Mystery has surrounded this secret order since it first announced its presence via a 1614 pamphlet in Germany titled Fama Fraternitatis of the most laudable Order of the Rosy Cross, although some accounts say this pamphlet was circulated as early as 1610. In the text it stated that the Rosicrucians had been in existence since 1459, being established by a man named Christian Rosencreutz (Rosy Cross) who was said to live to be 106 years old.
The story goes that he was a German nobleman who had been sent to a monastery in 1378 to learn Latin and Greek. From there, he was taken to Cyprus by a monk who died upon arrival, leaving Rosencreutz alone. He then travelled to Arabia to a place called Damcar (no record exists of such a place), then he went to Fez and Egypt, gathering knowledge from many different Sufi masters (Islamic mystics) in all these places before coming back home.
More and different pamphlets were circulated about the order in 1615 and 1616, and continued into the 1700s, but how genuine these documents are is questionable as some imitation Rosicrucian orders popped up after the first pamphlet.
The original order was said to be composed of 8 men, all doctors, who took oaths to heal the sick without payment, meet once a year at Spiritus Sanctus, remain secret, use the letters C.R. as the secret mark, and name their own successor. Each was skilled in the Hermetic arts of Alchemy, Astrology, and Theurgy (practice of rituals). This formed the secret inner circle, and upon release of the pamphlet, a public outer circle under direction of the inner one. When someone from the outer body was deemed understanding of the teachings, he would be advanced a rank and given more of the knowledge (much like a Freemason, and in France an 18th degree mason is called Knight of the Rose Croix).
Their knowledge of the Hermetic arts was said to include transmutation of base metals into gold, power of elemental spirits, and knowledge of the magical signatures of Paracelsus*. As well as more fanciful abilities such as not needing food or water and the ability to make themselves invisible. It is thought that there was an allegorical meaning behind the words, one example is that turning base metals meant turning a ‘base’ person into a higher spiritual gold.
*(Paracelsus (1493-1541) was an occultist Swiss-German credited with the founding of toxicology. It is said he invented laudanum, a tincture of opiates that today is used to control diarrhea, alleviate pain, and ease infants out of addiction if they are born to heroin addicted mothers.)
The order was aimed at seeing a major overhaul of the arts and sciences of the day, as they saw the knowledge they had was ready for the world, particularly in the science of alchemy and medicine. In the original document it says they will be on the lookout for those they think worthy to join them, so to speak about how you feel of the Order and if they feel you say the truth, then it will be beneficial for you.
Some say the original was a hoax and later pamphlets were just jokes, works of fiction from other authors for the fools who believed the first one. But soon enough printing houses started writing pamphlets praising or opposing the Rosicrucians, and many literary works of the mid 1600s and later would slip in mysterious passages and references to the Rosy Cross.
In 1618 a pamphlet was circulated that the Rosicrucians left towards the east due to the Thirty Years’ War. While in Paris in 1622 two different Rosy Cross posters went up on the walls around the city, the first stating "We, the Deputies of the Higher College of the Rose-Croix, do make our stay, visibly and invisibly, in this city”.
The Order would pop up in England and France through the ages, with the last new order being created by Robert Wentworth called Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia in 1857. Today, the original Rosicrucians are no more, if they were ever real. An organization called AMORC (Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis) still uses the name, but is nothing like the Rosicrucians of history.
This is the third of a series on secret societies you may never have heard of. Please follow @getonthetrain for further investigations into secret societies.