The Rosicrucian Fellowship was founded by Carl Louis van Grashof (otherwise known as Max Heindel) in 1907. Grashof claimed that on a visit to Europe that year he had been initiated at a Rose Cross temple on the borders of Germany and Bohemia. In 1904 Grashof had been vice president of the Los Angeles lodge of the Theosophical Society, and had come to America from Germany nine years before that.
The Rose Cross Order was founded in 1958, developed from lectures given by Pascal Beverley Randolph, a spiritualist medium and self-styled Professor of Oriental Interior Science. There is also the Rosicrucian Society of England, the Societas Rosicruciana in Boston, the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis in Pennsylvania, the New Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, and many others. Today there are societies, fellowships, lodges, brotherhoods, and orders throughout the world. Some are secretive and hidden while others are open and active. Most are critical of each other, many claiming to be the only “true” Rosicrucianism.
Perhaps the best known—or most successful, commercially —is The Ancient and Mystic Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC), founded by H. Spencer Lewis in 1915. The majority of Rosicrucian organizations do not proselytize, but AMORC is a mainly commercial organization, advertising extensively in newspapers and magazines and offering correspondence courses. In 1915 Lewis placed an ad in a New York newspaper and so started the AMORC. As with so many others, he claimed to have received special knowledge and authorization to start his order from “Rosicrucian Masters.” He made himself the “Supreme Autocratic Authority, Imperator for North, Central, and South America, the British Commonwealth and Empire, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Africa.” On Lewis’s death in 1939, his son Ralph succeeded him.
There are degrees of advancement in AMORC: three basic degrees, which can be followed by nine “Temple” degrees. These last take the person to the exclusive Illuminati of the order. As with Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism is anathema to the Roman Catholic Church.
Great Seal of the American Supreme Council of AMORC
Official AMORC Rosicrucian Cross
The AMORC Alphabet
The following are some of the many symbols adopted by AMORC:
Pentagram of Faust
Four Kabalistic Names
Hermetic Rose Cross
The Hermetic Rose Cross, according to H. Spencer Lewis, symbolizes “all the majesty, power, beauty, and protection of the Rosicrucian Order.”
Great Seal of the Grand Master
Seal of the Supreme Secretary
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Runic
Rune, meaning “mystery” or “secret,” is the name given to an alphabet character found in all Germanic countries. It has been suggested that the runes derive from Greek, but recent evidence seems to support derivation from an Italic alphabet of Etruscan origin. Runes were found in third-century Scandinavia and in remote districts of Sweden down through modern times.
The earliest form of runes had 24 letters and was known as futhark, after the first six letters (“th” had a single rune). These 24 were divided into three groups of eight runes, each group known as an aett or aettir (Scandinavian meaning “number of eight”). The three groups were named after three Norse gods: Freyr, Hagal, and Tyr. Every individual rune had a name and these names were known and recorded in ancient Anglo-Saxon manuscripts.
Mythology tells that the great Norse god Odin hung from the Tree of the World, Yggdrasil, for nine days and nights, pierced by a spear. He hung there as a self-sacrifice. At the end of that time, just before he fell, he was able to reach out and grasp the runes, bringing humankind the gift of learning.
Ralph H. Blum, in The Healing Runes, says that “from its very inception, runic writing was not primarily utilitarian, and that the evidence of its sacred function is found first in the bonding of secular letters with the pre-runic symbols employed in pagan Germanic rites and religious practices and, even more dramatically, in their association with the Germanic gods, thereby situating the runic alphabet at the very heart of the old German religion.”7 As he points out, to the Pagan everything in nature was alive. Hence, stones and wood were carved to serve as runes for casting, since they embodied the sacred.
Over the centuries runes have been used to foresee the future and to protect, heal, curse, and invoke the gods. They have been used in medicine, magic, and war. They have also been used simply as writing, albeit as magical inscriptions. (See also the chapter on Magical Alphabets.)
Although used for a relatively brief period on the western Germanic continent, the runes were used for many centuries in Britain. New letters were added, giving a total of 28. This increased again in the ninth century, in Northumbria, to 33 runes. The opposite took place in Scandinavia, with the number of runes dropping from 24 to 16. This was due to the same rune being used for a number of different sounds. There were also variations on the runes; the Swedish-Norwegian, for example, differing slightly from the Danish. There is also the Hälsinge version of the runes, named for the region of Hälsingland where they were first found. They seem to be a sort of runic shorthand. By the eleventh century, Norway was using a mixture of Swedish-Norwegian and Danish runes. The Danish, meanwhile, had followed the lead of the Anglo-Saxons and placed an i inside a u to make a y. Out of the i they made a special letter for e, and out of the k a special letter for g.
Germanic Runes
Germanic
Scandinavian Runes
Danish
Swedish-Norwegian
Anglo-Saxon Runes
Ruthwell
Anglo-Saxon Runes (continued)
Vienna
Anglo-Saxon Runes (continued)
Thames
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7. Ralph H. Blum, The Healing Runes (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995).
Shinto
Shinto is a relative newcomer to Japan, with many of its practices and ideas imported from China and Korea. Before the end of the nineteenth century, the honoring of ancestors in Japan was done at Buddhist temples. It was the ending of the Shoguns—supreme military commanders commissioned by early Japanese emperors, who later developed into de facto rulers or administrators of the country—that brought about the introduction of a National or State Shinto. Today, almost every town and village in Japan has Shinto shrines along with Buddhist temples.
The Shinto shrines are frequently located in beautiful, natural surroundings, with an approach path and with the distinctive torii, the entrance gateways. Spirit entities are known as kami. The shrines are residences for the kami. They are not places for the gathering of people to worship; they are simply the home of the kami. Anyone may enter a shrine. Before they may enter, visitors must rinse out their mouths and rinse their hands with water from a special trough of running water. Only the priests may enter the inner hall, where the kami dwell. To ask the gods for favor, supplicants write their desires on wooden prayer tablets and hang them in the shrine.
Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism have all contributed to Shinto. Festivals are popular and elaborate, with processions, contests, dances, and entertainment of all sorts. Many of the festivals contain vestiges of earlier agricultural celebrations. There are several thousand festivals, known as matsuri.
In Shinto mythology, two divinities (Izanagi and Izanami) created the world and gave birth to a sun goddess, Amateratsu, who is the ancestress of the Emperor. She is the principal deity. Her sister was Tsukiyomi, goddess of the Moon. The main shrine at Ise is dedicated to Amateratsu. Other deities include storm and thunder deities, rain gods, gods of the wind, earthquake gods, river gods, sea gods, gods of rocks and stones, and many more.
Many of the Japanese symbols are taken from family crests, known as mons, most of which are made up of simple lines frequently arranged in inter
twining artistic patterns.
Kame, the Tortoise of Longevity
Tsuru, the Crane of Good Luck
Scythes
Fans
Scrolls
Forms
Gateway
The gateway to a Shinto shrine is known as a torii. The ends of the horizontal bars are said to be reaching toward heaven.
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Sikh
Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak, in India, in the fifteenth century. It is a monotheistic religion with a “formless god.” Sikhism teaches a need to meditate on the Divine Name (Wahaguru). The believer should strive for union with the deity through hard work and by sharing what he has with others. Central to the Sikh faith is the concept of service; thus Sikhs are encouraged to overcome selfish desires. After Guru Nanak came nine other gurus, most of them remembered for their writings. The holy book containing the writings of the ten gurus is called the Guru Granth Sahib, and is written in the Punjabi language, in Gurmukhi script.
Nishan Sahib
The emblem on the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh flag, is made up of a double-edged sword, two scimitars, and a quoit, or circular throwing blade.
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Travelers
Travelers include the Romani or Roma (Gypsies), Irish tinkers (who are quite separate and distinct from Gypsies), hobos, and other nomadic and homeless peoples.
The Roma originated in northern India, being driven out of that area by a succession of invading armies in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Thousands of these people moved westward and, over the centuries, dispersed across Europe, Asia, and eventually all around the world. By the fourteenth century they were in Rumania and Yugoslavia; by the beginning of the fifteenth century they had reached England. With their dark coloring and bright clothing, many believed them to be descendants of the ancient Egyptians and, in fact, came to call them Egyptians. This then was shortened to Gyptians, and, finally, to Gypsies.
From the start the Roma were constantly moving on; no country wanted to be overwhelmed by the itinerants. They were prosecuted, persecuted, banished, and constantly abused. Yet they survived. They made their living as best they could, living by their wits and, for survival, taking advantage of the weaknesses of their persecutors. To help avoid persecution, the Roma would adopt the religion of the local people, outwardly practicing it while inwardly continuing their own Pagan beliefs.
The Irish tinkers were itinerant Travelers who already existed before the arrival of the true Roma. They were nomads who made a living by performing a variety of trades, including peddling, tin-smithing, and horse-trading. Their language is known as Cant, while the Roma language is Romanes. There has, however, been an adoption of various words, one into the other, over the years; Romanes words appear in Cant, and Cant words in Romanes.
There is often a blending of the signs and symbols used by Travelers since, for example, hobos have picked up a lot of the Gypsy sign language. These signs, often scrawled in chalk or scratched with a stone outside a dwelling, are left to advise others of the reception that might be expected at the house. The signs may be left for Gypsies selling wares, by hobos begging handouts, and/or by tinkers selling services.
Warning Signs
Owner has a gun
Dishonest person
Dangerous dog
Unsafe
Be prepared to defend yourself
You will be beaten
Afraid
All right; Okay
Doubtful
Don’t give up
Cautionary Signs
Keep quiet
Well-guarded house
Dog
Halt
Go
Judge lives here
Kindhearted woman
Woman alone
Cautionary Signs (continued)
Gentleman
Officer
Jail
Information Signs
Telephone
Railroad
Trolley
You may camp here
Information Signs (continued)
Safe camp
Tell pitiful story
These people will care for you if sick
Religious people
Very good
In
Out
Spoiled
Information Signs (continued)
Nothing
Here
Wealthy person
Doctor lives here
Here are some other signs and symbols used by the Romani on talismans and magical items and as decoration:
Wheel, for wealth
Horseshoe, for luck
Seven-pointed star, for long life and protection
Health
Love
Protection
Power
Along with these actual marked signs, the Roma employ what is known as patrin. This is another form of sign language, usually used when traveling to indicate the path taken by a leading individual or group. At a crossroads, for example, a tuft of grass may be tied into a knot alongside the road taken. Stones may be moved to form a pattern, or simply an arrow, to indicate a direction. Branches, or the twigs of bushes, may be broken or bent to give an indication of where a forward group has gone, or other information such as the time of day that spot was passed. From the latter, the following group would know how far ahead the leading individual or group was likely to be.
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Voudoun
Voudoun is a polytheistic religion that was brought from Africa to the Caribbean by the slaves at the end of the seventeenth century. It originated in the kingdom of Dahomey, in West Africa. Spelled, variously, voodoo, voodoun, vodu, vodun, vaudou, etc., originally these were terms applied to deities in Dahomey.
In Voudoun it is believed that humans have a material body that is animated by a soul or spirit known as an esprit or a gros-bon-ange. This spirit lives on after death. The spirit can temporarily take possession of a living person if the spirit has developed to the point of becoming a loa, a divinity. Such possession usually takes place during a formal ritual.
In the early days of slavery, the Roman Catholic Church exerted heavy pressure to try to stamp out all vestiges of this Pagan religion. In order to stay alive, Voudoun disguised itself by associating Voudoun gods and goddesses, known as the loa, with the Catholic saints. To the Christian priests, local family altars appeared to be Catholic shrines honoring the saints; to the householders, they were purely Voudoun altars.
Seeing the power of the Church, the Voudoun followers adopted some of its liturgy, hoping thereby to gain some of its power. In Voudoun ceremonies, therefore, paternosters and Ave Marias can be heard, blending in with the native rituals.
The Voudoun loa are made up of a large number of deities mixed in with ancestral spirits. Certain of the loa, however, are especially important. These are referred to as the Rada deities; the others being the Petro deities. The Petro have acquired something of a bad reputation and are frequently associated with the darker side of Voudoun magic. The Rada deities are guardians offering protection, while the Petro are more stern and less forgiving. The Rada deities can, and do, punish those who do not give them proper honor, but they do n
ot punish as severely as the Petro. Differences can be heard in the ritual drumming. Most of the Rada drumming and dancing is done on the beat while that for the Petro is done off beat.
The object of Voudoun rituals is to commune with one of the loa. There is closeness between the worshippers and their deities, such that the people believe they may speak directly to an individual god or goddess, albeit while the deity is possessing, or “riding,” the body of another worshipper (the worshippers think of themselves as “horses” for the gods). To this end, a specific design is drawn on the ground to indicate, and draw, the desired loa. These designs are known as vevers.
Voudoun worship takes place in a sanctuary known as a humfo. These vary in size, but are simple buildings divided into rooms. The largest room, usually in the center, is known as the peristyle, and it is there that the major ceremonies are held. Some humfos have the peristyle as a separate building, often open at the sides with a roof supported by posts. It is often circular in plan with the main altar in the center, built around the center post or poteau-mitan. Leading off from the peristyle there may be a number of smaller altar areas. There is usually one room set aside for Erzulie, the “Aphrodite” of the loa. This room would contain a large brass bed, a dressing table with an ample selection of makeup and beauty aids, and a closet filled with beautiful clothes.
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