Catharose de Petri (real name Henriette Stok Huyser 1902–1990) was a Dutch-born mystic and co-founder of the

Lectorium Rosicrucianum The Lectorium Rosicrucianum or International School of the Golden Rosycross is a Spiritual School which considers itself a worldwide school of Esoteric Christianity. It was founded in 1935 by Dutch mystics Jan van Rijckenborgh, his brother Zwie ...

, an international esoteric school based on

Gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

ideas of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Catharose de Petri founded the Lectorium in 1935 with two other Dutch mystics,

Jan van Rijckenborgh Jan van Rijckenborgh (October 16, 1896 – July 17, 1968) was a Dutch-born mystic and founder of the Lectorium Rosicrucianum, a worldwide esoteric Rosicrucian movement. Jan van Rijckenborgh was born in Haarlem, Holland, under the name Jan Leene, ...

and his brother Zwier Willem Leene after meeting them as a member of the Dutch branch of

Max Heindel Max Heindel (born Carl Louis von Grasshoff, July 23, 1865 – January 6, 1919) was a Danish American Christian occultist, astrologer, and mystic. Early infancy He was born in Aarhus, Denmark, into the noble family von Grasshoff, which was con ...

Rosicrucian Fellowship The Rosicrucian Fellowship (TRF) ("An International Association of Christian Mystics") was founded in 1909 by Max Heindel with the aim of heralding the Aquarian Age and promulgating "the true Philosophy" of the Rosicrucians. It claims to present ...

. The three broke away from Heindel's interpretation of the

Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking its ...

message to form their own movement, the ''Lectorium Rosicrucianum''. With van Rijckenborgh and Leene Catharose wrote several books on the Gnostic vision of the Lectorium, speaking of a transformation of the inner man through the Christian/Rosicrucian Gnosis. In 1956 she and the others met French historian of the

Cathars Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Fol ...

and mystic

Antonin Gadal Antonin Gadal (15.3.1877 – 15.6.1962) was a French mystic and historian who dedicated his life to study of the Cathars in the south of France, their spirituality, beliefs and ideology. Life Gadal was born in 1877 in the Pyrenean town of Tar ...

whose theories about the heretical Christian movement of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

played a major role in the development of their ideas. On the death of Rijckenborgh in 1968 Catharose de Petri took over leadership of the movement until she died in 1990 (Zwier had died many years earlier). The Lectorium continues their work today.

References

*''Rosicrucians Through the Ages'' Rozekruis Pers/ Rosycross Press *Lectorium Rosicrucianum – official site (see link)

External links

Lectorium Rosicrucianum
Official site of the Lectorium

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petri, Catharose de 1902 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Christian mystics Christian occultists Dutch Christian religious leaders Rosicrucians People from Rotterdam

See also

References

External links