Rosicrucian Park is the headquarters of the English Grand Lodge for the Americas of the

Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis AMORC (standing for, among others, the Ancient Mystical Order of the Rosy Cross or the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis) is a Rosicrucian organization founded by Harvey Spencer Lewis in the United States in 1915. It has lodges, chapters a ...

, located in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

History

The Rosicrucian Park was established in 1927 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. ...

. It grew from one single lot to a 5-acre city block. The

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum (REM) is devoted to ancient Egypt, located at Rosicrucian Park in the Rose Garden neighborhood of San Jose, California, United States. It was founded by the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC). The Ro ...

was built in 1932, the Planetarium in 1936, the research library opened in June 1939. The

Akhenaton Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Before the ...

Shrine was built in 1949. The Peace Garden was added to the park in 2004 and dedicated by

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 ...

Imperator The title of ''imperator'' ( ) originally meant the rough equivalent of ''commander'' under the Roman Republic. Later, it became a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as their praenomen. The Roman emperors generally based their autho ...

Christian Bernard. In 2013, a new Alchemy Museum was announced for 2020. The opening ceremony for the preliminary exhibit in the Lecture Gallery of the

occurred during the Summer solstice of June 2015. The new museum in the former Rose-Croix University International building will include a working alchemy laboratory. The Alchemy garden in front of the new museum is composed of four elemental gardens representing the four elements. From 2009 to 2015, the Park reduced its water consumption by 4.5 million gallons.

Description

The park takes up nearly an entire city block and includes the

, the administration building for the Order, the Rosicrucian Planetarium, the Rosicrucian Peace Garden, the Rosicrucian Research Library, the Grand Temple, and a central fountain plaza and gardens. A

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

garden is incorporated in the Park next to the Research Library. A

dawn redwood ''Metasequoia glyptostroboides'', the dawn redwood, is a fast-growing, endangered deciduous conifer. It is the sole living species of the genus ''Metasequoia'', one of three genera in the subfamily Sequoioideae of the family Cupressaceae. It now ...

grows outside of the Rosicrucian Research Library as a memorial to

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

. It was planted in 1950 from a seedling from the lot brought from China by Dr.

Ralph Chaney Ralph Works Chaney (August 24, 1890 – March 3, 1971) was an American paleobotanist. Chaney was the first paleobotanist to develop in detail the use of morphological characters of fossil leaves to deduce ecological information of the given era. ...

, and donated by an unnamed donor to H. Spencer Lewis's widow for this purpose. The park also includes the Akhenaten Shrine (named for the

18th dynasty The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII, alternatively 18th Dynasty or Dynasty 18) is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty ...

Pharaoh

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...

), which contains the ashes of AMORC founder

and other former officials of the order. With the exception of the planetarium, all buildings in Rosicrucian Park were constructed with exteriors inspired by the

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian architectural tradition. In tribute to their claimed Egyptian heritage,

cyperus papyrus ''Cyperus papyrus'', better known by the common names papyrus, papyrus sedge, paper reed, Indian matting plant, or Nile grass, is a species of aquatic plant, aquatic flowering plant belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a Hardiness (pla ...

plants are also incorporated into the landscaping.

Gallery

Photographs of various buildings and statuary within the block comprising Rosicrucian Park. File:Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum entrance.jpg, Entrance to Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum File:Rosicrucian Park 2023-07-15 08.jpg, Water feature File:Rosicrucian Park 2023-07-15 12.jpg, Akhenaten Shrine File:Rosicrucian Park 2023-07-15 11.jpg, Gravestone of Harvey Spencer Lewis File:Rosicrucian Park 2023-07-15 20.jpg, Grand Temple File:Rosicrucian Park 2023-07-15 21.jpg, Research Library File:Planitarium at Rosicrucian Park 1005 (cropped).jpg, Planetarirum File:Rosicrucian Park 2023-07-15 23.jpg, Obelisk, replica of one from Heliopolis, Egypt File:Rosicrucian Park 2023-07-15 17.jpg, Statue of Thutmosis III

References

External links

Official website
{{San Jose and Silicon Valley attractions Rosicrucianism Museum districts Parks in San Jose, California