated by the archivist,travelling further from Toulouse by followinga route along the river, passing through the oldtown of Tolosa and finally arriving at a stonebuilding surrounded by a high wall, situated on ahill. According to the Journey of a Pilgrim to the East,it was here at this chateau, that he was going to beinitiated into the Order of the Rose-Croix. While thetext does not give any details about the ceremony,the autobiography nevertheless provides someinteresting information. We learn that the personwho met him was the Comte (Count) Reynaudde Bellcastle-Ligne, a 78-year old man, who livedthere with his widowed daughter and whosemeans of subsistence were modest despite theirnoble background. Speaking perfect English, heled Lewis to a drawing room to ask him aboutthe psychical research he conducted in America,and appeared very interested in the mysticalexperiences had by his visitor.At the end of the interview the Comte deBellcastle-Ligne informed Lewis that the momenthad now arrived for him to be initiated and askedhim if he was ready to face the “Terror of theThreshold.” He led him to the first floor of thechateau to show him what remained of the formerRosicrucian Lodge. According to the Comte, thetemple had not been in use for more than sixtyyears, even though up until 1890 it was sometimesfrequented by a few Freemasons. His father hadbeen the last presiding officer. The period ofactivity of the Lodge was therefore around 1850,that is, during the time of Alexandre Du Mègeand the Comte de Lapasse or several years beforeFirmin Boissin invited Adrien Péladin into theRose-Croix.A drawing by Harvey Spencer Lewis showing the location of his iniation.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200515

The Comte stopped before an iron doorand told his visitor that he now had to cross threesuccessive chambers “alone with God and hisMaster.” Complying with the instructions given,Harvey Spencer Lewis entered the first room, anantechamber. This was followed by the secondone, a dark place where he underwent the “test ofthe threshold.” Here he had a mystical experience,during which he again felt the presence of theinvisible being that had already manifested tohim the year before. Finally, he reached the thirdchamber where the waiting Comte explainedthat the room no longer had the ornaments andaccessories it once accommodated. Consequently,he would have to adapt the initiation ceremony.He conducted it at different points of the chamberLetter written by Harvey Spencer Lewis to his wife Mollie the dayafter his initiation on the 13th of August, 1909.and communicated to him the secret meaning ofthe ritual.From this moment on the old masterconsidered his visitor to be initiated. He ledhim to a small room where he advised him torest, since he would have to stay for severalhours before meeting the others. Harvey SpencerLewis lay down on a couch and dozed off.When he awoke, he realised that he had sleptfor three hours. He had relived the ceremonyhe had just witnessed in a dream. This time, itwas not the Comte who conducted it, but the“Master” whose presence he had discerned in thesecond chamber. A little while later, Raynaud deBellcastle-Ligne introduced him to three men ofadvanced years who were, and whose relativeshad also been, members of the Order of the Rose-Croix. At the close of that conversation, he wasagain led to the former lodge where the Comteplaced a cross with a rose around Lewis’ neck,declaring him now authorised to establish theOrder in America.After this ceremony, one of the memberspresent instructed him to consult a book thatcontained the major laws and principles of theOrder, allowing him to copy the symbols anddiagrams of various Rosicrucian ceremonies.From a trunk placed in the centre of the room, theComte took some symbolic aprons, an altar clothand various archival documents so that the newinitiate could take notes of the symbols belongingto the various degrees of the Order. He was thengiven the necessary information for introducingRosicrucianism into America.The person directing this meeting was notthe Comte but someone called Lasalle who actedas the master of ceremonies. Although the spellingof the name differs slightly, it is unlikely that thisis the same photographer that Lewis had metearlier that day in the Hall of Fame, particularlysince he refers to the master of ceremonies as theauthor of numerous historical documents, whilewe know of no writings by the photographerfrom Toulouse. Of course he could have beenalluding to the countless photographs taken byClovis Lassalle in connection with archaeologyand prehistory 27 but whatever the case, the masterof ceremonies informed Harvey Spencer Lewisthat he was now in possession of all the necessaryinstructions and that he would yet have otherinner experiences. He was finally asked not toopen a Lodge in America before the year 1915.16The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

The day after his admission to the Order ofthe Rose-Croix, 13 th August 1909, Lewis wrote tohis wife Mollie:“All the hopes I had placed on this voyage havebeen realised but not without numerous tests andtrials. Beautiful place here. I am taking lots of photos ofthe old building where I participated in the strangestceremonies I have ever seen. I am at last in the R+C,thanks to God – but the oaths and promises taken aredemanding. How many people will I find in Americawho, along with me, will be able to respect them?” 28As a postscript to the affair, some dayslater on 26 th August while he was back in Paris,Harvey Spencer Lewis received a letter fromClovis Lassalle. The following Monday, AaronLewis and his son embarked on the return journey.Following a stopover in London, where theyvisited the British Museum, they boarded theWhite Star of the MS Adriatic Line on Wednesday1 st September and headed for New York. ForHarvey Spencer Lewis, it was the beginning of agreat adventure.Secret BeginningsAs we can see, the initiation of HarveySpencer Lewis has two aspects; an encounterwith Rosicrucians who belonged to a lodgewhose last activities went back to the 1850sand mystical experiences realised inwardly. Amystery surrounds the identity of his initiator.It is likely that Harvey Spencer Lewis used thename Raynaud de Bellcastle-Ligne to hide hisreal identity.This account can also be considered in largepart to be symbolic. The history of esotericism isrich in works combining concrete facts with realmystical experiences so as to form an edifyingand mythical story. In fact, this is a characteristicoften found when looking into the history ofthe founders of great spiritual movements.At a conference on initiatic legends, AntoineFaivre underlined the importance of myth inthe establishment of esoteric movements. 29 Heconsidered the existence of these founding legendsin some ways as being one of the criteria ofauthenticity of traditional orders. The foundationstory of Rosicrucianism, the journey of ChristianRosenkreutz to the East and the later discovery ofhis tomb, belong in this category, and the accountof Harvey Spencer Lewis’ initiation could well bethe same. Roland Edighoffer has put forward aninteresting interpretation:“In this description, we can recognise severaltraditional initiatic themes, some aspects of whichappear in the Chymical Wedding written by JohannValentin Andreae: the symbol of the tower, the spirallingstaircase that underlines the axial development of agnosis, the square and upper room that evokes thedivine Tetragrammaton, the letter that must be handedover at the entrance of the chateau, and the cave thatis like the womb of a new birth. The two mystagogues,man and woman, bring to mind the archetype of the'wise old man' that Jung described as ambivalent(Gesammelte Werke, Olten, 1976, 9/1, p.231). Therole of sleep is not insignificant either in the analysisof this text.” 30The experience of Lewis had includeda real encounter with adepts belonging to aRosicrucian circle, an almost inactive one to besure, but whose fire was still smouldering underthe ashes. It included, above all, a spiritual aspectand this is a fundamental point. In Part 6: TheEmerald Land, we presented the opinion of HenryCorbin with regard to initiatic filiations beingbuilt on a spiritual experience. For him, this typeof experience constitutes a fundamental criterionof validity. Of course, as he points out, this area isnot filled with facts that the historian can verify.It is a matter of sacred history, but for all that, itcannot be ignored, because a study that retainsonly objective and chronological facts to judgethe origins of an initiatic movement would leadto historicism, that is, to an essentially positivistand reductionist vision that is incompatible withthe nature of this type of movement. It wouldtherefore miss the essential by neglecting itsconnection with the sacred dimension and thenon-temporal.Why did those Rosicrucians from Toulouseentrust the restoration of Rosicrucianism to anAmerican? In the past, they had already givenStanislas de Guaïta and Joséphin Péladin theresponsibility of this mission, but the Orderagain fell into inactivity despite their efforts. Ittherefore seemed impossible to re-establish itin the Old World. In 1875, Franz Hartmann hadalready reached this conclusion. On the otherhand, we can presume that Rosicrucians, whoare often credited with an ability to foreseeimportant events, sensed that a major conflictwithin Europe was to unfold and feared theresulting destruction. By entrusting theirheritage to an American, and by giving him themission to establish the Order in the UnitedThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200517

States, they probably thought the continuityand perpetuity of the Rosicrucian Traditionwas assured.Footnotes:1. The following details were taken from various publications:“Mrs. May Banks-Stacey, Matre, Rosae Crucis America”,The American Rosae Crucis magazine, Vol.1, No.1, January1916, p.17; “The Supreme Matre emeritus raised to theHigher Realms”, Cromaat D magazine, 1918, pp.26-27and Harvey Spencer Lewis, “The authentic and completehistory of the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis”,The Mystic Triangle magazine, January 1928, pp.335-336. Some details are extracted from correspondenceexchanged between Delia Stacey Muller, eldest daughterof May Banks-Stacey, and Harvey Spencer Lewis in 1930.These documents are in the archives of the SupremeGrand Lodge of AMORC.2. Captain Cromwell Stacey of the US 21st Infantry wasthe one who captured Garcia and killed the leader of thepulajan insurrection on the island of Samar in the centralPhilippines. During his stay, he was also nominated“presidente” in Parang.3. The information provided by her daughter does not allowus to pin-point these journeys with accuracy; it seems,however, that she started travelling after the death of herhusband, that is, from 1886 till 1906 or even 1912. Sheprobably travelled alone too, without her son.4. Unfortunately, we do not know the dates she frequentedBlavatsky’s group. It was definitely after her husband’sdeath in 1886. We know the Inner Circle functionedduring two periods; the first between 1884 and 1888, andthe second between 1888 and 1891. She was therefore amember of the TS before 1891 and probably left it after1891, that is, after the death of its founder, a time when thesociety was somewhat divided.5. In his book The Life of Vivekananda, Paris, Stock, 1930,Romain Rolland explains the context of this journey andretraces the activities of Vivekananda in the USA.6. Romain Rolland points out the relationship betweencertain details in Science and Health, the famous work byMrs. Eddy, and the basic ideas of the Hindu Vedanta. Seethe above book by Rolland op.cit., pp.60-62.7. See Gould’s History of Freemasonry Throughout the World,vol. VI, New York, Charles Scribner & Sons, 1936, p.5.8. Adopted Masonry, that is, for women, started in Francein 1740. It took its symbolism from the Old Testamentand at first was mainly dedicated to charitable works.The work of Louis Guilleman de Saint-Victor, La VraieMaçonnerie d’adoption (1799) described its structure, which,according to its rites, had four to ten degrees. The EasternStar, founded in 1830, then reorganised towards 1860 byRob Morris (1818-1888) was one of the most importantbranches in the world. Although mixed, it used essentiallyfeminine symbolism referring to well-known Biblicalfigures like Eve, Ada, Martha, Ruth or Esther.9. Annie Besant had created this organisation to facilitateAlcyone’s mission, that is, Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986),the son of a Theosophical Society dignitary in whom shesaw the incarnation of the Maitreya, the Great Teacher.From 1922, at the age of 20, the young Krishnamurti, whodid not want to play the role of Messiah, rebelled andpublicly broke with the Theosophists.10. As in Adopted Masonry, the lodge of the ManhattanMystic Circle had four cardinal points: Asia (East), Africa(South), Europe (West) and America (North). Sisters worea white satin apron and a jewel representing the flamingheart with an insignia in the centre. The jewel worn by theIllustrious Mistress represented a ladder of seven stepsdecorated with five golden stars; that of Inspector was across surmounted by a white dove; that of Preceptor wasa knot “of gold bent” with an arrow. For more details, seethe Constitution and by-laws of the Manhattan MysticCircle, Lodge no. 1 O.M., New York, John Meyer.11. Letter dated 4 November 1930 from Delia Stacey Muller toHarvey Spencer Lewis.12. As we shall see later, Harvey Spencer Lewis very oftenused this term to designate members in Freemasonry ofthe 18th degree, important members of various initiaticorganisations; indeed mystics whose ideas he believedsupported the Rosicrucian ideal.13. From this transmission of a heritage and following amystical experience he had in Cairo, Semelás was toestablish the Order of the Lily and the Eagle in 1905.14. Georges Lagrèze had been given a mandate by Papus toregulate particular problems in the Martinist organisationin Egypt. Even though the archives we have checkedrecord the initiation conferred on Georges Lagrèze, thereis no trace of the one he was to have transmitted to Papus.It would therefore seem to be legendary. Robert Ambelainwas also to maintain he had received this initiation fromLagrèze. However, from the way he criticised Semelás inhis book Martinisme contemporain et ses véritables origins, itis doubtful (Les Cahiers du Destin, 1948, p.13).15. On 23 July 1913, Eugène Dupré wrote a long letter toHarvey Spencer Lewis. This document was discovered inRalph Maxwell Lewis’ house in 1996 after his wife’s death.The tone of this letter is familiar and suggests that the twohad already established a connection some time earlier.In the letter, Dupré gives Harvey Spencer Lewis all thenecessary information to establish a Martinist lodge in theUSA. He attached the various degrees of the Order andcertificates of the Martinist S.I. and Free Initiator degrees.It also tells us that he was given the mystical name Moshea(or Hoshea) and the number “DPR-D24A”. No doubt,because of World War I, Harvey Spencer Lewis could notimplement the plan. It was only at the time of the FUDOSIin 1934 that he envisaged being able to establish Martinismwithin the Rosicrucian Order.16. The Future, New York, Future Publishing Company ofF.T.McIntyre.17. In: “What has the future in store for you?” an article thatdeals with the horoscope of the USA for 1908 (pp.46-49)and “Department of astrology and astral sciences” (pp.52-54), he shows himself to be a fine astrologer.18. The subjects dealt with in the Journal du magnétisme, theSociety of Magnetism in France’s magazine, correspondexactly with Harvey Spencer Lewis’ preoccupations duringthis time. A large section of the magazine is made up ofbibliographic notices and the list of books published byDurville Publishing. It was distributed in many countries.The geographical position of Durville’s bookshop and itsdescription could be the same as given by Lewis in hisaccount.19. Harvey Spencer Lewis, “A Pilgrim’s Journey to the East”and “I Journeyed to the Eastern Gate”, The American RosaeCrucis, May 1916, pp.12-27.20. At the time, following the affair of the Order of theRenewed Temple, these two gentlemen were on bad termswith Papus. In fact, in 1908, during a spiritualist séanceorganised by Martinists gathered in a hotel at 17 Rue des18The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

Canettes, they received, through direct writing, a missionto establish a Templar Order with René Guénon as itsleader. And so the Order of the Renewed Temple wasbegun and its creation led to the exclusion of Guénon fromthe Martinist Order. It was dissolved in 1911, a date whenDujols became seriously ill. It is interesting to note that ofthe seven degrees of this Order, the fourth was curiouslyenough called: “Rose-Croix of Egypt.”21. It should be noted that before Pierre Dujols took over theLibrairie du Merveilleux, he was a journalist in Toulouse.The manuscript extract cited here on p.70 was writtenabout 1912. It was edited by La Table d’Émeraude in 1991with a commentary by J.F. Gibert. Another version ofthe text was published by Geneviève Dubois under thetitle Les Nobles Écrits de Pierre Dujols et de son frère AntoineDujols de Valois, Le Mercure dauphinois Publications, 2000,according to a manuscript housed in the municipal libraryof Lyon (Ms 5488).22. The convention was held on 7-10 June 1908. He wore awhite Martinist robe in the Human Rights office in thepresence of journalists and the uninitiated. Reports werepublished in Le Matin (8-10 June), L’Éclair (8 June), LeFigaro (7-8 June) L’Humanité (8 June), Liberté (7 June)and Le Monde illustré (13 June), Parisian newspapers atthe time. Papus published a book related to the evententitled: Comte rendu complet des travaux du congrèset du convent maçonnique spiritualiste, Paris, LibrairieHermétique, 1910.23. The city archivist was François Galabert (1873-1957).Besides his professional role, he was a member of manyscientific societies including the Archaeological Society ofthe Midi founded by Alexandre Du Mège. Jean Coppolanipaid homage to him in the society’s bulletin in an articleentitled: “Notice sur la vie et les travaux de M. FrançoisGalabert, secrétaire général de la Société,” 4th series, vol.II, 1954-1966, Tarbes, 1967, pp.32-36.24. Clovis Lassalle sent Lewis this letter while he was still inFrance. The importance of Lassalle’s role is underlinedby the fact that this letter was found among Lewis’personal papers, in a folder marked “important historicaldocuments.”25. Clovis Lassalle also knew several members of TheArchaeological Society of the Midi since he worked withthem, notably François Galabert, in producing the Album depaléographie et de diplomatique, published in 1913, 1928 and1933.26. From all the evidence and contrary to what some have said,this tower was not the donjon of the Capitole, since HarveySpencer Lewis had just left this building to catch a taxi andthat he left the city to reach the place of his initiation. Formany Rosicrucians, however, it symbolises the place wherethe founder of AMORC was initiated. The descriptionhe gives is unfortunately not detailed enough to locateit precisely. Besides, there are many towers not far fromthe centre of Toulouse. On this subject, see Alex Coutet’sbook Toulouse, ville artistique, plaisante et curieuse (Toulouse,a pleasant, curious and artistic city), Toulouse, LibrairieRichard, 1926, a book for which Clovis Lassalle had takensome pictures of buildings.27. Clovis Lassalle co-produced some publications aboutseveral prehistoric caves with the Abbé Breuil, Dr. L.Capitan and D. Peyroni. He also collaborated, on behalfof the Archaeological Society of the Midi, with ÉmileCartailhac and François Galabert, both members of theAcadémie des Jeux floraux. We can also add that he wasawarded a gold medal at the Universal InternationalExhibition in Paris in 1900.28. This letter and the envelope bearing the Toulouse postmarkare in the archives of the Supreme Grand Lodge ofAMORC.29. This conference was organised by the magazine Renaissancetraditionnelle in Paris in October 2001. The text of thelecture “The Origins of Freemasonry: three approaches” byAntoine Faivre was published in Renaissance traditionnelle,No. 129, 2002, pp.5-12. Roger Dachez dealt with the samesubject in “Sources and functions of secret history in thecase of Willermoz, in 18th century Masonry” in L’histoirecachée entre histoire révélée et histoire critique, Lausanne,L’Age d’Homme, coll. “Politica Hermetica” No. 10, 1996,pp.79-89.30. Roland Edighoffer, Les Rose-Croix, Paris, PUF, coll. “Quesais-je?” 1982 and 1986, p.108.NE EVENING A MAN TOOK A SMALL CANDLEfrom a box and began to climb a long winding stairway.“Where are we going?” asked the candle. “We’re going uphigher than a house to show the ships the way to the harbour.”“But no ship in the harbour could ever see my light,” the candlesaid, “it is so very small.” “If your light is small,” the man said,“just keep on burning brightly and leave the rest to me.”When they reached the top of the long stairs, they came toa large lamp. Then the man took the little candle and lit the lamp.Soon the large polished mirrors behind the lamp sent beams offight out across the miles of sea.We are God’s candle! Our job is to keep on shining. Thesuccess of our work is in God’s hands. Remember that a tinycandle or match can start a forest fire. The little flame of yourgood example can actually change the lives of others without youknowing it. Be a light to them like the beacon light in this talewhich guided the ships to safe harbour.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200519

When the SeekerComes Callingby Stephen Tanham, FRCYSTICAL ORGANISATIONS CURRENTLYface a very difficult period; indeed,perhaps their most critical time. Thereis ample political evidence that theworld is entering a new age. Whether or notthis reflects the start of the true Aquarian agefrom an astrological perspective, whatever thenature of the underlying tensions in the world,one thing is certain: from a moral, political andphilosophical perspective we are entering a newAeon in mankind’s development; and hence weface the gravest of challenges and tests in themonths and years ahead.Any organisation must continually facetests to its structural and moral integrity. This isa law of nature and of the forces beyond nature.20The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

Those familiar with the Kabbalistic glyph, the Treeof Life, will know that life is always suspendedbetween the balancing powers of the merciful,expansive right pillar and the discriminatingforces of severity produced by the left pillar. Bythis dynamic, Life retains fitness and vitality orsurrenders to the dissolving forces in order thatthe material (of whatever level of vibration) whichcomprised its Form, can be re-used by the CosmicMind. If these concepts are new to you I wouldurge you to study the Kabbalah in at least itsbasic form since it provides the Rosicrucian witha vocabulary with which to approach the whole ofmystical study.The modern Rosicrucian Order was createdin another century, almost another age. It burstforth into a formative period of the 20 th Centuryin which there was tremendous hunger for thingsthat were mystical, since the general public knewso little. The images that the Order used in thosedays were evocative and designed tostir thoughts of ancient knowledgeand wisdom being passed through theages under the careful guardianshipof high Rosicrucian mystics. Whathas changed? Why do people not seekout these teachings with the intensity of a hundredyears ago? The answers are many but we shouldparticularly examine those that influence the wayswe promote our beloved mystical tradition.First of all, we should ask ourselves howstrong is our attachment to that which we havelearned under the careful guidance of AMORC?Growth of the Order has always been the result ofpersonal enthusiasm on the part of its members.We cannot expect to communicate well with othersif we do not shine with enthusiasm for what wehave learned and are set to learn in the future.Secondly, we should acknowledge that thereare now many more sources of mystical wisdomthan there were a century ago. Go to a large,modern bookstore and you will see that the “Mind,Body and Spirit” section is one of the busiest. Thisshould tell us that the hunger for such knowledgehas not gone away, quite the opposite in fact. Thesimple truth is that sincere people are faced with abewildering array of apparently similar sources ofmystical training. Now as Rosicrucians we knowwith conviction how different our carefully gradedpath is compared with the shallow provisionof knowledge which is perpetuated by manyother organisations professing to be mysticalschools. Having said this, the responsibility ofcommunicating this essential difference is ours.The third factor to consider is that we havean essential responsibility to be and to appearto be a modern institution. Our media imageryneeds to be continually updated or we will looklike a fading organisation not keeping abreast ofthe times. You will know that much effort is goinginto this work from both a printed and internetperspective.Our greatest asset is our hidden strength.We are blessed with a secret weapon. Throughoutits history, the Rosicrucian Order has been able tocall on the service one of the most powerful agentsof communication known to the Cosmic Mind: itis You, the mystical aspirant and member of thisOrder.As each one of us moves our consciousnessup the central pillar of our lives, towards our trueselves, a spiritual, alchemical process begins toFirst of all, we should ask ourselves how strongis our attachment to that which we have learnedunder the careful guidance of AMORC?operate, changing our very being. Initially, youmay not notice such changes, but should youbump into an old friend who you have not seenfor some time, he or she will immediately discernthat there is something new and vibrant aboutyou. The light of the Soul, the true personality, isslowly filling the outer being and pervading allaspects of the outer self to the extent that over thecourse of several years, we find ourselves literallytransformed by this loving power from within. Butpower is nothing unless it has both the will and themeans of expression. We are not given a reservoirof loving energy to keep it to ourselves. We haveto become part of the Cosmic flow; and this bringsme to the central theme of this article.With development comes the light of insight.But as with all mystical advancement, with thatlight also comes a corresponding responsibility.In this case the responsibility is the most sincereattempt to pass on what has been learned, andin this task we often face our greatest personalchallenge.Close your eyes for a moment and liftyourself out of your ordinary consciousness.Imagine you are a part of the Cosmic Mind at alevel where the very fate and destiny of mankind isThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200521

planned and put into action. Visualise yourself aspart of a god-like intelligence examining, with loveand care, the potential development of a soul dueto incarnate into another body and begin a life fullof hope and opportunity. Move forward in timebeyond the birth and see how that stream of lifeflows through experience, triumph and adversityto reach a point where that “living soul” comesinto contact for the very first time, with a genuine“School of the Soul” such as the RosicrucianOrder. It might be in the street, perhaps a casualconversation with a friend that gives the newdirection. It might be via an informed and wiseopinion that you express at work or it might be ata Rosicrucian Open Day that you have helped tobring into existence.Despite the vast powers of the Cosmic,the advanced progress of its most determinedSouls rests entirely on such moments, the fleetingsecond when the uninitiated new soul encountersthe Mystical Path for the first time and twopeople’s lives interact at the highest potentiallevel. For the Cosmic desire to be fulfilled, twothings have to happen: the receiver has to beready, and the transmitter has to be tuned in andwilling to deliver the gift of light that both alreadypossess in some measure. It is to the potentialperfection of this moment that the rest of thisarticle is dedicated to.Imagine now that you are in such a moment.A seeker has approached you with a questionabout the Order. They seemed to seek you outamidst all the faces in the room. The air aroundyou has become quiet. Whatever backgroundnoise there is has faded as though some vastintelligence is re-arranging this moment in timeto give you the very best chance to do yourmystical work. The seeker is looking at you withan intensity that he or she rarely uses, becausetheir common Soul has acted to bring them toattention, to ensure they listen on a level rarelyused in normal conversation. Perhaps the lightaround you also changes, seeming to shimmerand take on a glow as other intelligences seek toaid you in this most precious of encounters.What will you say? Are you prepared forthis? Since you are here, there can, by definition,be no question of there being insufficient potentialfor the moment to achieve its purpose. You scanyour own knowledge of mysticism. There areso many directions in which you could take theconversation. You think of the power that emotionbrings to the dryness of logic and pray that thecombination of intelligence and emotion willempower your point of contact.You take a breath, itself the very symbolof the beginning of creation, and in the halfsecondbefore you speak your mind is filledwith a synthesis of everything you hold dear,everything you have learned. You see how youare a living duality, a mixture of matter and lovingenergy which is derived from a single universalemanation of Being. You see how the motherforce of the planet, Nature, has nurtured yourvehicle of self from the earliest attractive power ofmatter, learning to sustain its form then passingthrough billions of years of evolution to expressand expand the force of Life that sustains it againstthe dissolving forces of chaos. You see the upwardspiral of Life, through mineral, animal and humanforms. You move through evolutionary time atlight speed and return to the moment, feeling thepower of your Soul, something above Nature whichnow urges you to reach for your deeper powers ofcommunication, opening your inner eyes to thevastness of loving intelligence beyond.Now, because you are operating from adeeper point of consciousness, the very landscapeof your own mind is mapped out before you. Yousee the oscillating polarities of organic force thatconstantly test your resolve to move beyond theappetites. You sense the false power and identityof the ego and you see the deadly attraction ofself aggrandisement, an abuse of the higher visiongranted to you. And in that moment, you rejectany approach that sets you on a pedestal in frontof the sincere seeker who stands before you.Finally there comes into your consciousnessthe quiet inner certainty that you are somethingbeyond all of these, that you hold within you themost precious form of sight in the universe. Inthat quiet heartbeat, you become the very eyesof Divinity looking out on its creation. But youcan say none of this to the seeker before you. To do sowould overwhelm the young, potentially mysticalmind that now waits on your response to theirquestion.So what will you say? What will you saynow that you have the will and the confidenceto deal with this moment? It is at this pointthat many mystics relate that they could feelthe movement of the intelligences around them.All fear is removed and the mystic is madeaware, psychically, that there is a unique way of22The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

communicating with the seeker in front of them.Often, a new way of saying something springs tomind, a new combination of ideas, or the linkingof what lies ahead with some observed element ofthe seeker’s personality. It takes confidence thatcan only be born of experience and willingness.Many Rosicrucians have said to me: “But Idon’t feel up to the important job of explaining this toa newcomer.” They are fearful of getting it wrong.They feel they do not have a solution withinthemselves to overcome this lack of confidence.One of the most important attributes we learnas mystics is willingness. Willingness implies twothings: an openness to venture into a situation inthe knowledge that you will be helped along theway because your purpose is noble; and a gradualdropping away of fear as you see, time after time,how potent the power of the Cosmic really is.Push yourself into that position and any vacuumyou create will instantly be filled by the creativepower of the Cosmic Mind.The final dimension to all of this is howyou will be changed by the process itself. Thisoften unexpected alchemy is at the very heartof mysticism and gives a living example of thepower of the Cosmic stream of love to acceleratethe path of those who serve God.From now on, let your confidence triumphover any doubt you may have about your abilitiesto communicate the essence of the Rosicrucianteachings to a potential new seeker. Don’t entertainthe idea that you can’t do it, for when it comes, thesolution will comprise the very elements of thatmoment. And no other intelligence, no matterhow advanced, could perform it better than youas you stand at that personal crossroads of timeand circumstance.Let us end with a quotation from theChristian Mystic, Thomas Merton, who takes useloquently into that state of mind which we needif we are to know that the Cosmic will be with usin this moment of trustingly stepping into theunknown: “True solutions are not those which weforce upon life in accordance with our theories, butthose which life itself provides for those who disposethemselves to receive the truth.”So, when the seeker comes calling, knowthat you are already prepared, and in thatmoment let one plus one equal something trulywonderful.by Anthony HarleySimple, subtle symbol of beauty,Strikes a chord in the darkest of hearts.May light infuse and with it entailThe cross: the man; the rose: female.For life is burdensome, the rushing and the toilAnd light can be little amidst the turmoil.Yet born of the earth, buried deep in the soil,The rose grows and flowers, regardless of spoil.It grows for the wanderers on mystical paths,It flowers for lovers on merriest occasion,It delights the lady who deserves its sweet wonder,It romances the cynic of harshest persuasion.Simple, subtle symbol of beautyResonate your beauty and of beauty be.For none shall receive you unworthy of heartAnd none is more worthy of you than is she.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200523

y AmeliaHE EMIR OF BAGHDAD, NUSRAYNAl-Haqq (may he live long) heard ofthe arrival in his city of a man whowas reputed to be the wisest of all. Hisinterest was piqued particularly by thislowly peasant’s claim that he had travelled foryears and thousands of miles, enduring greatdanger and hardships through floods, droughts,icy winters and parched deserts with the solepurpose of reaching this palace, reputed to be themost lavish ever built, to address the Emir, themost powerful man in all the world.Being impulsive and brutal in thetreatment of his subjects, he ordered that the manbe brought into his presence at once to provehis wisdom against that of his own conceited24The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

though eloquent advisers. The man was foundby the palace guards in the poorest part of thecity, chained and roughly dragged through thestreets before being thrown before the Emir whohaughtily said: “My people claim you are the wisestof all, wiser even than these, the esteemed advisers ofthe greatest Emir of all. They have spent their lives inthe acquisition of knowledge and you would claim tobe wiser than them? Prove your wisdom to me and mycounsellors or you will experience a death that no manhas ever endured.”Far from being afraid, the peasant, dressedin a torn a dirty robe boldly rose to his feet to theastonishment of everyone in the room, for it waspalace custom that everyone spoken to by theEmir should remain prostrate until ordered torise. The guards raced towards him to force himdown but the Emir, flushed red in the face withrage, waved them away and icily spat: “Speakpeasant, for these may be the last words you utter inearthly life.”Undeterred, the peasant remainedstanding, cleared his throat and slowly lookedaround at everyone in the manner of a man ofpower who knew men’s hearts and could granttheir fondest wishes. Then he fixed his eyes uponthe Emir and began.Once upon a time my Lord, there was an Emirwho lived in a country of many merchants and greatriches. It was said that he was the wealthiest Emir whohad ever lived and the opulence and beautythat surrounded him in his palace were asight that rulers from far and wide covetedto see. He was content and happy with lifeand had four wives, betrothed to him allin strict accordance with the law. But his promiseof treating them all equally and with the same careand attention that their dowries had bought, was nothonoured.The Emir loved his fourth wife Balqis by farthe most and adorned her with the finest robes andjewellery. He treated her to the finest of delicacies,gave her whatever she desired and ordered his slavesto cater to her every wish and fancy. For Balqis was adelight to speak to, and was full of wit and humour tolighten the burden of ruling this mighty kingdom.The Emir loved his third wife almost as muchas his fourth and showed her off regularly to enviousvisitors from neighbouring kingdoms. Her name wasJamilah for she was the most beautiful of all women inthe world. Her form, her grace, her laughter, her gentlecaresses, were more than any man could hope for.However, the Emir feared that one day lovely Jamilahwould leave him for another man; for many men ofwealth and power desired her and he had heard it saidthat a great bounty had been placed on her capture bya great rival of his in a far off land.The Emir was also fond of his second wife, forshe was his most intimate confidante and was alwayskind, considerate and patient with him. Her name wasHuda, and whenever he faced a dilemma he wouldconfide in her and she would assist him to come to wisedecisions. For Huda was astute in matters of wealthand was the main reason that the Emir could pay forthe loyalty of the provincial chiefs of his kingdom.The Emir’s first wife Khalida however, wasthe most loyal of them all. Although she had madegreat contributions in maintaining his health, wealthand kingdom, she did not have the wit and humourof the fourth wife, Balqis. Nor did she have theravishing beauty and sensuality of Jamilah, the thirdwife. And nor did she have the financial acumen andastuteness of Huda, the second wife. The Emir did notlove Khalida, indeed he hardly noticed her constantpresence at his feet, despite knowing her valuablecontribution to his success. Yet, despite this, she lovedhim deeply and served him loyally day and night.But for all her loyalty, she was treated no better thana slave, and was even derided openly by the Emir’sesteemed advisers.There was complete silence in the hall,broken not even by the usual heavy wheeze ofNo matter how much time and effort welavish in making it look good, it will leaveus when we die.the Emir’s laboured breathing, caused by yearsof overindulgence. The peasant looked aroundat everyone with a sharp and penetrating gaze,and finally rested his eyes on the Emir before himwho stared back with bemused annoyance.One day, my Lord, by the will of Allah theAlmighty, the Emir fell gravely ill, and knowingthat his time was short and that he soon would losethe luxury and delight of his opulent life, he said tohimself: “I have four wives and a life of delight eventhe blessed of eternity would envy. Yet when I die,I shall be alone. I have but a few hours left in thisworld, so I will speak to Balqis, my beloved fourthwife, for surely she wishes to join me in eternity.”Summoning his fourth wife he said to her: “Balqis,my beloved, I have loved you more than any woman,endowed you with the finest clothing and showeredThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200525

great care over you. Now that I am dying, will youfollow me and keep me company?” “No my lord!” shereplied. “You are old and must go alone, for I am yetyoung and love life more than I have ever loved youand will marry your Vizier Abdul when you die.” Andknowing that the Emir was too shocked and weakenedto even reply, she turned and walked away withoutanother word. Her answer cut like a sharp knife rightthrough his heart and he was overcome with grief, forthis was the wife he had cared for with all his heart andmaterial possessions, and she was not even prepared toaccompany him beyond the grave!But lovely Jamilah, his third wife, wouldsurely follow him and grace him with her beauty inthe hereafter. So the sad Emir summonsed Jamilah,his third wife and said to her: “Jamilah, my beloved, IWhen we die, they go to others who profit from ourlabours, and care not who we were, and may evenhave been our mortal enemies in life.have loved you all my life and honoured and adornedyour beauty, making you the most desired woman inall the world. Now that I am dying, will you follow meand keep me company?” “No my lord!” she replied.“Life is too good! When you die, I will marry yourlifelong enemy Emir Hussein, for he has offered meprotection against poverty and a life as luxuriousas you have led.” As she turned and left his heartsank into the depths of despair and the chill of deathtouched his shoulder, for patience, as my Lord knows,is not a virtue of Death.In desperation now, the Emir summonsedHuda, his second wife and said: “My beloved Huda,I have always turned to you for help and you havealways been there to advise me rightly. When I die,will you follow me and keep me company?” “No mylord, I cannot” she replied. “I will help you to yourgrave, but no more than that,” she said and walkedaway. Her answer came like a bolt of lightning,and he was devastated, for now, he thought, he wascompletely alone, without a friend to turn to, andwithout a companion to accompany him with Deathwho was by now right by his side.Then a voice called out: “My Lord…, I willleave with you and follow you wherever you go.”The King looked down, and there was Khalida, hisfirst wife anointing his feet with oil. She was thinand bedraggled from malnutrition and neglect andstooped over from permanently bowing down to hisevery whim and fancy. Greatly grieved, the Emir said:“Dear Khalida, my beloved first wife, how I wish Ihad taken better care of you when I had the chance,for you are indeed the only one of my four wives whoreally loved me. How I wish I had known this beforethis fateful hour.”The room was in stunned silence as thepeasant added: Indeed, my Lord, he should haveknown this, as indeed we should all!Gazing around the hall as one who knowsthe deepest mysteries of all hearts, the peasantcontinued by addressing the crowd: In truth,oh followers of the path of comfort, we all have fourwives in our lives: Our fourth wife is our body. Nomatter how much time and effort we lavish in makingit look its best, it will leave us when we die. Our thirdwife is our possessions, status and wealth. When wedie, they go to others who profit from ourlabours, and care not who we were, andmay even have been our mortal enemiesin life.Looking at the Emir he continued:Our second wife, oh great defender of thefaith, is our family and friends. No matter how muchthey have been there for us in life, the furthest theycan come is to our graveside. But our first wife…he paused and looked around, is our soul. Oftenneglected in the pursuit of wealth, power and thepleasures of this world, the soul is the only thingthat will follow us wherever we go, the only truecompanion we will ever have. Therefore, cultivate,strengthen and cherish your soul now, for it is theonly part of you that will be with you always, indeedfor all eternity.No one stirred or looked up as the peasantbowed and waited for the Emir’s response. Butthe great Emir of Baghdad remained silent,staring sorrowfully at the ground. A great gloomhad descended upon him and he sat on histhrone thinking of what the peasant had said fortwo full days before he returned to his old ways.But there were others amongst his guests whowere deeply touched by the words of this wisepeasant and went away changed forever, withsorrow and contrition for their own disregardfor their souls.No one knows what happened to thispeasant of wise words, for in the silence thatfollowed his concluding words, no one, noteven the Emir’s guards and esteemed wise men,noticed as the teacher of hearts, the legendaryMustafa the wise of Córdoba, slipped silentlythrough a doorway never again to be seen.26The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

y Paul Goodall, FRCF THE MANY ELEMENTS THAThave been used to make up alchemicalfigures throughout the centuries,one of the most universal is that ofthe serpent or snake. This archetypal symbol isreadily seen today in the composite glyph thatis mundanely used to represent the medicalprofession; the caduceus of Hermes. Here isdisplayed the harmonious union (or resolution) ofthe dual polarities, male and female, representedThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200527

y the intertwined snakes aligned to the wingedstaff of Mercury. Although there are manyaspects concerning serpent symbolism and formsthroughout esoteric literature and thought, thisarticle is about one expression of the use of thesnake, namely its employment in the symbolcommonly known as the ouroborus. This isdepicted as a serpent (or often a winged dragon)doubling back on itself and grasping or bitingits own tail to form a circle. The word in Greekmeans “tail-biter.”OriginsEvidence of the existence of this emblem goesback to antiquity indicating that it featuredin many ancient cultures with Egypt (Fig. 1)Figure 2: The symbol appearing on a Chinese bronze receptacle.common in medieval and early modern Europeanalchemical manuscripts and documents (Fig. 3).An extract from the Alexandrian poet and writerClaudian (c.390 CE) highlights this:Far off, unknown, beyond the range of thought,scarce reached by gods, the years’ rough haggardmother, stands a primeval cave in whose vast breast, istime’s cradle and womb. A serpent encloses the cave,consuming all things with slow power, and green scalesalways glinting. Its mouth devours the back-bent tail,as with mute motion it traces the beginning. 4Figure 1: Example from Egypt around the 26 th dynasty.appearing to have the earliest record of it around1600 BCE. 1 Nicolas Flamel (1330-1417) wrote of itin his Exposition:These are the serpents and Dragons whichthe ancient Aegyptians have painted in a Circle, thehead biting the tayle, to signify that they proceededfrom one and the same things, and that it alone wassufficient, and that in the turning and circulationthereof, it made itselfe perfect. 2From there it cropped up in Phoeniciabefore moving to the Greek sphere. One examplealso comes from the Zhou (formally Chou)dynasty of China around 1200 BCE where it isseen engraved on a bronze receptacle (Fig. 2). 3The later Hellenistic culture of the Greeks atAlexandria, perhaps plagiarising the Egyptiantemplate, provided the form that is mostFigure 3: From George Wither’s A Collection of Emblems,Ancient and Modern, 1635. Note the symbolic depiction of birthand death as represented by the child and skull.28The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

Figure 4: The Gnostic form from The Chrysopoeia of Kleopatra(the “gold-making” of Cleopatra) 2 nd century CE.It is also found in Norse culture whereit is named Jormungandr from the myth ofYggdrasil and in that of India (Hindu), where thedragon circles the tortoise which supports thefour elephants that carry the world.SymbolismSo, the ouroborus has been universally usedthroughout the ages, not just in the spiritualalchemical sense but also as a representativephilosophical symbol with powerful metaphysicalconnotations. It is indeed, in modern terms, anarchetypal and definitive figure typifying theeternal life cycle and for Rosicrucians, the cyclicalevolution of the soul personality (renewal).Primarily then, the idea of time is reflectedin its form, though coupled with the addedattribute of eternity. In the Gnostic examplefrom The Chrysopoeia of Kleopatra (2 nd centuryCE) during the Alexandrian period (Fig. 4),this is qualified by the placing of the Greekphrase “en to pan” (one is all) within the figure,allowing a metaphysical representation of thewhole of creation. This is further enhanced bythe addition of painting one half black and theother white, denoting the universal opposites,active and passive, in a resolved state, thusforming an androgynous whole. Furthermore,the distillation process in physical alchemy andthe transformative process in its spiritual aspectare singularly conveyed by the circular nature ofthis symbol.With its fundamental representation of theconcept of time, we find other symbols closelyrelated to it. One example is that of the zodiacalwheel with its twelve segments arranged aroundthe circumference. The Greek derivation of itsname is telling; zoe meaning “life” and diakos,“wheel.” Another is that of the personified Saturnwho commonly represents time and who is alsosaid to have devoured his own children.In conclusion, it might be added thatthis symbol, so wonderfully constructed in thehuman imagination and so able to perform itstask, cannot be surpassed since it is ultimately aproduct of the universal consciousness of whichwe are all a part.Footnotes1. References to this dating abound across the internetbut with no accompanying evidence to validate it. It isincluded to give the reader an approximate idea of howfar back secondary sources claim it to be.2. From Flamel’s Exposition of the Hieroglyphical Figures - HisSecret Booke of the Blessed Stone called the Philosopher’s.London, 1624 quoted in Lyndy Abraham’s A Dictionary ofAlchemical Imagery, 2003, p.207.3. http://www.spirasolaris.ca/sbb4f.html4. From the second book of Claudian’s poem On the Consulshipof Stilicho quoted in Jack Lindsay’s The Origins of Alchemy inGraeco-Roman Egypt, 1970, p.268.29The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

y PensatorAIRO, THE CAPITAL OF EGYPTis known primarily, and for many,exclusively, for the Sphinx andPyramids. Don’t be fooled however,for Cairo is a whole lot more thanthis, a teeming, fascinating city in itsown right, as ancient and important as anyof the Roman cities of Europe, indeed, maybemore ancient even than any other city in theworld. In their hurry to see the ancient Egyptianmonuments on the Giza plateau, many touristsforget that Cairo is an Islamic city, and as such,30The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

In the reign of Imam-Caliph Al-Mu’izz (953–75), Fatimid fortunesreached their height.has a wonderful inheritance. This year, duringthe Rosicrucian trip to Egypt, those taking partshould pause to consider the wonders of thismedieval city and its glorious place in history.Cairo is huge. The district of al-Fustát liesover the ruins of the Roman fort of Babylon,named by the Romans after the famousMesopotamian city. However, its north-easternpart and the district of Matariya lie over the ruinsof one of the most illustrious cities of ancientEgypt: Heliopolis, after which the north-easternpart is still named. Heliopolis, the city of thesun, was the home of Ra. His temple, which iscalculated to be about four times as large as thetemple of Amun at Karnak, was a famous centreof knowledge and wisdom and one of the firstmassively organised places of worship in theworld. It drew not only ancient Egyptian seekers,but many famous ancient Greeks too.As we can see, and are about to discover,Cairo, though a predominantly Islamic city, hasa proud history as a centre of knowledge, bothmundane and spiritual.The Victorious CityOn 10 th June 973CE, the Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mu’izz rode into his new capital city situated a fewmiles to the north-east of Fustát. It was officiallyfounded on 3 rd May 970CE as al-Mansúriyya,now renamed Madinat al-Qáhira al-Mu’izziyya,The City of Victory of al-Mu’izz, or more simplyal-Qáhira: from which we get Cairo. The name al-Qáhira also refers to the planet Mars, which wasin the ascendant on the day the city was founded.Al-Mu’izz decorated the city’s four suburbs withluxurious buildings and delightful gardens, as hemade Cairo into the metropolis of a great Islamicempire, stretching from Sicily and Tunisia toSyria and the holy cities of Mecca and Medinain present-day Saudi Arabia. Cairo, as a greatcentre of civilisation, rivalled Baghdad, Cordobaand Constantinople. Egypt under the Fatimids isgenerally recognised as one of the most brilliantperiods of Islamic history.Who were the Fatimids? This Arabiandynasty claimed descent from the prophetMohammed through Fatima, his daughter, andher husband, the prophet’s cousin Ali, who wasalso the fourth Caliph. This direct descent fromthe prophet himself gave the Fatimids high statusin the Islamic world. They were what we wouldterm today, Shi’ites, from the Arabic Shi’a Ali (TheParty of Ali). They termed their rulerThe arts and sciences, philosophy and religious the Imam-Caliph because he combinedlearning flourished in Fatimid Egypt.spiritual and political power and theprimary purpose of the new city ofCairo was to house the Imam-Caliph, hisgovernment and army.Under the three outstanding Imam-Caliphs:al-Mu’izz (953-975), al-Hakim (996-1021) andFatimid tombs at Aswan.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200531

The mosque of al-Azhar, 970 CE.al-Mustansir (1036-94), Egypt became a worldpower. Cairo was the focal point in the east-westtrade routes, linking Spain to India and there werecommercial contacts with the Italian city-states.In addition, the Fatimids had the only sizeableMuslim navy of the period.The arts and sciences, philosophy andreligious learning flourished in Fatimid Egyptwhich had a policy of religious toleration. Themajority of the population were Sunni Muslimsand could practise their religion quite openly,while Christians and Jews were, on the whole,well treated. The Fatimid government evenentered into friendly relations with the OrthodoxChristian Byzantine Empire.The House of KnowledgeAfter the demise of the Beit al-Hikma (House ofWisdom) in Baghdad, in 991, Abu Nasr Shaburibn Ardashir, the vizier of the Abbasid Caliphar-Radi, founded a library, the so-called Daral-Ilm (House of Knowledge) in al-Karkh, asuburb of Baghdad, and consisting of some10,000 books. It was probably this institutionthat served as the prototype of the great Fatimidlibrary in Cairo.Contrary to popular opinion, when theArab army conquered Alexandria in 641CE, theydid not order the wholesale destruction of thefamous Library of Alexandria. For a variety ofreasons, the once great Library was no longer asimportant as it was a few centuries before. It stillcontained many books, but these seem to havebeen acquired by many different people, andmany eventually found their way into the libraryof the Imam-Caliphs. Here was direct continuityfrom the ancient world, and after the translationsof ancient books and knowledge had finished inBaghdad, it was continued in Cairo.During the 10 th and 11 th centuries, theFatimid court engendered some of the liveliesttheological and intellectual debates in the Muslimworld. Astronomers, poets, grammarians,physicians, legal experts, theologians and othermembers of the intelligentsia flocked to thecapital and were given generous salaries for32The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

Courtyard of al-Hakim mosque.their creative work; much like Alexandria some1,300 years before. Many philosophers werealso drawn to this exciting intellectual milieuin Cairo. Among the most famous were Hamidal-Din al-Kirmani, al-Mu’ayyad fi’l Din al-Shiraziand Nasir-e Khusraw. Some of their works arecurrently in print in English.On Saturday 24 th March 1005 (10 Jumada IIof the year 395 of the Islamic calendar) the Imam-Caliph al-Hakim, one of the most intriguingfigures in Egyptian history, officially opened theDar al Ilm, the House of Knowledge, otherwiseknown as the Dar al-Hikma (House of Wisdom).It lay at the northern end of the Western palace,housed in the former residence of a Slavic courtofficer named al-Mukhtar, who was Sahib al-Qasr(Steward of the Palace) under the Imam-Caliphal-Aziz, opposite the later Aqmar mosque whichis still in existence today. Entrance was through agate called the Bab al-Tabbanin. The building wasre-furnished and re-decorated and new doorsand curtains were provided. And finally, it wasequipped with a library unmatched anywhere inthe contemporary world. In the library precinctsyou would find Koranic scholars, grammarians,philologists and even doctors consulting.The library proper contained agreat many bookshelves spread aroundseveral enormous halls. The shelveswere divided into compartments byvertical partitions. Each compartmentwas secured by a hinged door with a padlock.There were more than 200,000 bound books,amongst which were manuscripts in all domainsof science and culture; books on jurisprudenceof all the schools, grammar, philology, traditionsof the prophets, history, biographies of rulers,mathematics, astronomy, spiritual knowledgeand alchemy. The door of each compartmenthad a label of contents attached.In 1010, al-Hakim endowed the incomefrom some of his own properties in perpetuityfor the upkeep of the Dar al-Ilm. There wereservants to look after the needs of the publicwho used the library, which was open toeveryone. Al-Hakim wanted people from allwalks of life to be able to access the library,it didn’t matter whether they wanted to readthe books, just have a quick look or evencopy them. Everything they might need wasprovided: ink, inkstands and paper. A sumof 257 dinars per year was set aside for thisalone. Of this, 90 dinars was for paper, 48 forThe minaret of Al-hakim mosque.the librarians (al-khazin), 12 to buy water, 12 forrepairing books and pages, 15 for ink and pens,10 for reed mats, 1 for the repair of curtains and 4dinars for carpets during winter.Al-Hakim appointed a teaching staff ofexperts of various academic subjects with all theirsalaries paid by the treasury. Those whose namesUnusually for the times, women were alsoallowed into these esoteric lectures.are known were all Sunnis.After the time of troubles in 1068, thetotal loss of the library was replaced and thecollections were reassembled. The Dar al-Ilmreopened later in a new location, at the east sideThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200533

A medieval map of Cairo.of the Great Eastern Palace, and was, as a result ofthis, no longer directly in contact with the centreof political and military power. It remained thereuntil the end of the dynasty. Books from thepalace library were once more transported tobe housed within its walls. Despite our lack ofinformation on its development and operationduring the later Fatimid period, the Dar al-Ilmstands out as an exemplary medieval institutionof knowledge.Emanation of LightThe presence of the Imam-Caliph and his sanctityconferred a particularly special position on Cairo,for the Imam was regarded as the terrestrialincarnation of the universal intellect. He wasalso considered to be an emanation of the divinelight. At the heart of the new city stood thepalace complex, and as the palace was deemedto be the depositary of the spiritualknowledge of the Imam-Caliph, it wasdeemed to be the appropriate place forthe dissemination of such knowledge.In Baghdad, the ceremonial ofthe Abbasid Caliphs took place mainlywithin their palace, whereas in Cairo,Fatimid ceremonies were processionaland designed to be seen by all thecitizens. To the Fatimids, the worldcould be interpreted on many differentlevels, and Cairo, conceived of asalmost a ritual city, was the settingfor state ceremonials par excellence.They invested their ceremonials withmultiple meanings which were notintended to be understood by everyonewho witnessed them.There were two palace-complexes,one Eastern and the other Westernwith a parade ground between thetwo palaces called the bayn al-qasrayn,meaning Between the Two Palaces. Thiswas the main thoroughfare of the newcity. Ritual had a prominent place,especially in the Eastern palace. Whenseen from afar it was said that theEastern and Western palaces loomedlike mountains behind their high wallsenclosing the ritual space where theImam-Caliph lived.The Sessions of WisdomAn Imam is a spiritual leader. Knowledge (ilm)and wisdom (hikma) are regarded as gifts fromGod. The believers considered the Imam-Caliphas the gift of God to humanity, who served asa guide to mankind. His duty was to teach themystical truths of the universe, transmitting theesoteric and mystical aspects of God to everyoneon earth. The form of Islam promulgated bythe Fatimid rulers mixed Gnostic and messianicideas that became interwoven with Neoplatonicphilosophy.The Fatimid rulers had a high esteem forlearning. During their pre-Egyptian years they haddeveloped a series of public lectures addressed todifferent audiences. These gradually developedinto an elaborate programme of instructionwhich were termed the Majális al-Hikma (Sessionsof Wisdom). Essentially there were two typesof teaching session: public lectures for large34The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

audiences on the záhir or exoteric subjects,and private lectures on the bátin or esotericsubjects. The people who attended the esotericlectures referred to themselves as the awliyaAllah or friends of God, or simply awliya. TheSessions of Wisdom were open to both men andwomen, unusually for the Islamic world. Theircosmological speculations, which were extremelymodern for those days, were at the peak ofcontemporary thought.The private Majális al-Hikma were held onFridays, some also on Thursdays. Texts read atthese Sessions of Wisdom had to receive the priorapproval and authorisation of the Imam-Caliph.All the texts were written down and archived.Some are still extant.Once the initiate or mustajib had solemnlytaken the oath, he/she would undergo astep-by-step induction into wisdom. From timeto time they were tested. The lessons in the bátinor esoteric wisdom were onlyaccessible to these initiates andwere held in the palace whereprivacy was easier to guarantee.There was a special audiencehall (majlis) used purely forthis. The person who directedthese sessions, the “Master”in Rosicrucian terminology,was called the Da’i al-Du’at orSupreme Da’i. It was he whotook these sessions in personon a Friday. We still have abook containing the teachingstaught by the most famousSupreme Da’i, Mohammed ibnal-Nu’man in his compendiumTa’wil da’a’im al-Islam (TheInterpretation of the Pillars ofIslam). Each of its 120 chaptersis termed a “session.” Part oftheir esoteric teachings seemsto have been the descendingtriangle from the universal intellect down toman, and an ascending triangle showing theprogression of the individual soul on its wayback upwards to the creator, a theme familiar tomany later European mystical traditions.The Supreme Da’i personally taught theinitiates, who addressed one another as Ikhwanor brothers. As we have said, unusually forthe times, women were also allowed into theseesoteric lectures. The discourses took place inthe palace of the Imam-Caliphs, where the menwere taught in the iwan or audience hall, whilewomen received their instruction in anotherpalace audience hall called al-Muhawwal.The Supreme Da’i had to have hismanuscripts personally authorised by theImam-Caliph before he delivered them at theSessions of Wisdom. He also had to have extensiveeducational qualifications, combined withextraordinary moral and intellectual attributes,as well as excellent organisational abilities. Heneeded to have sufficient knowledge of the záhirand bátin to be able to explain them to manydifferent types of people on various intellectuallevels. He was also often trained in jurisprudence.He was expected to be knowledgeable not only inthe Koran, but well versed in other non-religioussubjects such as philosophy and history, as wellas the teachings of non-Islamic religions. Intotal, the Supreme Da’i was ahighly learned and culturedindividual.The Final ChaptersUnder the Imam-Caliphal-Mustansir, Egypt wasplagued by a series ofcrises, food shortages, evenfamine due to low Niles forseven consecutive years. InNovember 1068, the palacesand the library of the Dar al-Ilm,consisting of forty rooms fullof priceless books and otherobjects, were plundered bythe Imam-Caliph’s Turkishguard and some high officialsduring a complete breakdownof law and order. The worksof classical authors alone thatThe massive gates of Bab Zuweila defined thesouthern limit of Cairo, 1092 CE. disappeared comprised 18,000volumes and there were also2,400 Korans decorated with gold and silver. Ofthese books, 25 camel loads found their way to thepalace of the vizier Abu l’Faraj Mohammed ibnJafar! A month later he had to flee from Egypt, hishouse was plundered and the books strewn to thewind. Other books from the House of Knowledgeended up with a certain Imad ad-Daula Abul’Fadl ibn al-Mukhtariq in Alexandria, and whenhe was murdered, the books were dispersed allThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200535

over North Africa. Many books were just thrownin the Nile, but others found their way to theother great Islamic cities.Saladin, the Sunni Kurdish general fromIraq, who had become vizier of Egypt, overthrewthe last Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Adid (1160-1171)on 10 th September 1171. A few days later, the 14 thand last Fatimid Imam-Caliph died after a briefillness. Saladin placed the remaining membersof the Fatimid family in permanent captivity invarious districts of Cairo. The immense treasuresof the Fatimids, including their vast libraries werepillaged or sold. The Dar al-Ilm was turned into ahospital. In 1174, Saladin went a step further andproclaimed himself Sultan, under the auspices ofthe Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad, and thus beganthe Ayyubid dynasty that ruled Egypt, Syria andthe Holy Land, and got drawn into the ThirdCrusade with Richard the Lionheart.Although the medieval Islamic world wassuperior to Europe in the same period in allscientific disciplines, there was no such thing asa university, except for the Dar al-Ilm. It was aworthy successor to the great Beit al-Hikma ofBaghdad and the university at Jundishâpur inIran, whose stories were covered in earlier editionsof the Rosicrucian Beacon. Today, little remainsof the old Fatimid city, except the mosque ofal-Azhar. The, original royal mosque of al-Azhar,(the Radiant One) was the first mosque of theFatimid city. Completed in 971CE, it is the oldestuniversity in the world and is still the principalteaching centre in the Islamic world. It offers freeinstruction and board to students from all over.There also remains the mosque of al-Hakim, andsome old Fatimid-period city gates.Today, very few of the tourists that visitCairo and do their shopping in the Khan el-Khalili bazaar realise that beneath their feet liespart of the site of the now vanished brilliantpalaces of the Fatimid Imam-Caliphs, and theremains of one of the world’s greatest educationaland cultural institutions.BibliographyAnthony Black: The History of Islamic Political Thought, ISBN:0-7486-1472-9.Farhad Daftary: A Short History of the Ismailis, ISBN: 0-7486-0687-4.Heinz Halm: The Fatimids and their Traditions of Learning, ISBN:1-86064-313-2.Heinz Halm: Die Kalifen von Kairo, ISBN: 3-406-48654-1.Alice Hunsberger: Nasir Khusraw, The Ruby of Badakhshan,ISBN: 1-85043-919-2.Paula Sanders: Ritual, Politics and the City in Fatimid Cairo,ISBN: 0-7914-1782-4.Paul Walker: Exploring an Islamic Empire, ISBN: 1-86064-875-4.by Jenny Butler, SRCSweet fleeting dreams within my memory,Like webs of gossamer, and silken threadsThat bind my yesterdays in their embrace;And cobweb clouds that draw a veilOf mystery across my mind, andCast faint shadows on Eternity.Beyond the veil the past lies hidden,Aeons of experience, of joy and pain,The structure of ourselves built brickBy brick upon the paths of time;And now today the view is clearer,Sometimes we may glimpse tomorrowDrawn upon the screen that has noEnding or beginning, just Eternity,The mosaic of a never ending Plan.36The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

y Connie James, SRCWhat could be sweeter than to have afriend with whom, as with yourself, youcan discuss all that is in your heart?EISTER ECKHART, A PROFOUNDintrospective mystic of the 14 th centuryonce said: “Of more value than humilityor mercy is the condition of the detachedheart.” His sermon, On Detachment,was written for and preached to thegeneral public with a view to highlighting andpraising the quality of detachment of “the heart”from the normal tumult of life. He found thequality of detachment so supremely important infact that he went counter to all accepted theologicalscholarship of his day in proclaiming that itwas detachment and not love that was the mostimportant of all virtues: “… but I praise detachmentmore than all love.”His LifeJohannes Eckhart has been called the father ofGerman mystics. It has even been said that afterPlotinus, he was the greatest philosopher-mysticto have lived. We do not know when or wherehe was born, but it is thought that it was prior to1260 CE, either in the German state of Saxony or inThuringia. This was during the time of the fall ofthe Knights Templar. The first known mention ofhis name is in a list of professors at the Universityof Paris in 1302.The following year he was Provincial of theDominican Order in Saxony and in 1307 the title ofVicar-General of Bohemia was added, whereuponhe reformed the religious houses of that state. In1311, he returned to the University of Paris andin 1312 he became head of the Dominicans inStrasbourg. Eight years later in 1320, he was Priorin Frankfurt after which he was given a Chair atthe Dominican College of St. Jakob in Cologne andthe title of Magister (Meister in German) by PopeBoniface VIII. In Cologne he quickly enhanced hisreputation as a preacher and it was here too that themystics Johannes Tauler, Jan van Ruysbroeck andHeinrich Suso, whose mysticism was expressedin terms of the contemporary literary romanticThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200537

cult of the Minnesänger (minnesingers), probablyheard him and became his disciples.The church became alarmed at theenthusiasm roused by his teaching and especiallyat its effect on the common people. In 1325-26, suspicion of his teachings brought himbefore the Inquisition in Venice. He wasaccused of preaching to the people in theirown language, things that might lead toheresy. He delivered his Protest beforethat body, and then on 13 th February1327, made his public “Declarationof Orthodoxy” in the Dominicanchurch at Cologne. This was thelast date Meister Eckhart wasknown to be alive. He is thoughtto have died soon after, and wasexcommunicated by Pope John XXIIon the 27 th March 1329.It was at Strasbourg and Cologne,both German cities at the time, that heestablished his great influence as ateacher and for an entire generationpreached to the multitudes in theirnative language, German. At thattime it was a novel idea to instructthe people as well as the many semi-religiouscommunities and brotherhoods of that day intheir own language. The Beguines, Beghards, theFriends of God and the religious devotees of hisown Order were all taught in German rather thanLatin, which at the time (and for centuries after)was the teaching medium of his day. Eckhart said:“If the ignorant are not taught, they will never learn;the business of a doctor is to heal.”Perhaps it was his willingness to attackcherished positions held by revered saints andrespected institutions that led Eckhart into collisionwith the church. As a member of the DominicanOrder, he made his views public in such greatecclesiastical centres as Cologne and Paris. And inlater life, his views carried much authority when hebecame Vicar-General of Bohemia. As his analyticalmind pursued truth, the liturgy and ceremonial ofthe church became less satisfying, and he leanedtoward the accumulation of knowledge by wayof the inner light. The papal bull of 1327 madeA representation ofa Dominican Friar.He was accused of preaching to the people intheir own language.the accusation “that he wished to know more thanhe should.” This meant that Meister Eckhart wastravelling in areas of thought either uncharted orunapproved by the ecclesiastical hierarchy.Immanence of God in ManThe crux of Meister Eckhart’sdisagreement with Catholic orthodoxylay in his pantheistic expression ofGod’s immanence in the universe,his stress upon individual mysticalexperience and his desire to edifythe masses.Eckhart came to believethat the world is the creativethought of God; the mind ofGod is expressed throughout theuniverse. Yet nowhere is God moredefinitively expressed than in man,the microcosm. This doctrine ofthe immanence of God in man hasbeen called the most distinctivecontribution made by Eckhart’ssystem of philosophy. He loved towrite and speak of the divine “spark”in the soul, which is not merely unitedto God, but rather one with Him.Scholars have divided the authenticcollection of Meister Eckhart’s works intoGerman and Latin sermons and tracts.The German publications are the resultof Eckhart’s sociability and practicalnature. Although a scholar, he wantedto enlighten the general public, so hewrote in German for their benefit. In this way, heopened the understanding of the average manand woman to the practical possession of a vitalspiritual experience. Eckhart strongly believedin a religion that provided an inner rebirth forevery person. If religion did not manifest thistransformation, it was worthless. He expressesthis belief in a Christmas sermon where he spokeof the perpetual generation of the creative Wordin the human soul: “But if it takes not place in me,what avails it? Everything lies in this, that it shouldtake place in me.”On Detachment is Meister Eckhart’s sermonfrom the German collection that identifies theway in which the immanence of God may beexperienced in the human soul. In this essay,the mystic makes the classic distinction of thesubjective and objective natures of man: “You38The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

should know that the masters tell us that in everyman there are two kinds of men. The first is called theoutward man. This man is served by the five senses andyet the outer man operates by the power of the soul. Thesecond man is called the inward man: that isthe inmost part of the man, and the inwardman does not heed the five senses exceptinsofar as he is their guide and leader.”Outward or Inward MotivationA further distinction is made betweenmen, those who are motivated by theouter being and its sense experience,and those who live by the light within.Eckhart maintained that the formersquander their time with transientpossessions; the latter behave as Jesusdirected by putting the “Kingdom ofGod” first in their lives. The immediatebenefit of the inner-motivated man is notabsence from trials and tribulations, butan inner peace in the presence of a crisis.In contrast, while the outer man not onlyexperiences suffering, he suffers himselffrom the lack of inner stability and meaning.The power of God finds itself unableto communicate effectively with the outwardorientatedman. “The inner light can only cometo those who are ready for it, for God works in us ashe finds readiness,” says Eckhart. As a means ofinterpreting this thought for the general public,Eckhart uses the analogy of baking a variety ofdifferent breads at the same time. The baker mayput in the oven different pieces of dough, madeof oats, barley, rye and wheat. Although the ovencontains a single baking temperature, the differentpieces of dough do not bake equally in response tothis heat. The material is to blame and not the heatitself. Similarly, it is the nature of the inner andouter beings (the receptiveness of the one and thestubborn dominance of the other) in individualmen and women that defeats or abets God’spurposes with mankind.The inward-directed man, according toEckhart, prepares his heart for spiritual experienceby emptying it. This is the “nothingness” objectiveof Zen meditation or the condition prior to ecstasyspoken of in Rosicrucian philosophy. When thedetached heart, detached from “this” or “that”has nothing as its aim, then the greatest spiritualreceptivity is possible.To support this premise, Eckhart uses theA contemporary imageof the founder of theDominican Order, Domingode Guzman (around 1170-1221), in reflective pose.analogy of a wax tablet. As long as something iswritten on the tablet, it cannot be used again. Firstthe writing must be deleted; the tablet is not asfunctional as when nothing is written on it. In likemanner, the heart must be emptied ordetached from all things for the Cosmicto make an impression on it. Moreover,the prayer of the detached heart is tobe free from all prayers that petition,except for the prayer for the heart inorder to be uniform with God.ConclusionIn retrospect, Meister Eckhart standsas a lighthouse in an age that soughtenlightenment in obedience to outwardliturgy and piety. Apparently, his formof introspective mysticism had littleeffect on the German reformer MartinLuther (1483-1546), although he too,wished to liberate the church from anempty form of worship and theology.But then this seems to be the naturalconflict between light and darknessthrough the ages. The light shines in man’sdarkness, but there are few who see it.Eckhart did not just write for theologians,but also for ordinary men and women. This iswhy he wrote in German and not in Latin. Fromhis time onwards German and not Latin, was thelanguage of all popular tracts. Meister Eckharttakes us on no mere philosophical expedition, buton a journey into the realm of God.A woodcut of Meister Eckhart preaching.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200539

y Marc Cornwall, FRC“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom thisemotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder andstand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.” Albert EinsteinN 16 TH APRIL 1955, ALBERT EINSTEIN,the most controversial and the mostbeloved of modern scientists, left thisearthly plane. His work altered foreverthe way we view the natural world. Ever since,historians and scientists have been attemptingto assess the heritage he left to humanity. In thisarticle that commemorates the 50 th anniversary ofthe death of Einstein, a little known aspect of thisgreat man’s life will be analysed.For fifty years the name Einstein (1879-1955) was synonymous with scientific genius.He loomed over early 20 th century physics asits defining, emblematic figure, having giventhe world Special Relativity in 1905 and GeneralRelativity in 1915, spending the remaining 40 yearsof his life searching for what we are still searchingfor today, a “unified theory of everything.”Whilst he failed in this last grand mission, he lefthumanity with two rigorous theories that haveyet to be proven wrong but also the memory of aman of humble demeanour, profound insight andcompassion for all of God’s creation.His face was familiar not only to scientistsbut also to millions of laymen who neitherunderstood nor cared about Relativity. “Why is it,”he asked a New York Times journalist in 1944 “thatnobody understands me, but everybody likes me?” Howdid the obscure creator of an arcane cosmologicaltheory become so well-known and loved? Weremember his unruly shock of hair, graduallysoftened and bleached by age, overshadowing hisfeatures, frozen into an eternal question mark andcovering a deep inner sadness. Only in the lastphotograph, taken a few weeks before his fatalillness, did loving-kindness ease the tenseness ofdedication, while his tired eyes twinkled benignlyover the rims of his glasses.A Man and his MissionHis features tell the story of his mission. Thequestioning look stands for a life devoted toresearch. The lines of sorrow were etched bythe heroic failures to which even this successfulpioneer was subject in his scientific andhumanitarian efforts; for Einstein was a greatman as well as a great scientist, and his work wasnot limited to scientific treatises. Although he40The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

Einstein and his first wife, Mileva.expressed himself in many fields, his endeavourswere directed toward a single goal: to bring aboutunity, simplicity and harmony where others sawonly diversity, contradictions and hostility.In the science of Physics, he unifiedwaves and particles, space and time, matter andenergy, and attempted to unify electricity andgravitation. In human affairs he tried to reconcileraces and nations, and socialism with freedom ofthe individual. In philosophy he tried to bridgethe gap between science and religion, betweendeterminism, human responsibility and morallaw.Let us first take a look at his scientificwork. Doubted in the beginning, it is now partand parcel of every textbook, of every college oruniversity course on fundamental Physics. He firsthit world headlines in 1919 when an expedition toinvestigate a solar eclipse confirmed his GeneralTheory of Relativity. He became an overnight mediasensation. But 1905 was his annus mirabilis, when,during a single miraculous year, he produced notone but three world-changing papers, somethingonly comparable to Sir Isaac Newton duringthe years 1665-1666. In recognition of this, theinternational physics community has set aside2005 as the World Year of Physics as a tribute toEinstein’s centennial.Einstein’s first pioneering venture was abold interpretation of photoelectric effects. Byasserting that light is emitted in the form of bulletlikephotons, he paved the way to the unification ofwaves and particles that was brought about, somefifteen years later, under the name of QuantumMechanics. It is for this photoelectric researchthat paved the way for the acceptance of the dualnature of light as both particle and wave, thatEinstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physicsin 1921. A hundred years later, technologistsare still finding new ways of harvesting novelinventions from his theories.His greatest and most famous creativeachievement was of course, the General Theory ofRelativity. Its impact upon the physical scienceswas enormous, in two widely separate fields. Inthe macroscopic field of astronomy, it correctedimperfections in Newton’s laws. Hithertounexplained changes in the orbit of the planetMercury were accounted for. The theory alsopredicted the bending of light rays by the gravityof the Sun and the reddening of light emittedby very heavy stars; both predictions were soonconfirmed. Relativity further asserted that spaceitself was curved so that the universe, althoughunbounded, might turn back upon itself andform a vast but finite cell. This view strangelyresonates with some of the deepest and mostancient mystical cosmologies.In the microcosmic field of rapidly whirlingatomic particles, Relativity proved that a particleaccelerated to high speed becomes heavier thanwhen it is stationary; a fact soon verified by atomicphysicists and cyclotron 1 builders. Conversely, bylosing mass, a particle sets free large amountsof energy. This last assertion is the principleunderlying the nuclear bombs and atomic powerplants. But in addition to these material results,Einstein the gifted scientist.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200541

Relativity greatly affected the thinking and thephilosophy of the 20 th century.Relativity’s AxiomsIts first axiom was that space and time do not existseparately, only conjointly as a four-dimensionalframework of observation, a framework thatchanges with the standpoint and motion of theobserver. This may seem natural and sensible toRosicrucians, who for many years have regardedtime and space as manmade abstractions.However, it aroused a furore with conservativescientists as well as with totalitarian politiciansboth Nazi and Communist.Relativity’s second axiom was theequivalence of energy and matter. This wasaccepted with less of a struggle than the first,because its practical proofs and consequences wereundeniable. But from a philosophical viewpoint itwas equally revolutionary. “Solid” matter couldno longer to be regarded as an entity separateand distinct from light, for example, and otherforms of radiation. The entire physical universetherefore had to be viewed as a vastocean of vibratory energy, once again, infull agreement with age-old Rosicruciantenets.In the introductions to his paperson Relativity, Einstein hinted that hewas spurred on to his deductions by a belief inthe consistency and unity of nature. Underlyingthe harmony and symmetry of physical laws,Einstein sensed a Cosmic Intelligence, which hecontemplated with rapture and awe. His lifelongsearch for Truth was a kind of mystical worship. Itpermeated his entire being and became embodiedin the questioning look common to all hisphotographs.Quanta and BeyondIn spite of his great work and renown, his scientificopinions in the second half of his life were outof step with the trend of later physics. At hisdeath, his lifework was unfinished and in doubt,and his scientific failures were as heroic as hisachievements. His inability to accept the validityof Quantum Mechanics, and his transcendentalbelief that system and order reigning supremein some higher, Divine Law, is expressed inanguished terms in his now famous phrase: “Goddoes not play dice with the World.”It was, alas, his personal belief only,unproved by research and opposed by hisscientific peers. Indeed, as Quantum Mechanicsdeveloped further and further and eventuallybecame an easily proven fact of natural law, hadhe lived longer, his anguish may only have grownstronger. His General Theory of Relativity and theTheory of Quantum Mechanics are irreconcilable atthe level of our human experience, but we knowthat both theories will one day be supersededby an even greater and more all-encompassingtheory, perhaps Superstring Theory which promisesto eventually lead us to a unification of these twogreat opposing theories of the 20 th Century.Frustration and dilemmas beset not onlyEinstein’s scientific work but also the social,philosophical, educational and political viewsthat he expressed vigorously in many articles andlectures that he gave around the world. Althoughsensitive and modest, he did not hide in an ivorytower. In later life he involved himself withmany social causes, being concerned with peopleindividually and with humanity as a whole.He devoted himself to simplicity, elegance andEinstein hinted that he was spurred on to hisdeductions by a belief in the consistency andunity of nature.mathematical beauty, wishing fervently that all ofhumanity could enjoy peace, economic security,political and religious freedom, and leisure topursue the higher things of life such as science,art and philosophy. In his younger years, Einsteinhad been shocked by the oppressions, torturesand murders perpetrated by the Nazi regimein his native Germany. He had called upon theWestern democracies to save humanity from thisonslaught of a new Dark Age, by force of armsif necessary. And when the Second World Wardid break out, Einstein, by now living in the USAand researching at Princeton University in NewJersey, advised President Roosevelt to developthe atom bomb, lest Hitler should possess itfirst and use it to enslave the world. This led tothe start of the famous “Manhattan Project,” theAmerican research programme that produced thefirst atomic bomb.The war was hardly over, when a newdanger threatened from the hostility betweenthe USA and the USSR. However, by this time,Einstein had become convinced that victory by42The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

force of arms was futile. He spoke out bravely forreconciliation, for a strengthening of the UnitedNations and for the unity of all mankind. Forthese efforts he was honoured in 1948 by the“One World” award which perhaps meant asmuch to him as the Nobel Prize. He spent hisdeclining years in the fear that the fruits of hisown scientific research might help to bring untoldsuffering to mankind, perhaps even to wipe outall civilisation. He once commented that althoughhe did not know with which weapons WorldWar III would be fought, World War IV would befought with sticks and stones.As a human being he believed in theoverwhelming power of love, in moral lawand in the progress of mankind.A third inner conflict that troubled Einsteinwas the schism between his humane instinctsand mystical intuition on the one hand, andhis scientific convictions. As a human being hebelieved in the overwhelming power of love, inmoral law and in the progress of mankind. Butas a scientist, he believed in strict determinism.But if determinism is a fact, he speculated, if it istrue that every particle and every energy-ripple inthe universe follows a fixed “World Line,” then itmatters not whether their course is preordainedby a capricious God or by an inflexible physicallaw. Does mankind struggle against a life thatis already predetermined for it? Would it notbe better then for them simply to submit to theinevitable? What is the use of devoting your life tothe search for scientific truth unless you feel deepdown that your efforts are a service freely chosen?Perhaps the expression of hopeless bewildermentso evident in many pictures of Einstein is due tothis philosophical impasse.Einstein and MysticismRosicrucian philosophy teaches a way out ofthis dilemma that baffles puritan scientists andbelievers alike. The particles and waves, for whichrelativity postulates rigid determinism, constituteonly the negative polarity of an all-pervadingvibratory energy. Over and above them is thepositive domain of Life Force, Consciousness andWill. This positive domain is neither limited byspace-time nor by physical determinism. SinceConsciousness and Life can affect and directmatter (at least in our own bodies), we are entitledto believe in inner freedom despite outwardnecessity, and to believe in a moral law underlyingphysical laws. Perhaps the crowning scientificunification, the one that eluded Einstein, willconsist of the discovery of the law that governs theinterplay between material energy and consciouslife force. That truly would be a watershed forhumanity.During the last two decades of his life, AlbertEinstein embarked on a solitary, unsuccessfulquest to find one single unifying theory formodelling the universe. He did not achievethe scientific triumph of gathering allphysical laws into one, the so-calledTheory of Everything. He did not live tosee the dawn of an age in which nationscould unite in peace and brotherhoodand did not attain the Peace Profound ofreconciling the finite laws of matter with the voiceof Infinity within his soul. But, he earned andsavoured the mystic joy of leading science andhumanity a long way onward toward the eternalgoal of Unity. This is the heritage that AlbertEinstein left to the world. Let us ever rememberand cherish this.“A human being is a part of a whole, calledby us ‘universe,’ a part limited in time and space.He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings assomething separated from the rest. This delusion is akind of prison for us, restricting us to our personaldesires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison bywidening our circle of compassion to embrace all livingcreatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”Footnotes1. An accelerator that imparts energies of severalmillion electron-volts to rapidly moving particles.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200543

y H.Spencer Lewis, FRCF I WERE QUESTIONED AS TO WHATis the most important or outstandingbenefit, in a general sense, resultingfrom the studies and practices ofthe Rosicrucian principles I wouldunhesitatingly state that it is the beginning of anewer and better life through a newer and betterunderstanding of God.While it is true that the Rosicrucian Orderhas always been a very practical organisation ofreal workers in the world, we cannot overlook thefact that the fundamental principles enabling theaspiring mystics of the Rosy Cross to become morehappy and successful in their earthly lives arerelated to spiritual truths leading to an awakeningof the spiritual concepts of life.Even those who are most busily engagedwith the material problems of life and thinkthey have little time for spiritual thought andmeditation, often keenly realise that they needa better and more intimate acquaintance withthe spiritual things of life and especially a betterconcept of the inner concept of a highest good,namely the “God of my heart.” It is useless foranyone to try to argue that the average man orwoman is not benefited by a better acquaintancewith this inner concept of God that some referto simply as the “Supreme Mind.” As a man ora woman becomes more and more attuned withthis inner God, all aspects of life are changed forthe better.Fortunately, the Rosicrucian teachingshave kept pace with the evolutionary progress ofman’s concept of all things. If in five, ten or fiftythousand years of human evolution and humanstruggle toward higher ideals, mankind has notbrought itself closer to the inner God through abetter understanding of it, then we would have toadmit that human evolution is failing and that theperfection of the human race is an impossible task.But I doubt there are many rational beings whowould venture to make such a statement.The nearer a person approaches his orher concept of God, the more evolved and moreinclusive his or her consciousness becomes.The concepts and ideals that satisfied a personin the past, or at least brought a satisfactoryunderstanding of God to most people in centuriespast, are clearly unsatisfactory in today’s world.A better understanding of ourselves has led to44The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

a great change in our concept of the inner God,and our experience of the workings of many ofthe divine laws operating through our deeperselves, even here in our daily material affairs, hasin recent decades radically changed our conceptof this Divine inner part of ourselves to the extentthat we have a fundamental principles of divinitythat we can all agree upon.The general working of the laws of love,mercy and justice in all of our human affairs hassimilarly modified our concept of what God’s lawsand principles must be like. Even the continuedevolution of human love or the love of humanbeings toward one another and especially thelove of parents toward their children, has taughtsucceeding generations that each personal innerGod is in fact a reflection of an even greatersupreme God of all that is, a “father” to us all whois more loving than we can ever understood.The Rosicrucian teachings have keptpace with these evolving conceptsand continually anticipated thenewer questions, problems andexplanations that mystics of the pasthave contemplated during periods when they haveattempted to lift themselves out of the materialaffairs of life in order to raise their consciousnessesto higher planes.First of all, the mystic reveals God to him orherself as not only a loving, merciful, just ruler, butalso as one to be loved instead of feared. How easyit is for some of us to recall that in our youth it wasa commonplace expression to say that this or thatindividual was doing wrong because he did nothave the “fear of God” in his heart. It seemed to bethe accepted norm to think of God as someone tobe recognised with terror and awe.Little children were taught that they shoulddo certain good things and refrain from doingcertain bad things, for they should fear God andhis mysterious power of punishing them for theirmisdeeds. This idea of fear was developed to suchan extent that they did not dare think of God whilesmiling or laughing, or to speak of him in anycasual way without an attitude of extreme fear. Itis no wonder then that children (in some religiousfamilies at least) came to believe that God couldbe approached only at bedtime through the week,or in the church on Sunday, while on bended kneeand with hands upraised in typical attitudes offearful adoration.The erroneous biblical quotation intimatingthat revenge was a power exclusively given toGod, and also that God visited his wrath, envy,hatred and retribution upon men and women, andfurthermore, that he was jealous and suspicious,were ideas commonly promulgated by religiousleaders who based their arguments upon isolatedand mistranslated passages in the bible.It is no a wonder then that for ages, menand women have speculated upon the lovingand merciful nature of God and asked why heallowed so many sinners to succeed in life whilethose who tried to be pious and honest wereunfortunate. Reasoning from such a false premisewas responsible for the doubt that gradually arosein the minds of millions of persons as to the loveand supreme wisdom and mercy of such a God.We may safely say that the strongest argumentsused by atheists today in their contentions thatthere is no God are based upon the fact that Godhas been misrepresented to millions of personsA better understanding of ourselves, has led to agreat change in our concept of the inner God.or represented as such a being as would warrantour doubting that he was a merciful and lovingFather.New Approach to LivingRosicrucian members’ concepts of God are sowholly different from all of this and yet so consistentwith what Jesus taught. The greatest disciples andLights among us in the past have revealed thatwe find Rosicrucians entering into a new lifethrough their better understanding of God andGod’s ways. Such an understanding brings peaceand contentment to the weary self, to the tired,tried and sorely tested physical body, and to theperplexed mind. It brings hope and renewed lifeand energy, and a firm conviction that justice willprevail and that truth will be demonstrated.Such understanding opens up a new phaseof life and a broader horizon here on this earthplane. It brings God closer to us, more intimate,more personal and friendlier in every humansense of the word. It makes God’s laws appear in awarmer light as not only immutable and not onlyjust, but as rational, reasonable and thoroughlyunderstandable. It does away with all of theseeming inconsistencies and injustices and takesout of the picture entirely the idea that God is anarbitrary, jealous ruler. Surely, only petty humanThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200545

eings of low mental and moral integrity can havesuch emotions? Surely God who is greater than allof us, cannot stoop to what even we know to bewrong?Greater understanding makes us realisethat we ourselves, through our own thoughts,words and deeds, and not an unmerciful God,bring into this life the unfortunate results of ourerrors. Instead of God finding joy and happiness inthe suffering that we have had visited upon us, Heis sympathetic and willing to forgive if we but askfor it and make ourselves worthy of it.Certainly, an enhanced or deeper, moremature concept of God is the greatest change thatcan come into the life of any person. It is in factfundamental to all of our thinking and doing inevery phase of our existence, to have this conceptof God evolve continually throughout our manylives in the material realm. But we cannot fullyrealise this, nor test the truth of it, until ourconcept of God has been changed sufficiently forto realise that it is in fact something that evolvesjust as everything else about us evolves too.The Rosicrucian teachings therefore, are ofextreme importance from a purely spiritual pointof view inasmuch as this one great change ofconcept with regard to what God is brings aboutthat regeneration and rebirth which every religionclaims to be the ultimate end of its doctrines andpractices.Let us keep this in mind and speak of itto those who may inquire about the Rosicrucianteachings and about the relation of these teachingsto spiritual matters. It is not necessary to have areligious creed or dogmatic outline of religiousprinciples in order to become more spiritual andto have a better understanding of the God of allthat is. Every man, woman and child is spirituallyrenewed as he or she understands and adoptsever deeper and more all-inclusive concepts ofthe inner God, which ultimately are no more thanbeautiful though incomplete prototypes of the soleGod of all creation.Rosa Hards, SRC – 100 Years+OSA HARDS IS PERHAPS THEoldest living Rosicrucian in the BritishIsles today, for on 28 th September 2004,she celebrated her 100th birthday.During her active membership of theRosicrucian Order, she was for some years theInspector General of Britain, appointed by the thenEnglish Grand Lodge in San Jose, California, tooversee and assist the Affiliated Bodies in the UK onbehalf of the Grand Lodge. The office of InspectorGeneral no longer exists, partly thanks to Rosa whoperceived that some AffiliatedBodies felt that she was onlythere to inspect and report,rather than her real missionof assisting and guiding.Accordingly, she requestedthat her office be replacedby that of Grand Councillor,assisted by Regional Monitors,and this holds to the present day.After many years of loyal service, she retired,46The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

ut remained a studying member of the Order.She changed residences many times. Friendssometimes found it very difficult to keep up withher moves, and often referred to her as a “rollingstone.” Finally, her latest residence was found byRegional Monitor Mary Sheriff and some othermembers in a nursing home a few miles fromMary’s own home.Mary’s first visit to Rosa at the nursinghome was an experience she said she will alwaysremember. After a few moments, Rosa recognisedher: “Oh, you’re from Pythagoras Chapter, you’reMary!” she exclaimed. The sharpness of her memoryand steadiness of her voice were amazing. Over thenext few months, Rosa revealed to Mary the storyof her early years. To be able to recall these facts soclearly is a wonderful feat, which she attributes tobeing a member of the Rosicrucian Order.Rosa was born on 28 th September 1904 nearGreenwich Observatory. Later, she and her twoelder brothers moved with their parents to Kent.She went to a Grammar School were she excelledand obtained a university scholarship. Despite this,on leaving university she found it difficult to getwork, so her father bought her a typewriter andshe taught herself to type and undertook secretarialwork from home. This led to her getting a full-timejob as a secretary at Bethlem Mental Hospital.Experience in any field is an advantage, soRosa completed a two-year training course as ageneral nurse at Plumstead Infirmary. But duringher final exams, she contracted influenza, and wasunable to sit them. Her next move was to enterteacher training. When she qualified, she became ateacher at a rural school, and after a while she roseto become Head Teacher.Rosa became a member of AMORC in 1934,when an advertisement “Know your Life” in alocal newspaper caught her attention. This wasthe beginning of her journey on the Rosicrucianpath, a journey that continues to this day. She hasso many memories of meeting the members of theAffiliated Bodies she tended, and the kindness andhospitality that was shown to her. The enthusiasmshown when she organised Conclaves in variousparts of the British Isles to draw members togetherhad rewarding results.These are the memories that drift throughRosa’s mind as she spends her twilight years inthe warmth and comfort of the nursing home. Thedecision to enter care was not an easy one for her,independent as she was, and parting from herhome and its contents was hard. Those trying toassist her to move underestimated her strengthof mind and did not fully realise the clarity ofthought and determination that, despite her age,she still possessed. To use Rosa’s exact words:“They thought I was just an old woman, and that all mypersonal papers and affairs would just be in a mess. Butthey forgot I am a Rosicrucian!”Mary smiled to herself when she heardthat, and thought how sad that they possibly didnot know about the Rosicrucian Order and theCentenary birthday cake and a 100 th bithdaycard from Queen Elizabeth IIstrength that its teachings provide.Mystical Weekend In the Derbyshire Dales8 th -10 th April 2005HEN ROSICRUCIANS GATHER TOshare a mystical weekend they doso to deepen their understanding ofthe universal mysteries, more finelyappreciate the infinite array of Cosmicgifts, and relish the spirit of fraternity with theirfellow seekers. The setting of Byron Chapter’sresidential weekend at the Nightingale Centre inGreat Hucklow, in the glorious open spaces of theDerbyshire Peak District, lends power to the conceptof broadening the mind and comprehending theexpanse of what is on offer.This weekend, from 8 th to 10 th April,was a meeting of many old friends and a fewnew ones, combining in a spontaneous air ofconviviality. The theme for the weekend wasThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200547

Vehicles of the Self. The newly installed Master ofByron Chapter, Barbara Jefferies, set the scene atthe first Pronaos convocation on the Friday eveningwith a spiritually uplifting discourse entitled OurDivine Nature. This was beautifully complementedby guest speaker Jenny Williams, last year’s ByronChapter Master, with her discourse, DiscoveringOur Own Nature during the Saturday morningPronaos convocation.A Celestial Sanctum Attunement takenby Leane Grimshaw was followed by a livelyafternoon of one-hour talks. Regional MonitorShirley Elsby invited the membership to experimentwith Rosicrucian visualisation techniques for thefulfilment of rightly held desires in her presentation,Visual Effects. Jo Cartmale gave an introduction tothe arts of dowsing as a means of discovery, not onlyas a means of locating water but for applications asdiverse as healing, clearing unwanted energiesfrom buildings and realigning the chakras. Heraudience was given free rein to use a wide arrayof dowsing rods, crystal pendulums and otherequipment.The evening treat was apresentation by Leane calledSacred Sound: Rosicrucian Order,with the audience interactingwith her choice of chants fromaround the world, crystalbowls and a most powerfulintonation of Rosicrucianvowel sounds intoned withina pyramid. This is similar toher forthcoming presentationat the Keswick MysticalWeekend.Before breakfast on Saturday and Sundaymembers refreshed their spiritual bodies withmeditation in the temple. Sunday’s presentationwas given by the ever-entertaining GrandCouncillor Steve Tanham, offering a chance formembers to explore the Vehicles of the Self by meansof a ‘Road Map’ for the Modern Rosicrucian. GrandMaster Sven Johansson joined us on the Sundayand after leading a Celestial Sanctum attunementbefore lunch, used the final Pronaos convocation topresent a new discourse stressing the paramountimportance of developing intuition in order topierce the Cosmic veil.There was one extra surprise when the GrandMaster initiated Jo Cartmale and Jane Hammondas AMORC’s first Regional Finance Officers, givingthem responsibility for setting up and overseeing amodern era of accounting for Affiliated Bodies inthe British Isles.Our thanks are warmly offered to the ByronChapter team, which organised this uplifting andinspirational weekend.The Osirian Mysteries - An InitiationHIS WAS ONE OF THE TWO MYSTICALdramas presented at Francis BaconLodge, London, by its members in RCyear 3357 (February 2005). The eventsenacted in this drama, depicted the lifeand death of Osiris, the Ancient Egyptian Godof the Dead.The cast from left to right: Technician 1,Inner Guardian, Mystae (the Initiate), Master,Anubis (the Jackal-headed God), Technician 2,First and Second Priests.48The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

Let books be your dining table,and you shall be full of delights.Let them be your mattressand you shall sleep restful nights.~Author UnknownWhen reading, a lonely quietconcert is given to our minds.All our mental faculties are presentAt this symphonic exaltation.~Stéphane MallarméAs a student of the Rosicrucian teachings, you already receive a set of monographseach month. Your home study of Rosicrucian principles of living is a unique way ofreceiving and internalising the accumulation of ancient wisdom that is the uniqueheritage of AMORC. Home study and application of the Rosicrucian teachings isessentially all that is needed for you, an aspiring mystic, to master the techniques andprinciples that lie at the heart of every true mystical quest. Periodically, the Order’steachings and methods of instruction are updated and reconciled with the latestdiscoveries of science and modern thought, allowing every member to align him orherself with contemporary life whilst retaining all that is good from a heritage thatspans several thousand years.Over many years, AMORC has produced and published a body of literary works,most of which are available to both members of AMORC and the public in general.Most of these books were written by Rosicrucians and their topics cover many aspectsof the Rosicrucian heritage. As a corpus of knowledge, they complement members’home studies and specifically help to clarify and illuminate principles of relevanceboth to Rosicrucians and mystics in general. The Rosicrucian Collection is a valuableaddition to the personal library of any sincere seeker of universal truths. For a completelist of currently available books and related supplies, please contact us as follows:-To order any item from the Rosicrucian Supply Bureau, do one of the following1. Contact us on sales@amorc.org.uk2. Call us on +44-(0)1892-6531973. Fax us on +44-(0)1892-6674324. Use a monthly member bulletin order form5. Write to:Rosicrucian Order, Greenwood Gate, Blackhill,Crowborough TN6 1XE, ENGLANDnThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2005

No words can exprxpress the greatjoy and triumph which Ithen experienced.Neither can I compare thisgladness to anythingexcept to a state in whichlife is born in the midst ofdeath.While in that state, my spiritimmediately saw througheverything, and recognisedGod in everything, even inthe herbs and grasses.-- Jacob Boehme (Aurora, xix:4.) 1612