Aglaian Triad of Wicca - What is a "Rosicrucian" influence?

The Rosicrucian Order (AMORC) is an ancient mystery school which teaches basic psychic, mental, and life techniques to allow women and men to gain mastery over life and become better servants of humanity. Put another way, it is one of the planet's leading occult schools of inner mastery. The teachings, which have been translated into a number of languages, are available to any seeker via a mail correspondence system. The scope and practicality of the teachings are, from personal experience, breathtaking. We highly recommend people who seek better understanding of mysticism and who seek better occult training to study with the Rosicrucians. Click on this link to visit their web page.

From contact with other people in the neo-pagan New Age community, I feel it is important to note a few things about the Rosicrucians. Here are some of the misconceptions I have come across:

Misconception: The Rosicrucians are some kind of Christian organization.

Truth: The Rosicrucians have nothing at all to do with Christianity. The Rosicrucian Order is most emphatically not a religion. Rosicrucian students continue to practice their chosen religion, or none at all, when they study the Teachings. In fact, because of AMORC's strong international base of support, the Rosicrucian Order probably has the best spread of diversity of religious paths among its members of any fraternal organization. There are things in the teachings which might not be compatible with certain religious beliefs, but it is not necessary to agree with every aspect of the Rosicrucian teachings to benefit. There is no essential belief among the Rosicrucians other than tolerance of new ideas, and an inquisitive spirit about the truth of all things.

Probably the main thing which has led to this misconception that the Rosicrucian Order is a Christian organization is the fact the symbol of the Rosicrucian Order is a Cross with a Rose in the center where the arms of the Cross meet. Most neo-pagans probably know by now that the cross predates Christianity, and the ankh, which is a cross variant, is widely used by Egyptian-trad neo-pagans. The Christians borrowed the cross symbol, as they did so many other ideas from other religions and traditions.

The Rosy Cross symbol predates Christianity, as does the Rosicrucian Order in its traditional history. I have never encountered any Christian beliefs in my years of studying with the Rosicrucians, though Jesus as well as other spiritual leaders are mentioned from time in a historical and teaching context. The Rosicrucians have nothing to do with Christianity.

Misconception: Aglaian is the only Wiccan tradition which is influenced by the Rosicrucian teachings.

Truth: The founder of Witches Against Religious Discrimination (WARD), Joyce Siegrist, is also the founder of the Rosarian Tradition (write to her at RoseWARD@aol.com). Joyce is a student of the Rosicrucian teachings, and The Rosarian Tradition bears their influence. So Aglaian is not the only tradition which is influenced by the Rosicrucian worldview. I have met many other witches who have studied with AMORC, and have derived great benefit from that study.

Misconception: Rosicrucianism is not compatible with Wicca. Wiccans only use ceremonial magick.

Truth: We do not believe that there is such a thing as a uniquely Wiccan magickal/tantric/metaphysical system. All Wiccan practices seem highly derivative of other occult systems. Whether one believes Gerald Gardner was an authentic initiate of a long, unbroken line of witches, or whether contrarily he made this up from a hodge podge of other occult beliefs and practices, one has to conceed that the practice of ceremonial magick is probably not native pagan in origin, and is a borrowed practice.

We find Rosicrucian metaphysics much more practical, more easy to verify, and truer to our own intuition about how the cosmos functions. If another group chooses to borrow from Aleister Crowley instead, fine, but acknowledge the borrowing and do not deceive yourself that Crowley's work is somehow native pagan in origin.

Misconception: The existence and availability of the Rosicrucian teachings are advertised in mass media, which somehow is a bad thing.

Truth: We believe the Rosicrucian Order has gotten occult training to more "regular" people than any other mystical order. If metaphysical training is truly to transform humanity's consciousness, and usher in the next level, more than a few dozen occultists need to be trained in these techniques. Most people do not have the access to occult training that the average neo-pagan or "magician" has. The Rosicrucian Order uses mass media because that is the way the current world works.

We are baffled that some people believe that easy access to knowledge is a bad thing. They seem to treasure their elite status, and the scarcity of numbers which preserves this New Age elite, more than they value the further evolvement of the planet. Numbers are important, let's use every means to increase the number of people who have access to the arcane knowledge.

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This page created 02/06/1998
Last updated: 01/23/2001

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