Rosicrucian Beliefs

• The traditionally secretive nature of the Rosicrucian order -- and the numerous organizations who have used the Rosicrucian name -- make it difficult to talk in absolutes when it comes to defining Rosicrucian beliefs. However, the traditional Rosicrucian follows a spiritual path of love, tolerance and compassion. They also seek spiritual truth from an esoteric and spiritual realm they believe is unique to the Rosicrucian. If successful, this instills them with the ability to act with purity of heart, a clear direction and with selflessness. The enlightened individual (Rosicrucian) is dedicated to the advancement of humanity. Rosicrucians come from all religious backgrounds and are not expected to leave their church to join the order.
  
  

The Origins of the Rosicrucian Movement

• The teachings and beliefs of the first Rosicrucians are recorded in three books believed to have been written by a Lutheran teacher and theologian Johann Valentin Andreae (1568-1654). The three books -- the Fama Fraternitas of the Meritorius Order of the Rosy Cross (1614), the Confession of the Rosicrucian Fraternity (1615) and the Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosenkreuz (1616) -- follow the adventures of a man called Christian Rosenkreuz, who was once believed to be the founder of the Rosicrucian movement but who is now accepted as a fictional character. In the books Rosenkreuz was a 14th-century nomad who lived for 106 years and established the Rosicrucian order in Germany in 1403 after traveling to the Middle East and North Africa in search of secret wisdom.
  
  

The Rosicrucians Become Known

• The order was founded 120 years after Rosenkreuz's death in 1484, upon the alleged discovery of his tomb. The first Rosicrucian manifesto, Fama Fraternitatis, was published 10 years later. This bought the existence of the deeply secretive order to light for the first time. Rosicrucianism was at its height in the 17th century but declined in popularity in the 18th century with the advent of the Enlightenment and its rejection of the occult and mysticism. The Rosicrucian movement is often linked to Freemasonry but the orders have never had direct links with each other.
  
  

Rosicrucians Today

• The 19th century saw a rise in new Rosicrucian societies linked to a general revival in interest in the occult. The Rosicrucian Fraternity was founded in San Francisco in 1858 by spiritualist and abolitionist Pascal Beverly Randolph. The Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis was founded in 1915. The latter group exists to help its members connect "with a higher intelligence that was missing in their lives before" and is made up of members of all religions.