First version. Father C. R. S
The history of the emergence and, possibly, the real existence of the Rose and Cross society is woven from mysteries, over the solution of which the researchers of Rosicrucianism have been struggling in vain for more than a century. Alas, so far they have not managed to find anything based on irrefutable facts. Versions remain.
The first version is that the Rosicrucian Order actually existed and was fully consistent with how its emergence is described in the manifesto "Fama fraternitatis" (Glory of the Brotherhood), which is believed to have been written in 1610. It says that selfishness, greed and money-grubbing motivate people to follow false prophets, and thus they turn away from the genuine knowledge that God, by His grace, reveals to them. A radical reform of human society is required, and God has called the best philosophers and sages to this great mission.
To carry out such a reform, a mysterious man called the Most Enlightened Father of the CRC, German by birth, a son of a noble family, but a poor man, who founded the "Secret Society of the Rose and Cross", appeared.
Finding himself at the age of five in a monastery, he soon realized that he would not receive the deep knowledge he needed there, and after a while decided to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He visited the mysterious Arab city of Aamkar, where he met the brotherhood of mystics and Kabbalists, then in Fez and in Spain, where he was taught to handle elemental principles (the spirits of nature).
Returning to Germany, he resumed his work to reform the arts and sciences. He called for help from three brothers from the monastery in which he spent his adolescent years, and took from them a solemn oath to keep the secrets entrusted to them for future generations. These four became the founders of the Brotherhood of the Rose and the Cross. They developed a secret code and compiled a dictionary in which they classified all the secret formulas of the highest wisdom for the glory of God. By increasing their membership to eight, they founded a new House called the Holy Spirit. From here they went to all countries of the world, spreading their occult teachings among the sages. Soon the founder of the society died, and no one knew where he was buried. Only 120 years later, during the reconstruction of the House of the Holy Spirit, his tomb was discovered. The old man looked as if he had only been lowered into the grave yesterday. In one hand he held the Bible, in the other - a mysterious parchment manuscript, which announced that soon the work "Fama" would be prepared, which would be sent to the wise men of Europe in five languages, so that everyone could learn and understand the secrets of the brotherhood. This is the story of the Fama fraternitatis.
Second version. Rosicrucian Order. The mystery of the origin of the brotherhood
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The Masonic Brothers acknowledge the existence of the Brotherhood of the Rose and the Cross as a historical fact, but they disagree in many respects as to how this order originated. Some believe that he appeared in medieval Europe as a result of alchemical searches, while others believe that the founder of the order was the German scientist-theologian Johann Valentin Andrea.
Still others are convinced that he only reformed the already existing society, which was created by Cornelius Agrippa.
Others suggest that Rosicrucianism arose as a result of the first invasion of Europe by the Brahmin and Buddhist cultures.
Some are convinced that the Rose and Cross Society was founded in Egypt, and that its philosophers continued to develop the mysteries of the ancient Persians and Chaldeans. If such a society exists, then one can only wonder how it managed to maintain its complete secrecy over the centuries. In his famous work, Secret Symbols of Rosicrucianism, Dr. F. Hartman describes the Brotherhood as a secret community of people with supernatural powers. They say they are able to predict future events, penetrate into the deepest secrets of nature, turn iron, copper, tin into gold, they know the secret of the "Elixir of Life", or "Universal Panacea", with which they are able to preserve eternal youth and life.
A true Rosicrucian is one who surrenders his heart to divine authority. There has been a lot of controversy about the origin of the name itself - Rosicrucian. Is it really a symbol of the Rose and the Cross, or is such a name invented specifically in order to deceive, distract the uninitiated, to prevent them from comprehending the true nature and purpose of the order. So, Godfrey Higgins believed that the word "Rosicrucian" does not come from the familiar beautiful flower, but from the word "ros", that is, "dew".
The scientist is probably right, since the process of forming the philosopher's stone with the help of dew was actually a secret hidden in the name. From Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry is believed to have evolved. The "unknown philosophers" became "famous" by creating an organization through which they could operate in the material world without revealing their secrets. According to a widespread view, the headquarters of the Rosicrucian Order is located near Carlsbad in Austria. But many argue that there is a separate, preserving its individuality organization called the Bohemian Brothers and located in the Black Forest (Germany).
Third version. Rosicrucian Order. Myth or Reality?
This version denies the Rosicrucians, claiming that this Order was never established by anyone and is wholly and entirely a product of someone's rich imagination. Researchers constantly ask themselves the same question - where is this elusive group of metaphysicians hiding and why are they nowhere to be seen? Was not the Brotherhood of the Rose and the Cross a myth, the invention of some cynical mocker who wanted to make fun of alchemy, and all Hermeticism as well?
Wasn't the mysterious Father of the CRC just a literary character created by the genius Johann Andrea, who, having tried to end alchemy, became, on the contrary, its unwitting propagandist? There is no doubt that one of the earliest documents of the Rosicrucians, The Glory of the Brotherhood, came from his pen.
The mystery that has long surrounded the Brotherhood has generated a huge amount of controversy. Some stubbornly defend the thesis of the existence of the Brotherhood, while others make strong arguments in favor of the existence of the Rosicrucian Order.
No one has ever announced their acquaintance with any of its members. Many even claim that Francis Bacon had a hand in the Fama fraternitatis manifesto - her style is painfully similar to that of his New Atlantis.
The fourth version. Rosicrucian Order. Christian Rosenkreutz
In 1614, the seditious for those times "Glory of the Brotherhood" began to spread throughout Europe and for the first time the name of a certain Christian Rosenkreuz, who allegedly founded a secret society in the XIV century, was heard. No other information about this Rosicrucian progenitor has survived. It remains only to rely on the legend. Like the knights-crusaders and endless mystics of different eras, Christian Rosenkreutz received initiation into the mystical mysteries in the East.
He was born in Germany but made a pilgrimage to Palestine. After spending three years in Damascus and Jerusalem, he moved to Cairo, then traveled to the Maghreb countries, where he joined the secret wisdom of the local magicians.
The name of the order is derived from its surname, which means "Pink Cross".
The grave of X. Rosenkreutz was accidentally discovered in the dungeon of the brotherhood. In it they found a set of revelations written in gold and a prophecy about the coming end of the world.
The Rosicrucians promised their supporters to open access to the highest world secrets and instructed everyone on how to protect themselves from disease by strictly observing the requirements of the Christian religion and a moral way of life. Those who received the initiation pledged to treat the sick free of charge, to take part in the meetings of the order and, dying, to appoint for themselves a successor who must keep the secret for a hundred years.
The fundamental theory of the Rosicrucians claims that they actually have supernatural powers, that they are inhabitants of two worlds and have a physical, material body that is not subject to any - neither temporal nor spatial limits. Due to their "astral" form, they are able to penetrate into the invisible world of Nature and it is there, in a world unattainable for ordinary people, that they live.
The Brotherhood is divided into degrees through which everyone must go step by step, approaching the Great Mystery.
Initiates belonging to the highest degrees are not subject to the laws of death.
THE GOALS OF THE ROSENCRUITS
Let's list the three main goals set by the brothers:
1. Elimination of all monarchical forms of government and their replacement by the government of the elect.
2. Reformation of science, philosophy and ethics.
3. The discovery of a universal treatment, that is, a panacea for all diseases.
ADEPTS OF THE ORDER OF ROSENCRUISERS
Alphonse Louis Constant (1810 - 1875), writing under the pseudonym Eliafas Levi, was the first to attempt to unite single magicians into a single international order in the image of the Rosicrucians. His first (in two volumes) book, A History of Magic, made him the idol of a new generation of occultists. In fulfillment of the teachings of their teacher, they founded the "French Cabalistic Order of the Rosicrucians", which became the first academy of Satanism. Soon, similar institutions emerged in other countries of Europe and North America.
Adepts of the order possessed the secret of the philosopher's stone and knew the secret of converting simple metals into gold.
The Confessio Fraternatis (Confessions of the Brotherhood) says that the true Rosicrucian Brotherhood is made up of supermen (something very similar to the Mahatmas in India) and only those who are able to overcome the limitations of the material world are represented. “So we will be invisible to the human eye until it reaches the eagle's vigilance. In mysticism, the eagle is a symbol of initiation, and this explains the inability of the still not reborn world to understand the secrets of the Order of the Rose and Cross.
Proponents of this theory consider the Count of Saint Germain to be the supreme adept of the brotherhood and even argue that Christian Rosenkreutz and he were one and the same person.