The Rosicrucians of Today, by Royle Thurston, PhD (May 1920).pdf

7/28/2019 The Rosicrucians of Today, by Royle Thurston, PhD (May 1920).pdf

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M A SO N IC EM B L EM L E FT ' A T T H E N O R T H P O L E .................................

B y CflJ/toi rt M '/ fh 'c a i B ro w n, 32°

T H E R O S IC R U C IA N S O F T O D A Y ........................................................

B y P n fe m o r Hoyle T hu rs to n . Ph.D .

M A S O N I C E M B L E M S A N D I N T E R N A T I O N A L P R O B L E M S ...............

B y ft . U . Saw ye r, 32°

A T H U M B N A IL H I ST O R Y O F M A S O N R Y ............................ ........

B y C hm . L . P n t l w , P . G. .1/., 33° H on.

M A S O N R Y I N S P A I N .................................. .......................................................

Hi i June Lfsfiim. Grtuul Se<-rela*j/

T H E W O R L D C R I S IS ..............................................................................................

B y lii-r . Pa rke# Co dm on , 32®

S Y M BO L IC M A S O N R Y A N D T H E C H E A T P Y R A M I D ............

B y J o lw n . 11 i thar, 32°

T H E I M M O R TA L G L O RI ES O F F A R R A G U T ......................................

By Gilb er t I' . Bro wn, Pi i. D ., 32s

M A S O N R Y IN H O L L A N D ..............................................................

Bi/ Gr an d S tf r c ta ry H . P . Van Hic iiw s'nb nr g

M A S O N I C U N I T Y .................................................. .............................................

ii'i l/itrrtf .1/. Chaney, P. G. .V ., o f N e <■Unm ^shir e

T H E M A S O N I C O R A C L E .....................................................................................

E D IT O R IA L ..................................................................................................................

G O D A N D M A S O N R Y .........................................................................................

B y Pcu ntftH fK \\ (t tju ia ff . 32°, K . G. C. / / .

B A R N A C L E S, R E A D T H IS ! ..............................................................................

I . I . - i T O F I L L U S T R A T I O N S

MASONIC BUILDERS OF 01 .0 EGYPT.. 12

EXPLORER ELISHA KENT KANE 13

SIR AUKLA ND GEDDES. AMBA SSADO R 14

ROSICRUCIAN SYMBOLS ................... 15

LEON BOURGEOIS. STATE SMA N 16

MAYOR HUGH J. CALDWELL

O F S E A T T L E.........................................

17KING OSCAR 11. of SWEDEN ................. I#

THE LODGE OF THE NINE SISTERSIN PARIS .................................................... 19

RAPH AEL WEILL, PHILAN THRO PIST. . 20

ONLY KNOWN LIKENESS OF

Z O R O A S T E R ............................................ 21

BRO. DAVID GLASGO W FARRAG UT 23

SAMUEL GOMPERS. Labor * Leader 24

FORMER GRAND MASTER OF EGYPT 25

SEAL OF THE GRAND LODGE

O F H O L L A N D ........................................ 25

THE LATE GEORGE P. ADAMS.. 26

M A R S H A L L S Q U A R E V U L C A NI Z I N G CO.

f r e e S e r v i c e &F r e e l i r e I n s u r a n c e Quality Shop 10MARSHMLSQWREW I T H E V E R Y G O O R SC H — ------ — H YDF. S T RC E J

stn'1 ^ S L ^ ‘Tin E x p e r t T i r e a n d T u b e R e p a i r e r s



A M ag az i n e fo r M aso n s

THE R O S I C R U C I A N S O F T O D A Y

IT m a y o r m a y n o t

b e a co in c id cncc

that the Rosicru-

cians of foreign lands

looked forward to

the year 1920 as be

ing an impor tan t

year in thei r work in

Amer i ca , an d t ha t

the year 1920 is the

144th year o f the l i fe o f the Uni ted S tates , p re

suming that the year 1776 was the year o f b i r th .

N evert he le ss th e Ro si cr uc ia ns * .ho l o n g c l o ak ed i n

obscuri ty , vei led in the deepest o f mys

tery . and permi t t ing the wor ld at large to

beli eve them passed in to ob li v io n , qu ie tl y

a r r an g ed fo r a co mp l e t ed r esu r r ec t i o n i n

Am erica in the year 1920 . S ign i fican t

y ea r ! F rau g h t wi t h man y i mp o r t an t

moral , po l i t ical and in ternat ional c hange s I

A y ea r o f awak en in g , t r u l y ; a y ea r o f manifes t evo lu t ion , must cer tain ly . And ,

the year is st i l l young, very young, as

Rosicrucians reckon a year ; fo r . l ike the

Pers ians , the Rosicrucians say the year

be gi ns w h en th e su n en te rs th e a s t ro n o m

ical s ign of Aries , on or about the 21st o f March .

An d . a r c t h e re an y s i gn s t h a t t h e o l d p red i c t i o n r e

gard ing America and Rosicrucian ism is being fu l

f i l led? Several years ago we would have

had to rely so lely upon the very conservat ive

and relucta n t answe rs o f the Rosicrucians

themselves . Foday the d iscern ing mind wil l

f ind many ou tward s igns , much mater ial ev i

denc e in fact, ind icat ing and p rov ing that

the p red ict ion i s ve ry close to fu l fi l lment .

1 h av e seen an o l d p ap er o f t h e Ro a ic i u-

c i ans .— a so r t o f anc i en t man u sc r i p t p o s sessed by one of thei r Arch iv is t s , in which

t he. p h rase o ccu r s : "A n d i n th e y ea r 3 2 7 8

(1 9 1 5 ) t h e re sh a ll b e i n t ro d u ced i n t hecount ry where the eag le spreads i t s wings

t h e r e i n ca rn a t ed so ul o f t h e O rd er . ” A t

t ach ed t o t h e d o cu me n t was a rn ap o f t he

wo r l d sh o wi n g t h e co n t i n en t s an d n a t i on s wh ere t h e

secret b ro therhood ex is ted in act ive fo rm at var ious

peri ods , a n d th e N o r th A m e ric an c on t in en t w as

clear ly def ined on the map . a map sup-

p o sed to h a v e b een m a d e in th e 10 th

cen t u ry f ro m ol d map s m ad e b y t h eE g y p t i an s ; an d o v er t h e No r t h Amer i

can con t inen t there were two symbols .

One was a large eag le wi th w ings spread

out in fu l l , and at o r near the cen t re o f

the eastern coast there was a smal l py ra

mid . I t w'as po in ted ou t to me that

these two symbols had been al lo tcd to

t h e No r t h Amer i can co n t i n en t b y t h e

Egypt ians who had also alo t ted a whi te

bea r to w h at is n o w Sib e ri a a n d p a r t of

Russia, a l ion to what is now the Brit ish

Isles , and s imi lar symbols . Th e winged sun-d isk

was al lo tcd to the reg ion surroun ding the Nile . Al lth is symbol ism wa rran t ed the quest ion : ' Did the

an c i en t E g y p t i an s h av e a k n o wl ed g e o f t h e ea r t h

an d i t s co n t i n en t s

t h a t o t h e r n a t i o n s

d i d n o t h av e?* ' An d

t h e an swer was :

“ N o t t h e E g y p ti a n s

as a p eo p l e , b u t t h e

E g y p t i an s wh o w eret h e M as t e r s o f M y s

t e ri es a n d t h e m e m

b e rs o f th e se cre t s o

c i e t y o r Bro th e rh o o d .' * Wh i ch an swe r l ead s o n e

at once in to the o ld . o ld d iscussion as to whe ther t h e E g y p t i an s were t h e o r i g i n a t o r s o r fo u n d er s o f

t h e p resen t -d ay sec re t b ro t h e rh o o d s , i n

clud ing the Freem asons. I t i s a long su b

jec t fo r di sc ussi on a n d se ld o m lea d s to

any def in i te conclusion ; fo r . mind you ,

t h e o n e wh o a rg u es f ro m t h e E g y p t i an

v iewpoin t th inks on ly o f the eso ter ic s ide

o f t h e b r o t h e r h o o d w h i le t he m o d e m

F reemaso n t h i n k s o f t h e g rea t ex o t e r i c b o d y ; a n d th e re in lie s a c o n s id e ra b le d i f

ference.

Bu t to r e t u rn t o t h e mo d ern R o s i c ru

c i an s an d t h e ir r eb i r t h f ro m t h e t o m b o f

obscur i ty . I t was in 1632 the las t Ros i

c ru c i an s t o h o l d an y o f t h e i r an c ien t ce r emo n i es i n

Am er i ca p assed aw ay i n o r n ea r t h e c i ty o f M o n

t e r ey , Ca l i fo rn ia , wh ere t h ey h ad es t ab l ish ed a t em

p le in 1 6 0 3 -1 6 0 4 , h a v ing c o m e th e re w it h

t h e g rea t ex p l o re r p r eced i n g t h e Jesu i t s wh o

estab l i shed th e Missions , in fact over a h un

d red y ea r s b e fo re t h e t i me o f t h e M i ss i o n

F a t h e r s . I t was a t t h a t ea r l y d a t e t h a t t h e

so -ca l l ed Ro s i c ru c i an S t o n e was b ro u g h t t o

Amer i ca an d p l an t ed o r o t h e rwi se d ep o s i t ed

for fu ture use, a use no t yet rcv ralc d . Th e

year 1632 when the las t o f these p ioneers p asse d aw ay , w as ju s t I 44 y e a rs b e fo re th e

b i r th o f th e n a ti o n in 1 776 . A n d n o w ,

1920 i s here , ano th er e lapse o f 144 years .

Th e cycle o f 144 years i s a s ign i f ican t one

wi th myst ics general ly and wi th Rosicrucians

especial ly . I t i s c la im ed that each cycle o f

1 4 4 y ea r s sees th e Ro s i c ru c ian B ro t h e rh o o d es t a b

l i shed wi th it s hea dqu ar ters in a new land . Is th is

wh a t t h e Ro s i c ru c i an s o f o l d p l an n ed fo r Amer i ca

in 1920 , where, s t rangely enough , the

eag l e i s u sed as a n a t i o n a l emb l em an d

t h e p y ram i d i s u sed o n t h e Gre a t S ea l o f

the Un i ted S tate*? I f so . there should

b e s o m e ii gn s o f su ch unusual a th in g as

a g rea t b r o t h e rh o o d o f my s t i c s i n o ui

midst .

N a tu ra l ly F re em a so n s in A m erica ,

especial ly those in the A. A. S . R. de

gree?. were ins t rumental in the reb i r th o f

t h e An c i en t an d M y s ti cal Ord er R o s^ e

Cru c i s i n t h e Un i t ed S t at es . F o r man y

centur ies there has b^en such a close re

l a t i on sh i p b e t ween t h e two g rea t b r o t h

erhoods (hat in t racing the h is to ry o f bo th one

co mes t o a p o i n t wh ere i t wo u l d seem t h a t o n e was

an o ii sp ri n i : o f t h e o t h e r . T h a t a t o n e t i me t h ey

were u n i t ed o r ex i s t ed as t wo p a r t s o f o n e b o d y ,

Pn j ce Fi fteen

B y R O Y L E T H U R S T O N , P h .D . ,

Of the Indian A cademy of Sciences, Bomb ay, India

( £ d i t o r ' a N o t e : — T h e a c c o m p a n y i n g a r t i c l e if , i n a * e n * e . a r e p l y t o a na r t i c J n o n " R o ^ c r u i : an a a n d M a s o n r y . " b y D t . D v * n d s h « a r, t h«r n o t e d B r i t U hM n s o n i c A n t i q u a r y , p u b l i s h e d in t h e A p r I i s s u e o f ' T I i * T r e * t) c B o a r d / ’ f l i i ia r t i c l e b y P r o f e s s o r T h u r s t o n e x p l a i n * t h e o b j e c t s o f t h e m o d e r n R o » c r u c i a n * a n d i n d c . i t r « a n a c t i v i t y o n t h e p a r t o l t h e S o c i e t y g r e a t e r t h a n i »g e n e r a l l y s u s p e c t e d . A l t h o u g h R o s t c r u c i n n . s m o f t o d a y h a s n o c o n n e c t i o nw h A t& u i rv r r w t h M s« o n ry . i t s a d m i t t e d l y a n c i e n t o r .g f cn e n d o w s i t w i t h

p a r t i c u l a r in tn rc ut to M a s o n s .)

Th r G re a t S «. »* o l t h eS u p r e m e G r a n d M a s*t c r s * G c n c r a l f o r N o r t hArawric*.

■ \ /T h e n n c i u n tc a r t o u c h ( s i g n a t u r e ) o f t heF . f y p t i i n f o u n -d e r o f t h eK o s i c r u t U n t t

T h e S e a l o f t h e S u p r e m eC o u n c i l o f N o r t h A m e r i c a ,c o n t a . n i n g t h e t r i a o j l es y m b o l o f t h e O r d e r .



T h e T r e s t le B o a r d

wo u l d seem t o b e t h e n a t u ra l co n

clusion ; and the fact that the

Ro s i cmci an s h av e a v e ry co mp l e t e

school ing in the eso ter ic teach ings

an d wo rk o f my s t i c i sm an d l eav e

aII the exo ter ic features o f a f ra

t e rn a l o rg an i za t i o n t o F reemas

o n ry , wo u l d fu r t h e r i n d ica t e t h a t

b o t h o rg an iza t io n s w e re a t o n et i m e u n it e d a n d b e c a m e s e p a r a t e

b o d ie s b y so m e so rt of m utua l

ag reemen t .

I t i s no longer necessary fo r an

in i t ia te in to the myster ies o f Rosi -

c ru c i an i sm t o b e a F reemaso n ,fo r , b eh o l d , t h e Ro s i cmci an s ac

c e p t w o m e n i n t o t he i r O r d e r u p o n

t h e same b as i s a s men . an d t h i s

seem s t o b e an an c i en t cu st o m.

T h e r equ i r emen t s , h o wev er , d o

include such po in ts as a bel ief in a

G o d ( t h e i n t e rp re t a t io n o f th e ir

G o d b e i n g l i ke u n t o T , G . A . O .

T . U- ) , n o t b e i n g en g ag ed i n an y

unlawfu l o r immoral pursu i t , f ree

from rel ig ious , physical o r o ther b o n d a g e ( th o u g h m em b e r sh ip in

an y P ro t es t an t Ch u rch i s n o t co n s i d e red as r e l ig i o us b o n d ag e ) ,

and an al t ru is t ic , wholesome, s in

cere, en thusias t ic desi re to help

in the up l i f t o f ma nkind .

T h e sch o o l i n g r e f e r r ed t o i n

c l u d es a p assag e t h ro u g h t we l v e

d eg rees o r g r ad es o f s t u d y , each

h av i n g i t s e l ab o ra t e an d mo s t

myst ical in i t ia t ions , and each de

gree hav ing f rom 10 to 30 lec

t u r es d e l i v e red b y t h e M as t e r o f

t h e l o d g e week l y o r , i n so me

cases o f some ju r i sd ict ions , semi

mo n t h l y . T h e l ec t u res b eg i n wi tht h e s i mp l e l aws o f n a t u re an d t h e

co n s t i t ut i o n o f t h e e l em en t s o f

n a t u re an d l ead s t ep b y s t ep t ot h e mo s t p ro fo u n d p ro b l ems o f

science, includ ing on to logy , b io l

ogy* psychology , cosmology ,

ph ysi cs, e le m e n ta ry chem is tr y ,

t r an scen d en t a l mag i c an d my s t i

c i sm an d m an y a r can e su b j ec t s

wh i ch a r c c l a i med t o r ev ea l l aws

n o t y e t k n o wn t o o r d i sco v ered

b y sc ie nc e. T h a t th e schooli ng

d o cs g rad u a l l y u n fo l d t h e i n t e l

l ec t , d ev e l o p t h e so u l o f man an d

m a k e h i m a m a s t e r o f c e r ta i n

s t r an g e an d h i d d en l aws o f n a t u re

wo u l d seem t o b e p ro v en b y t h ef a c t t h a t m a n y c l e r g y m e n a n d

teachers , p rofess ional and busi

n e s s m e n a n d w o m e n w h o h a v e

p a ssed th ro u g h a few o f th e

g rad e s a r e e l o q u en t i n t h e i r t e s t i

mo n y r eg ard i n g t h e p r i n c ip l es an d

secrets taught by these Rosicru-

c i an s wi t h o u t ad mi t t i n g j u s t

wh ere t h ey secu red th em. S ti ll ,

o n e can j u d g e f ro m wh a t i s ad -

P a g * S t x t w

M a s o n s I n t h e P u b l i c [ y e

L K O X B O U R G E O IS , pres i-

deti t o f the French Senate,

an d the m an who represent r.d

Fra ne e on th e Supre m e Cou nc il d ur

ing the peace negotiations, is one of

the viost active, and earnest Mason.?

in Europe . M. Bou rg eo is t> on e

of the leading spiri ts in the Grand

Lo dg e o f Fra nc e, w hic h is th e

dortlirtQlinff power in Masonry in

the He pub lie. A nd us such he has

fo u g h t co nsis te ntl y an d su cc es sf ul ly

fo r libert y o f co ns cie nc e and fo r pr o

gr es si ve le gis la tion o f all ki nds. In

fa c t m os t o f th e F re nch Senato rs are

Fr ee mas on s. Led by Bo ur ge ois

the French Senate hu$ already

doomed to defeat the attempts to in

duce France to resume official rela

tions With the Va tican . / ( is very

ju s tl y po in te d a n t th a t if on e ch ur ch

is recognized, every other denomin

ation and sect is equally enti t led to recognit ion, Th ey are all , therefore, pl ac ed on an eq ua l fo o li n g . B ro th er

Bo ur ge oi s is a co nst ru ctiv e st a te sman a nd his furthe r ef forts in be

ha lf of civi l ization in general wil l be

watched with interest .

mi t t cd t h a t t h e Ord er i n th i s co u n

t ry mu s t b e v e ry act i ve . I t p u b

l i shes a month ly magazine, which .

most naturally, is of the very high

est type of intellectual informa

tion, if one is to judge from thestyle and excellence of physical

express ion . A nd the O rde r i ssuesmany secret publications to i ts

mem b er s an d o t h e rwi se ca r ri e s o n

an ex t en s i v e an d ex p en s i v e wo rk

which would no t be possib le unless there were many thousands

o f ac t i v e s t u d en t s an d memb er s

in the Uni ted S tates . Fur the r

more . i t is a fac t that the Rosicru-

cians have here in America a

n u mb er o f T emp l es o f t h e i r o wn

which are Egypt ian in arch i tecture

and decorat ion on the ins ide and

ext remely p lain and ind icat ive o f

no th ing myst ical on the ou ts ide,

— T e m p le s w it h lo dges whic h

would do cred i t to Freemasonry ,

and which , by the way , should

b e copi es fo r m o re re asons th an

one by al l Blue Lodges.

I t may be ano ther co incidencethat wi th in a s tone’s th row of

man y M aso n i c Gran d L o d g e

Tem ples in m any ci ties, such as

N ew Y ork a n d San Fr an cis co,

there i s a Temple o f the Rosicru-

cians; and whi le the one i s known

to almost e very pasacr-by , the

o ther i s hard ly known to the nex t

door neighbor . Yet wi th in these

p ic tu resque, m oonli t, E g yp ti a n

Temples there arc almost n igh t ly

ceremonies go ing on and wi th

man y o f Amer i ca ’ s mo 9 t ad

v an ced t h i n k er s an d wo rk er s i n

a t t en d an ce .

So much for what real ly ex is t s

i n Amer i ca t o d ay b e t ween t h eco l d n o r t h e rn sh o res o f Can ad a

an d t h e warm wat e r s o f t h e Gu l f

o f Mexico . But whe ther th is year

will f ind them, the Rosaecrucians

(a? t h e n ame sh o u l d b e ) , r ev ea l

i n g th emse l v es a s a co mp l e t ed o r

gan izat ion or no t . remains to be

seen. T h e seek er fo r t h em an d

their freely given teachings must

inquire dil igently to locate them

now. Perh aps it wi ll a lways be

so. But this is true of Fre em as

onry in o ther countr ies, -—and that

i s ano ther s to ry .

0 6 *

T h e G r a n d L o d g e o f t h e S ta t eof Washing ton requ i res the Sec

r e t a ry o f ev e ry l o d g e a t t h e Oc

t o b er co mmu n i ca t i o n t o r ep o r t t o

the Master the names of a l l

b re th ren in a r rea rs fo r dues m o re

than one year . A com mit tee i s

then appoin ted to personal ly

in terv iew each del inquent , and

a sc er ta in th e c a u s e o f h is

del inquency .

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The Rosicrucians of Today, by Royle Thurston, PhD (May 1920).pdf