Quest Magazine

Printed in the  Summer 2023 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Braun, Stephen,  "Journey to Adyar" Quest 111:3, pg 14-15

By Stephen Braun

My journey to Adyar began with a flight under the first quarter moon just before the New Year of 2023. I was headed there to participate in the Theosophical Society’s 147th International Convention. Little did I know on that flight how rich of an experience awaited.

My first activity at Adyar was a silent meditation walk at 6 a.m., before sunrise, led by Ven. Ananda Olande of the Netherlands. The bird calls and insect sounds as we walked in the night evoked mystery and oneness. When the first signs of day broke, we meditated at the Garden of Remembrance, which contains ashes of deceased international presidents plus those of C.W. Leadbeater. Afterward, we continued our walk to the edge of campus through a door opening on the Bay of Bengal, where we could be one with the sunrise. What a glorious and contemplative way to start that first day and each day after!

During my weeklong stay, I met Theosophists from more than twenty-five countries. We enjoyed discussing and learning how we approach programs at home and how we can collaborate despite distance. Every section has its own approach to understanding and applying the Ancient Wisdom, and there is much to be learned when we look in the mirror as Theosophists. How exciting, in the world that is emerging, to be able to continue globally sharing and learning.

	Sunrise among Theosophists at Bay of Bengal

There is something about being in India that refreshes the soul: a revitalization and reset of all planes of being. India is a country that functions differently than we Americans are used to, making it a perfect place to see our personal world and attachments from another perspective. It reveals much about our own nature and the nature of humanity, allowing us to make conscious decisions about our lives going forward.

India is also a spiritual home for Theosophists, with beauty, experience, and interactivity speaking to us. This happens at Adyar, which is both a neighborhood in Chennai and how we refer to the headquarters and grounds of our international Society. Adyar, set on a campus of 250 acres full of life, spirit, and perhaps most importantly, applied Theosophy, refreshes the soul of the Theosophist.

I use the term applied to mean both what we do at Adyar and what we are able to see as examples. The local programs reflect the day-to-day potential of Theosophy to serve our world. The campus, for example, is home to the Besant Memorial Animal Dispensary, sheltering hundreds of animals who need rehabilitation or homes; there is also a clinic daily serving hundreds of animal outpatients from the community. One will find Theosophical elementary and secondary schools, a training center for women and a shelter for the poor, a bookshop, printing house, and residential and lodging quarters, all on campus. Outside the campus, one notices streets, neighborhoods, and ecclesiastical structures named after the Society or its leaders, particularly Annie Besant. Our impact on greater Chennai is remarkable and reflects what we can accomplish in our own communities as Theosophists.

The Blavatsky Bungalow at Adyar

At Adyar, we can enjoy magnificent stone gateways, a majestic banyan tree, and a tropical forest. We find plenty of time to meditate, experiencing the energy of forebears like H.P. Blavatsky, Annie Besant, Henry Steel Olcott, and C.W. Leadbeater. This is a home of the Masters, with a palpable sense of their presence and guidance.

Here we may also enjoy time with Theosophists from around the world, sharing and learning from one another, enjoying a distinct sense of the extent of Universal Brotherhood. The unity of life and the brotherhood of humanity feel as if they intersect here.

The campus is very much alive with lectures, art, dance, camaraderie, and oneness. There is a sense of legacy—whether through objects displayed by the museum and archives, reflecting the foundations of our movement, or the crow calls coming from all directions—descendants of the same crows we hear ubiquitously in Krishnamurti recordings from Adyar. Those and other elements reflect our rich inheritance as Theosophists, and it resonates deeply within me to experience them firsthand.

Inside our international headquarters building are bas-reliefs of major world traditions and messengers. Above those, symbols of initiates from traditions throughout our cycle of humanity are to be found and may be reflected on at any of the temples or the mosque or church on campus, reflecting the many traditions which inform Theosophy and which, in the end, are one.

Adyar is filled with many other sorts of life. During the week we saw flying foxes, water buffalo, snails, spiders, snakes, frogs, and peacocks, among the more typical dogs and cats, adding further beauty and inspiration to our experience.

Is it an annual journey? Or a lifetime pilgrimage? The answer varies for each Theosophist, and the permutations of experience, learning, and love enrich the lives of all who attend. There is no sense of time at Adyar, only oneness.

My convention week ended with an extraordinary full moon in Cancer, enjoyed under clear nighttime skies at the Olcott memorial, located next to the Buddhist temple. I realized that my full being had been refreshed after a week steeped in Theosophy. I will make this an annual journey and look forward to seeing friends and acquaintances from around the world in years to come. I hope all who read this will consider joining me.

 

---

Printed in the  Summer 2023 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Hebert, Barbara,  "The Goal of the Perfect" Quest 111:3, pg 16-17

Barbara Hebert
National President 

One of the basic teachings of the Ageless Wisdom is that there are beings on this planet whose primary purpose is to facilitate the expansion of the consciousness of all beings. The goal of these perfected human beings is to assist humanity in its spiritual development and ease the suffering of the world.

Because these beings have rarely been seen, some people may believe that they are simply figments of someone’s imagination, the result of a need for a personalized deity or even a wish for a paradise in which someone rescues us from our suffering.  Any of these things may be true—or maybe not. As seekers on the path to Truth, it is important that we suspend our need to see in order to believe. As Hamlet says in Shakespeare’s play (act 1, scene 5), “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Throughout the ages, there have been wise ones who embody spiritual knowledge and who share what many would call the Ageless Wisdom. If we were to meet one of them, they would immediately be recognizable by their special nature and by the innate strength, compassion, wisdom, and love that emanate from them. Many names have been given to these great teachers over the eons.

Theosophical teachings refer to these wise ones in several ways: the Mahatmas, the Masters of Wisdom, the Masters, or adepts. H.P. Blavatsky introduced the concept of the Mahatmas to the Western world in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The word adept derives from the Latin adeptus, meaning one who has obtained. Blavatsky defines adept as “one who has reached the stage of Initiation, and become a Master in the science of Esoteric philosophy” (Blavatsky, 6). The term Mahatma is from Sanskrit: maha means great and atma means soul; therefore, Mahatma means great soul. It is a title rather than a proper name.

Throughout the ages, the Masters have existed, shining the light of their love, compassion, and wisdom on humanity and the world. Looking through history, we see beings such as Buddha, the sages of Greece, Muhammad, Jesus, Mary the mother of Jesus, Lao Tzu, indigenous sages, Confucius, Kwan Yin, Krishna, Radha, and many others. There are too many to name and many others whose names will never be known. Each in their own way brought light to our planet, which is shrouded by the suffering of humanity. 

They bring the light of their wisdom, love, and compassion, because they too have walked the path we are walking now. They have experienced the joy, sadness, love, heartbreak, happiness, and suffering of living physical lives as human beings. 

The Ageless Wisdom tells us that we are on a journey of progressive spiritual development, incarnating again and again in physical bodies in order to grow and learn. Through this journey, through our experiences in physical incarnation, we unfold all aspects of ourselves. The great elders have completed this journey and are perfected human beings.

In her book There is No Other Path to Go, Radha Burnier, the late international president of the Theosophical Society, tells us:

In the Liberated Adept or Master, [the] virtues, which are of the very nature of consciousness, have flowered into perfection as their consciousness has blossomed fully in perfect measure, revealing powers as yet latent in the average person. They are perfect in wisdom, compassion, love, and selfless purity. Purity implies the total absence of the sense of a separate self. Perfect love implies not choosing, not giving love in return for something else. (Burnier, 52‒53)

However, these great beings have made a conscious choice not to move forward, but rather to remain in physical bodies on the planet in order to facilitate the continuing growth of humanity.

According to the occult teachings, then, many of the Mahatmas retain physical bodies and sacrifice their own movement into nirvana in order to help humanity.

We may wonder how the Mahatmas help humanity. In Letter 112 of The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett (chronological), the Mahatma Koot Hoomi talks of the work of the adepts, saying that their “prime duty [is] of gaining knowledge and disseminating through all available channels such fragments as mankind in the mass may be ready to assimilate” (Chin, 382). In The Esoteric Writings of T. Subba Row, the author, an admired early Theosophist, states: 

The adept hierarchy is as strictly a product of nature as a tree is: it has a definite and indispensable purpose and function in the development of the human race: this function is to keep open the upward path, through which descend the light and leading without which our race would require to make each step by the wearisome, never ending method of trial and failure in every direction, until chance showed the right way. In fact the function of the adept hierarchy is to provide religious teachers for the stumbling masses of mankind. (Row, 113)

Shankaracharya, the Indian philosopher who is regarded as the founder of Advaita Vedanta and believed by many to be an incarnation of Shiva, states:

The great and peaceful ones live regenerating the world like the coming of the spring; having crossed the ocean of embodied existence themselves, they freely aid all others who seek to cross it. The very essence and inherent will of Mahatmas is to remove the suffering of others, just as the ambrosia-rayed moon of itself cools the earth heated by the intense rays of the sun.

While we do not know the details of the Masters’ work, we do have a glimpse of its essence: alleviating the suffering of humanity by encouraging forward movement in spiritual development. The Ageless Wisdom teachings tell us that we can join them in this great work.

An analogy of a young child and a high-school senior might help us understand how we can help the Mahatmas. A young child and a senior in high school are working together in the same room. The senior is working on calculus, while the young child is coloring: learning to hold the crayons properly, exploring shapes, and experimenting with various colors. The senior knows that he cannot do the work for the child but assists through encouragement, while the child assists the older student by supporting the necessary study environment.

Our collaboration with the Mahatmas is similar in many respects. They cannot do our work for us, but they do support and encourage us, often in unseen ways. We can add to the environment they are working to create through meditation, awareness of the thoughts we are sending out into the world, and living a life of altruism, to name a few ways. Our role in helping the Mahatmas is very much like the role of the first-grader helping the senior: we are using our intentional energy to create an environment that focuses on the unity and interconnectedness of all beings. 

Additionally, our own spiritual self-transformation also facilitates the work of the Mahatmas. N. Sri Ram, another late international president of the Theosophical Society, writes:

The Masters of Wisdom, who aid evolution, although They are interested in all changes that make for human progress, are especially concerned with the spiritual regeneration of mankind, which is of fundamental importance. Because, when that takes place, all else follows . . . What the Masters want . . . is this regeneration, beginning with ourselves.

Therefore our work for the Mahatmas is twofold: spiritual self-transformation and living a life of altruism. The work of living a life of altruism transforms us spiritually, so these two avenues of help are in reality the same path, with a single aim: the alleviation of the world’s suffering through the expansion of consciousness, which brings us to an awareness of our ultimate unity and interconnectedness with all life.

If we focus on living altruistic lives, whether we believe in the Mahatmas or not, we are helping all living beings and alleviating suffering to the best of our ability. In this way, we are joining in the work of the great sages who, throughout time, have brought light to the world through their love, compassion, and wisdom.

Sources

Blavatsky, H.P. Theosophical Glossary. London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1892.

Burnier, Radha. “Masters and Gurus.” In No Other Path to Go. Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1985.

Chin, Vicente Hao, Jr., ed. The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in Chronological Sequence. Quezon City, Philippines: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993.

Row, Tallapragada Subba. Esoteric Writings of T. Subba Row. Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980.

Shankaracharya. “The Great and Peaceful Ones.” Universal Theosophy website; accessed April 2, 2023.

Sri Ram, N. “Human Regeneration.” Theosophy World website: accessed March 29, 2023.

---

Printed in the  Summer 2023 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Johnson, Zane,  "The French Connection: Louis Claude de Saint-Martin and the Martinist Tradition" Quest 111:3, pg 38-40

By Zane Johnson

In the blue light of today’s multimedia landscape, nothing, not even the so-called occult, is secret. The once high arts of esoteric tradition have become household items. We have seen television series on formerly remote occult figures, and the sigils of Solomonic grimoires are routinely displayed in horror films.

Yet the mystique of the occult in the modern media machine has reproduced only the shells of the Western tradition’s living symbols. At this point, we must find a deeper connection to our heritage. In my view, that can come from the European continent: a French connection, the subterranean stream upon which the modern Anglophone tradition rests.    

 I am referring to Martinism, the West’s own way of the heart. Though named after the French mystic Louis Claude de Saint-Martin (1743‒1803), its roots go back a few centuries further and cross the eastern border into Germany in the works of Christian theosophists Jacob Boehme, Paracelsus, and the original Rosicrucian manifestos. I will briefly review the landmarks along the mighty stream of the Martinist tradition and argue that a reengagement with this tradition is vital to rediscovering ourselves on the path of the adepts.

Louis Claude de Saint-Martin was born to a noble family in Amboise, Touraine, France in 1743. He begrudgingly trained in law before accepting a military commission as a lieutenant, which he just as quickly abandoned for the life of a bourgeois renunciate. While on tour, he was taken under the wing of Martinez de Pasqually (1727?‒1774), a Spanish-born Frenchman of possibly Sephardic Jewish heritage (although Saint-Martin said he was Portuguese).

Though little is known of Pasqually, he has been acknowledged as a Christian adept using a theurgic method—that is, ceremonial magic—to achieve reintegration with God. He is described by the British occultist A.E. Waite  (1857‒1942) as “an initiate of the Rose Cross, a transfigured disciple of Swedenborg, and the propagator and Grand Sovereign of a rite of Masonic Illuminism which probably was of his own foundation, namely, the Order of the Elect Cohens” (Waite, 22). The latter refers to the Ordre des Chevaliers Maçons Élus Coëns de l’Univers (Order of Knight-Masons Elect Priests of the Universe), known as the Élus Coëns, which Pasqually founded in 1767.

Pasqually’s organization was unusual among the occult societies of the period in that it was Roman Catholic in character and intention. As Jason Louv argues in his masterful John Dee and the Empire of Angels, the Western esoteric tradition has largely been a Protestant one, with Masonic lodges springing up to fill the void left by the violent exit of Catholic holy orders in England and parts of Germany (Louv, 30‒35).

Yet Pasqually’s order displays a harmonious continuity of ancient tradition, both Hermetic and Christian, with the innovation of lodge style Masonry and magic. It embraced the rigorous purity of the Solomonic grimoires, insisting on the regular observance of the Eucharist and adherence to the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church. Nevertheless, its theology approximated a Hebraic emanationism, beginning with God’s first emanation of spirits and their seduction by Satan, and going on to humanity’s abnegation of its redemptive work on this plane, and through to the operations of the Hebrew patriarchs to restore humans to their first estate, which, Pasqually held, was fulfilled in the advent of the Christ.

 Man’s initial task, according to Pasqually, was to educate the first spirits who turned from God after succumbing to the temptation of the dark powers. However, man himself fell victim to this seduction and attempted to usurp the power of the Creator for himself, seeking to create only from his own reserves of energy, abnegating his godlike power as steward of the universe and becoming a slave to it in a material body. Martinist texts refer to this as the “prevarication.” Once exiled, Adam begins an operative work of reconciliation that is disrupted by his progeny in the slaying of Abel. It proceeds onwards down the line of the prophets, who performed their exorcisms of the material plane despite the caprice of fallen humanity, which inevitably deepened the bondage to materiality. This image of involution and evolution is easily recognizable to students of Theosophy: wisdom’s first deprivation in duality, its secondary purification through performance of the Great Work, and the resultant nondual union with God that was and is and will be forever.

What void was Pasqually’s order and its successors trying to fill? The disruptions posed by the Reformation, which were to a certain extent antagonistic to mysticism, were not felt in France nearly to the same degree as in the Anglophone world. The void was likely caused by waning confidence in the Catholic church itself, particularly after the French Revolution of 1789, leading to more heterodox explorations—though paradoxically within the symbolic language of Rome.

Saint-Martin, after rising through the ranks of his master’s Élus Coëns, broke with both the theurgic tradition of the former and what Saint-Martin deemed to be “churchism”: the deadly formalism of religious ritual devoid of religious feeling. He advocated a way of the heart, a completely internal path to reintegration. Though not categorically rejecting the theurgic way of ceremonial magic, he opted for the contemplative path, to seek man’s reintegration with his first estate wholly within. It is worth quoting Saint-Martin at length on this point:

The only initiation which I preach and seek with all the ardour of my soul, is that by which we may enter into the heart of God, and make God’s heart enter into us, there to form an indissoluble marriage, which will make us the friend, brother, and spouse of our divine Redeemer. There is no other mystery, to arrive at this holy initiation, than to go more and more down into the depths of our being, and not let go till we can bring forth the living vivifying root, because then all the fruit which we ought to bear, according to our kind, will be produced within us and without us, naturally; as we see is the case with our earthly trees, because they are adherent to their own roots, and incessantly draw in their sap. (Saint-Martin, 304)

Saint-Martin’s efforts were renewed by his encounter with the works of the “Teutonic philosopher” Jacob Boehme (1575‒1624), the great fount of Christian theosophy. Saint-Martin’s professed spiritual project was “marrying our first school”—that is, Pasqually’s—“to friend Boehme” (Saint-Martin, 259).

Though Saint-Martin conferred simple initiations in his lifetime, the actual Martinist Order was established in 1884 by the French occultist Papus (Gérard Encausse; 1865‒1916). The order’s Masonic three-degree structure had been preserved by Saint-Martin’s classmate in his “first school”—Jean-Baptiste Willermoz (1730‒1824), who reconstituted the Rectified Scottish Rite of continental Freemasonry under the theurgical framework of Pasqually’s Élus Coëns, with an addition of Templar mysticism. These are the three great luminaries of the Martinist tradition, which combines the esoteric chivalry of Willermoz, the theurgy of Pasqually, and Saint-Martin’s way of the heart. Different orders have emphasized different aspects of this triune heritage. Although some have emphasized theurgy, most place Saint-Martin’s way of the heart at the center.

Much of the obscurity of the Martinist tradition in the English-speaking world is simply due to a lack of good translations. Compounding this difficulty is the fact that Martinez de Pasqually himself was not a native French speaker, so his original writings have the added obfuscation of being written in the author’s second language. Willermoz’s works are practically unavailable in English. Saint-Martin has fared better, largely thanks to the scholarly efforts of A.E. Waite, who has provided readable English translations of his major works. The inspiration for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, to which Waite belonged, doubtless came from its founders’ contacts with the French fin de siècle occult scene. There are even rumors that the founders of two Anglo-Saxon Neopagan revivals, Druidry and Wicca, were Martinists.

Soon after its founding, the ecclesial wing of the Martinist Order became incorporated in the Gnostic Church, constituted in 1890 by Jules Doinel (1842‒1902), which provided a unifying framework for the disparate esoteric currents. This organization was founded when Doinel, by his own account, conducted a ritual in which the spirit of Guilhabert de Castres, a bishop of the persecuted Cathar sect of the Middle Ages, and forty other high bishops communicated a message to him: “We came to you from the most distant of the two Empyrean circles. We bless you. That the principle of good, God, be eternally praised and blessed, glorified and adored. Amen. We came to you, our dear ones. You Valentin will establish the Assembly of the Paraclete and you will call it the Gnostic Church” (Churton, 350). Doinel was then consecrated as Tau Valentin, the first bishop of the Gnostic Church. Though it is still an obscure tradition in the Anglophone world, this structure of ecclesial Gnosticism and the clandestine workings of the Martinist Order has remained largely intact and has been duplicated by those who wish to follow in the path of the French luminaries.

With the historical groundwork established, it is time to return to the value of the Martinist tradition, which can be discerned in its three primary symbols, the vestments of the Martinist initiate: the mask, the cloak, and the cordelière or cord belt, worn over a white alb.

The mask is key to understanding the difference between the Martinist stream and orthodox Christian mysticism. The mask is our barrier to the world and its demands, expectations, and designs for us, but it also allows us to operate successfully in both the spiritual and material worlds. Placing oneself behind the mask calls us to pursue the work in silence without falling into the trap of spiritual materialism: a purely exterior adornment of spirituality. We are called to differentiate ourselves from “men of the stream”—those dominated by their sensual appetites and the demands of the waking world—with acts of extraordinary beneficence.

The mask hides us from our pretensions and ego gratification. Thus freed, we may pursue the stellar course ordained for us by our spiritual “major” (to use the language of the Coëns), which may be likened to a guardian angel or tutelary spirit. Said boldly, “If man avoids regarding himself as the king of the universe, it is because he lacks courage to recover his titles thereto, because his duties seem too laborious, and because he fears less to renounce his state and his rights than to undertake the restoration of their value” (Waite, 373). This is the real fruit not only of Martinism but of the Western traditions in general: the point is not dissolution either in the morass of nature or in the divine light, but the perfection of the individual that heralds the New Jerusalem. Man is in harmony with the cosmos insofar as he is master of his earthly existence, the microcosm to macrocosmic nature, which falls or is redeemed according to his own trajectory. The goal is the realization of our spiritual kingship, though in a beggar’s guise.

The cloak plays a similar role: it insulates the purity of the true Self, represented by the white alb, from the contamination of the profane world and maintains the boundary between God and self that allows for a relationship of love. It is reminiscent of the nonduality of the Heart Sutra of Mahayana Buddhism: emptiness is form; form is emptiness; yet form is only form, emptiness only emptiness. In Christian terms, the soul is divine, but the soul is the soul and God is God. Beneath the cloak, we become who we really are in a cocreative dance with the divine immensity. Divinization is self-actualization in communion.

The cloak also evokes the prophet Elijah’s bequeathing of his mantle to Elisha (2 Kings 2:13), perpetuating the initiatory chain. One feature of the Martinist tradition is deference to the “past masters”: those who have initiated us into a succession that harks back to the Logos’ original ordinations of his disciples. This link is underscored by the cordelière, which binds us to the chain of initiation but also serves as a placeholder for the spiritual sword and scabbard, which hang at our side as reminders of our dual roles as priests and knights for the world. Thankfully, we have the continual prayers of our past masters to aid us on the battlefield.

Martinism is particularly well suited to heal the spiritual lineages of the West and to guide our individual paths through the wilderness of ignorance into the active service of God, Self, and nature. As a modern Martinist text eloquently asserts, beneficence is the equivalent of theurgy (Boyer, 55). The Western esoteric tradition has always focused on the redemption of both the macrocosm and the microcosm and, indeed, human society. Though one might find reasonably accessible Martinist orders in one’s own geographic area, those seeking true initiation are advised to seek the One who alone is worthy and capable of conferring such initiation. His calling card is the same in all ages: a heart enflamed by ardent prayer.

Sources

Boyer, Rémi. Mask Cloak Silence: Martinism as a Way of Awakening. Bayonne, N.J.: Rose Circle, 2021.

Churton, Tobias. Occult Paris: The Lost Magic of the Belle Époque. Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 2016.

Louv, Jason. John Dee and the Empire of Angels: Enochian Magick and the Occult Roots of the Modern World. Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 2018.

Martinez de Pasqually. Treatise on the Reintegration of Beings in their First Spiritually Divine Property, Virtue, and Power. San Jose, Calif.: Traditional Martinist Order, 2018.

de Saint-Martin, Louis Claude, and Kirchberger, Baron de Liebistorf. Theosophic Correspondence: 1792‒97. Translated by Edward Burton Penny. Pasadena, Calif.: Theosophical University Press, 1991 [1863].

Waite, Arthur Edward. The Life of Louis Claude de Saint-Martin: The Unknown Philosopher and the Substance of His Transcendental Doctrine. London: Phillip Welby, 1901.

Zane Johnson is a writer, scholar, and Christian esotericist. Recent essays of literary criticism, spiritual inquiry, and historical excavation can be found in Quest, Jesus the Imagination, George Herbert Journal, and elsewhere. He can be reached online at zanewrites.com. 

---

Printed in the  Summer 2023 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Sender, Pablo,  "Keys of the Rosicrucians" Quest 111:3, pg 30-36

By Franz Hartmann

The following is excerpted from In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom by Franz Hartmann, originally published in Boston and London in 1890 by the Theosophical Society and Occult Publishing Company. The material is taken from a reprint published by the Aries Press in Chicago, 1941. Some spellings and capitalizations have been modernized and Americanized. Italicizations are from the original

The following pages were originally intended to form the basis of a separate work, entitled A Key to the Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians. As the idea of bringing out such a book has been abandoned for the present, they have been added as a suitable appendix to the foregoing historical notes.

It will be found that the doctrines presented herein contain the most profound secrets, especially in regard to the “resurrection of the flesh.” They go to show that the physical body is neither a useless nor a despicable thing, and that Matter is as necessary to Spirit, as Spirit to Matter. Without the presence of a living body no resurrection could take place; neither could the Spirit have any relative existence without the presence of a material form. The state of Nirvana is not to be attained by merely dreaming about it, and before Man can rise superior to anything he must have attained that to which he desires to become superior. Only from the soul resurrected within the body of flesh arises the glorified spirit.

In the Pronaos of the Temple of the True Rosy Cross

Our salvation is the life of Christ in us.

The place or state wherein the true Rosicrucian lives is far too exalted and glorious to be described in words. When we enter the vestibule of the temple of the true Rosy Cross, we enter into a region of unalloyed bliss and happiness. There is an effulgence of superterrestrial light, where all laborious thinking and exercise of the imagination for the purpose of drawing logical inferences about the unknown, ceases, for in that light is the realm of pure knowledge; to live there is to perceive, and to perceive is to know. Into that paradise of celestial consciousness nothing impure can enter. No room is there for terrestrial flesh and blood; but the spiritual beings which inhabit that realm are made of the flesh and body of “Christ,” in other words, of the substance of the spiritual soul.

H.P. Blavatsky, in her Key to Theosophy, says that there are beings having attained a state of spiritual consciousness which would entitle them to enter the state of Nirvana; nevertheless, out of compassion for mankind, they still remain residents of this earth, inhabiting invisibly for mortal eyes the astral plane of our planet. In that, she describes the true order of the Golden and Rosy Cross as a spiritual brotherhood, and if one of these superior beings, for some purpose or other, reincarnates in a human body upon this planet, then will there be a real Rosicrucian in a visible form upon this earth.

The “history” of that “brotherhood” is the history of the evolution of the world, and that of the spiritual regeneration of the soul and the body of man; for although each of these individual beings had its own terrestrial history and experiences in passing through many incarnations upon this planet, nevertheless, in its essential points the history of all is alike, and consisted in the conquering of the low and the unfoldment of the high. They all had to bear the Cross of suffering before they could become crowned with victory; they all had to crucify their selfish and personal will, and die in regard to all that attracts the soul to the sphere of earthly desires and illusions before they could have the spiritual faculties of their souls unfolded like the Rose whose leaves are unfolded by the rays of the rising sun.

Rosicrucian Rules

1. Love God above all.

To “love God” means to love wisdom and truth. We can love God in no other way than in being obedient to Divine law; and to enable us to exercise that obedience conscientiously requires knowledge of the law, which can only be gained by practice.

2. Devote your time to your spiritual advancement.

As the sun without leaving his place in the sky sends his rays upon the earth to shine upon the pure and the impure, and to illuminate even the most minute material objects with his light; likewise the spirit of man may send his mental rays into matter to obtain knowledge of all terrestrial things; but there is no need that the spirit should thereby lose its own divine self-consciousness, and be itself absorbed by the objects of its perception.

3. Be entirely unselfish.

Spiritual knowledge begins only where all sense of self ceases. Where the delusion which causes man to imagine himself to be a being separated and isolated from others ends, there he begins to realize his true state as an all-embracing universal and divine self-conscious power.

3. Be temperate, modest, energetic, and silent.

The door to the inner temple is called “contentment”; but no animal can enter therein, only he who walks uprightly, being conscious of his true dignity as a human being. Without energy, nothing can be accomplished; and only in the silence, when all thoughts and desires are at rest, can the Divine harmonies penetrate to the internal ear.

5. Learn to know the origin of the metals contained within thyself.

Ignorance is the cause of suffering. That which is material must be crucified and die, so that that which is spiritual may be resurrected and live.

6. Beware of quacks and pretenders.

He who claims to be in possession of knowledge knows nothing; only he through whom the Word of wisdom speaks is wise.

7. Live in constant adoration of the highest good.

The worm seeks for pleasure among abomination and filth; but the free eagle spreads his wings and rises up towards the sun.

8. Learn the theory before you attempt the practice.

He who travels with a trustworthy guide will be safer than he who refuses to profit by the experience of another.

9. Exercise charity towards all beings.

All beings are one in the spirit; divided from each other merely by the illusion of form. He who is charitable towards another form in which the universal One Life is manifest, saves suffering to his own self.

10. Read the ancient books of wisdom.

Books are to the unripe mind that which the mother’s milk is to the nursling. We must receive drink from others until we have gained sufficient strength and experience to descend to the living fountain within ourselves, and to draw from there the water of truth.

11. Try to understand their secret meaning.

That which is external may be seen with the external eye; but that which is spiritual can only be seen with the eye of the spirit. 

These are the eleven rules which ought to be followed by those who desire to enter the temple of the Rosy Cross; but the Rosicrucians have a twelfth rule, an Arcanum, in which great powers reside, but of which it is not lawful to speak. This Arcanum will be given to those who deserve it, and by its aid they will find light in the darkness, and a guiding hand through the labyrinth. This Arcanum is inexpressible in the language of mortals, and it can, therefore, only be communicated from heart to heart. There is no torture strong enough to extract it from the true Rosicrucian; for even if he were willing to reveal it, those who are unworthy of it are not capable of receiving it.

The Duties of a Rosicrucian

Those who are dead in the flesh will read the following with the external understanding; those who live in the spirit will see its internal meaning, and act accordingly.

The duties of a true Rosicrucian are:

1. To alleviate suffering and to cure the sick without accepting any remuneration.

The medicine which they give is more valuable than gold; it is of an invisible kind, and can be had for nothing everywhere.

2. To adopt the style of their clothing to the costumes of the country wherein they reside for the time being.

The clothing of the spirit is the form which he inhabits, and must be adapted to the conditions of the planet whereon he resides.

3. To meet once a year in a certain place.

Those who do not meet at that place, when their terrestrial career is over, will have their names taken out of the book of life.

4. Each member has to select a proper person to be his successor.

Each man is himself the creator of that being whose personality he adopts on the next step on the ladder of evolution.

5. The letters R.C. are the emblem of the order.

Those who have truly entered the order will bear the marks upon their body, which cannot be mistaken by him who is capable of recognizing them.

6. The existence of the Brotherhood is to be kept secret for one hundred years, beginning from the time when it was first established.

Nor will the “hundred years” be over until man has awakened to the consciousness of his own divine nature.

The Secret Signs of the Rosicrucians

There are sixteen signs by which a member of the order of the Rosicrucians may be known. He who possesses only a few of those signs is not a member of a very high degree, for the true Rosicrucian possesses them all.

1. The Rosicrucian is patient.

His first and most important victory is the conquest of his own self. It is the victory over the lion, who has bitterly injured some of the best followers of the Holy Cross. He is not to be vanquished by a fierce and inconsiderate attack made upon him; but he must be made to surrender to patience and fortitude. The true Rosicrucian tries to overcome his enemies by kindness, and those who hate him by gifts. He heaps not curses, but the burning fire of love upon their heads. He does not persecute his enemies with the sword, or with faggots, but he suffers the weeds to grow with the wheat until they are both matured, when they will be separated by Nature.

2. The Rosicrucian is kind.

He never appears gloomy or melancholy, or with a scowl or sneer upon his face. He acts kindly and politely towards everybody, and is always ready to render assistance to others. Although he is different from the majority of other people, still he tries to accommodate himself to their ways, habits, and manners, as much as his dignity will permit. He is, therefore, an agreeable companion, and knows how to converse with the rich as well as with the poor, and to move among all classes of society so as to command their respect; for he has conquered the bear of vulgarity.

3. The Rosicrucian knows no envy.

Before he is accepted into the order he must go through the terrible ordeal of cutting off the head of the snake of envy; which is a very difficult labor, because the snake is sly, and easily hides itself in some corner. The true Rosicrucian is always content with his lot, knowing that it is such as he deserves it to be. He never worries about the advantages or riches which others possess, but wishes always the best to everybody. He knows that he will obtain all he deserves, and he cares not if any other person possesses more than he. He expects no favors, but he distributes his favors without any partiality

.4.The Rosicrucian does not boast

He knows that man is nothing but an instrument in the hands of God, and that he can accomplish nothing useful by his own will; the latter being nothing but the will of God perverted in man. To God he gives all the praise, and to that which is mortal he gives all the blame. He is in no inordinate haste to accomplish a thing, but he waits until he receives his orders from the Master who resides above and within. He is careful what he speaks about, and uses no unhallowed language.

5. The Rosicrucian is not vain.

He proves thereby that there is something real in him, and that he is not like a blown-up bag filled with air. Applause or blame leaves him unaffected, nor does he feel aggrieved if he is contradicted or encounters contempt. He lives within himself, and enjoys the beauties of his own inner world, but he never desires to show off his possessions, nor to pride himself on any spiritual gifts which he may have attained. The greater his gifts, the greater will be his modesty, and the more will he be willing to be obedient to the law.

6. The Rosicrucian is not disorderly.

He always strives to do his duty, and to act according to the order established by the law. He cares nothing· for externalities, nor for ceremonies. The law is written within his heart, and therefore all his thoughts and acts are ruled by it. His respectability is not centered in his external appearance, but in his real being, which may be compared to a root from which all his actions spring. The interior beauty of his soul is reflected upon his exterior, and stamps all his acts with its seal; the light existing in his heart may be perceived in his eye by an expert; it is the mirror of the Divine image within.

7. The Rosicrucian is not ambitious.

There is nothing more injurious to spiritual development and expansion of the soul than a narrow mind and a selfish character. The true Rosicrucian always cares much more for the welfare of others than for his own. He has no private or personal interest to defend or foster. He always seeks to do good, and he never avoids any opportunity which may present itself for that purpose.

8. The Rosicrucian is not irritable.

It is evident that a person who works for the benefit of the whole will be hated by those whose personal advantages are not benefited thereby; because selfishness is opposed to magnanimity, and the claims of the few are not always compatible with the interests of the community. The Rosicrucian will therefore be often resisted by narrow­minded and short-sighted people; he will be slandered by calumniators, his motives will be misrepresented, he will be misjudged by the ignor ant, ridiculed by the would-be wise, and taunted by the fool. All such proceedings, however, cannot excite or irritate the mind of the true Rosicrucian, nor disturb the divine harmony of his soul; for his faith rests in the perception and knowledge of the truth within himself. The opposition of a thousand ignorant people will not induce him to desist from doing that which he knows to be noble and good, and he will do it even if it should involve the loss of his fortune or of his life. Being able and accustomed to direct his spiritual sight towards the divine, he cannot be deluded by the illusions of matter, but clings to the eternal reality. Being surrounded by angelic influences, and listening to their voices, he is not affected by the noise made by the animals. He lives in the company of those noble beings, who were once men like others, but who have become transfigured, and who are now beyond the reach of the vulgar and low.

9. The Rosicrucian does not think evil of others.

Those who think evil of others see merely the evil which exists within themselves reflected and mirrored forth in others. The Rosicrucian is always willing to recognize in everything that which is good. Tolerance is a virtue by which the Rosicrucian is eminently distinguished from others; and by which he may be known. If a thing appears to be ambiguous, he suspends his judgment about it until he has investigated its nature; but as long as his judgment is not perfect, he is more inclined to form a good opinion than an evil one about everything.

10. The Rosicrucian loves justice.

He, however, never sets himself up as a judge over the faults of others, nor does he wish to appear to be wise by censuring the mistakes of others. He does not enjoy gossip, and cares no more about the foolishness committed by others, than he would about the buzzing of a fly or the capers of a monkey. He finds no pleasure in listening to political or personal quarrels, disputations, or mutual recriminations. He cares nothing for the cunningness of a fox, the dissimulation of a crocodile, or the rapacity of a wolf, and is not amused by the stirring up of mud. His nobility of character lifts him up into a sphere far beyond all such trifles and absurdities, and being above the sensual plane, wherein ordinary mortals find their happiness and enjoyment, he lives with those who do not think evil of each other, who do not rejoice about an injustice done to their brother, or make merry about his ignorance, and enjoy his misfortunes. He enjoys the company of those who love the truth, and who are surrounded by the peace and harmony of the spirit.

11. The Rosicrucian loves the truth.

There is no devil worse than falsehood and calumny. Ignorance is a nonentity, but falsehood is the substance of evil. The calumniator rejoices whenever he has found something upon which to base his lies and to make them grow like mountains. Opposed to it is the truth, it being a ray of light from the eternal fountain of good, which has the power to transform man into a divine being. The Rosicrucian seeks, therefore, no other light but the light of truth, and this light he does not enjoy alone, but in company of all who are good and filled with its divine majesty, whether they live on this earth or in the spiritual state; and he enjoys it above all with those who are persecuted, oppressed, and innocent, but who will be saved by the truth.

12. The Rosicrucian knows how to be silent.

Those who are false do not love the truth. Those who are foolish do not love wisdom. The true Rosicrucian prefers to enjoy the company of those who can appreciate truth to that of those who would trample it with their feet. He will keep that which he knows locked up within his heart, for in silence is power. As a minister of state does not go about telling to everybody the secrets of the king; so the Rosicrucian does not parade before the public the revelations made to him by the king within, who is nobler and wiser than all the earthly kings and princes; for they only rule by the authority and power derived from Him. His secrecy ceases only when the king commands him to speak, for it is then not he who speaks, but the truth that is speaking through him.

13. The Rosicrucian believes that which he knows.

He believes in the immutability of eternal law, and that every cause has a certain effect. He knows that the truth cannot lie, and that the promises made to him by, the king will be fulfilled, if he does not himself hinder their fulfilment. He is, therefore, inaccessible to doubt or fear, and puts implicit confidence in the divine principle of truth, which has become alive and conscious within his heart.

14. The Rosicrucian’s hope is firm.

Spiritual hope is the certain conviction resulting from a knowledge of the law, that the truths recognized by faith will grow and be fulfilled; it is the knowledge of the heart, and very different from the intellectual speculation of the reasoning brain. His faith rests upon the rock of direct perception and cannot be overthrown. He knows that in everything, however evil it may appear to be, there is a germ of good, and he hopes that in the course of evolution that germ will become developed, and thus evil be transformed into good.

15. The Rosicrucian cannot be vanquished by suffering.

He knows that there is no light without shadow, no evil without some good, and that strength only grows by resistance. Having once recognized the existence of the Divine principle within everything, external changes are to him of little importance, and do not deserve great attention. His main object is to hold on to his spiritual possessions, and not to lose the crown which he has gained in the battle of life.

16. The Rosicrucian will always remain a member of his society.

Names are of little importance. The principle which presides over the Rosicrucian Society is the truth; and he who knows the truth, and follows it in practice, is a member of the society over which the truth practices. If all names were changed and all languages altered, the truth would remain the same; and he who lives in the truth will live even if all nations should pass away. 

These are the sixteen signs of the Rosicrucians, which have been revealed to a pilgrim by an angel who took away the heart of the pilgrim, leaving in its place a fiery coal, which is now incessantly burning and glowing with love of the universal brotherhood and humanity. 

Rosicrucian Jewels

The most valuable jewel of the Rosicrucians is wisdom, which is represented by a pure diamond in the center of the rose, but the cross is adorned with twelve jewels of priceless value, in all of which the power that resides in the truth is manifested. These jewels are:

1. Jasper (dark green). The power of active light, multiplying itself to a sevenfold degree, and evolving seven states of the one light, by which the seven states of darkness may be consumed.

2. Hyacinth (yellow). Love, born from the matrix of Light, manifesting itself as it grows, and emitting red rays. Its power overcomes the spirit of anger and violence.

3. Chrysolite (white). Princely wisdom. It confounds that which is foolish and vain, subdues it, and comes out of the battle victorious.

4. Sapphire (blue). Truth; originating and growing out of its own essence. It overcomes doubt and vacillation.

5. Smaragd [emerald] (green). The blooming spring in its eternal justice, destroying the unjust attributes of a perverted and degenerate nature, and opening the fountain of infinite treasures.

6. Topaz (golden). The symbol of peace, mild and pleasant. It suffers no impurity or division to exist, neither does it admit that which causes separation and quarrels. It heals ruptures and cures wounds.

7. Amethyst (violet). Impartiality, equilibrium of justice and judgment. It cannot be falsified, bent, or counterfeited. It weighs all things on the scales of justice, and is opposed to fraud, cruelty, or tyranny.

8. Beryl (diverse colors). Meekness, humility; the equal temperature of the spirit, being kind and good, and overcoming wrath, stubbornness, and bitterness.

9. Sardis (light red). The high magical faith, growing into power, and destroying fear, skepticism, and superstition.

10. Chrysoprase (light green). Invisible power and strength, overcoming all opposition, allowing nothing to remain which could possibly resist the law.

11. Sardonyx (striped). Triumphant joy and gladness, flowing from the eternal fountain of happiness, destroying all sorrow and sadness. (May it bless you!)

12. Chalcedony (striped). The crown of Victory, dominion, glory. The keystone and the greatest of all miracles, turning everything to the glorification of God.

 

Editor’s note: The twelve jewels are taken from Revelation 21:19‒20: “And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.”

Franz Hartmann (1838‒1912) was an early Theosophist and friend of H.P. Blavatsky. For a discussion of his life and work, see “Franz Hartmann: A Pioneer of the Early Theosophical Movement,” by Susanne Hoepfl-Wellenhofer, Quest, winter 2022.

---