The Rosicrucians - extra's P2

A Brief History of the Rosicrucian Order in North America

The year 1915 marked the beginning of an exciting new era for the
Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, with the founding of the American branch of the
Order by Dr. H. Spencer Lewis. In 1909 Dr. Lewis was initiated into the
Rosicrucian Order in France and entrusted with the responsibility of
bringing the Rosicrucian teachings to America.

Centuries before, Rosicrucian philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon
foresaw that the Rosicrucian teachings would find a new home and new
opportunities for growth in the recently--discovered lands of the Western
hemisphere, and with the founding of the American branch of the Order by
Dr. Lewis in 1915 this prophecy came into full manifestation.

The time was right. In the fertile American social landscape, the Order's
teachings grew strong and blossomed forth in a land free from the
despotism, secrecy, class-consciousness, and religious intolerances of
other lands. From its then headquarters in New York City, the teachings
spread out across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean, with
thousands of new students eagerly embracing the Rosicrucian system of
study.

And what a unique system it proved to be! The innovative and visionary
Dr. Lewis brought a new, distinctly American, approach never before used
to disseminate the Order's teachings--an approach especially suited to the
openness of American society and the unfolding twentieth century.

The Order openly advertised for students, its teachings were disseminated
in the form of printed monographs, and the Order was very much in the
public eye--perhaps most noticeably at Rosicrucian Park in San Jose,
California. There, the Order's landmarks and monuments--its Egyptian-style
Temple and Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum--welcome thousands of visitors
annually.

Today there are close to 65,000 active Rosicrucian students worldwide,
and over the past 85 years hundreds of thousands of people have been
students of the Rosicrucian teachings. From the beginning, both men and
women have played an equal role in the Rosicrucian Order, without regard
to religion or race. Not a religion, the Rosicrucian Order is unique in
that it provides a foundation that ties together all of the different
aspects of metaphysical and philosophical study and demonstrates their
interconnectedness--and the interconnectedness of all.

For more information, please visit out website at www.rosicrucian.org or
to request a Mastery of Life booklet, please phone:

866-4SEEKER
(866-473-3537)