Tuesday, November 28, 2006
MASONIC SOCIETAS ROSICRUCIANA IN CIVITATIBUS FOEDERATIS
"This Organization is an Invitational Masonic Body." So states Thurman Cleveland Pace, Jr., Supreme Magus of the organization, on a York Rite website dedicated to the Masonic Societas Rosicruciana In Civitatibus Foederatis (MSRICF).
York Rite is an appendant "body" to the Blue Lodge, according to the Unity Lodge website.
I have often written about Rosicrucianism, but all of the lodges mentioned to date have been assumed to be "irregular" Masonic Lodges. MSRICF, however, unapologetically aligns itself with regular, York Rite Freemasonry, using the familiar Rosicrucian cross as a link for the MSRICF on the Unity Lodge website.
At the York Rite website, a paper titled "Masonic Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis - An Introduction to Masonic Rosicrucianism" provides the history and the structure of this organization. MSRICF was founded in the late 1800s in England, Scotland and the United States. According to the paper, "The Society is in amity with the only other similar societies in the world--Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (England) and Societas Rosicruciana in Scotia (Scotland)." Membership is by invitation and requires Christian affiliation.
Secrecy is a concern of MSRICF. The paper states "The Masonic qualification assures the membership that the neophyte has given proof of that fidelity and privacy which characterizes a member of that Fraternity."
The paper describes the governing structure: High Council, composed of "Fraters of the Third Order (IX and VIII), are the governing body, with jurisdiction over the individual lodges called "Colleges". In reading that I was struck by the use of "Third Order" because I've seen it so often used online in Catholic websites which refer to secular orders attached to religious orders, something unheard of prior to Vatican II. The MSRICF Third Order consists of a "Magister" and a "Magus". Jewel for the Magus is a mitre. MSRICF Colleges are located in 37 states and Washington, D.C., the College at large.
The Alchemy website lists MSRICF among other modern Rosicrucian groups and indicates that "the present SRICF [Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis] is ritualistic and initiatic...existing under its new name 'Masonic Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis' (MSRICF)", though the explanation does not indicate a date for the name change.
Links to the websites of some of the various state colleges are provided at the sric-canada.org website. A link there to the "High Council" will take you here where you can read:
Aims and Objectives of the Society
“The aim of the Society is to afford mutual aid and encouragement in working out the great problems of Life, and in discovering the Secrets of Nature; to facilitate the study of the system of Philosophy founded upon the Kabbalah and the doctrines of Hermes Trismegistus, which was inculcated by the original Fratres Rosae Crucis of Germany, A.D. 1450; and to investigate the meaning and symbolism of all that now remains of the wisdom, art and literature of the Ancient World.”
Notice that at this High Council website it is noted that "Each College is presided over by a Celebrant and his officers..." "Celebrant"--the word that has replaced "priest" when discussing the Mass--in Roman Catholicism.
Notice also the poem attributed to Henry Adamson that includes a reference to "second sight" and foretelling correctly the things to come.
The sric-canada.org website also links the Bnei Baruch World Center For Kabbalah Studies website of Rev. Michael Laitman, PhD., where a wealth of material on the Kabbalah can be found. The Kabbalah Center International is also linked. Additionally there are links to several Hermetic Kabbalah websites.
