Rosicrucian Mystic Christianity - Part 1

 Thanks to guest author Cindy, for the following article:

The original Mystic Christianity and its parallels to the Latter Rain Movement

Part 1 Spiritual Alchemy and the Evolution of Man

Years ago, as a child, I remember my eyes being drawn to an advertisement that often appeared in the Sunday newspaper.  It was a picture of Christ crucified and a ray of sunlight coming through the clouds that appeared to be piercing Him at the moment of His death.  The ad was headed “get the Christ Consciousness” and offered free literature from a group called The Rosicrucians.  Over the years, I came to wonder what exactly the Christ Consciousness was and who the Rosicrucians were.

Hundreds of years before Mike Bickle[1] received the message that he was to “change the understanding and expression of Christianity in the earth in one generation”, a mysterious secret brotherhood appeared simultaneously in Germany within the Protestant Reformation.  Their mission, likewise, was to prepare the whole world for a new type of Christianity.

While the Reformation sought to separate itself from the traditions of man and the Roman Catholic Church, and to base belief on Scripture only, it was also being infiltrated by another group that shared its anti-Catholic sentiments.  

The Secret Brotherhood of the Rosicrucians introduced into the Protestant Reformation its own traditions of secret esoteric teachings that claimed to have roots as far back as ancient Egypt.

As a Hermetic movement, Rosicrucianism seeks to facilitate the spiritual evolution of mankind through the Western Wisdom Teachings, also known as the Western Mysteries.  The basis of the Western Mysteries is Hermeticism and its three wisdom sciences; Alchemy, Astrology, and Theurgy.[2]

Today, there are many branches of Rosicrucians.  For this article I will be primarily using the teachings of the Rosicrucian Fellowship based in Oceanside, California.  

This is the group founded by Max Heindel in 1909 with his seminal book The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception or Mystic Christianity.  Because Mr. Heindel did not believe that spiritual teachings should be bought or sold, his books today are available free online. It was his goal to distribute esoteric teachings to the masses.

“Max Heindel was selected by the Elder Brothers of the Rose Cross to publicly give out the Western Wisdom Teachings in order to help prepare mankind for the coming age of Universal Brotherhood, the Age of Aquarius”[3]

“The Rosicrucian Order is an ancient Mystic Fraternity formed in the year 1313 by a high spiritual teacher having the symbolical name “Christian Rosenkreuz”: Christian Rose Cross. It was his mission to prepare a new phase of the Christian religion to be used during the coming age now at hand, for as the world and man evolve so also must religion change. The system of worship suited to the spiritual needs of our forebears is unsuited to our altered intellectual condition. Therefore, the great spiritual entities in charge of evolution change the religions of the world in harmony with the passage of the marching orbs in the heavens.

The Rosicrucian Philosophy is entirely Christian, striving to make religion a living factor in the land—and to lead to Christ those who cannot find Him by faith alone.”[4]

The homepage of the Rosicrucian Fellowship states that it is:

“Our aim is to enable people to accept the Christian doctrines through the medium of esoteric knowledge”[5]

Man as a god in the making – The Christ Consciousness

Mr. Heindel states in his pamphlet The Rosicrucian Mysteries that

“For reasons to be given later these teachings advocate the dualistic view; they hold that man is a Spirit enfolding all the powers of God as the seed enfolds the plant”[6]

The end goal of this esoteric knowledge is to obtain the Christ Consciousness, also known as Cosmic Consciousness.  Cosmic Consciousness is obtained through spiritual alchemy. 

In other religious traditions, Cosmic Consciousness is achieved through chakra meditation or visualization with the intent of awakening what is termed as “Kundalini”.[7]

“In the 19^th century, Canadian psychiatrist R. M. Bucke developed a theory which claimed that Cosmic Consciousness lies in a mystic state above and beyond self-consciousness…”[8]

“First published in 1901 – and reprinted countless times since – Cosmic Consciousness proposes the theory that human consciousness is evolving and that the great mystics and geniuses of the past were harbingers of the level of consciousness that all humankind would attain in the future.”

In Cosmic Consciousness, Bucke states that yet another characteristic of the person who has had even a taste of enlightenment is a sense of immortality.

According to Gopi Krishna [1903–1984 author of Kundalini: the Evolutionary Energy in Man[9]], the evolution of consciousness that Bucke wrote about is propelled by a cosmic force/mechanism that is known in yoga as Kundalini. Often depicted in symbolic terms as a serpent that lies coiled at the base of the spine until it is awakened. After awakening, this force or energy is said to travel up the spine and into the brain where it triggers a process of transformation that can manifest – depending on many factors – in such phenomena as mystical experience, psychic awakening, and inspired creative genius.”[10]

The Serpent Seed Doctrine

Paul Cain states that William Branham was among the greatest of prophets who ever lived.[11]  Branham is well known for his teaching of the serpent seed doctrine, but he is not the first to have taught it. [12]

In the years prior to William Branham and other Latter Day ministers, Max Heindel was teaching the same doctrine in the pamphlet Freemasonry and Catholicism:

The origin of the temporal and spiritual streams of evolution is as follows:

“It will be remembered that according to the Bible story the Lucifer Spirit appeared to Eve as a serpent, a son of Wisdom. Cain according to the Masonic legend was born from this union with Eve. It is also stated that the Lucifer spirit then left Eve, who thus became a widow, and Cain was thus the son of the Lucifer Spirit, the serpent of Wisdom, and Eve, the widow. Every Initiate to this day has the serpent symbol on his brow and is known to his fellows by that token as a SON OF THE WIDOW AND THE LUCIFER SPIRIT.”

“Jehovah created Eve, a human being.

The Lucifer Spirit Samael united with Eve and begat a semi-divine son, Cain. As he left Eve before the birth of the child, CAIN WAS THE SON OF A WIDOW, AND A SERPENT OF WISDOM.

Then Jehovah created Adam, a human being like Eve.

Adam and Eve united and begat a child, human like themselves, whose name was Abel. Jehovah, being the Lunar God, is associated with the water; hence there was enmity between CAIN, THE SON OF FIRE, and ABEL, THE SON OF WATER. So Cain slew Abel and Abel was replaced by Seth.” [13]

Although he does not use the term “Kundalini”, in Freemasonry and Catholicism, Heindel describes this energy inherited by the Sons of Cain as

“The Philosopher’s Stone”….. the spinal cord is the principal laboratory for the alchemist, and that the SPINAL SPIRIT FIRE, generated by turning the creative force upward through the spinal canal, passing it between the pituitary body and the pineal gland in the brain, gives to man a third eye as it were wherewith to see in the spiritual worlds. When this serpentine spirit fire has been sufficiently evolved, he may read by its light the wisdom of the ages. Therefore Christ exhorted His Disciples to be wise as serpents.”

According to Rosicrucian teaching, the outcome of Eve producing a semi-divine son, Cain, and a human son, Seth, is what has given rise to two different types of Christians -

“In time and through generations, the Sons of Cain became the CRAFTSMEN of the world, skilled in the use of fire and metal. Their ideal was MALE, Hiram Abiff, and the Master Workman.

The Sons of Seth, on the other hand, became the CHURCHMEN, upholding the FEMININE ideal, the Virgin Mary, and ruling their people by the magic WATER placed at their temple doors. “

But the semi-divine, the legacy of Cain, has been preserved in such organizations as the Freemasons, while the various denominations of Christendom, the legacy of Seth, have only a human understanding of what Christ is:

“Religion has been terribly tarnished in the course of time, its pristine purity has long since vanished under the regime of creed, and it is no longer CATHOLIC, that is to say, UNIVERSAL. Sects and “isms” have branched out in one direction and another, but still JESUS from the invisible worlds enfolds in his love all THE SONS OF SETH who will call upon his name BY FAITH, and he will eventually unite the scattered churches in the Kingdom of Christ.

CHRISTIAN ROSENKREUZ was given charge of the Sons of Cain who seek the light of KNOWLEDGE at the sacred fires of the Mystic Shrine.”[14]

The method of realizing this advanced or higher consciousness in Heindel’s teaching is similar to the teachings advocated by IHOP, namely the practices of Concentration, Meditation, and Contemplation.  Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception lays out the methods to attain these states.[15]  Then, too, is a similar spirit of ecumenism, embracing Catholicism and Protestantism, while acknowledging that one way is higher than the rest.

So what is the purpose and fruit of raising ones consciousness through spiritual alchemy?  (Alchemy is the science of turning base metals into gold.  Spiritual alchemy is changing from human to divine. TS )

One is the ability that many in the Word of Faith Movement claim to possess; being able to speak things into existence.  Yes, that teaching is also found within Heindel’s Rosicrucianism:

The Creative Word

“The mind is the most important instrument possessed by the spirit, and its special instrument in the work of creation. The spiritualized and perfected larynx will speak the creative Word, but the perfect mind will decide as to the particular form and the volume of vibration, and will thus be the determining factor. Imagination will be the spiritualized faculty directing the work of creation.” [16]

But the ultimate goal of the Rosicrucian movement, in common with that of Mike Bickle and the other Prophets, is to bring about the second coming of Christ through an advanced race of men:

“As the creative energy implanted by their divine ancestor Samael caused Cain to work out their own salvation through the fire of tribulation, and fashion for themselves the Golden Wedding Garment, which is the “Open Sesame” to the Invisible World. And though the cleansing blood of Jesus is an absolute necessity to millions of weaker brothers, there can scarcely be any question when we assert that THE MORE MEN AND WOMEN WHO ENGAGE IN MYSTIC MASONRY TO CONSCIOUSLY BUILD THIS TEMPLE OF THE SOUL, THE SOONER WE SHALL SEE THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST, AND THE STRONGER WILL BE THE RACE WHICH HE SHALL RULE BY THE LAW OF LOVE.[17]  

Until that day arrives, the Sons of Cain, the advanced initiated of the various esoteric groups, and the Sons of Seth, the human-minded Churchmen, will go head to head in their doctrinal Holy War, which by the way, sounds a great deal like Rick Joyner’s prophecy of the Blues and the Grays.[18]  But, of course, he was not the first to predict this.

To be continued…Part 2 Spiritual Astrology and its Impact on the Latter Rain Movement

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[1] Growing in the Prophetic, op. cit., pg. 30.

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeticism

[3] http://www.rosicrucian.com/index.html

[4] Rosicrucian Interpretation of Christianity http://www.rosicrucian.com/zineen/pamen010.htm

[5] http://www.rosicrucian.com/rf_fund.htm

[6] http://www.rosicrucian.com/rms/rmseng01.htm

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esoteric_Christianity

[8] ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_consciousness

[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandit_Gopi_Krishna

[10] http://www.icrcanada.org/images/Hugo.pdf\

[11] http://www.apologeticsindex.org/b05.html

[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_seed#William_Branham.27s_teachings

[13] http://www.rosicrucian.com/frc/frceng02.htm

[14] Ibid

[15] The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception Chapter XVII The Method of Acquiring First-Hand Knowledge The First Steps http://www.rosicrucian.com/rcc/rcceng12.htm#par169

[16] Alchemy and Soul growth chapter XVI , Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception or Mystic Christianity http://www.rosicrucian.com/rcc/rcceng16.htm#part4

[17] http://www.rosicrucian.com/frc/frceng02.htm

See also this teaching done at IHOP  which talks about the “Law of Love”

SERIES: Deep Unto Deep – The Journey of His Embrace – Dana Candler
***[This is a 4-PART series. See below audio files for all 4 parts]*** *”We are on a journey of knowing the deep of God’s  heart. From the awakening of our heart’s to the affections of God, to the ache of longing and often delayed answers we experience, the Lord always leads us according to the law of love. In this series, Dana covers several key aspects of this progressive relationship with Jesus…

[18] w.morningstarministries.org/Publisher/File.aspx?id=1000002723

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