Frequently asked questions
What is the purpose of the International School of the Golden Rosycross?
The purpose of the International School of the Golden Rosycross is to show people, who are seeking it, the path of Christian Initiation as a path of fundamental renewal and with the support of a community of fellow members.
What does the name “Golden Rosycross" mean?
The cross is one of the ancient symbol of humanity. Such symbols always include multi-dimensional spiritual facts. In their origin, they are not invented by man’s mind, but they are radiated into the collective field of human consciousness from a higher level of reality. Therefore, they always allow several interpretations on different levels.
The horizontal bar of the cross can be seen as a symbol for life in the material world, which is characterized by the polarities of good and evil, day and night, life and death. The vertical bar symbolizes the Spirit of God that radiates into this world and calls man to his true destiny. If a man perceives the call and opens his heart to the Light, spirit and matter meet at the intersection of the cross, in the heart, and the hidden Rose of the heart starts blooming, thus becoming man’s immortal soul.
In its spiritual aspect, gold is the symbol of the connection between spirit and substance at the lowest level of manifestation. At the level of life, spirit and original substance meet within the soul, which is therefore also symbolized as “gold”. Therefore, the school speaks of the “Golden Rosyross”.
When was the International School of the Golden Rosyross founded?
The beginnings of the Golden Rosycross date back to 1924 when the brothers Zwier Willem Leene (1892-1938) and Jan Leene (1896-1968) began their spiritual work in Het Genootschap Rozekruisers, the Dutch organization of the Rosicrucian Fellowship (Oceanside, California, USA), which was founded by Max Heindel in 1909.
In 1935 they decided to proceed on the spiritual path with their own group, independent of the Rosicrucian Fellowship. After the second world war, the commnity adopted the name “Lectorium Rosicrucianum ”. The spiritual leaders of the Lectorium Rosicrucianum were Jan van Rijckenborgh (pen name of Jan Leene) and Catharose de Petri (pen name of Henriette Stok-Huizer, 1902-1990). The school is now more commonly referred to by the name The International School of the Golden Rosycross.
How long have the Rosicrucians existed?
The name “Rosyross” has been passed down from the Middle Ages. It was published for the first time in the writings of the German theologian Johann Valentin Andreae in the early 17th Century. These are the classic Rosicrucian manifestos “Call of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood” (1614), “Confession of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood” (1615) and “Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross” (1616).
In these writings a legendary person named Christian Rosycross and his Rosicrucian Brotherhood are described. They were seeking a renewal of Christianity in the early Christian spirit. The publication of these writings caused a sensation in Europe during the 17th Century and even later. Numerous publications concerning the ideas of the Rosicrucians by other authors followed.
What type of school is the International School of the Golden Rosycross?
The International School of the Golden Rosycross is a gnostic spiritual school, which has its roots in early Christianity and the teachings of Hermetic wisdom.
Do other Rosicrucian groups exist?
People reacted with different understandings to the Rosicrucian impulse of the 17th Century. Therefore, various Rosicrucian groups formed over the centuries up to the present time. They do not all follow the same vision.
Does the International School of the Golden Rosycross pursue political goals?
No political goals are held or pursued.
What are the pillars of the Rosicrucian teachings in the Golden Rosycross?
From the perspective of the Golden Rosyross, besides the physical world there is a higher world, the world of immortal life. Therefore, the Rosicrucians speak of two nature orders. The mortal world has two spheres: the material sphere were we live, and the “other side”, the abode of the dead. This contrasts with the divine world of perfection and eternal life. A field of higher existence which was home to humanity before its descent into the material world. The divine nature order is not on another planet, but exists in the same space as this world, but on a different vibration level.
Man is, from the Rosicrucian view, a dual being. Mortal man is born from the material world. He bears a spark of the immortal spirit, the “Rose of the Heart”, which comes from the higher nature. In this spirit spark the idea and structure of the original, perfect human being is contained as a seed. The energy field around this spiritual center, which also surrounds the entire material man, is called a “microcosm”.
It is the life task of man to awaken his divine soul from the spirit spark and restore the lost contact of the soul with its spiritual dimension. This is done through the power of Christ. The Bible calls this process “born again of water and Spirit” (John 3:5). The Rosicrucians speak about the great metamorphosis of man, the “Transfiguration”, and suggest the melding of the original soul with the spirit as an “Alchemical Wedding”. By this Christian Initiation man regains his share of the nature of perfect life.
What importance does reincarnation have within the Rosicrucian teachings?
The teachings of the International School of the Rosycross explain that the mortal personality of the human being does not reincarnate. It is unique, composed of matter of the mortal world, and will dissolve back into it when its time has come.
It is the spirit spark of man and his energy field, the surrounding microcosm, that gains experience from the cycle of birth and death in the world of matter; the world of opposites. With each incarnation of the microcosm, a new mortal personality is given the task to free the microcosm from its bondage to the wheel of birth and death, and guide it back to its real home, the spirit-soul world.
The force that allows this return is the atmospheric power of Christ, which the Rosicrucian pupil anchors in his system during his life. This force dissolves the karma that binds his microcosm to matter, and leaves the immortal “Other” one, the divine man, to grow again. So said John: “I must decrease, so that He may increase”.
How is the Rosicrucian spiritual path practiced?
Rosicrucians give the spiritual development in their lives increasingly a primary place in their lives and aspire to a lifestyle that is led by the Light of soul and spirit instead of the selfish ego. This Light never forces anybody, but radiates when man opens himself up for it the right way. The Rosicrucians go their path in a community of like-minded people. By sharing contemplation and focusing on the objective of the soul revival a spiritual force field is formed that strengthens the individual and leads to living knowledge about the individual steps of the path.
What does Gnosis mean?
The word “Gnosis” comes from the Greek word for light of knowledge. On the path of the Golden Rosycross, Gnosis is the inner realization of the Light power of God. This seven-fold Light becomes an inner experience and a spiritual life force for the pupil on the path. Gnosis is an inner experience of God and therefore never a dogma, but a living knowledge. It reveals in different ways, according to the respective historical periods and phases of human development. Also, the experiences of the seeking individuals are different.
Are Rosicrucians Gnostics?
The International School of the Golden Rosycross, stands in a gnostic tradition and therefore presents its work as a “Gnostic Spiritual School”. However, its teachings and methods differ in part from those of previous gnostic schools, because man, at the beginning of the Aquarius Age, has a different starting point for his way to another state of consciousness as the people in the past. For example, the School of the Golden Rosycross does not understand the material world to be fundamentally bad, as it was often taught in ancient gnostic initiation schools. But the material world is the training school in which the pupil has to reveal and prove his state of being on the path to the spiritual soul.
What does Initiation mean to the Rosicrucians?
Initiation means to awaken in a higher state of being and consciousness. What this means in detail, depends on the particular starting point of the individual, because there are several kinds and many levels of initiation. In previous eras the initiation schools mainly worked on the individualization of man and his self-responsibility. This stage has now been reached for humanity as a whole. In this respect, man in the 21 Century respect has come to the end of a long evolutionary path of becoming conscious in matter.
This path cannot lead deeper. Today, at the beginning of the Aquarius Age, a new level of initiation has to be found and passed. Rosicrucians call this higher level of initiation “Transfiguration”. The goal of this level is overcoming the bondage to the matter by the birth of a new consciousness which is led by the Light of soul and spirit. The work on the self-centered personality is no longer on focus. The goal of Aquarian initiation is the rebirth of spirit, soul and body to a completely new state of human being.
What does the symbol circle-triangle-square mean, under which the Lectorium Rosicrucianum occurs?
The circle stands for the macrocosmic, unknowable Spirit of God, the fullness (the Pleroma), from which all revelation evolves, and which embraces all creation. From the circle, the triangle evolves, meaning the divine spirit in its threefold revelation as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. From the Holy Spirit evolves the “square of the building”, the embodiment of the divine idea within the substance.
Circle, triangle and square together at every level – whether the macrocosm, cosmos or microcosm – a universal symbol for the divine creation, in its perfect manifestation of spirit (circle), soul (triangle) and body (square). Thus, the sign of the unity of circle, triangle and square is also a symbol of the divine human being, who is to be revealed on the path of the Golden Rosycross.
What do Rosicrucians mean with the term “Spiritual School"?
He, who wants to follow the path of the Golden Rosycross, must be willing to learn from scratch. The application of the spirit forces that are active in the International School of the Golden Rosycross, the pupil gains an inner knowledge of its existence, the meaning and purpose of his life. With this knowledge, he must find his way and walk in freedom. Therefore, there is no “teacher” or “guru” inside the school, and no atmosphere of performance and competition. The path unfolds in the pupils themselves in different stages.
The divine man reveales as a Trinity of personality, soul and spirit. The objective of the International School of the Golden Rosycross is not to perfect the mortal personality. And its ultimate goal is not alone in the soul’s development. But it’s about the complete renewal of the human system, through to the binding of the reborn soul to the spirit, by means of Transfiguration, the path of initiation. Therefore, the term “Spiritual School” is used for the Golden Rosycross.
How is the International School of the Golden Rosycross funded?
The International School of the Golden Rosycross, Lectorium Rosicrucianum, is funded entirely by contributions and donations. It is a non-profit organization.
How is the community built up internally?
The board of the International School of the Golden Rosycross is composed of members from various nationalities. On the national level, the Golden Rosycross works in accordance with the particular legal structures for such communities.
In many larger cities there are Golden Rosycross centers, where pupils, members and interested people meet on a regular basis for different events. Worldwide, there are currently more than 130 such centers in over 50 countries. Besides that, the Golden Rosycross also runs about 60 Conference centers, as meeting places to carry out spiritual events for several days on weekends. That is where the national administrations are located.
What kind of membership does the International School of the Golden Rosycross offer?
There are two options. Interested people may opt for a loose connection by means of membership or for those who feel ready to walk the path shown by the School of the Golden Rosycross, active pupilship is possible.
Pupils of the Golden Rosycross pursue the path of purification, which includes the purification of all aspects of the personality being - the physical, etheric, astral and mental bodies. The pupils practice a vegetarian way of life and abstain from all forms of drugs and narcotics, including alcohol.
How to become a member in the Golden Rosycross?
Membership of the International School of the Golden Rosycross is open to anyone genuinely interesting in being connected with the School and its philosophy, and wishing to become more familar with its teachings and activities.
You may apply for membership in writing, or on the Golden Rosycross Community website, giving your contact details so that you may be associated with your nearest centre of the School, and can be keep informed of activities for members. You must be aged at least 18 years, to ensure that your decision to establish a connection with the School is yours alone. Further information about membership is available online on the GRC website.
Your experience as a member will be enhanced by your participation in your local centre events and meetings for members, but this is by no means obligatory, nor do you have to meet any other requirement to be a member of the School of the Golden Rosycross.
Are men and women equal in the School of the Golden Rosycross?
Yes, men and women perform tasks, functions and responsibilities equally.
How is the relationship to other spiritual communities?
Since the very beginning of human history there is a divine effort to rescue humanity from the boundaries of death and lead them to immortal life. This effort has always found its expression in accordance with the respective cultures and time periods in different religions and spiritual mainstreams.
From the perspective of the Rosicrucians, it is understandable and justified, that even with the proclamation of the Christian doctrine and the following of Christ, there are a variety of communities, referring to the different states of human consciousness.
Is it easy to resign from membership?
Resignation from the International School of the Golden Rosycross Lectorium Rosicrucianum is easily possible at any time. It only requires an informal written statement which is immediately met.
