History of the Order Rosae Crucis by Dr. H. Spencer Lewis

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The Channel. An international qua rterly o f occultism,

spiritual philosophy o f life, an d the science o f superph ysical facts.

Vo l 1, N o 3, April-June 1916, and Vo l 1, N o 4, July-September 1916

(Hollyw ood, Los An geles, C a lif. : The Channel Publishing Society, 1916).

JMsitorp of tfje A rt ie r &osiae Cructsffepencet ILeboiss

(By agreeme nt with the Suprem e Council in France and Eg yp t, Mr. H. Spencer Lewis has founded a new Rosaecrucian Society in America and has been appointed itsGrand Ma ster General and Imp erator . He has in addition established The Ameri-can Rosae Crucis, a magazine in which the above history is also being serially pub-lished.

Mr. Lewis writes me “ Would th a t I could spread it everywhere like a g rea t lightto dispel the darkness—the evil darkness—that exists [about the Order] in thiscountry.”

We know that such a history has not been published before Mr. Lewis’ com- preh ensive complic ation made it possible and I k now th a t the readers of T he C hannel,many of w hom are intere sted in Rosae crucianism, will be gratefu l for the op-

portunity to possess such extensive data , co llec ted by so se rious and devote d astudent as Mr. Lewis.

We extend to him and his associates our hearty good wishes for the realization of their ideals.—Ed.)

It is no violation of secrecy to give the outer, objectivedetails of the history of the Ancient and Mystical Order of Rosae Crucis, but the genuine conservatism of the East-ern Councils until now has acted as a barrier against such

publicity as we in America believe necessary for the growthof any public or semipublic institution.

After twelve years’ study of the doctrines and principlesof Rosae Crucis and a very careful examination of allmatters pertaining to the history of the Order, one does notfind a single prohibition against the general publication of the Order’s history except in such minor details as areclosely associated with the working or manifestation of some of the R. C. doctrines. While these exceptions are

few, although of vast importance to the higher students,they have undoubtedly caused that subconscious attitudeon the part of all R. C. Brothers and Sisters that it is safer,in the face of their individual sacred oaths, to refrain fromall mention of either the antiquity or progression of theOrder.

There is also the element of mysticism which explainsthe attitu de of even the most advanced Brothers and Sisters.Realizing as most of them do that the real history of the

Order has never been given to the public and has for centu-ries defied the exhaustive and indefatigable researches of

* The Channel has no official connection with any sect, society or creed, but period-ically i t will pu blish articles on varous religious, philosophic and scientific movem ents,contributed by au tho ritive representatives. As it is the purpose of The Channel todisseminate truth, it is glad to act in this informative capacity.—Ed.



54 THE CHANNEL

scientists, historians and archivists alike, they feel a certain pride in having been able to mystify the profoundly inquis-itive minds. Even the grossly erroneous and occasional

biased raisonne of the history of the Order given in variousencyclopaedias, reference books, and histories, only adds tothis feeling of pride and victory.

But such secrecy is not only uncalled for, but is positivelydetrim ental to the Order in America. We are a people of frankness; Americans are lovers of the truth and have anatural antipathy toward that which may be characterizedas “m ystically m yth ical,” and such is the general impressionof the origin and existence of the R. C. Order in the minds

of many thousands today. Nor is it necessary to enshroud the history of the Order in

the cloak of mystery to make the Order itself appeal to thethinking mind. One will find th a t the true history of theOrder arouses, even commands, such deep respect for itsnoble birth, grand growth and wonderful increase of power,that this alone is a greater attraction to the thinkingAmerican than the element of mystery.

Inexactness and indefiniteness are the principal faults

to be found with all the published accounts of the origin and present status of the Order. The few instances of willfuland inconsistent deception shown by some writers on thesubject may be ignored in any consideration of the matter,for no mind can explain these things nor account for themaside from the writers’ own personal bias which we are alwaysled to believe has had no influence upon the honesty of thework.

Still, there are many very definite and exact facts easily

within the reach of an analytical mind bent upon historicalresearch, even when such mind is uninitiated into thesecrets of the Order.

The claim has always been made that the A. M. 0. R. C.is the oldest fraternal or secret order known to man. Th isclaim makes the Order antedate Freemasonry and the latter has always claimed grea t an tiqu ity. Here again the casual,aye, the deep investigator is confronted with a mass of details purporting to be the history of Freemasonry, but gradually

classifying themselves into two groups which one may label“inexact” and “indefinite.”

Right here is where some of the mystery becomes clarified.



HISTOR Y OF TH E ORD ER ROSAE CRUCIS 55

Rosaecrucians claim, and can prove, th a t the Order of Freeand Accepted Masons is an offspring of the A. M. (). R. C.,and for this reason its origin is so veiled and indefinite exceptto those who have passed through the Scottish Rites.Because of its frankness, publicity and public propaganda,Freemasonry has grown into a powerful organization, over-shadowing in the public’s mind, all other secret or fraternalorders.

On the point of its connection with the A. M. O. R. C.,Freemasonry is very silent. I t traces its an tiqu ity to‘‘Solomon’s Temple” and refers to characters whose history,if not actual existence, are cloaked with doubt. It s publish-ed history is very esoteric and mystical although its actualhistory, as known to all advanced Rosaecrucians, is a livingtestimonial to the truth of the noble principles of Brother-hood which underlie Freemasonry.

So closely are the two Orders allied that many of thegreat exponents of the one are active workers in the other.Freemasonry has acknowledged its debt to the A. M. O.R. C., by adding a Rosaecrucian Degree to the Ancient andAccepted S cottish R ite, making it the 18. I t has alsoestablished “Societies Rosicruciana” in England and vari-

ous parts of the United States to which none but an advanc-ed Mason may apply for admission.

In these Rosaecrucian Societies, as in the A. and A. S.R. 18, certain elements of the Rosaecrucian initiations anddoctrines are used (in the crude form resulting from tradi-tion by word of mouth, since none but the legitimate Lodgesof the A. M. O. R. C. have the correct work) and the tend-ency on the part of these Brother Masons in such degreesand Societies is to practise and emulate the noble rules

and doctrines of the A. M. O. R. C. N atu rally all genuine Rosaecrucian Lodges practise many

of the elements of the work of Freemasonry, because thelatter adapted its work from that of the A. M. O. R. C.The first degree in all Rosaecrucian Lodges is very similar indeed to the third (or Master Mason’s) degree of Free-masonry. M any of the lat te r’s symbols and terms are takenfrom Rosaecrucianism (as explained elsewhere) and ingeneral the two Orders are aiming to accomplish the same

great and noble purpose, except that the R. C. work isoperative while Freemasonry is .speculative.



Thi s map (made f rom drawings found on t he wall s i n Rosaecruc i an Tem ples and t he Pyram id Cheops i n Egy pt ) repre-sents the cou ntries of the wo rld wi th the signs, symbols and plane tary cha racters al lot ted to them by the Rosaecruciansin Egy pt 1300 B. C. The Eagle, wi th the arrow s of Sag i t tarius (w hich rules the con t inent) i s al lot ted to No rth A mericawi th t he Pyramid and o ther symbol s, adopted so many years l a t e r a t W ashington by t hose unaware of t h is anc i en tRosaecruc i an des igna t i on .— American Rosae Crucu.



HISTORY OF TH E ORD ER ROSAE CRUCIS 57

Notw ithstanding their knowledge of many of the Masonicsecrets, all real Rosaecrucians respect the Masons’ oathsof secrecy as religiously as they do their own.

Therefore let no word that has been written or will bewritten in this connection convey the idea that Rosaecrucianism has any feeling other than kindness and realR. C. love toward its capricious and arbitrary offspring,and it has demonstrated in many ways its debt of gratitudeand filial love toward the Rosaecrucian Order. Certaincriticisms and comments seem inevitable, however, in order to justify fully our claim of greater antiquity and it is thehope of the writer that these will have no greater reactionamong Masons than to urge a few of their unofficial andoverzealous writers to limit their journeys into Masonicretrospection to the known paths of historical accuracy.

Aside from the Masonic Rosaecrucian Societies in Americathere are a number of other bodies which glory in thereflected light of Rosaecrucianism. These neoRosaecrucian societies, under various names of Centers and

Brotherhoods, have naught to do with the genuine doctrines, principles, philosophies or work of the A. M. O. R. C.and their members or students as well as their Masters,Dictators or Teachers are uninitiated into the T ru ths of realRosaecrucianism. As a sure guide to the seelcer of light these various bodies will be dealt with at length in another part of th is work.

The real name of the genuine body is The Ancient andMystical Order of Rosae Crucis (or Rose Cross, Rosy Croix).

None but a genuine, legitim ate Lodge of the Order can usethe terms Rosaecrucian Order, Rosaecrucian Lodge or thecomplete name as given above; and it is only fair to statethat none of the u nauthorized bodies referred to above haveever publicly used these restricted terms or the genuinesymbols.

i f )t O rig in of tfje © rbe r

The Order had its conception and birth in Egyp t. I n

giving the facts of the origin the writer realizes that to anexceptional degree will exactness and authoritativeness bedemanded by the reader and in consequence pardon m u s t

be granted for reiteration.Time and space will not be used in describing conditions

in Egypt as they existed at the time of the conception of so



56 THE CHANNEL

wonderful an organization as this. Th e reader is requested

to read either a brief or extended history of Egypt, whichwill prove highly illuminating on this subject.

One will find however that the Egyptians had reached ahigh state of civilization and advanced learning at the beginning of the 18th dynasty comparable only w ith theRenaissance of France. M any were the means adop ted to preserve the knowledge attained th a t it m ig ht be correctlygiven to future generations. Th e hieroglyphic markingson the pyramids, obilisks and temple walls give us evidence

of the first desires to make permanent the knowledge andlearning of the Egyptians.

But the more profound secrets of nature, science and artwere not to be entrusted to the masses nor were they sus-ceptible to preservation through writing upon papyri. For this reason classes were formed by the most learned, at-tended by the select minds, at which the doctrines and principles of science were taught.

These classes or schools, as history refers to them,were held in the most isolated grottos at times, and againin the quiet of some of the Temples erected to the manyEgy ptian gods. In some cases classes of a very select natu rewere held in the private chambers of the reigning Pharaoh.

The members of such assemblies became more and moreselect, the teachings more profound and the discussions sodialectic th a t there arose a most au tocra tic and secretsociety of the truly great minds of the day.

Thu s the first Pharaoh who conducted the class in his private chambers was Ahmose I, who reigned from 1580B. C. to 1557 B. C. Because he was capable of conductingthe great school as well as ruling the people upon a morecivilized and advanced principle (due to his training in theschool no dou bt), he is referred to as the “ deliverer of E g yp t” by some historians.

He was succeeded as Pharaoh by Amenhotep I, whoreigned ten years and became a teacher in the secret school

for three years.On January 12th (approximately) 1538 B. C. Thutmose

I was crowned succeeding Am enhotep I. He owed his posi-tion to his wife, Ahmosi, who was the first woman to be-come a member of the class on equal terms with the men.The discussion regarding her adm ittance (still preserved



HISTORY OF THE ORDER ROSAE CRUCIS 59

in the Rosaecrucian Archives) forms an interesting docu-

ment and reveals the origin of some of the doctrines of theequality of the sexes.Thutmose I was succeeded by Hatshepsut, his daughter,

who ruled as a “king” independently and as coregent withher halfbrother Thutmose III, a son of Thutmose I by hismarriage to Isis.

It was Thutmose III who organized the present physicalform of the Rosaecrucian Order and outlined many of itsrules and regulations.

He became ruler upon the deposition of his father, Thut-mose I in 1500 B. C. He ruled until 1447 B. C., and hisreign is unimportant to us except for his establishment of the Order.

He appears to have been quite original in his applicationof the doctrines of Rosaecrucianism, but held to the existingexternal form of religion, possibly because of political con-ditions. Egy pt was no t free from the danger of the “ grasp-ing hand” of adjoining nations and the life of this ruler was

constantly tormented by outbreaks of war; and the co-operation of his military forces depended considerablyupon permitting the populace to indulge in all its fanciful beliefs—the idolatrous religions especially. For this reasonan immediate change in the fundamentals of their religion— such as was made by Thutmose’s descendant, AmenhotepIV in 1355 with such reactionary results—did not seem ad-visable or even necesaary.

A gradual #development in the existing beliefs could bemore easily and permanently accomplised by establishingschools of philosophy, the students at which would put into practice the high sta ndards decided upon.

As in all ages there were then those who might be calledadvanced thinkers, true philosophers, sages and scholars.M any of these were studen ts of the Rosaecrucian doc-trines as taught by Thutmose’s predecessors and theyevidently had great faith in the final success of the principles;for when Thutmose proposed that the “class” which had been meeting in his chambers become a closed and secretorder “there was no dissenting voice and articles of limita-tions were established ere the assembly dispersed in theearly hours of dawn.”

This grand “Council Meeting,” for such it is considered



60 THE CHANNEL

in all official records, occurred during what would be the

week of March 28th to April 4th of 1489 B. C. accordingto our presen t calendar. I t is generally conceded to have been on Thursday, April 1st, b u t this m ay be associatedwith M aunday Thu rsday, a later establishment. However,Thursday has become the usual day for Rosaecrucian meet-ings, and M aunday Th ursday has become the occasionfor special Temple Services throughout all A. M. O. R. C.Lodges of the world.

Twelve Brothers and Sisters were present at this first

“Supreme Council R. C. of the World” the Sisters beingthe wife of Thutmose II I, known in the Order as “Mene,” the wife of one of the Brothers, and another who was adescendant of one of the rulers of a preceding dynasty.Therefore, there were 9 Brothers and 3 Sisters at this Coun-cil, a combination of numbers very significant.

No name was decided upon for the Order, the recordsshowing th a t the predom inating thou gh t was the m aintenanceof secrecy. The Order was to have no publicity , required

no propaganda other than personal advice to those whose presence in the Order was desired, and as the one word,translated into order (a secret, fraternal body), was suf-ficient name for all purposes, we do not find any other term.This accounts for the widespread diversion of the nameas adopted later. In so many of the documents issued bythe Supreme Magis to the Grand Lodges throughout theworld, the name of the Order is seldom mentioned. Thewriter has noticed this especially in such documentsas are given to a newly established Grand Lodge andwhich are translations of the documents prepared prior to 1326 B. C. In these the element, the idea, of secrecy isso strong and predominant that the Ordep is referred toindirectly and sometimes erroneously (or perhaps dip lom at-ically) as It, the School, the Brotherhood, and the Council, Furtherm ore many of these docum ents begin with theAnnouncement: “I, Brother of the Illuminati, with power decreed, do declare this M anifesto,” or with the sa lu ta-tion: “I. F. Illum inati of the 12.” (I, F ra ter Illum inati of the 12th degree). Very often these official manifestos aresigned: “W ith Peace Profound” and sometimes “F , Pro fundis” or “F, 12.”

These words not only show that the twelfth or last degree



THE SILENCE 61

was the last Order within the Order, known as the Illu m i-

nati, even to this day, but they also explain why somereferences are made to these documents as “Instructions of the Illuminati” which may easily be misinterpreted or care-lessly interpreted as “Instructions to the Illuminati” as onesees them referred to in works published abroad in the15th, 16th, and 17th centuries A. D., where the Order of Rosae Crucis is designated solely by the term “Illuminati.”

[To be concluded]

f t i l e n c e

Cfjatlotte be JSorbe jBurijetW

L L day with anxious heart and wondering ear I listened to the city, heard the ground Echo with human thunder, and the sound Go reeling down the street and disappear; The headlong hours in wild career shouted

A nd sang until the world was drowned With babelvoices, each one more profound,

A ll day it surges but nothing could I hear.

That night the country never seemed so still,

The trees and grasses spoke without a word To stars that brushed them with their silver wings',

The earth was sleeping in the arms of night, A film of dream s was cast upon m y soul,Together with the moon I climbed the hill

A nd in the very heart of silence heard The speech and music of immortal things.

A nd sp irits floated down the flowin g air In garments woven from the moon's pale mis t A nd soothed me past the stillness of the night,

A nd past the gruesome stillness of the grave, A nd out in to the stiller realms of space,

A nd spoke of all the sad, mad dance of life,

A nd showed me all the unreal of the real,

The real of unreal speechlessness that speaks.



~ . | *7 / *c»

\ J A I M W .

p isto n * of tfje A rtie r l\osae Cructsf

1 >. Spencer Uetorisi

[ continued ]

If one considers for a moment the prejudice—eventhe prohibition—against such secret Orders as the A. M.O. R. C. represented, one will appreciate the very evidentattem pts a t subterfuge. N ot only did certain religiousorganizations condemn all secret orders as “works of thedevil,” but those orders or bodies which claimed to have

rare knowledge of the sciences were severely criticised bythe various open scientific bodies of the day. As soon aslearning became very general and competition arose be-tween schools and students, the secret orders were widelycondemned even though many of the m ost unfair criticsof some were oathbound members of others.

However, without definite name, Thutmose saw thatthe Order had very definite principles, rules, and modes of

procedure, all of which have come down to us today with-out material change.

(At close of his reign in 1447 B .C ., there were thirtynineBrothers and Sisters in the Order, and the meetings, whichhad become regular and systematic, were held in one of thehalls of the Temple at Karnak, outside of which ThutmoseIII erected two obelisks bearing a record of his achieve-ments.

Thutmose signed most of the decrees of the Councilwith his own cartouche and it became the Seal of the Order “in testimony to the great work of our teacher (Master)to be forever a mark of honor and loya lty.” As wascustomary with these rulers when any event of nationalimportance occurred, Thutmose issued a Scarab bearinghis cartouche on one side, plus a mark which has a specialmeaning to all Rosaecrucians. This original scarab ,

(Inquiries have been received as to w hether this history is ac cura te andwhe ther the Order Ro sae Crucis, of which M r. Lewis is the H ead, is, as he claims,the only genuine Rosaecrucian movement in America. The Channel cannot enter into a controversy upon these questions. I t publishes this and similar articles soas to keep its readers informed upon the various philosophic and occult movementsof the day. It makes every endeavo r to have its con tributions sincere, accu rate, an dauthoritative; but the writers alone must be held responsible for their statements and

opinions. Me re public ation in The Channel does not mean th at it favors any onereputable movement as again st any other. On the con trary, is is absolutelynonpartisan and nonsectarian. It h as “ no official connection with an y sect,society, or creed,” bu t is in hearty sy m path y with each in its ideals of tru th, progress, an d service.—Ed.)




which was used for hundreds of years in Egypt by variousA. M. O. R. C. Councils to impress the Seal of the Order in wax to all official documents, was given to the GrandLodge of America along with other jewels and papers of anofficial nature and is considered one of the rarest antiquitiesof E gy pt now in this coun try. The Order here is to becongratulated on having in its possession perhaps theoldest, if not the most sacred, of all Rosaecrucian jewels,one of which has never been used by others than the Supreme

Masters in Egypt; for it means virtually the passing of theMaster’s Spirit from Egypt to America as was planned bythe founders centuries ago.

This seal appears on the stationary and official docu-ments of the Order in America along with the AmericanR. C. Seal.

In this connection it may be explained that the obelisk in Central Park, one of the two erected in Egypt by Thutmose III and intended to stand some day in the “country

where the Eagle spreads its wings,” bears the Cartoucheor Seal of the Order as well as many other authentic andinstructive Rosaecrucian signs.

Before his transition, Thutmose III made his son (byH atshep sut) coregent. Th us Amenhotep II took up hisfa the r’s work in the Order abou t th e end of September, 1448.In the month of March,—the seventeenth, to be exact,— 1447 B. C., Thutmose passed to the Great Beyond, having

been king for nearly 54 years and being but one week less

th an 89 years of age. His mummy was found in theCachette at Deir el Bahri, and history acclaims him “thegreatest pharaoh in the New Empire if not in all Egyptianhistory.”

Amenhotep II ruled from 1448 to 1420 B. C. and he intu rn was succeeded by his son, Thutmose IV, who ruledfrom 1420 to 1411 B. C. Amenhotep II I , son of the pre-ceding, occupied the throne from 1411 to 1375 B. C. andwas the last of the truly powerful pharaohs or emperors.

Upon the transition of Amenhotep III, the empire fellto his son Amenhotep IV, with whose history all Rosae-crucians are greatly concerned. He was the last GreatMaster in the family of the founders and the one to whomwe owe the really wonderful philosophies and writings usedso universally in all Lodge work thoughout the world.



Amenhotep IV was born in the royal palace at Thebes,

November 24th , 1378 B. C. His mother, T iy, or Tia, was of humble birth, but both he and his father paid the mostsincere respects to her and were ever proud of designatingher “Queen Tia” upon all monuments.

He was only eleven years old in 1367 B. C. when he wascrowned and immediately began a career unequalled byany pharaoh of Egypt.*

His father, having been the Master of the Order for anumber of years, built the great Temple of Luxor and ded-

icated it to the Order. He also added to the Tem ple of Karnak and in many ways left “monuments of testimonyand praise.”

The Order numbered two hundred and eightythreeBrothers and sixtytwo Sisters a t this time; and a t the timeof the crowning of young Amenhotep IV, the Master of theOrder was one Thehopset, who remained in the office until1365 B. C. A menhotep’s insta llation as MasterbyCouncil

Decree occurred in the Temple of Luxor, April 9th, 1365, at

sunset, in the presence of his bride and her parents.~ Am enhotep being the only descendant, it was deemedadvisable, that he marry as early as the customs then per-mitted in order that an heir to the throne would be assured.But though Amenhotep had a number of children, unfor-tunately they were daughters, and this proved disastrousto the Order as well as to the throne.

The life of this great man is too easily found in varioushistories of Eg yp t, especially B raisted’s, to w arran t space

in this work, but his accomplishments for the Order must be treated a t least briefly....Bom in a coun try whose peoples were given to idolatry ,

where the chief endeavors were those of building temples togods of all kinds, it is easy to appreciate his attitude towardthe existing religion (or religions) a fter he had been tho rough-ly instructed in the Rosaecrucian philosophy. His mindand understanding were unusually keen, for in his fifteenth

• It is claimed in official records th a t Am enhotep was a prodigy as a result

of a special course of prenatal influence adopted by his mother for the very purposeof bringing into the world a holy, inspired, learned m an. In this respec t his lookedfor birth as the coming of a great leader of God's chosen people furnishes another

preced en t for the beliefs of la te r nations and peoples th a t in times of gre at cr isesa leader would be sent by God. Also has this incide nt furnishe d a feeling in allRoiaecrucians that a great Rosaecrucian leader will be born into the Order in eachdecade and in each nation where such a leader is required.

74 TH E CHANN EL




year he composed many of the most beautiful prayers,

psalms, and chants used in th e Order to day, as well ascontributed to the philosophy and sciences.

But to him came the inspiration of overthrowing theworship of idols and substituting the religion and worshipof one God, a supreme deity, whose Spirit was in heaven andwhose physical manifestation was the Sun,—the symbol of life. This was in accordance with the Rosaecruciandoctrines and it changed the worship of the Sun as a godto the worship of the god symbolized by the sun. Th is was

the beginning of monotheism in Egypt and the origin of theworship of a spiritual deity which “ existed everywhere, in everything, bu t was nothing of the earth”( i. e., had no physicalexistence on earth in the form of inanimate or nonspiritualimages).

Arthur E. P. Weigall, Chief Inspector of the Depart-ment of Antiquities, Upper Egypt, in writing of the religioninspired by Amenhotep IV, says: “Like a flash of blindinglight in the nigh ttime, the Aton (the sunsymbol of the

deity) stands out for a moment amidst the black Egyptiandarkness, and disappears once more,—the first signal to theworld of the futu re religions of the West. One might be-lieve that Almighty God had for a moment revealed him-self to Egypt.”

Truly , the religion of Amenhotep did no t endure for long. Com pared with the years of darkness, it was b u t aflash, for it died as a public and general religion when Amen-hotep passed beyond the veil in 1350 B. C.

He too left many monuments to the glory of the Order.First he removed as far as possible all “pillars to Amon”and all references to Amon as a god. So thorough was hiswork that he did not hesitate to mutilate the work done byhis father at Karnak and Luxor by effacing all reference tothe god Amon, even to removing the name of his father andmother where they were connected with such idolatry.This naturally provoked the populace, especially sinceAmenhotep substituted beautiful monuments to the “livingGod.”

In the fifth year of his reign, when only sixteen yearsof age, a sweeping reform was initiated throughout Egypt

by his decree, which prohib ited any oth er form of worshipexcept th a t already mentioned. In one of his decrees he



76 THE CHANNEL

wrote: “This is my oath of T ru th which it is my desire to pronounce, and of which I will not say : ‘I t is false’ ete rnal-ly forever.”

He then changed his own name so that it would not beinconsistent with his reform. Amenhotep m eant “ Ammonis satisfied;” this he altered to Akhnaton or Ikhenatonmeaning “Pious to Aton” or “Glory to Aton.”

He built a new capitol at El Amarna in the plain of Hermopolis on a virgin site at the edge of the desert andabandoned Thebes because it was the magnificent City of Ammon. A t El A m arna he also bu ilt a large temple for the

Order in “the form of a cross” and a large number of housesfor his Council of the Order. Here was the beginning of the monastic life, for within the boundaries of El Amarnalived two hundred and ninetysix Brothers of the Order,each having taken an oath never to pass “beyond theshadow of the Temple.”

These Brothers wore special costumes which includeda “cord at the loins” and a covering for the head, whilethe priest in the temple wore a surplice of linen and had his

head shaved in a round spot on the top.It is from this institution that all monastic orders,especially that of St. Francis, derive their methods, eventheir costumes.

During these years at El Amarna the A. M. O. R. C.was being made into a concrete organization and the Broth-ers at this community outlined the initiations and forms of service as used today in every lodge of the Order.

Akhnaton (Amenhotep IV) not only built his temple

in the form of a cross, but he added the cross and the roseas symbols of the Order and further adopted the CruxAnsata, in a special coloring, as the symbol to be worn byall teachers (Masters) in the lodges. In fact, the last year of his life was spent in evolving a wonderful system of symbols used to this day to express every phase and mean-ing of the Rosaecrucian sciences, arts, and philosophies, andwhile some of these have become known to the uninitiatedthrough the researches of Egyptologists, many remain

secret to the Order, and all are understandable only to theinitiated.

As a ruler of Egypt our Master failed utterly to check




the desire for war, and by his attacks on the popular religionhe left the way open for invasion through lack of cooperation on the par t of his subjects. As the crisis approached,

our M aste r foresaw the result and, sad a t his neglect of political m atte rs in his enthusiasm for th e spir itual, heweakened his health ,—which seems to have been belownormal,—and he was finally forced to take to his bed in them onth of July , 1350 B. C. Ins tead of using his mightyknowledge to regain his health , it appears from his las tdictated writings that his constant wish was to be spirit-ualized, th a t he might be raised up to that plane fromwhich God’s symbol shone down upon him. He fasted,

—practically sta rv ing himself,—refused the services of the physicians in the Order, and prayed constantly.Then, on July 24, late in the afternoon, while he lay withhis right hand upstretched to God pleading to be taken intothe Nous, he was seen by his Brothers and Sisters of theOrder watching there, to be actually raised from his bedfor a moment and then to drop back in “ sweet repose with asmile of illumination upon his countenance.”

Thus passed to the beyond our Great Master who did

so much and left so much for our Order.He may have neglected Egypt politically, but she willalways remember her young pharaoh whose twentyeightyears left its art and architecture, its sciences and philosophies, so greatly changed and improved. His reign waslike unto the Renaissance of France, and even the hiero-glyphics and art show a vast improvement based upon the

principles of T ru th . A t the time of his crowning he took the title of “Amenhotep, King, Liv ing in T ru th ” whichwas the Rosaecrucian phrase of fidelity as it is today, andhe passed onward to the other life In Truth.

Perhaps the most summary of all testimonies toAmenhotep IV found outside of the Rosaecrucian litera-ture , is th a t pa id by James Breasted, Professor of Egyptol-ogy, University of Chicago, who says in his History of E gyp t : “T he modern world has ye t adequately to value,or even acquaint itself with, this man, who in an age soremote and under conditions so adverse, became the world’sfirst individual.”

Documents

History of the Order Rosae Crucis by Dr. H. Spencer Lewis