HISTORY
Founding of the Order:
From the 18th century to our modern era, South-Western France has played an important role in the world of Hermetism. It was the birthplace of famous religious currents which were derived from the Gnosticism, Occult Freemasonry side-degrees (degrees above the 3rd degree in Freemasonry) and several Rosicrucian and Kabbalistic schools.
This area remained the incontrovertible place of origin of the Western Initiatic societies.
The Rose-Cross first emerged in Germany, but it really appeared almost simultaneously in Paris, where everyone began to put posters on the walls of the city advertising the birth of this new society. Many people became interested in this new current and began to walk the path of initiation
The Rose-Cross tradition came out of the reformation of Catholicism and developed into a tradition founded on a mixture of symbolism, mystical alchemy and Theurgy. One may see these influences in some of the foundational texts of the Order: The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz (Rose-Cross), and The Manifesto of the Rose-Cross. (For a more complete presentation on this topic, you may want to do further research on the history of The Rose-Cross on the pages related to the topic on our web site).
It is obvious to us from any modern historical review of the period that the Rose-Cross current emerged and flourished in the southwest of France during the mid 1800’s. The Viscount Louis-Charles-Edouard de Lapasse (1792-1867), who was a physician and a student of esotericism at that time, organized the movement in Toulouse around the year 1850. The subjects of Hermetism and Occultism were common topics studied at meetings at that time; The esoteric nature of the writings of Lapasse is attested to by a later student of esoteric studies: Simon Brugal (whose true name was Firmin Boissin). Boissin lived from 1835-1893 and he wrote commentaries on the works of Lapasse that have survived to our modern era.
The Rosicrucian currents of that era encouraged a meeting between the mystical and symbolic German tradition and the currents of Hermetic Science that were alive and active in the Mediterranean region. This merging of the French and German currents during that period helps us to understand why Spencer Lewis later utilized an Egyptian orientation when he founded the AMORC (which is a Rosicrucian fellowship that is still extant), after he was initiated in a Rosicrucian circle in Toulouse. The Rose-Cross Order that we are referring to in this passage focused on the utilization of operative rituals, alchemy, astrology, and a specific form of Theurgy as the foundational practices of their Order.
The Rose-Cross was (of course) independent from Freemasonry groups, but the larger part of its members were Freemasons. The Freemason members created separate groups which had a clear hermetic, kabbalistic and Egyptian orientation . The body of works studied and practised by the members of this occult fraternity were prudently not revealed as such (as being comprised of Egyptian and other currents) to the public. We find some traces in Masonic rituals of side-degrees in the XVIII° century and in the writings of Lapasse and Jollivet Castelot.
Historians and authors, who were witnesses to the external evidence of these currents, often located and wrote about whatever evidence they uncovered in the larger world which they believed proved the existence of the undercurrents of hermetic thought and study in underground currents and teachings hidden from common sight. However these authors did not always see the relationship among the currents, because the authors did not have access to one of the most important aspects of Hermetic science and practice: the oral transmission of information and the inner rites requiring direct contact between initiates whereby they transmitted their research and knowledge. The Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross is directly linked to this original heritage. It is one of the rare Orders to have preserved a great number of the inner and practical rites that make up the foundation of the essential Rosicrucian Traditional teachings and practical workings.
Stanislas
de Guaita
In 1884 the Marquis Stanislas de Guaita read a book written by Joséphin Péladan entitled "The Supreme Vice". Attracted by the mysticism of Péladan, he came into contact with Josephin and with his brother Adrian Péladan, who was linked to a Rose-Cross Order of Toulouse directed by Firmin Boissin. Through these contacts Stanislas de Guaita received the transmission of the Hermetic current of the Rose-Cross, a large part of their teachings and he also received a life-mission. He received the charge to form a new Order, utilizing the authentic Rose-Cross initiation, along with a theoretical education of quality which was to be centered on the traditional sciences, the works of the classical authors as well as a precise, serious and rigorous ritual progression and practice.
Part of his mission included the condition that the only aspects which were to remain visible to the public were the teachings and studies which had been greatly neglected in these previous occult groups.
Immediately after this formation and transmission, Stanislas de Guaita, then very young, wrote several books about occultism.
In 1888 Stanislas de Guaita, who was then 27 years old, founded "The Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross" at the direction of the Supreme Council, which was composed of twelve members, six of them remaining unknown to ensure that the Order would be able to be resuscitated “in the event of the death of its members”.
The date of its founding was not randomly selected. At the origin. the Fraternity of the Rose+Cross followed a cyclic pattern of 111 years of activity and 111 years of quiescence. The date was chosen to perfectly agree with that timing.
Thus, the previous system had been reorganized in 1777. Stanislas de Guaita, according to the directives he received from the Supreme Council, exteriorized the founding, (that is, he publicly founded the Order in 1888, as mentioned above).
Among the known members of the order he founded we may note: Stanislas de Guaita, the first Grand-Master; PAPUS (Gerard Encausse) restorer of Martinism; Joséphin Péladan who separated in 1890 to found his own Order of the Rose+Cross, which was primarily centered on aesthetic research.
The
Masters of the Order:
Papus (as part of the OKRC) immediately attracted the most influential European Occultists of the time, such as: Paul Adam [ 1862-1920 ], Jollivet-Castelot, August Reichel, the Alta Abbot (whose true name was Calixte Mélinge (1842-1933), cleaned (This sounds like it should be a name or title. The word cleaned does not seem to fit). of Morigny, in the diocese of Versailles, who replaced Péladan), François-Charles Barlet (pseudonym of Albert Faucheux 1838-1921) one of the founders of the Theosophic company in France, Marc Haven (Dr. Lalande) [ 1868-1926 ], Edouard Blitz, August Strindberg [ 1849-1912 ], Gabron and Thoron, Victor Blanchard (Sar Yesir) [ - 1953 ], Spencer Lewis, Lucien Chamuel, Paul Sedir (Yvon the Wolf) [ 1871-1926 ], Pierre Augustin Chaboseau, Victor-Emile Michelet and many other well-known figures.
Papus, as a witness and participant in the birth of other British Rose+Croix currents of origin (Such as the Golden Dawn), wrote this about the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross :
The Rose+Cross movement would have continued in silence, and been isolated from other initiatory organizations, if foreign occultists had not claimed to bring it out off France which was a the place of birth of the Western traditions - at its origins, to involve it in a movement which was to change the axis of gravitation of esotericism; to place the center of gravity of the movement outside of Paris [... ] It would have been a sacrilege to allow the work of the Masters of the Occident to be destroyed. Thus, it was decided (high up in the organization) that a movement of diffusion would be undertaken, which was intended to select by work and by examination those initiates who would be able to adapt the esoteric tradition to the century that lay before them."
Paradoxically, we know little about the Order. The rituals remained unknown to the majority, and one may even, at times doubt the nature of its initiatory structure. (We will speak about this point below).
Regarding the more well known aspects of the Order, their studies, the members of the Order learned the works of Eliphas Lévi, Bulwer-Lytton [ 1803-1873 ], Fabre d`Olivet, Wronsky, Jacob Böhme, Emmanuel Swedenborg, Martinez de Pasqually and Louis Claude of Martin Saint. All these men were great mystics and esoterists. They contributed substantially to the dissemination of vital information and spirituality, which would otherwise have been lost.
The following generations of French and European occultists perpetuating the initiatory traditions and of the mysteries of Occident were largely influenced by this unique school. Such was also the case (for example) for Saint-Yves d`Alveydre [ 1842-1909 ] and his concept of "Synarchy" and for Rudolph Steiner.
It may thus been seen, in summary that The Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross was the continual inspiration of generations of new Western spiritual currents. It is interesting to notice that the majority of the representatives of the Order accepted the mission of creating a school which was related in a unique and invisible way to the traditional mother school whence it was derived.
This bring us to a paradox, which is in the purest tradition of the Occident. In this paradox we witness a primarily cultural and spiritual visibility of the Order, in contrast to a near complete secrecy regarding the rites that have been perfectly preserved by its initiates, in conjunction with their traditions and high quality ritual training.
It is in this spirit that the Order was built and be transmitted at the same time on a level external and interior or occult within the Invisible College of the six brothers of the Order and the Grand Patriarch Rose-Cross directing this group.
The external Grand Masters of the Order after de Guaita were:
* François Charles Barlet (Albert Faucheux) [from 1897 to? ]
* Gerald Encausse (Papus) [from? to 1916]
* Charles Detre (Teder) [from 1916 to 1918 ]
* Jean Bricaud (In 1922 Bricaud created an international occultist society, with the doctor Joseph Ferrua in connection with Jollivet-Castelot.)
The direction occults Order:
It is interesting to understand how this representation and succession functioned. The external Grand-Master was a public representative of the Order acting under the control of the inner Order and the Grand Patriarch Rose-Cross which was the true occult direction of the Order. This external representative was not authorized to reveal anything of his own initiative. This operating mode is partly explained in the writings of Fabre d' Olivet. Until Bricaud, the Grand Patriarch Rose-Cross was at the same time the Grand-Master of the external Order.
Afterwards of him the external Order ceases existing as such, the tranmission of the Grand Masters is just honorific and joigned to some responsabilities in egyptian freemasonry, martinism and gnosticism.
It is easy to realize it, because the persons who refer to these names never have the knowledge of the initiation and the internal rites of the Order. Constant Chevillon and Robert Ambelain were the only ones to receive some outlines and techniques resulting from the Order interior and authorized to use them for the creation of the Orders of which they had the charge.
Regarding the inner Order, the succession was always transmitted in the same preoccupation with a requirement of the original Order Rose-Cross and in the area which had always been the birthplace of the Hermetism Rose-Cross: the South-west of France.
The Grand Patriarchs Rose-Cross:
Jean Bricaud at the same time Grand Patriarch Rose-Cross and external Grand Master of the Order transmitted the occult charge to L.-M. F. G. (1921), monk. J. B. was his successor and P. T. received the charge of Grand Patriarch Rose-Cross. It was after a martinist meeting his presence in 1986, that he gave his occult heritage and some ritual tools marking this transmission to the new Grand Patriarch Rose-Cross which was going to assume this charge, J.L. DE BIASI.
The martinists and Rose-cross symbols could again illuminate the altar of the past Masters of the Order.
But it was not the time yet to reactivated the Order. The cycle of 111 years was to be respected and applied. In 1999, the interior Order which been able to resume its occult works having to be held during 7 years. First the four years period was intended to awake Western hermetism and to express its presence like in the ancient times.
The Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross, vivified again by the hermetism, Rose-Cross and martinism can now open his chapters to begin its work as envisaged in 2006, traditional result of its externalization.
