Rosicrucianism 
                                      Julia Phillips

              Esoteric Legend: the Rosicrucians were founded by Pharoah Thothmes
          III  in the fifteenth century  BC. The Holy  Roman Emperor Charlemagne
          was said  to have founded a  Rosicrucian lodge at Toulouse  in the 9th
          century AD, and in 898 AD a second lodge was founded. Around 1000 AD a
          group of  heretical Catholic  monks established the  first Rosicrucian
          college  which flourished  until the  16th century.  It has  also been
          claimed that the Brotherhood of the Rose Cross was founded by Templars
          after their order was disbanded by Pope Clement.

              Historical story: The Fama Fraternitatis appeared in 1614 (written
          in 1610), describing the foundation and purpose of the Society (Broth-
          erhood) of the  Rose Cross. This  related that a  Father CRC, born  in
          1378, a German, poor but from a rich and noble family, made a pilgrim-
          age  to Jerusalem.  He remained  at  Damascus through  ill-health, and
          studied there. He later travelled  to Damcar, where he was trained  by
          the Arabs, and translated the book  "M" into the Latin tongue. He then
          travelled to  Fez, and after  two years to  Spain, where meeting  with
          ridicule, he returned to Germany.

              After five years he calledthree of his bretheren to him,bound them
          by an oath, and then founded the "Fraternity of the  Rose Cross". They
          later initiated another four  members, and decided to spread  the word
          to other  countries. Their by-laws were that they should heal the sick
          without  charge; wear the clothes  of the country  they visited; every
          year upon a certain date should meet, or be represented, in the "House
          of the Holy Spirit"; each  should search for a worthy replacement  for
          when  he dies;  that the letters  R.C. would  be their  mark; that the
          Order would  remain secret for  100 years. It  was later also  decided
          that burial places would be kept a secret.

              It is known thatJohann Valentin Andreae, a Germantheologian, wrote
          at least one of the so-called Rosicrucian documents, but  how much can
          be laid at his door  is not known. It is also an esoteric legend (with
          some  grounds in  fact)  that whilst  an  historical character  called
          Andraea did in fact exist, that the Rosicrucian writings attributed to
          that  person were  in fact the  work of  Sir Francis  Bacon. The three
          major objects of the Rosicrucian Fraternity are:

              1)  The abolition of all  monarchical forms of  government and the
          substitution therefor of the rulership of the philosophic elect. (This
          demonstrates that  the Rociscrucians  are, in fact,  Platonic, despite
          their proclaiming themselves Christians.)

              2) The reformation of science,philosophy and ethics. (Materialarts
          and sciences are shadows of the divine wisdom; only by penetrating the
          mysteries of nature can man attain reality and understanding.)

              3)  The discovery of the  Universal Medicine, or  panacea, for all
          forms of disease.
           
              In 1646 Elias Ashmoleand astrologer William Lilly foundeda Rosicr-
          ucian lodge in London  based upon a utopian ideal of the creation of a
          new Atlantis.

                                                                            1742