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The Rosicrucian Fellowship - "An International Association of Christian Mystics" - was founded in 1909/11 by Max Heindel as herald of the Aquarian Age and with the aim of promulgating the Rosicrucian teachings of the Mystery School of the West, the invisible Rosicrucian Order (which, according to Max Heindel, is an Order in the inner worlds formed in the year 1313 and having no direct connection to physical organizations which call themselves by this name). The Rosicrucian Fellowship conducts Spiritual Healing Services and offers correspondence courses in Esoteric Christianity Philosophy, Spiritual Astrology, and Bible Interpretation. Its headquarters are located in Mount Ecclesia, Oceanside (California), in the United States, and its students are found throughout the world organized in centers and study groups.

Origins & foundation

In 1908 its founder, Max Heindel, was reported to have been chosen and prepared by the Elder Brothers of the Rosicrucian Order to reveal the teachings of the Rosicrucian Philosophy, the Western Wisdom Teachings Article: The Birth of the Rosicrucian Fellowship. In November 1909 these teachings were printed in The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception and were subsequently developed in other books, lectures and lessons. Heindel also founded a Christian Esoteric magazine titled Rays from the Rose Cross in June 1913.

The Rosicrucian Fellowship's Article: Complete Historical Notes on The Rosicrucian Fellowship formal constitution occurred in August 8 1909, at Seattle, Washington. It is described that, during the simple ceremony, the Brothers of the Rose Cross manifested their presence.

Later, in October 28 1911, its international headquarters, till today, were physically launched at Mount Ecclesia in the city of Oceanside, California. The ceremony of ground-breaking consisted in planting a large Cross with the initials C.R.C. (meaning Christian Rose Cross, the Head of the Rosicrucian Order) painted in gilt letters on the three upper ends and with a climbing rose. Among those gathered at the ceremony, there were reported three invisible leaders, beyond the stage of ordinary humanity, and nine members of the Rosicrucian Fellowship.

The Healing Temple "The Ecclesia" was erected, for the purpose of affording more powerful means for the healing of disease, and dedicated on December 25, 1920. Spiritual Healing meetings are held in this holy place at a regular time each day by the Probationers who have consecrated their lives to this work.

The Rosicrucian Philosophy is Christian and claims to present the mysteries (esoteric knowledge) which the Christ spoke of in Matthew 13:11 and Luke 8:10. It seeks to prepare the individual through harmonious development of the mind (occultist) and the heart (mystic) in a spirit of unselfishness service to mankind and an all-embracing altruism. Max Heindel states that Christian Rosenkreuz has the mission "to prepare a new phase of the Christian religion to be used during the coming age now at hand, for as the world and man evolve so also must religion change" Article: The Rosicrucian Interpretation of Christianity.

The Rosicrucian Fellowship has never been affiliated with the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC.

Western Wisdom Teachings

Life as a School: doctrine of Rebirth and Law of Cause and Consequence

These teachings advocate the dualistic view: on one hand, they hold that man is a Spirit enfolding all the powers of God and that these powers are being slowly unfolded by a series of existences in a gradually improving earthy body; on the other hand, that this process of development has been performed under the guidance of exalted Beings who are yet ordering our steps, though in a decreasing measure, as man gradually acquires intellect and will.

Man is then seen as a Spirit attending the school of life for the purpose of unfolding latent spiritual power, and that for this purpose he lives many lives in earthly bodies, "Rebirth" Diagram: An Average Human Life Cycle, of increasingly fine texture which enable him to express himself better and better (improving also his character). Connected to Rebirth there is the "Law of Cause and Consequence" - the most fundamental law in human destiny, that it is not a static law - through which we constantly set new causes into operation which will create new destiny to balance and improve the old destiny brought from the past, it teaches that all the causes set into action in one life cannot be ripen in one existence, but "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap".

Evolution

According to the Rosicrucian Philosophy, also known as Mystic Christianity, the evolution of man, in our present Great Day of Manifestation, is divided into seven Periods Diagram: The 777 Incarnations:

  • involution: the Saturn Period, the Sun Period, the Moon Period;
  • the Earth Period (fisthalf was still involution, secondhalf is towards evolution);
  • evolution: the Jupiter Period, the Venus Period, the Vulcan Period.
According to it, we are presently in the secondhalf of the Earth Period: we have just passed the end of our involution and are beginning our evolution, or the spiritualization of matter and our return to God our Father.

In this scheme of evolution, Christ is the highest Initiate of the Sun Period. This means that this Initiate, Christ, has completed His union with the Second aspect of God, or WISDOM. According to Mystic Christianity, the three Aspects of God are WILL, WISDOM and ACTIVITY. The entity we call the Father, has completed His union with the First aspect of God, WILL; then comes the Son, also called Christ; then Jehovah, the Highest Initiate of the Moon Period, who has completed His union with the Third aspect of God, or ACTIVITY Diagram: The Vehicles of the Highest Initiates & Ordinary Humanity.

The Seven Worlds & the Seven Cosmic Planes

The seven-fold constitution of Man (see below) is related to the Seven worlds, each one more subtle and interpenetrating in a concentric way the preceding one; some of them are related to the planet and the higher ones to the whole solar system Diagram: The Seven Worlds:

  • The World of God
  • The World of Virgin Spirits
  • The World of Divine Spirit, related to the Ego's Divine Spirit aspect
  • The World of Life Spirit, related to the Ego's Life Spirit aspect; home of the Christ; higher Memory of Nature (events from the earliest dawn of our present manifestation, open only to Adepts and higher Spiritual Beings)
  • The World of Thought, the world of tone
    • Region of Abstract Thought, related to the Ego's Human Spirit aspect; the "Third heaven" state of consciousness; Germinal idea(s)
    • Region of Concrete Thought, related to the Mind; the "Second heaven" state of consciousness; Archetypes; Memory of Nature in the highest subdivision (covering the essence of a whole life or event); ocean of harmony: the Music of the Spheres
"The Great Silence"
  • The Desire World, the world of color; related to the Desire body Diagram: Currents in the Desire Body; home of the Archangels; the abode of deceased persons, for some time subsequent to the event of death.
    • higher regions, Attraction, the "First heaven" state of consciousness
    • intermediate region, Interest and Indifference
    • lower regions, Repulsion, the "Purgatory" state of consciousness
  • The Physical World
    • Etheric Region, related to the Vital body; home of the Angels (seen as being one step beyond the human stage, as humans are a degree in advance of the animal evolution); Memory of Nature in the reflecting ether (pictures at least several hundred years back or much more in some cases, almost as the pictures on a screen, scene shifts backward)
    • Chemical Region, the physical Earth as perceived through the five senses enhanced by the current technological equipment; the material world is considered to be a reverse reflection of the Spiritual worlds Diagram: The Material World a Reverse Reflection of the Spiritual Worlds.

The Seven Worlds are planes of evolution of the Solar systems which constitute the seventh Cosmic Plane; there are six superior Cosmic Planes, possibly each one of them with a different and larger structural and dynamic expression in the physical Universe Diagram: The Supreme Being, the Seven Cosmic Planes, and God.

The Seven-fold constitution of Man

It also teaches that man is a complex being who possesses:

  • a Dense Body, which is the visible instrument he uses here in this world to fetch and carry (the body we ordinarily think of as the whole man);
  • a Vital Body, which is made of Ether and pervades the visible body as ether permeates allother forms, except that human beings specialize a greater amount of the universal ether than other forms (that ethereal body is our instrument for specializing the vital energy of the sun and it is seen by clairvoyant vision to extend about an inch and a half outside our visible body);
  • a Desire body, which is our emotional nature and this finer vehicle pervades both the vital and dense bodies (it is seen by clairvoyant vision to extend about 16 inches outside our visible body, which is located in the center of this ovoid cloud as the yolk is in the center of an egg);
  • the Mind, which functions like a mirror, reflects the outer world and enables the Ego to transmit its commands as thought and word, and also to compel action.

On the other hand, it teaches the Ego is the threefold Spirit, the God Within, which uses these vehicles to gather experience in the school of life. The three aspects of the Spirit are:

  • the Human Spirit aspect, which has emanated from itself the desire body.
  • the Life Spirit aspect, which has emanated from itself the vital body;
  • the Divine Spirit aspect, which has emanated from itself the dense body.

The "Astral body" (Soul body)

According to the Western Wisdom Teachings, the term "Astral body" - a vehicle made of ether (from the Vital body), which is lighter than air and therefore capable of levitation - was employed by the mediaeval Alchemists, because of the ability it conferred upon the one who has it to traverse the "starry" regions. The Astral body should not to be confounded with the Desire body: during the soul flights the desire body molds itself readily into this prepared matrix; when the individual returns to the physical body, the effort of will whereby he enters it automatically dissolves the intimate connection between the desire body and the soul body. The Astral body is also known as the 'Soul body', the 'Golden Wedding Garment', the 'Philosopher's Stone', or the 'Living Stone', spoken of in some of the ancient philosophies as the 'Diamond Soul' ("for it is luminous, lustrous, and sparkling--a priceless gem"), and will eventually be evolved by humanity as a whole.

The Ten-fold constitution of Man

The human being is seen as a threefold Spirit, possessing a Mind, by means of which he governs the threefold Body. This threefold body he transmutes into a threefold Soul, upon which he nourishes himself from impotence into omnipotence Diagram: The Tenfold constitution of Man:

  • Conscious Soul, extracted as pabulum from the Dense body (which was emanated from the Divine Spirit aspect)
  • Intellectual Soul, extracted as pabulum from the Vital body (which was emanated from the Life Spirit aspect)
  • Emotional Soul, extracted as pabulum from the Desire body (which was emanated from the Human Spirit aspect)

Death as a Birth

As the physical body is a vehicle which the Spirit uses to gain experience in this school day of life, death is but a passing of the Spirit into a larger sphere: a birth, which should be prepared for with the greatest care. At the end of this life the Ego must assimilate what it has experienced. At what is called death the Spirit withdraws with the two higher vehicles, which are tied to the etheric and physical bodies by a slender cord: the silver cord which the Bible speaks of in the 12th chapter of Ecclesiastes.

At death the desire and mental bodies leave the physical, taking with them but one permanent atom, which during life was deposited within the left ventricle of the heart. This atom, like the negative film of the camera, has been impressed with all the experiences of the life just ended. At death the force of this atom leaves the body and all these impressions are transferred from the vital (etheric) body (which is the storehouse of these experiences) into the desire body, which then forms the basis of the man or woman's life in purgatory and the first heaven. This transfer is done by the Spirit during the first three and one-half days after the rupture of the connection between the seed atom and the heart, ordinarily known as death: death is not complete until this transfer has been accomplished. During this time sensation is still present, and the Spirit suffers through inharmonious surroundings (including postmortem examination and embalming) Article: The Rosicrucian Method of Caring for the Dead.

the Cosmic Christ and the Christ Within

According to the Rosicrucian Philosophy, the Bible Teaching enables us to become aware of the fact that Christ must be born within. There is a very clear distinction between the Christ which is born within us, our true Saviour, and the Cosmic Christ, that is to say the Christ without. The Christ without, or the Cosmic Christ, helps us in the task of having Christ born within; however, it is our task to form the Christ within. The Christ within, or Soul body, is the vehicle mankind will need to live in the Sixth Epoch or New Galilee Heindel, Max, How Shall We Know Christ at His Coming?, May 1913 (stenographic report of a lecture, Los Angeles), ISBN 0-911274-64-2.

Heindel's occult and mystic writings

Max Heindel, the founder of The Rosicrucian Fellowship, suffering a severe heart condition and with an adverse financial situation, but with an indomitable will and great energy, was able to accomplish the great work for the Brothers of the Rose Cross. With the help, support and inspiration of his wife Augusta Foss, to whom in August 1910 he was joined in marriage, he gave successful teaching lectures; he sent correspondence lessons to the students, who formed groups in many of the larger cities and he wrote volumes which are translated into many languages all over the world:

  • The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, first edition in 1909 (ISBN 0-911274-34-0) www
  • The Rosicrucian Christianity Lectures (ISBN 0-911274-84-7) www
  • The Rosicrucian Philosophy in Questions and Answers - Volume I (ISBN 0-9112-74-89-8) www
  • The Rosicrucian Philosophy in Questions and Answers - Volume II (ISBN 0-911274-90-1) www
  • The Rosicrucian Mysteries (ISBN 0-911274-86-3) www a review
  • Letters to Students (ISBN 0-911274-09-X) www
  • Gleanings of a Mystic (ISBN 0-911274-87-1) www
  • Mysteries of the Great Operas (ISBN 0-911274-88-X) www
  • Teachings of an Initiate (ISBN 0-911274-19-7) www
  • Ancient and Modern Initiation (ISBN 0-911274-82-0) www
  • The Web of Destiny (ISBN 0-911274-17-0) www
  • Freemasonry and Catholicism (ISBN 0-911274-04-9) www
  • The Vital Body (ISBN 0911274-16-2) www
  • The Desire Body (ISBN 0-911274-03-0) www
  • The Rosicrucian Principles of Child Training (ISBN 0-911274-62-6) www
  • How Shall We Know Christ at His Coming? (ISBN 0-911274-64-2) www
  • The Mystical Interpretation of Christmas (ISBN 0-911274-65-0) www
  • The Mystical Interpretation of Easter (ISBN 0-911274-69-3) www
  • Nature Spirits and Nature Forces (ISBN 0-911274-70-7) www
  • The Message of the Stars (ISBN 0-911274-18-9) www
  • Simplified Scientific Astrology (ISBN 0-911274-01-4) www
  • Astro-Diagnosis - A Guide to Healing (ISBN 0-911274-06-5) www
  • Occult Principles of Health and Healing (ISBN 0-911274-81-2) www
  • Blavatsky and The Secret Doctrine, from his 1905/6 lectures (edited 1933; Introduction by Manly Palmer Hall) www, an addendum

Rosicrucian mission

It is referred that the mission of the Rosicrucian Order (Western Mystery School), working through The Rosicrucian Fellowship, is to promulgate a scientific method of development suited particularly to the Western people where by this wedding garment may bewrought, so that mankind may hasten the day of the Lord Article: Eastern and Western Spiritual Alternatives.

References

See also

External links

1909 establishments | Esoteric Christianity | Rosicrucianism | Astrology | Esoteric schools of thought | Fraternal and service organizations

Rosicrucian Fellowship | Fraternidad Rosacruz | Rose-Croix#La Rosicrucian Fellowship | Rosicrucian Fellowship | Fraternidade Rosacruz (Max Heindel)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Rosicrucian Fellowship".

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