The word “Rosicrucian” comes from the Latin “rosae crucis”. The term dates back to the first century, and symbolically denotes a Rose with Cross in the center. The Rosicrucians are probably not as ancient as that. Historically, they made a name for themselves via graffiti. In March 1623, the citizens of Paris awoke to discover the walls of the city adorned with many placards which read:
“We, the deputies of the principal College of the Brethren of the Rose-cross, have taken up our abode, visible and invisible, in this city, by the grace of the Most High, towards whom are turned the hearts of the just. We show and teach without books or signs, and speak all sorts of languages in the countries where we dwell, to draw mankind, our fellows, from error and from death.”
All well and good, but the Brethren of the Rose-cross turned out to be so secret or, perhaps, disorganised that no-one followed through with a recruitment campaign. The citizens of Paris talked about the episode for a month or two—one skeptic, intrigued by the invisibility claims, challenged the Rosicrucians to make his debts invisible. The Rosicrucians never stepped out of the shadows.
Little is known about the Rosicrucians prior to the Paris “teaser-campaign-without-a-punch-line”. It has been suggested that they derive their name from a different source; Christian Rosencreutz, a German philosopher, who did a tour of the Holy Land around 1400, where (it is said) he picked up secret Sufi knowledge which he brought back to Europe in order to, er, keep it secret. Some authorities claim that Rosencreutz didn’t actually exist, while others claim he started the “highly influential” Rosicrucian movement.
To wit: “Before their time, alchymy was but a grovelling delusion; and theirs is the merit of having spiritualised and refined it.” (maybe by introducing the correct spelling of the word).
In any event, by 1600, the Rosicrucians discovered the printing press. Michael Mayer, a celebrated physician of the day, published the organization’s “articles” in 1615, claiming that “they were destined to accomplish the general peace and regeneration of man before the end of the world arrived”.
Does that sound familiar or what?
And by the way, given that they’ve been at it for 400 years, at least, I’m beginning to wonder if they have the right formula. But they may have, given their alumni list. Leonardo Da Vinci and Isaac Newton were, naturally, members of this secret society in their day. At least Google thinks so (Da Vinci—Rosicrucians 25,000 hits, Newton—Rosicrucians 14,300 hits).
Very little is known of the Rosicrucians since then (clearly the marketing department died) until… well, the Rosicrucians suddenly re-emerged in San Jose, in the 1920s, throwing caution to the wind.
They founded a dangerously public organization called AMORC (Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis), built a park full of Egyptian statues and started selling membership subscriptions (currently $215 p.a.—just a little more than my quarterly mobile phone bill). These latter day Rosicrucians claim to have Egyptian origins that predate the Christian Rose Cross of the 1st century and they may have no relationship whatsoever to the Rosicrucians of the Middle Ages. Indeed, from the Surfin’ Safari perspective, they are a little disappointing—expressing no ambitions to introduce a new world order and take control at the “End of Times”.
Maybe they have such ambitions, but they’re keeping shtum.
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