Rosicrucians

[DL82]

Was very surprised to see that there is a chapter in my town of the Rosicrucians AMORC (ancient mystical order of the rosy-cross). I understood that they were essentially a hoax in the early modern period. A convincing hoax all the same, Descartes and Pascal supposedly tried to reach out to them after the publication of the ‘Fama Fraternitatis’. A little digging shows that the modern organisation was ‘opened out’ from its hidden origins (in other words completely fabricated by some fantasist) in 1915.

Anyway, looking into the contemporary organisation, it looks a little (ok a lot) like Freemasonry, but Rosicrucians are not Freemasons. They don’t call themselves Freemasons, the Freemasons don’t recognise them as one of their own, they are a completely different organisation. They still have a lot of ‘esoteric’ stuff associated with them though, which would seem to ring alarm bells for a Catholic.

Because they’re not Freemasons, is it OK for a Catholic to join?

Just for the record, I have no intention of joining. The whole thing looks utterly ridiculous to me, I’m just interested ‘in theory’.

 

[Sunbreak]

No, it’s not ok for Catholics to join this. AMORC is kind of new age in its present form. I had a relative who was into this for a time, so I have seen the materials they send out.

 

[meltzerboy]

Was very surprised to see that there is a chapter in my town of the Rosicrucians AMORC (ancient mystical order of the rosy-cross). I understood that they were essentially a hoax in the early modern period. A convincing hoax all the same, Descartes and Pascal supposedly tried to reach out to them after the publication of the ‘Fama Fraternitatis’. A little digging shows that the modern organisation was ‘opened out’ from its hidden origins (in other words completely fabricated by some fantasist) in 1915.

Anyway, looking into the contemporary organisation, it looks a little (ok a lot) like Freemasonry, but Rosicrucians are not Freemasons. They don’t call themselves Freemasons, the Freemasons don’t recognise them as one of their own, they are a completely different organisation. They still have a lot of ‘esoteric’ stuff associated with them though, which would seem to ring alarm bells for a Catholic.

Because they’re not Freemasons, is it OK for a Catholic to join?

Just for the record, I have no intention of joining. The whole thing looks utterly ridiculous to me, I’m just interested ‘in theory’.

I have a now-elderly uncle who used to dabble in Rosicrucianism much to my Orthodox Jewish grandmother’s dismay. I don’t know much about the order, however.

 

[pmadams]

AMORC is incorporated, which flies in the face of the concept of the “Invisible College”. For more detailed information try ‘The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order’, by Dr. Paul Foster Case. Also, ‘The Rosicrucian Enlightenment’, by Francis Yates. Et al. The list of published works about this topic is mind numbing but these two I mention are both reliable texts, albeit from different vantage points.

In America, the Craft hosts the Rosicrucian Colleges, by State, or Grand Lodge jurisdiction, if you will. Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism are intimately linked, albeit probably more theoretically than pragmatically. Within the US Colleges, as everywhere, this is a purely invitational body.

One could argue that even the Masonic (visible) Colleges also fly in the face of the original idea of the Invisible College, and I’d have to agree. One might think of Rosicrucianism as more of a paradigm than an actual “Order”, as people are accustomed to associating that term. As always, the original source is the best place to look for answers. In this case, the ‘Fama Fraternitatis’. Not easy reading but at least Case’s book helps out here. Probably more information than you were looking for.