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The Rosicrucian Order, Ancient Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis (AMORC) is a worldwide mystical, Rosicrucian, educational, humanitarian and fraternal organisation founded by Harvey Spencer Lewis in 1915.
Its common name in Latin is Antiquus Mysticusque Ordo Rosæ Crucis. The traditional and authentic Latin name is: Antiquus Arcanus Ordo Rosæ Rubeæ et Aureæ Crucis (AAORRAC), which translates to English as Ancient and Mystical Order of the Red Rose and the Golden Cross, and in this article as the AMORC.
Organisation and structure
AMORC is organised as an educational charitable Greek, meaning antechamber) require 15 members.
AMORC Leadership
The highest chief of AMORC is called Imperator. He or she is responsible for coordinating and representing the Order worldwide. Christian Bernard is the present imperator of AMORC. In addition to the Imperator, each Grand Lodge has a Grand Master.
History AMORC was founded by Harvey Spencer Lewis in 1915 and was represented by him in FUDOSI, a federation of independent esoteric orders. The early headquarters were located in New York City, San Francisco and Tampa. The headquarters moved to San Jose, California in 1927. Francis Bacon is considered to be a past Imperator of the Rosicrucians.
Publications The AMORC has many publications including a members only publications, the Rosicrucian Monographs and Rosicrucian Forum, and the public Rosicrucian Digest and an online Rose-Croix Journal. AMORC also publishes several books on topics like Metaphysics, Mysticism and Egyptology.
Rosicrucian Digest
The Rosicrucian Digest was first published in 1915 under the name Mystic Triangle. Now it is used as both a correspondence tool for members, and as an informational guide to the public.
In United Kingdom it is named Rosicrucian Beacon and it is published quarterly by the "English speaking jurisdiction for Europe and Africa of the Rosicrucian Order AMORC".
Rosicrucian Forum
The Rosicrucian Forum is a private publication of Ancient Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis, available only to members, and sent to them via correspondence.
Mastery of Life
The Mastery of Life is a document of the Ancient Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis intended to give a basic outline of the group for people who are considering joining. It is given for free and without any obligations. (Mastery of Life will not be mailed to people in prison.) It deals with many of the basic philosophical questions such as Who am I and What's my purpose in life? The AMORC describe the Mastery of Life as incorporating the emotion, physical and intellectual aspects of human beings into one and says that the attainment of this ideal comes with being a Rosicrucian student.
The Positio Fraternitatis Rosæ Crucus
The Positio Fraternitatis Rosæ Crucis is a document revealed at an AMORC meeting in August, 2001. It describes what is wrong with the present world situation and the Rosicrucian Utopia:
Conferences and Councils AMORC often organises various conferences around the world, usually restricted only to members, and several councils of experts on various topics.
Rosicrucian World Convention
In August 2001 the world convention took place in Göteborg, Sweden. The main theme of the convention was world peace and harmony. The convention was of significant importance to the Rosicrucian history because Imperator Bernard presented the "Positio Fraternitatis Rosæ Crucis" to inform the public about AMORC's position on the current world situation. The latest world convention was held in July 2004 in San Jose, CA.
International Research Council
The International Research Council is a group of AMORC members who have expertise in several areas, including physics, biology, philosophy and music. According to the AMORC, the members of the International Research Council dedicate themselves to the advancement of their profession for the benefit of humanity.
Council of Solace
The Council of Solace is a group of Rosicrucians who meditate and pray daily in behalf of others. They offer free 24-hour metaphysical aid to people in need regardless of membership.
Radio programmes Harvey Spencer Lewis had a radio station broadcasting from his office at Rosicrucian Park. The broadcasting began on February 15, 1928 and. was powered by two 30 metre radio towers inside the park.
The radio towers have since been removed, but the AMORC continues to broadcast through the KEEN radio station.
Ancient Egypt The AMORC believes that they trace their past to Ancient Egypt because their beliefs, wisdom, practices and methods are consistent to the ones taught by the Ancient Egyptian Mystery Schools.
The Egyptian Mystery Schools, aimed to educating mystics and passing esoteric and mystical knowledge across the generations, were founded in around the 15th century BC and may be related with Tuthmosis III.
King Akhenaten, a figure often respected by many mystics, popularized the concept of one divine force behind everything.
Criticism AMORC has become the target of some criticisms.
Other Rosicrucian organisations, such as FUDOFSI and Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis have criticised AMORC's authenticity.
Gary L. Stewart of the Confraternity of the Rose Cross believes that the modern AMORC is very different from its past and its nature is now different than Harvey Spencer Lewis's legacy. The same view is held by other organisations which started as "forks" from AMORC after its 1990s corporate reorganization.
AMORC, like many other similar organisations, has been criticised by some Christian groups. The PanHellenic Parents Union parents organization) has been included the AMORC in a list of 422 organizations which considered as incompatible with the Eastern Orthodox tradition by the "7th Panorthodox Conference" of 1995 and its president Metropolite Hieronymus of Theba and Levadia.
Some theologians have tried to classify it as a secret society. For an example, see the ECWA case below.
ECWA
In 1984, the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) sought to outlaw AMORC in Nigeria. ECWA claimed that AMORC is a secret society and published relevant claims on its publications. AMORC filed a libel suit against ECWA and the Lower Court decided against ECWA and ordered the church to pay one million naira to AMORC in 1988. Then, the ECWA appealed against the court's decision. AMORC appealed to the Supreme Court and ECWA counter-appealed. The Supreme Court dismissed both appeals. In 1999 ECWA filed a new suit against AMORC, requesting from the Registrar General of CAC and the IG of Police to withdraw AMORC's registration certificate and seal its offices in Nigeria. ECWA also requested AMORC to be declared a secret society. The new ECWA's lawsuit was dismissed by the Supreme Court in June 2000.
Related topics Other Rosicrucian Groups
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