![RaisingofLazarusBloch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/RaisingofLazarusBloch.jpg)
Christian Rosenkreuz (also spelled Rosenkreutz, Rosencreutz, Christiani Rosencreütz and Christian Rose Cross) is the
legendary
Legendary may refer to:
* Legend, a folklore genre
* Legendary (hagiography)
** Anjou Legendarium
* J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium
Film and television
* ''Legendary'' (film), a 2010 American sports drama film
* ''Legendary'', a 2013 film fea ...
, possibly
allegorical
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...
, founder of the
Rosicrucian Order (Order of the
Rose Cross
The Rose Cross (also called ''Rose Croix'' and Rosy Cross) is a symbol largely associated with the legendary Christian Rosenkreuz; Christian Kabbalah, Christian Kabbalist, Alchemy, alchemist, and founder of the Rosicrucianism, Rosicrucian Order. T ...
).
He is presented in three
manifesto
A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
s that were published early in the 17th century. These were:
*''
Fama Fraternitatis
''Fama fraternitatis Roseae Crucis oder Die Bruderschaft des Ordens der Rosenkreuzer'', usually listed as ''Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis'', is an anonymous Rosicrucian manifesto published in 1614 in Kassel, Hesse-Kassel (in present-day German ...
'' (published 1614 in
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
, Germany) This manifesto introduced the founder, "Frater C.R.C."
*''
Confessio Fraternitatis
The ''Confessio Fraternitatis'' (''Confessio oder Bekenntnis der Societät und Bruderschaft Rosenkreuz''), or simply ''The Confessio'', printed in Kassel (Germany) in 1615, is the second anonymous manifestos, of a trio of Rosicrucian pamphlets, d ...
'' (published 1615 in
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
, Germany)
*''
The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz
The ''Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz'' (german: Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459) is a German book edited in 1616 in Strasbourg. Its anonymous authorship is attributed to Johann Valentin Andreae. The ''Chymical Weddi ...
'' (published 1616 in
Strasbourg, Germany).
Legend
![Prosphil](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Prosphil.jpg)
According to the
legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
, Christian Rosenkreuz was a
medieval
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, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
German aristocrat, orphaned at the age of four and raised in a
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
, where he studied for twelve years.
He discovered and learned
esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...
wisdom
Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, ...
on a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land
The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
,
among
Turkish,
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
, and
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
sages, possibly
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
or
Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...
masters, supposedly in the early 15th century (see
§ Symbolism of the numbers in the Manifestos); returned and founded the "Fraternity of the Rose Cross" with himself (Frater C.R.C.) as Head of the Order. Under his direction a Temple, called
Sanctus Spiritus
The Sanctus ( la, Sanctus, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' ( el, ἐπινίκιος ὕμνος, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition.
In Western Christianity, the ...
, or "The House of the Holy Spirit", was built.
It is described that his body, as discovered by a Brother of the Order, was in a perfect state of preservation 120 years after his death (which occurred in absolute secrecy) – as Rosenkreuz had predicted — in a
heptagon
In geometry, a heptagon or septagon is a seven-sided polygon or 7-gon.
The heptagon is sometimes referred to as the septagon, using "sept-" (an elision of ''septua-'', a Latin-derived numerical prefix, rather than ''hepta-'', a Greek-derived num ...
al chamber erected by himself as a storehouse of knowledge. It is described that on the
sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
in the centre of the Crypt of Christian Rosenkreutz were written, among other inscriptions the words, "Jesus mihi omnia, nequaquam vacuum, libertas evangelii, dei intacta gloria, legis jugum" ("Jesus is everything to me, by no means empty, the freedom of the
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
, the untouched glory of God, the yoke of the law"), testifying to the builder's Christian character.
Rosenkreuz's
crypt
A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics.
Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...
, according to the description presented in the
legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
, is located in the interior of the Earth, recalling the
alchemical
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
motto V.I.T.R.I.O.L.: Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem ("Visit the interior of the Earth; by rectification thou shalt find the hidden stone").
Biographies
According to some researchers, Christian Rosenkreuz was the last descendant of the
Germelshausen Germelshausen is an 1860 story by Friedrich Gerstäcker concerning a cursed village that sank into the earth long ago and is permitted to appear for only one day every century. The protagonist is a young artist (Arnold) who happens to be traversing ...
, a German family which flourished in the 13th century. Their castle stood in the
Thuringian Forest
The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...
on the Border of
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
and they had embraced Albigensian (i.e.,
Cathar
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. Follow ...
) doctrines, combining Gnostic and Christian beliefs. The whole family was put to death by
Konrad von Marburg
Konrad von Marburg (sometimes anglicised as Conrad of Marburg) (1180 – 30 July 1233) was a medieval German priest and nobleman.
Life
Konrad's early life is not well known, he may be of aristocratic descent, and he was described by contemporar ...
except for the youngest son, who was only five years old. He was carried away secretly by a monk who was an Albigensian adept from
Languedoc
The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France.
Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...
. The child was placed in a monastery which had already come under the influence of the Albigenses, where he was educated and made the acquaintance of the four other brothers who were later to be associated with him in the founding of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood. His account derives from oral tradition.
Some
occultists
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism ...
including
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a ...
,
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 ...
and (much later)
Guy Ballard
Guy Warren Ballard (July 28, 1878 – December 29, 1939) was an American mining engineer who, with his wife Edna Anne Wheeler Ballard, founded the "I AM" Activity.
Ballard was born in Newton, Kansas and married his wife in Chicago in 1916. ...
, have stated that Rosenkreuz later reappeared as the
Count of St. Germain, a
courtier
A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...
, adventurer and
alchemist
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...
who reportedly died on 27 February 1784. Steiner once identified Rembrandt's painting "
/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Rembrandt_Man_in_Armour.jpg A Man in Armour as a portrait of Christian Rosenkreuz, apparently in a 17th-century manifestation. Others believe Rosenkreuz to be a pseudonym for a more famous historical figure, usually
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
. Steiner gave lectures on Rosenkreutz and Rosicrucianism.
Symbolism of the numbers in the Manifestos
![Rosy Cross](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Rosy_Cross.svg)
The legend presented in the Manifestos has been interpreted symbolically (as were all
hermetic
Hermetic or related forms may refer to:
* of or related to the ancient Greek Olympian god Hermes
* of or related to Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary Hellenistic figure based on the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth
** , the ancient and m ...
and
alchemical
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
texts of those times). They do not directly state Christian Rosenkreuz's years of birth and death, but in two sentences in the
second Manifesto the year 1378 is presented as being the birth year of "our Christian Father", and it is stated that he lived for 106 years, which would mean he died in 1484. The foundation of the Order can be supposed in similar terms to have occurred in the year 1407. However, these numbers (and deduced years) are not taken literally by many students of
occultism
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...
, who consider them to be allegorical and symbolic statements for the understanding of the
initiated
Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...
. The justification for this relies on the Manifestos themselves: on the one hand, the Rosicrucians clearly adopted through the Manifestos the
Pythagorean
Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to:
Philosophy
* Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras
* Ne ...
tradition of envisioning objects and ideas in terms of their numeric aspects, and, on the other hand, they directly state, "We speak unto you by parables, but would willingly bring you to the right, simple, easy and ingenuous exposition, understanding, declaration, and knowledge of all secrets."
The metaphorical nature of these legends lends a nebulous quality to the origins of Rosicrucianism. The opening of Rosenkreuz's tomb is thought to be a way of referring to the cycles in
nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
and to
cosmic events; and as well, to the opening of new possibilities for mankind consequent on the advances of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Similarly, Rosenkreuz's pilgrimage seems to refer to the transmutation steps of the
Great Work.
Similar legends may be found in
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach (; – ) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry.
Life
Little is known of Wolfram's life. There are ...
's description of the
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...
as the "Lapis Exillis", guarded by the
Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
, or in the
Philosophers' stone
The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", a ...
of the alchemists, the "Lapis Elixir".
See also
*
Rosicrucian Manifestos
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 it ...
*
Rose Cross
The Rose Cross (also called ''Rose Croix'' and Rosy Cross) is a symbol largely associated with the legendary Christian Rosenkreuz; Christian Kabbalah, Christian Kabbalist, Alchemy, alchemist, and founder of the Rosicrucianism, Rosicrucian Order. T ...
*
Rosicrucianism
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 ...
*
Hermeticism
Hermeticism, or Hermetism, is a philosophical system that is primarily based on the purported teachings of Hermes Trismegistus (a legendary Hellenistic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth). These teachings are containe ...
*
Esoteric Christianity
Esoteric Christianity is an approach to Christianity which features "secret traditions" that require an initiation to learn or understand.Guy G. Stroumsa (2005). Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditions and the Roots of Christian Mysticism. Leiden: Br ...
References
External links
A narrative about Christian Rosenkreutz and Rosicrucianism
Manifestos
*
at the Alchemy web site
idem
idem
Studies
*Bamford, Christopher. ''The Rosicrucian Enlightenment Revisited
'. Lindisfarne Books, 1999
*Prinke, Rafal T
The Hermetic Journal, 1990, 72–98 online
*Weber, Charles.
'.
Rays from the Rose Cross
''Rays from the Rose Cross'' is a Christian esoteric magazine established in June 1913 by Max Heindel, author of ''The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception'' and founder of The Rosicrucian Fellowship; its original name was ''Echoes from Mount Ecclesia''. ...
, 1995
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenkreuz, Christian
Christian Kabbalists
German alchemists
German Christian mystics
People whose existence is disputed
Rosicrucians
*