Search
Close this search box.

The Original Rosicrucian Tradition

True Rosicrucian 220 1 The Original Rosicrucian Tradition Vesica Institute for Holistic StudiesThe Spiritual Realities behind the original Holy Grail and Rosicrucian traditions in Europe.

In this series you will learn the original Spiritual Realities which manifested in the Holy Grail and Rosicrucian traditions in Europe, not the modern “Rosicrucian” offshoot organizations in North America and elsewhere.

As you will see in the Timeline at this end of this first course, the Holy Grail Tradition in Europe began as a renewed and revitalized form of Spiritual Initiation which had been transformed from earlier Initiation systems through the Christ Impulse.

The core of this Holy Grail Initiation was that it was based on an independent direct connection to higher Spiritual Realities (especially the Christ Being and the Divine Sophia) to permanently transform a person’s consciousness and energy body structures to a higher state. This is the penetration of the Holy Spirit and higher Spiritual Beings / Forces into the human Crown chakra from above, then penetrating through their Central Column / Middle Pillar down into the Earth; this transformation of the human energy field is connected to the Toroidal circulation of energy around the physical body which has in its Center the form of a Grail cup.

The Rosicrucian tradition was a further development of this Holy Grail impulse which manifested hundreds of years later, first esoterically with the Initiation of Christian Rosenkreutz (Rosy Cross) and then externally with the publication of the first Rosicrucian texts in Central Europe in the early 1600’s. The original Rosicrucian impulse had no dogmatic physical organization of any kind, no grand titles, no external ranks or grades to move through, etc. In the true, original Rosicrucian impulse every person connects directly to Spirit, with no intermediary person or organization. The Rosicrucian Initiate’s consciousness and energy system is transformed so that their energy centers blossom through the power of Divine Love and Service (the Red Roses), within their own physical body and through the difficult trials of incarnating on the Earth (the Black Cross). The original Holy Grail & Rosicrucian mysteries were first revealed to the public through the work of Rudolf Steiner in the early 1900’s.

These original Holy Grail and Rosicrucian traditions are very different in nature — and with
much deeper and more profound knowledge — than most modern “Rosicrucian” organizations in North America, Europe and elsewhere, which tend to be based on semi-Masonic models of hierarchical leadership. In these organizations there is a focus on achieving personal titles of institutional authority (such as “Grand Imperator”), working through specific “Grades” of initiatory rank within the organization (which may not reflect actual spiritual development), etc. These modern hierarchical, institutionalized “Rosicrucian” organizations are available today and indeed many people only know of Rosicrucianism through what is offered by these groups. However this series is intended to open to you a different, deeper, independent path to Spiritual Initiation which connects to the original Spiritual impulses of the Holy Grail and Rosicrucian traditions.

These Spiritual impulses, and the Divine Spiritual Beings behind them, are an active, living reality which any sincere Spiritual Seeker can consciously connect to.

Some Hallmarks of Rosicrucianism

1. Humanity is seen as in its spiritual adolescence, striving to become the Spirits of Love and Freedom. Love and Freedom are thus seen to be the foundations of human spiritual activity and right action in the world.

2. The independence and freedom of the individual in spiritual matters is sacred.

  • Beneficial spiritual beings require human beings to ‘rise to meet them halfway’ through one’s own activity to fully interact with them. They never coerce human free will nor overpower a human being to take control.
  • The student on the Rosicrucian path is autonomous. The instructor is a teacher and ‘elder brother/sister’ on the path, but not a Guru. The student must be as fully conscious as possible of every step on the path and its purpose.
  • There is no earthly institutionalized authority structure which can legitimately claim to be the sole representative of the Rosicrucian tradition, which is spiritual in nature and never transfers its authority to any external institution.
  • No true Rosicrucian teacher will ever make claims to authority: this includes claiming to be the spokesperson for the Rosicrucian tradition or particular spiritual beings, publicly revealing one’s past incarnations or spiritual importance, nor adding titles to one’s name or changing the name to suggest one’s spiritual significance. (These activities are unacceptable because they have a coercive effect on students; the Rosicrucian teacher strives to be as ‘normal’ as possible, any authority in their teachings must derive only from their innate presence and the truth within the teachings themselves. However it should be noted how often neophyte esotericists with ‘Luciferic Inflation’ conduct themselves in the unacceptable ways just described.)

3. As Above So Below, As Within So Without: Processes of Earthly Life are materializations of cosmic processes. This is connected to thinking in terms of ‘Hermetic Analogy’. Examples:  The 4 Worlds of the Kabbalah are the sources of the materialized 4 Bodies of the Human Being; the Creation of successive ranks of spiritual beings through older & more advanced spiritual beings is analogous to human beings being born helpless to elder parents, then advancing in age and responsibility until they then become parents themselves and then bring the next incarnating beings into the world.

4. All Religions are for all of humanity; they carry specialized knowledge and perspectives which are needed for a full comprehension of multi-faceted reality. Christianity is still an ideal that has yet to manifest fully; it holds a number of key teachings for humanity. None are more important than the knowledge that human beings are meant to have the freedom to develop their individuality through their own ‘I AM’ presence, which is inextricably linked to the Christ being (although many people have ‘I AM’ awareness without perceiving the spiritual being behind it). One aspect of this is contained in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

5. The fully developed human Ego (in the sense of the I Am presence, not the present Personality) is Divine and is the purpose of Earth evolution; thoughts of ‘Killing the Ego’ (in the sense of the ‘Ego’ just given) or ‘dissolving into the Cosmos’ are in reality analogous to committing suicide in the physical world. It would be a rejection of the entire divine purpose for our existence.

6. The Foundation of the World is conscious spiritual beings, not the blind clockwork ‘natural processes’ of modern materialistic science. Any teaching which is literally ‘spiritual’ must deal with specific spiritual beings and their activities.

7. Evil is a reality in the world, not an illusion. However, it has a divinely ordained place in the world, to create dynamic tension and the possibility of real freedom for humanity (and to aid in certain types of manifestation). One of the most advanced groups of human adepts are the Manicheans, who have the task of redeeming spiritual beings who have absorbed evil into their core structure. To paraphrase a Rosicrucian axiom: The Masters are not ramparts against evil, rather they have the capacity for the transmutation of Evil. This is at the heart of the Holy Grail initiation and is a highly esoteric topic. Walking the Manichean path requires an advanced ability to bear suffering without concern or self-pity.

Read the Table of Contents for all 6 Course Manuals in the Series

Read the Excerpt from Course 4 entitled “The Meaning(s) of Initiation”

The True Rosicrucian and Holy Grail Traditions


Now Available Online

True Rosicrucian