Having first appeared in 1910, this book is the work of Sédir, a man on the quest for the absolute, close to Papus and the occult circles of his time, before he turned to Christian mysticism following his meeting with Nizier Anthelme Philippe. Here Sédir attempts to grasp the spirit which nurtured the original Rose-Cross. In his view, the Rosicrucian school of thought represents the synthesis of three western traditions: Gnosticism, Christian mysticism and the initiates of Hermetics and alchemy, among who featured a number of Kabbalists. Past members of the Rose-Cross were forced to form a secret Fraternity, an initiatory order founded on an ideal of humanism and spirituality. Sédir reveals their symbolism as well as their rules and precepts, as presented in the Fama Fraternitatis, the first of the Rosicrucian manifestos, reprieved by the Rosicrucian doctor Michael Maier. He then retraces the history of the 17th Century members of the Rose-Cross, which he accompanies with biographical extracts on notable Rosicrucians, such as Robert Fludd, Michael Maier, Paracelsus, Henri Khunrath, Eckartshausen to name but a few. The work draws to a close with a presentation of the initiatory rite of Rose-Cross members and their rules of conduct. The version presented here is a facsimile of the 1910 edition. TABLE OF CONTENTS• Secret societies• The predecessors of the Rose-Cross• Origin of the Rose-Cross• Symbolism of the Rose Cross. Order Rules• 17th Century Members of the Rose-Cross• Members of the Rose-Cross from the 18th Century to the present day• Biographical Extracts• The Rosicrucian Initiation
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