No More Secrets

This happened on January 13th and November 29th, 2009

Signs advertising lectures of the Lectorium Rosicrucianum, the Gnostic Christian order of the Rose-Cross, were plastered all over town. For years, I had wondered what they were up to. Weren’t they like an offshoot of the Freemasons, the people behind most conspiracy theories?

One day in January, I decided to find out. I had become bold after visiting a mosque and a presentation of Transcendental Meditation. I thought it couldn’t become any weirder than that and checked out their monthly plan. There was a lecture on the “two life fields”, the third part of a series, so I went.

What surprised me was that the Rosicrucians had their own building, right in the middle of my city. Their symbol, a triangle in a square in a circle, was next to the door. A friendly man invited me to come in and showed me the way upstairs. I took the elevator. There was a lady at the entrance who led me to the seminar room, a brightly lit white room that almost burned out my eyes.

I sat down and waited. It turned out that I was the only visitor that evening, so the four students of the Rose-Cross, all serious appearing people around 40 to 50 years old, sat around me and their apparent leader, the lady who had shown me in, red the lecture from some sheets of paper. I wasn’t able to take any notes in that situation and I couldn’t get a transcript without any problems, so here a short summary from my memory:

The world is made up of the beyond and the material world. Humans were banished from god to the material world because of the original sin, but still have a divine essence. Humans didn’t want to remain god’s reflections but wanted to become like god.

I asked whether that means that there are still humans that are with god, if only some committed the sin. The Rosicrucians said that that is still the case. It all sounded like out of some fantasy book I once read and I had to concentrate not to chuckle Which was really hard to do, because next came the Jesus-impulse, some kind of divine impulse god brought to earth I guess.

The lecture was over. I asked whether I could get more information and they told me this was part of a twelve-letter introduction. I could get the letters for twelve Euros, but not all at once. They would giver each letter to me only after such a lesson. I asked about other literature and they showed me some books. I flipped through them while they watched me. I found references to Alchemy and 19th century occultists like Helena Blavatsky and Rudolf Steiner. I sighed. “This thing about alchemy, is it meant metaphorically?” They agreed. I also learned that they have study centers in different countries. The Rosicrucians wouldn’t let me see their temple room, because it would only be opened for temple services. I was invited to come to one of the public services.

Before I left with the promise to return – I said I will never form an opinion about a group after just one visit – they gave me an issue of their magazine, Pentagramm.

 

If that's not a suspicious name for a magazine...

Half a year later, I had a look inside the magazine. The topics inside were not necessarily the same as on the cover. Was that symptomatic for the whole organization? And what was up with all those different Rosicrucian orders, all claiming to be the original ones?

I checked on the internet, when the next Temple-Service would be. So, ten months after my first visit, I returned, on a Sunday morning. The first thing I was told by the lady who had greeted me back then was that only the beginning would be public and that I had to leave then because they did something secret or private or whatever. Which of course made it even more interesting.

Once again I was led to the large room with the white walls, some plants, and light chairs with purple upholstery. There were maybe fifty people, sitting silently in this terribly bright room. Most were in their forties or older, I spotted maybe two people who might have been younger than me.

Suddenly, the lady said: “Dear guests, dear friends, the temple is open.” She sounded a bit insecure, as if something terrible waited for us there. Or maybe she just wasn’t a good public speaker. In any case, we slowly walked out into the hall again and up some steps, accompanied by piano music, like at a Christian service.

The Temple was a cold room with a golden cross with a rose on it at the wall. I had never felt so far away from God since visiting Auschwitz. Speaking of Poland, among the people taking place, one face seemed familiar. Could it be that… no, he wouldn’t go to such a place, would he?

I looked straight ahead again, because the ritual started. A woman read a ritual text which was rather boring, especially because she sounded insecure and monotonous. When she said “Amen” at the end, no one answered. A man took her place and started with a sermon. It was so much material that I could hardly take it down afterwards. Something about Astral and Ether Energy. A tree in space whose roots led into the lower dimensions meaning the different religions. A quote from some Hindu text. Energy nets. A bubble of energy created by Jesus and his disciples that is re-energized by new religious movements. A flying Tyrannosaurus Rex. A white, a red, and a golden rose symbolizing some sorts of energies.

OK, I made up the stuff about the flying dinosaur, but I think it wouldn’t have been totally out of place there.

Next was the songbook, a white hardcover book with the Rosicrucian logo, printed in the Netherlands, this is were this particular branch was founded, and without any notes. Each page was one song. How convenient. The lyrics were about become divine out of one self, and because I disagreed I didn’t join the singing.

After the song, the two priests – or whatever they are called – left and we remained standing. Silently, we then walked out one by one. I almost stumbled on the steps, must have come from all the divine energy working on my avatar or something. We sat down downstairs and waited for a while.

Then the man who looked familiar approached me. I actually knew him from something related to Poland. He told me that he had been a member of the Rosicrucians for fifty years now. If I was interested, I should come again, but never feel forced. I would feel it if this was my way. I felt nothing special. He then said that it might be like visiting a cinema, were you also remain silent and show your respect, and then maybe it can touch you. Now, that sounded familiar, especially in relations to Poland, but that’s another story that will be published later. In any case, the closed meeting was a regional planning meeting with lunch, so I understood why I should go and left.

 

Various Rosicrucian flyers

On the way out I talked with an elderly lady who has been a member for twenty years about it. She said the temple service had been a typical one, but usually there would be more songs. She had been brought up as a Christian but something had always been amiss which she found with the Rosicrucians. Her test to see if what they were up to was right was whether it was in accordance to the Sermon on the Mount. I have no idea if that’s a valid “compatible with Christianity” text, in any case I had seen enough for that day and walked away, there were still two other religions to visit.

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