AMORC (standing for, among others, the Ancient Mystical Order of the Rosy Cross or the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis) is a

Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism () is a spirituality, spiritual and cultural movement that arose in early modern Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts announcing to the world a new Western esotericism, esoteric order. Rosicruc ...

organization founded by

Harvey Spencer Lewis Harvey Spencer Lewis (November 25, 1883 – August 2, 1939) was an American Rosicrucianism, Rosicrucian writer, mysticism, mystic and the founder of AMORC. He led AMORC as its first leader (imperator) from its creation in 1915 until his death. ...

in the United States in 1915. It has lodges, chapters and other affiliated bodies in several countries. It operates as a

fraternal order A fraternal order is a voluntary membership group organised as an order, with an initiation ritual and traits alluding to religious, chivalric or pseudo-chivalric orders, guilds, or secret societies. Fraternal orders typically have secular p ...

in the

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight ...

Western Esoteric Tradition.

History

in 1904 founded the Rosicrucian Research Society. Lewis was an advertising agent from New York and the founder of another group called the New York Institution for Psychical Research. He founded the organization after a trip to France, claiming that he had been initiated into

Rosicrucianism Rosicrucianism () is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in early modern Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts announcing to the world a new esoteric order. Rosicrucianism is symbolized by the Rose ...

there in what he called an "old tower" in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. He presented this as a revival of the original, partially mythical and ancient Rosicrucian Order. The Ancient Mystical Order of the Rosy Cross (AMORC) was founded in 1915. Lewis was the "imperator" of the group. The group later moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, and San Jose; it would establish its world headquarters in the latter. Its headquarters there include a museum, a

planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...

, and a temple. The group was successful in the USA, leading to the founding of several branches in Europe, which were mostly independent from the main branch of AMORC. Several of these groups would later schism into their own organizations, but Lewis kept the significant French branch of AMORC tied to the parent by collaborating with Jeanne Guesdon. Lewis died in 1939. Following his death, Lewis was succeeded by his son,

Ralph Maxwell Lewis Ralph Maxwell Lewis (February 14, 1904 – January 12, 1987), was an American mystic and the second Imperator of the Rosicrucian organisation AMORC from 1939 to 1987. He is the author of a number of books regarding mysticism. His father, Harvey ...

. Ralph Lewis would die in 1987, succeeded by Gary L. Stewart; Stewart was young, at 34, but was able to be elected with the support of the leader of the powerful French branch, Raymond Bernard. However, Stewart later fought with the AMORC Board of Directors, and was ousted from the organization in 1990; he would later found a splinter group, the Confraternity of the Rose Cross. Bernard also distanced himself from AMORC and himself founded many other groups. Stewart was replaced as imperator by Bernard's son Christian Bernard. He was replaced as imperator by Claudio Mazzucco in 2019. As of 1995, the group reported that it had 1,200 lodges in 86 countries, with 250,000 members being reported in 1990.

Teachings

Many aspects of its teachings and symbolism are taken from other occult groups that H. Lewis had frequented. Chief among these is the

Ordo Templi Orientis Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; ) is an occult secret society and hermetic magical organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner, Theodor Reuss, ...

, led by

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

. Other symbols of AMORC were taken from other periodicals. While predominantly Rosicrucian, some later AMORC degrees also incorporate

neo-Templar Neo-Templarism is a term describing groups or people who claim to have revived, to be inspired by, or to be descendants of the Knights Templar. Following the dissolution of the Templars by Pope Clement V at the start of the 14th century, several ...

elements. The symbol of the group is a red rose on a gold cross, with the cross representing the concepts of death and resurrection and the rose representing love as well as secrecy. Together, they represent the usage of reincarnation progressing towards perfection. The emblem of the group, the Rose Cross, was taken from a periodical run by Crowley (''Equinox'' III). The group maintains it is not a religion, instead saying it has members (who it calls "students") from many different religious origins.

References

Works cited

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External links

* {{Authority control Rosicrucian organizations Organizations established in 1915 Religious belief systems founded in the United States Organizations based in San Jose, California Charities based in California Religious charities based in the United States Secret societies in the United States Neo-Templarism New religious movements established in the 1910s

History

Teachings

See also

References

Works cited

Further reading

External links