It is not our intention here to dwell at length upon the Degrees, Rites and Histories of the various Rosicrucian Orders, nor upon their Masonic cousins. We will, however, give their Story, as preserved in various legends and histories associated with the Rite of Memphis and with other groups, such as the Gold Rosicrucians.
What we find striking about the Memphis and Gold R+C cycle of legends, is that they both insist that a mysterious person, by the name of ORMUS, (and his equally mysterious "Society of Ormus"), is behind the formation of their Rites, behind the foundation of the Rose +Croix, in the middle of the first century, c.e.
We have dwelt upon the name ORMUS in various places throughout this work, but we shall have more to say about it in this segment of Qadosh: The Johannite Tradition. At this stage we need only restate that the Society of ORMUS is one of the Devices employed by the Priory of SION…..
As to the story given in the Encyclopaedias, we have quoted the main parts above, in The Johannite Legend of the Templars. We present the following data:
01 Towards the middle of the First Century, c.e., there is a "Seraphic Priest" [also called a "Serapic Priest", at Alexandria, named ORMUS or ORMESIUS.
02 Saint Mark arrives in Egypt and proclaims the Gospel, setting up the first Christian Church at Alexandria, circa 45 c.e., on.]
03 Mark converts ORMUS to Christianity, the latter amalgamates the Mysteries with Christianity and founds the Rose+Croix.
04 Later on, surviving members of the Essenes and Therapeuts join themselves to this sect.
05 At the time of the Crusades, there was in Syria a group known as the Order of the East. [This would also be known as the Brothers of the Orient, which existed at Constantinople, according to Robert Ambelain.] The Order of the East is said to have had its cradle in Egypt.
06 These Knights were all freemasons, supposedly; from some of the Syrian Christians who had yet retained the Mysteriesof the Craft.
07 In 1188, when the Order of SION and the Order of the Temple split up, "The disciples of the Rose+Croix came, in 1188, from the East into Europe, for the propagation of Christianity, after the troubles in Palestine." [This also pertains to the Knights of the East and West, for which see earlier, where we give a narrative of this Degree…..] Why would they be propagating Christianity in the West, since the West was dominated by Christianity?
08 Edward, the son of Henry III (we have yet to find that this is correct), was received into the Rose+Croix by Raymond Lully (which one?)….
09 "The Masons, they say, came into England, under King Arthur (6th Century c.e.); Raymond Lully initiated Henry IV…"
10 The GRAND MASTERS were formerly designated, as now, by THE TITLES OF JOHN I, JOHN II, III, IV, V, etc.
Here is a quote from John Yarker, from The Scientific and Religious Mysteries of Antiquity:
"The Initiatory ceremonies of the Templars was secret, but resembled the older rite of the Essenes, and their constitution was same as that of modern Freemasonry. Indeed, Dr. Anderson, when he wrote his Masonic Constitution in 1723, claimed that the ceremonials of these knightly associations were derived from Freemasonry. They employed a Council of thirteen members, and Baron Westerode (Acta Latomorum) supposes that the degree of Rose Croix was transferred to the Templars by an Egyptian Priest, converted to Christianity, named Oresemus, and that in A. D. 1296 Edward I. of England, the son of Henry III. of England, was admitted into the order by Raymond Lulli, the great pioneer of the Rosicrucians, the advocate for the union of the Templars, Knights of St. John, and all orders of Knighthood, and the friend of John Cremer, abbot of Westminster, and the celebrated monkish philosopher and alchemist, Roger Bacon." - p. 49
We need to break off here, and bring in the narrative we found in Waite's The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross…
"In the documents on which I depend there is a traditional history, otherwise a Legend of Foundation, presented in various forms to authenticate the Rite, and it may be summarised thus:
(1) That Adam received immediately from his Creator the Gift of Wisdom, in virtue of which he understood universal Nature.
(2) That this is intimated by Genesis when it is said that he gave names to all creatures.
(3) That such knowledge was transmitted by him to his children.
(4) That it has descended through all generations to the Brotherhood of the Golden and Rosy Cross and will remain in their custody, seeing that they are the chosen Sons of Wisdom.
(5) That many are called but few elected, for few only are inspired by a valid fear of God and enlightened by the science of Nature.
(6) That the succession of Wise Masters included Noah, Isaac, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, David, Solomon, as well as Hiram Abiff and Hermes Trismegistus.
(7) That the Keepers of the Secret Tradition separated themselves from the profane multitude and that a law of deepest silence was established in Egypt and Arabia in the days of Moses.
(8) That the secret association flourished in those of Solomon and Hermes.
(9) That it continued to exist in Syria during the Babylonian captivity.
(10) That in course of time the hidden science which it connoted was spread over the whole globe.
(11) That this diffusion led, however, to its deterioration through the wickedness of mankind.
(12) That on such account it was reformed in the sixth century A.D., by Seven Wise Masters and was brought in fine to its present position and development.
(13) That the better to conceal their real purpose the Superiors of the Order established those lower Degrees which pass under the name of Freemasonry.
(14) That they served, moreover, as a seminary or preparation for the higher curriculum of the Rosicrucian Order and as a kind of symbolical prolegomenon.
(15) That at the same time Masonry has deteriorated on its own part and has passed almost beyond recognition, being profaned and adulterated by so many idle and usless additamenta.
(16) That all this notwithstanding it remains the preparatory school of the Rosy Cross and from this source only can the Order itself be recruited.
See Archives Mythohermétiques. It will be observed that the twelfth clause of this traditional history passes over twelve hundred years in a sentence. It happens, however, that the work entitled Der Rosenkreutzer in seiner Blösse, under the name of Magister Pianco, fills part of this great gap with supplementary legend which belongs to the same source, and these are the heads of its instruction:
(1) That a time came when the Confederacy of Initiates - being those otherwise described in the text above - began to feel the need of general unification, in which Christian teaching should be joined to the old wisdom of the Magi;
(2) that a new alliance arose in this manner and framed its laws in accordance with the doctrine of Christ;
(3) that under this form it suffered many changes and adopted many names;
(4) that in 1115 it was known as the Magical Alliance of Magical Brothers and Associates;
(5) that this was the period of the Crusades and that the Knights Templar were formed with the help of the Alliance;
(6) that the Templars were associated with the Magical Brothers and shared their secrets;
(7) that they stood, however, in the same rank as the last and youngest Grade of the Secret Knowledge, under the rule of the Alliance;
(8) that when the Templars were practically exterminated in 1311 these Apprentices or Neophytes were "overlooked in the cruelties of the time" and escaped the evil days;
(9) that they incorporated subsequently with the remnant of surviving Templars and founded a permanent Brotherhood, with definite rules for its maintenance;
(10) that like the Magical Alliance at large - which recedes into the background is said to have suffered a decline - this institution assumed different names at different epochs;
(11) that it was called the Order of the Cross, the Brothers of the Cross, Noachites, and finally Freemasons;
(12) that under the Masonic guise the headquarters were situated at Berlin;
(13) that in the capacity of a Head Lodge it promulgated the true and fundamental system of Masonry, but the statement is worded so vaguely that the significance of the affirmation escapes;
(14) that in addition to the three Craft Grades which were of universal recognition there were also High Grades subsisting from time immemorial and involving apparently many local differences of practice, claim and privilege;
(15) that the High Grade Masons included many earnest students of the Secret Knowledge, who knew that Freemasonry was rooted in the Ancient Mysteries;
(16) that an incorporation was formed by these for the extension and application of knowledge derived from those sources and from the Magical alliance of antiquity;
(17) that it was known as the Alliance of the Wise and then as the Golden Alliance, in succession to the Templars and the fallen Magical Brotherhood;
(18) that it received only the highest class of Master Masons or Masters of the Appearance of Light; [our note: Appearance of Light: would that be Aurora Naissante? i.e., Nascent Dawn? Hmmmm…….]
(19) that the foundation of this Alliance belongs to the twelfth century;
(20) that by reflection the Jewish and Christian Scriptures in conjunction with 72 mss. and other writings of the Magi transmitted from the past of ancient wisdom, they produced a new book, 'adorned with the halo of religion';
(21) that they assumed another title thereupon, to mark, as it were, a new epoch or dispensation, and became in this manner Brothers of the Golden and Rosy Cross, otherwise true Freemasons;
(22) and that they have been known under this denomination since 1510.
It must not be thought that this involved fable is the invention - so to speak - of a moment or of a single person: it grew up out of several reveries, and, so far as Rosicrucianism is concerned, the roots of it go back to Michael Maier and his Symbola Aureae Mensae. The work from which I have quoted appeared at Amsterdam in 1781, just prior to which Count Hans Heinrich Ecker und Eckhoffen is said to have been expelled from the Rosicrucian Order, but under circumstances which do not seem to affect his honour in any real sense. We shall see that in the same year he founded a new association called the Asiatic Brethren [[ our note - co-founded is really the word to use here]] - as it is affirmed, by way of reprisals. He is credited also with the authorship of The Rosicrucian Unveiled, as part of his alleged policy of revenge, because it is a revelatory work. It is a difficult and very dubious question on several accounts and among them because he has been regarded alternatively as having written a reply to Magister Pianco. I suppose - in the absence of direct knowledge concerning it, as there is no copy available - that this is the work which appeared at Leipsic in 1782 under the title of A Rosicrucian Shining in the Light of Truth, and I am in the same position regarding Das Ganze aller Geheimen Ordensverbindungen, Leipzig, 1805 - otherwise a Full Account of all Secret Orders, which is said to contain particulars of Magister Pianco. It is alleged also alternatively that The Rosicrucian Unveiled - or literally, "in all his nakedness" - was the work of Friedrich Gottlieb Ephraim Weisse. According to Findel, this is on the authority of Hans Heinrich, who also wrote a pamphlet denying his own connection with the work. By whomsoever written it is notable as a record of revelation, and I have drawn from it there and here. Among the qualifications of a Candidate for the Rosy and Golden Cross it is said that he must be a man of honour, of true spiritual power and considerable knowledge, because so only could he be of service to the Sacred Alliance - a clear indication, as it seems to me, that the Order was hoping to attain its objects by the help of its members. By the hypothesis it was the donor, but actually it hoped to receive. - pages 441-445.
We have quoted this material at length because it is important material to quote. Time and space permitting, the entire chapter on the Gold and Rosy Cross may be key entered for the "Readings" section.
Also, material from Waite about Michael Maier, as reflected in the above quote and its footnote, may be worth quoting, because Maier set a precedent, ahead of the Masonic period, by virtue of having been there early, and, as the "Lady" "Queensborough" regarded him as one of the sources for all this Satanic Rosicrucian material, then, he is definitely worth referring to later.
Presently, we shall quote from Holy Blood, Holy Grail,. pbk ed., p. 159:
"Until the 'cutting of the elm' in 1188, the 'Prieuré Documents' asserted, SION and the Order of the Temple shared the same Grand Master. After 1188 SION is said to have chosen a grand master of its own, the first of them being Jean de Gisors. According to the 'Prieuré documents' every grand master, on assuming his position, has adopted the name Jean (John) - or, since there were four women, Jeanne (Joan). SION's grand masters are therefore alleged to have comprised a continuous succession of Jeans and Jeannes, from 1188 to the present. This succession was clearly intended to imply an esoteric and Hermetic papacy based on JOHN, in contrast (and perhaps opposition) to the exoteric one based on Peter.
"One major question, of course, was which John. John the Baptist? John the Evangelist - the 'Beloved Disciple' in the Fourth Gospel? Or, John the Divine, author of the Book of Revelation? It clearly seemed to be one of these three because Jean de Gisors in 1188 had purportedly taken the Title of Jean II. Who, then, was Jean I?"
We will at length answer that very question. In the meantime, The Johannite Legend of the Templars will become more clear, if re-read. And, after the end of this work, will become a likely candidate for the actual story of one of the most important periods in Western European history.
The Baron de Westerode, in the quote in II Mackey's 636a -
"Several members of the association having yielded to the temptations of pride, Seven Masters united, effected a reform, adopted a modern constitution, and collected together on their tracing-board all the allegories of the Hermetic work." See below, when we quote from Occult Theocrasy.
This, we are convinced, took place in the 17th Century. Now, according to the legend from Waite, it took place much earlier. That is not impossible. Every few centuries, SEVEN Masters unite, and reformulate the teachings, so as to present material that facilitates a Clean Transmission.. So, in another century, Seven more masters will unite and reformulate the teachings. Then again, it might be happening as this is written.
Oliver, Historical Landmarks of Freemasonry, II, 34 n. 30, says:
"The German Rose + contained nine degrees, called - 1, Zecator [sic]; 2, Theoricus; 3, Practicus; 4, Philosophus; 5, Adeptus Junior; 6, Adeptus Major; 7, Adeptus Exemptus; 8, Magister Templi; 9, Magus. Two sections split off from this society in 1777 and 1780, the former calling themselves, 'the Brothers of the Rose Croix of Gold,' and the latter, 'the Initiated Brothers of Asia.'"
To the student of contemporary occultism, this is significant, in that it is the earliest we have on the record (in our possession), regarding the degrees which have come down to us in the Golden Dawn System, and in the A A of Crowley. The System derived from Germany, the Germany of the mid-18th Century, not the Germany of the late 19th Century.
This book of Oliver's was written certainly before the Golden Dawn; and before the SRIA. Therefore, it was based on something other than a pipe dream. Come on, Golden Dawn researchers, what are you missing here?
The traditional mode has been to say, "Before the Golden Dawn existed, the Societas Rosicruciana In Anglia, its direct parent, existed. It had the same degree structure, as the one mentioned above, with minor changes."
Yet, this is not satisfactory at all. Sure, the SRIA came before the Golden Dawn, but that is like saying that The Man Who Knew Too Much was filmed twice by Sir Alfred Hitchcock. Two completely different films, even if they were directed by the same director!
True, the circumstances surrounding the foundation of the Golden Dawn may have been a repetition of the circumstances surrounding the foundation of the SRIA. But, what if the people who founded the SRIA were unable to put to use the materials they found in the vault at Freemasons' Hall? What if, for example, it took founding the Golden Dawn, whether or not the cypher mss., were discovered in a "Second-hand Book-stall", in order to contact the final survivors of a tradition, in Germany, dating much farther back?
NOTE: Not all of the following items will be filled in. Also it should be compared with the materials given in the Legend presented by Waite, above. And, it should be considered a part of the narrative that we started in The City of Sin.
Present-day Movements…..
Including….. S.'. S.'., (1991);
"Tell the people what they want
to know… Then give them Our STORY.
We of the S.'. S.'.
We of the Serpent's
Skin……" - 05 July 1991 c.e. This was the Climax of the DurAnKi
Working.
Israel Regardie's Circles (1940s to 1980s) [plus Hyatt's GD Circle, up to , ]
More needs to be found here.
BSRF (1940s)
In progress….
Splinters from the original Golden Dawn (20th Century)
In Progress….
Crowley's A.'. A.'. (c. 1909-1947 c.e.)
In Progress…. but it follows the narrative given in Liber 61 vel Causae.
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the Outer (1888)
Needs to be filled in, but most of you already know the story here.
The Society of Eight
At least up to Mackenzie's Death in 1886.
SRIA (1866)
See below, in the Lady Queensborough's section….
GRC #5 (19th Century) Unless identical with the Aurora Naissante. More likely it was a splinter or survival of final surviving members of Aurora Naissante, when it died out.
These have been dealt wih in other places…. see The Stone That Fell To Earth, Part The Third, for example.
Aurora Naissante (Nascent Dawn Lodge, Frankfurt am Main) 1809 - 1873
See below…. in the Readings Section….
Asiatic Brethren (1782) with several offshoots, including the Fratres Lucis, Knights of Light, etc.
See the TimeLine charts for this, in the TimeLine section of the Site. See also below in the readings section, for our cites on the Nascent Dawn and some cites on the AB.
GRC #4 (1780 +) This is the post Ecker und Eckhoffen group.
Not ready for publication. Anybody want to send us some supporting materials, quick?
GRC #3 (1777) The famous reformed group, the first I know of that uses the grade structure that later on is taken up by the SRIA and the GD.
To be filled in, below, in the segment dealing with Mackenzie's chart and the degrees of the rite.
GRC #2 (1750s) This is the strain that Schrepfer, Bischoffswerder, et al., will be found belonging to.... this is the survival of the old RC
"The origins of the Masonic Gold- und Rosenkreuz are obscure, but one of the names linked with its formation is that of Hermann Fictuld, a mysterious figure about whom little is known apart from the fact that he was the author of a series of alchemical works that later became required reading among members of the order. The name Fictuld is thought to have been a pseudonym, possibly for Schmidt or Mummenthaler. In one of his works, Aureum Vellus (written in 1747 and published in 1749), Fictuld writes of a "Society of the Golden Rosicrucians," who were the inheritors of the Golden Fleece, and in all of his subsequent writings this order is given an important role. Possibly in 1747, Fictuld, through his interest in alchemy, came into contact with the secret and loosely organized alchemical fraternity calling itself the Gold- und Rosenkreuz, about which I have already speculated. Fictuld then possibly gave this fraternity a more coherent organization or else started a new group of his own under the old name. The statutes of the Gold- und Rosenkreuz state that the order was to be reformed every ten years. These reforms took place in 1767 and 1777. It is safe to assume, therefore, that the society was founded in either 1757 or 1747. Arnold Marx, in his book on the Gold- und Rosenkreuz (published in 1929), states his belief that 1757 was the year of formation." - McIntosh, 66.
GRC #1 (Richter) [GRC = Gold R+C] This is a pseudo Masonic, Jesuitical form of RC, when it was still separate from the Alchemistic and Magical RC... And this may actually be one of the earliest to use the term to refer to itself as a group.
TO be filled in at another time. Don't Bitch, we have limited resources here, the most important ones being time and money, not to mention us and them.
Secretus Circulus Angelus Mortis, 1666, Smyrna.
The secret chiefs who instructed Nathan of Gaza and inspired manic-depression in Shabbetai Zevi…. said to be the dead angels who control the apocalypse. Some of this trickled west, via the Donmeh / Frankist current…..
The Sulzbach Circle 17th Century to early 18th Century Including van Helmont, Knorr von Rosenroth, etc.
"This order developed within the fold of Freemasonry and, in its early days, flourished mainly in the southern part of the German-speaking world, with centers in such places as Vienna, Hof, Frankfurt-am-Main, Marburg, Kassel, Regensburg, and in the outpost of Prague. One of its most active centers was the small Dukedom of Sulzbach in the Upper Palatinate, whose rulers, especially Duke Christian August (1622-1702), had shown an interest in mystical speculations. At this court, a remarkable ensemble of mystical scholars gathered, including the Hebraist and Qabalist Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (1636-1689), and the physician Francis Mercurius van Helmont (1618-1699), also a Qabalist. Sulzbach was also a publishing center for occult and mystical works and had a Hebrew press which issued Qabalistic and other Jewish works.
"Knorr and Helmont played an important part in disseminating the idea of the divine origin of the Hebrew language, attributing to it a special elemental power which was the basic language of the species. This view was set out in Helmont's book Alphabeti vere Naturalis Hebraici brevissima Delineato [A Short Delineation of the True Natural Alphabet of Hebrew], published in 1667. Knorr, in a foreword to the book, proposed the formation of a Hebrew language society, along the lines of the German language societies like the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft and Deutschgesinnte Genossenschaft (of which Knorr was a member)."
Skipping down….
"The importance attached to alchemy, which distinguished the Gold- und Rosenkreuz from the older Rosicrucians, was due in large measure to people like Knorr and Helmont. Alchemy was also practiced at the Sulzbach court.
"In view of the tradition of occult study established in Sulzbach in the 17th Century by Knorr, Helmont, and Herzog Albrecht, it is not surprising that, in the second half of the 18th Century, the duchy became a center for the Gold- und Rosenkreuz. The leader of the Rosicrucian circle there was Dr. Bernhard Joseph Schleiss von Löwenfeld (1731-1800), who became court physician at Sulzbach after service in the Seven Years War and was eventually made a count. Besides a number of medical writings, Schleiss also wrote two works in defense of the Rosicrucians.
"Grassl, in his book on mystical and occult trends in Bavaria, AUFBRUCH ZUR ROMANTIK, writes of Schleiss' circle:
"'Referring to the work of Knorr and Helmont, Schleiss also spoke how the true spiritual teaching, 'the genuine Qabalah' was to be obtained from the alphabet of nature. . . . From the Qabalah came the important teachings of the order: the Tree of the Ten Sephiroth, the doctrine of numbers, the concept of the Quaternary. . . the idea of 'Adam Kadmon,' which gives rise to the problematical androgynous state of mankind, the prophetic interpretation of the Holy Script, the 'Original Language' as the source of a 'romantic' traditionalism, as well as certain concerns of alchemy such as the transmutation of metals and the 'primal matter'. . . . In the 'natural alphabet' of the Holy Language there was frequent mention of the 'ancient Ophir,' the laboratory of the illuminated Cabalist which alone was capable of producing gold. This now became the secret of the order, revealed only to the higher grades. The connection is confirmed by the brotherhood name of Wöllner, the director of the order in Berlin. He was known as Ophiron and also Chrysophiron, like the alchemist in Knorr von Rosenroth's Conjugium Phoebi et Palladis.'
"Thus in the transition from the Rosy Cross to the Golden and Rosy Cross, there was an increase in the role of alchemy - a process which, as Karl Frick points out, was reversed in the 19th and 20th centuries. In addition to alchemy, the Sulzbach Rosicrucians also took up the practice of exorcism - the driving out of demons in order to cure certain afflictions." - McIntosh, pp. 67-8.
The Fruit-bringing Society (1617)
"The other main theme of the Rosicrucian manifestoes, that of the secret society of initiates, no doubt drew its inspiration partly from German medieval brotherhoods and knightly orders, as mentioned earlier, but also from the Florentine academies. It is important to understand that, in Germany, there was developing at this time a strong tendency to form secret or quasi-secret societies which were very often closely linked to a burgeoning German nationalism. This can be seen in the various societies that were created for the purpose of promoting the German language, in which Germans were beginning to take a new pride.
"The first of these societies was the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft (The Fruit-bringing Society), founded in 1617 by Prince Ludwig of Anhalt. It is fascinating to discover that both Andreae and Adami were among the early members. The Fruchtbringende gesellschaft was based on a Florentine society whose members had each borne a special name associated with the business of grinding or baking. In a similar way, the members of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft assumed names mostly connected with the 'fructifying' aim of the society. Prince Ludwig, for esample, was der Nährende (the Nourisher); other names were der Helfende (the Helper), der Unverdrossene (the Indefatigable), der Nutzbare (the Productive), der Vielgekörnte (the Many-grained), and der Grade (the Straight). Each member had a coat of arms corresponding to his own designation, and the arms of the society showed a coconut palm with the motto Alles zu Nutzen (Everything for Usefulness). The society later came to be called die Gesellschaft des Palmenordens (The Society of the Order of the Palm)." - McIntosh, pp. 21-22.
The later Tübingen Circle (at least up to the time of Andreae and the Manifestoes, c. 1610-1620) - this is where Andreae and friends come together and reform the Order......
"What part did Andreae play in the rise of Rosicrucianism? And how did the manifestos and The Chemical Wedding come to be written and published? To answer these questions, you must resort to informed guess-work. Imagine a group of intelligent, well-read, and idealistic men meeting in Tübingen around 1608. The young Andreae, 22 years old, listens solemnly and attentively while his older mentor, Christoph Besolt, holds forth, sketching his vision of a Europe free of religious dissension and basking in the light of the true Christian faith combined with science and learning. Besold illumines what he is saying by constant quotations from the classics and by startling comparisons between Christian doctrine and the Qabalah. Among the members of the circle are Abraham Hölzel, a young Austrian friend of Andreae, and the Tübingen Paracelsian doctor Tobias Hess, who had cured Andreae of a fever. Recent research by Carlos Gilly and others has revealed Hess as a key figure in the story. The meetings of the circle were often hosted by him, and it was from his house that one of the earliest manuscripts of the Fama was sent out into the world.
"This circle also included two other friends of Andreae, Tobias Adami and Wilhelm Wense. These last two were disciples of the Italian friar, Tommaso Campanella, author of a utopian work, City of the Sun, which describes an ideal society ruled over by Hermetic priests. Adami and Wense introduced Andreae to this work, and its utopian thinking helped to create the atmosphere in which the Rosicrucian manifestos were produced." - McIntosh, pp. 20-21.
The Order of the Inseparables (1577)
"The organization which bears the closest family resemblance to the Rosicrucian brotherhood, however, and which may have been the most direct model for it, was a society called the Orden der Unzertrennlichen, or Indissolubilisten (the Order of the Inseparables), which was founded in 1577 and later became linked with the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft. Documents relating to this society were held in the archives of the Masonic lodge Zur Freundschaft in Berlin and that of Archimedes in Altenburg until they were dissolved by the Nazis. …"
skipping down…
"The founders of this order included the owners of mines and smelting works. Alchemy and smelting technology were among its chief concerns. The results of successful alchemical experiments were recorded and placed in an 'Archa,' a secret chest whose contents were continually augmented…
[This is reminiscent of the German Miners who were active, centuries earlier, on the Blanchfort lands…. in the Languedoc…. as well as the German Miners alluded to in the Noachite degree in the Scottish Rite…. Also, this sort of activity was taking place in the Languedoc under the watch of men like Colbert and his friend Louis Fouquet….. persons who were a part of Poussin's circle of friends and fellow initiates.] Continuing:
"There is a striking echo of the description in the Fama of Christian Rosenkreuz's vault, which had in each wall 'a door or chest, wherein there lay divers things, especially all our books.' The order is also said to have used a secret alphabet containing many alchemical symbols - another Rosicrucian echo, for in the Fama the four founders of the Rosicrucian brotherhood are described as making 'the Magical Language and writing.'
"The members of the Unzertrennlichen were divided into five grades, of which the fourth was devoted to alchemical work. This might appear to conflict with the spirit of the Fama, which talks of 'ungodly and accursed gold-making, whereby under colour of a many runagates and roguish people do use great villainies, and cozen and abuse the credit which is given them.' The 'true philosophers,' the Fama goes on, 'are far of another mind, esteeming little the making of gold, which is but a parergon; for besides that they have a thousand better things.' In describing gold making as a 'parergon,' that is, a secondary or subsidiary work, the Fama seems to indicate that the brethren were capable of making gold, but that they saw the higher, or spiritual, alchemy as more important.
"All this seems to indicate that there was a connection between the Unzertrennlichen and the Rosicrucian brotherhood, and it is tempting to speculate that there might be clues here to explain the mystery of the brotherhood's origins." - McIntosh, pp. 22-23.
Here now for a recap from earlier work:
This is the farthest we took the story when we were surveying the Harranians in Part Two:
The following is taken from: http://www.antiqillum.com/texts/bg/Qadosh/qadosh047.htm
Communauté des Mages, 1510. London.
According to Robert Ambelain, in Le Martinisme, some new information is coming to light as to the origins of the R+C which are not very far off from what we have been piecing together from the materials made available to us. It is not entirely possible for us at least, to find the proofs which Ambelain asserts regarding Agrippa, but here we go with a quote:
"Dès le debut du XVI° siècle, nous voyons fonctionner l'association secrète de la "Communauté des Mages", fondée par Henri Cornélius Agrippa, association qui groupait les maîtres contemporains de l'Achimie et de la Magie.
"Lorsqu'Agrippa arriva à Londres, en 1510, il fonda, ainsi qu'il résulte de sa correspondance (Opuscula, t. II, page 1073), une société secrète semblable à celle qu'il avait fondée en France. Les membres étaient dotés de signes particuliers de reconnaissance, de 'mots' de passage. Ces membres fondèrent alors, dans divers autres états de l'Europe, des associations correspondantes, dénommées Chapitres, pour l'étude des sciences 'interdites'." -- p. 48.
We looked up page 1073 in our copy of Agrippa's Works, Volume II. We couldn't find any references. However, this is interesting, since it is a sort of second opinion on what we have been posing in our thesis: The Rosicrucians, the true Rose+Croix, predated the manifestoes at least by a century, if not longer. This tells us:
1. Agrippa was being taught by Trithemius and others in the Tübingen circle. He set up a sodality in France, while he lived there, and while he was writing his magnum opus, De Occulte Philosophia.
2. When Agrippa goes to London to labor in the Court of Henry VIII, he meets up with Dean Colet, a cleric, who educates him in the Pauline Epistles. At the same time, Agrippa is said to have established a body, known as the Communauté des Mages.
3. Later on, this would be known as the Frères de la Rose+Croix d'Or, or the Gold Rosicrucians, around 1570.
4. Also related to this group would be the Militia Crucifera Evangelica, founded in 1598 at Nuremburg by Simon Studion.
5. Also, at some point, around the time of Robert Fludd, a split occurred, in which the Golden Rosicrucians went their way, and another group was created, simply the Rosy Cross, Rose+Croix, etc. It is said in Ambelain's work that Initiates such as Jakob Böhme, were of the Gold R+C stamp, while Vaughan, Ashmole, etc., were of the Rosicrucian current.
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