HI ST OR Y OF TH E R O SICR UCI A N S .

i nde bt e d to t he R o sicrucia n s fo r man y a fasci nati ng cr e a

ti o n . The lit er at u r e o f e v ery E ur o p e an c o u n try c o n tai n s
h un dr e ds o f pl e asi ng ficti o n s W h o s e machi n ery has b e en ,

b o rr ow e d fr o m th e ir syst e m o f phil o s o phy th o ugh that ,

”
its elf has pass e d away .

The facts an d d o cu m en ts c o n c ern i n g the F r at e r n ity o f

t he R o s e Cr o ss o r o f th e G o ld en an d R o sy Cr o ss as it is
, ,

call e d by S i gmu nd R icht e r ar e abs o l u t ely u nk n o w n t o

'
1
,

En glish r e ad e rs E v e n w e ll
. i n fo rm e d p e opl e w ill l earn
-

w ith asto n ishm en t the ext en t and vari e ty o f the Ro si

crucia n lit eratur e w hich hi t h ert o has lain buri e d i n rar e
pamphl e ts writt en i n the o ld G erma n t o n gue and i n the
, ,

Lati n c o mm en tari e s o f the lat e r alch emists The stray .

gl e ams o f casual in formati o n w hich may be gl eane d fr o m

p o p u lar en cycl op aedias ca n no t be said to c o nv ey any r e al
kn o wl edge whil e the e ssay o f Th omas D e Q ui n c ey o n the
,

”
R o sicr u cian s an d F r ee mas o ns th o ugh val uable as the ,

w o rk o f a s o v er eig n pri nc e o f English pr o s e c o mp o siti o n ,

is a m ere tran scrip t fr o m an expl o d e d G erman savant ,

wh o s e facts are t o rture d i n the in t er ests o f a s o m ewhat

arbitrary hyp o th e sis The o nl y w rit er in this c o u n try who
.

claims t o hav e tr e at e d the subj e ct s eri o u sly a nd at l en gth

'

“
is H argrav e Jenn i n gs w ho in The R o sicrucians th e ir
, , ,
”
R it e s an d Myst eri e s & c c o m e s fo r ward as the hist o ria n
,
.
,

o f the Ord e r This b o ok h o w e v er so far fro m affo rdi ng

.
, ,

an y i n fo rmati o n o n the qu e sti o n s it pr o fe ss e s t o d e al with ,

“k e e ps guard o v e r ” 2 the s e cr e ts o f t he F rat ern i ty an d is

,

1
Di e W a rh a fft e u n d v o llk o mmen e , Ber e i tu n g de s P hi lOS Op h i S Ch e n
S t e i n s , der Br u de rsc hafft au s de m Or d e n de s G u ld e n - u n d- R o s en
”
C reu t z e s . 1 710 .

2
N0 s tu d e n t o f o cc u l t phil o s o phy ne e d fear th at w e sh all mo s t
c ar e fu lly k e ep gu ar d— s tan ding s en try (so t o sp eak )o ver th o s e o th er
a n d m o re r e c o n di t e sys te ms which a r e c o nn e c te d wi th o u r s u b j e c t .
 HIS TOR Y OF TH E R O SICR U CIA N S .

G n o stic l eg en d that Christ was crucifi ed i n the Empyr e an

an d as Nazar e th acc ordi n g to S t J er o m e sign ifi ed the
, ,

fl o w e r and was si tu at e d in Carm el the vi n eyard or gard en

, ,

”
of G od J esus of Na z are th by a c o mm on ext en sion o f the
, ,

symb olism is s o m etim e s id en tifi e d as this crucifi e d fl o w er l

,
.

I n classical fabl e the gard en of Midas the Ki ng of the

, ,

P hrygian s w as situat e d at the fo o t o f M o u n t Bermi on an d

, ,

was gl o rifi ed by the pr e s enc e of r o s es with sixty p e tals which ,

exhal e d an e xtra ordi n ary fragranc e N o w the r o s e was .

,

sacr e d t o D i on ysius o r B acchus an d B acchus en d o w e d

, ,

Midas with the p o w er o f tran smu t i n g ev e ry thi ng i nt o go ld

s o h er e is a dir e ct c o nn e cti o n b etw ee n the R o s e an d A lch e my .

I n the M e tam o rph o s e s o f A pul e ius Lucius is r e st or e d to ,

his huma n shap e by d e v o uri n g a chapl et o f r o s es Ev ery .

w h er e the same typ ol o gy m e et s us The P eruvian Ev e .

sin n e d by plucki ng r o s e s which are als o call ed F rute del ,

A r bor 2
A me ss en g e r fr o m h eav en ann o u n c e s to the
.

M exica n Ev e that she w ill b ear a S o n w ho shall bruis e the

s erp en t s h e ad he pr e s en ts her with a R o s e an d this gift
’

was foll o w e d by an A ge o f R o s es as i n I n dia t h ere w as the ,

A ge o f the L o tus .

Th ere are o ccasi on al allusi on s t o the R o s e in the H ebr ew

S crip t ur e s but it is us ed as a p o e tic imag e rath e r t han an
,

arcan e symb ol an d as such it has b een always i n high

,

3
fav o ur with p oe ts .

q
1
P r o f e ss o r M ax M u ll e r
c on sid e r s t h e wo r d 666 to b e A r yan 01) ,

an d o r i gin ally t o h av e m e an t si m ply a sp r i g o r fl o we r .

2
M e xic an A n t iq u i t i e s v o l vi p 1 20,
”
. .
, . .

3
I n P e r si a i t is c o nn e c t e d wit h th e n i gh t i n gal e Tr a di ti on .

says th at th e b ir d u tte r s a plain t i v e c r y w h e n e v e r th e fl owe r is

g at h e r e d a n d t h at i t will h o v er r o u n d t h e pl an t i n t h e sp r in -
, g t im e ,

t ill o v erp ower e d wi th i t s fragran c e i t falls s e n s e l e ss t o th e gr ou n d

, , .

The R o s e is s u pp o s e d t o b u r s t fo r t h fr o m i t s b u d at t h e o p e n i n g
s ong o f th e n i gh t in gal e Yo u may plac e a h an dfu l o f fr agr an t h e r b s
.
 HIS TOR Y OF T HE R O SICR UCIA N S .

t r ee o f the Cr o ss S om e o f th e m h av e ev en push ed th eir

.

audaci ty fur t h er an d fear n o t t o e mpl o y the t erms o f the

,

N ew T e s t am en t t o fo rm th e ir all eg ori e s and enigmas .

J e an de Ro qu et aillad e k nown u n d er the nam e o f Jean de

,

Rap e S cissa an d A rn aud de Vill en euv e say i n t h eir w o rks

, ,

o n the c o mp o siti o n o f the S t o n e o f t he P hil o s o ph ers — I t is

n ee dful tha t the S on o f Man be lift e d up o n the Cr o ss
b efo r e b eing gl orifi e d ; to sig nify the v ola t ilisa t io n o f the
” 1
fix e d and ign eo us par t o f the m att er .

I hav e bri efly t rac e d the typ ol o gical his t ory o f the Ro s e
an d Cr o ss . It is o bvi o us as I hav e alr e ady r em arke d t ha t
, ,

the a n t iqui t y o f t h e s e e m b l ems is n o pr oo f o f the an tiqui t y

o f a s o ci e t y which w e find t o be using th em a t a p eri o d

subs equ en t to the Ren aissan c e It d oe s no t e v en supp o s e

.

’
that s o ciet y s ini t iati o n i n t o the hi e ratic s e cr et s which the
e ld e r w o rld may hav e summaris e d in t h o s e particular
symb ols In the cas e which is i n qu e s t i o n such a k now
.
,

l e dge w o uld i nv ole the a n tiquity o f the Ro s1 eru el ans ,

b e caus e it is o nly a t a tim e l o ng subs e qu en t to t h e ir fir st

p u bli c app e ara n c e tha t t h e pas t h as b e e n su fli ei e n tly dis
e n t o mb e d to u n c o v e r the significa n c e o f i t s symb ols to
uninitiat ed stud ent s Can a c orr e sp ond en c e be establish e d
.

b et w een t he m e ani ng o f the Ro s e an d the Cr o ss as t h ey are

us e d by the ancient hi er o grammatists an d that o f the ,

Ro s e- Cr o ss as i t is us ed by the R o sicrucian F rat ernity ?

This is the p oi n t to be asc er taine d If a c o nne cti o n t h er e
.

be th en i n s o m e way w e may not k n o w wha t the s e cr et

, , ,

has b een han d e d d ow n fr o m generat i on to generati on and ,

t he myst eri o us b r o t h erh o o d which ma n ife st e d its e xiste nc e

sp on t an eously at the b eginni ng o f the s e ven t een t h c en t ury ,

is afli liated wi th the hi er oph an t s o f Egyp t and I ndia who , ,

1
D ic t i o nn a i re M y th e -
H e rm é t i qu e .