The Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis (Fama
fraternitatis Roseae Crucis oder Die Bruderschaft des
Ordens der Rosenkreuzer), or simply the Fama
Fraternitatis, is an anonymous Rosicrucian
manifesto published in 1614
[1] in Kassel
(Germany). It
was translated into English
in 1652 by
Thomas Vaughan. It was published as an appendix of the
77th. Advertisement (section) intitled Generale Riforma
dell' Universo (The Universal Reformation of Mankind) of a
German translation of Bocallini's satira Ragguagli di
Parnasso (Advertisements from Parnassus). The Fama which
created a profound effect was soon published in separate
form.
The Legend
The Fama tells the story of the "Father C.R."
(later on C.R.C., the mythical Alchemist Christian
Rosenkreuz), his ill-fated pilgrimage to Jerusalem;
his subsequent tutelage by the secret sages of the east,
the wise men of Damcar in Arabia,
from whom he learned the ancient esoteric
knowledge which included the study of physics,
mathematics,
magic and
kabbalah;
his return through Egypt and
Fes
and his presence among the alumbrados in Spain.
It is thought in occultism
that Rosenkreuz's pilgrimage seems to refer to
transmutation steps of the Great
Work.
After his arrival to Germany,
Father C.R. and other Brothers established an esoteric
Christian Fraternity: "The Fraternity of the Rose
Cross". The Brothers of the Fraternity were sent in
mission throughout the world, having as their first
priority to use their knowledge
to "cure the sick" in a free of charge way "that
gratis", not wearing any special clothing, and met once
each year in the mysterious "House of the Holy
Spirit".
The Legend shows an agreement with six articles that
they drew up Prior to their separation, bounding themselves
one to another to keep:
- That none of them should profess any other thing
than to cure the sick, and that gratis.
- None of the posterity should be constrained to wear
one kind of habit, but to follow the custom of the
country.
- Every year, upon the day C., they would meet
together at the house Santi Spiritus, or write the
cause of their absence.
- Every Brother should seek a worthy person to
succeed him after his death.
- The word CR should be their seal, mark, and
character.
- The Fraternity should remain secret one hundred
years.
List of names in the
Legend
The Legend presented in the Manifestos has been
interpreted through centuries as texts full of symbolism.
Rosicrucians clearly adopted through the Manifestos the
Pythagorean
tradition of envisioning objects and ideas in terms of
their numeric aspects, and, on the other hand, they
directly state in the Confessio
Fraternitatis, "We speak unto you by parables, but
would willingly bring you to the right, simple, easy and
ingenuous exposition, understanding, declaration, and
knowledge of all secrets."
In the narrative
- I. A.
- G.V.
- R.C. (C.R.C.'s deceased father's brother's son):
(see also description in the vault below).
- B. (a skillful painter)
- I.O. (P.A. was his successor)
- P.D. (A. was his successor, and N.N. was in turn
A's successor)
- R. (successor to C.R.C.)
- G.G.
The sentence "C.R.C.'s deceased father's brother's son"
has always been a deeply enigmatic one. There is the
possibility that it may refer to the rebirth
process, a central tenet teaching of groups having, or
claiming to have, a Rosicrucian philosophy. This would
imply that "Father C.R.", possibly of the 13th/14th
century, would have been reborn to "R.C.", becoming the
14th/15th century C.R.C. in the Manifestos. This appears
to confirm what several later sources wrote about the
Rosicrucian movement:
- According to the Anthroposophy founder Rudolf
Steiner, the Mystery of the foundation of the
Rosicrucian Order in the early 14th century relates
to the birth of Christian
Rosenkreuz in the 13th century, and his later
rebirth in the 14th century.
- According to Maurice Magre, in Magicians, Seers,
and Mystics, derived from local oral tradition,
Christian Rosenkreuz was the last descendant of the
Germelschausen, a German family which flourished in the
13th century. Their Castle stood in the Thuringian
Forest on the Border of Hesse and they had embraced
Albigense's doctrines, combining pagan superstitions
and Christian beliefs.
- According to the Rosicrucian Initiate Max
Heindel, the foundation of the Order of the Rose
Cross occurred in 1313, early 14th century.
- According to Mason Albert
Pike, and later metaphysician René
Guénon and the scholar Manly
Palmer Hall, the "Adepts of the Rose-Croix" are
for the first time expounded in Dante's
The
Divine Comedy (1308-1321).
In C.R.C.'s vault
- Fra. I.A. Fra. Ch. electione Fraternitatis caput.
[elected head of Fraternity]: possibly
Iohann Andreae (1586-1654)?
- Fra. G.V. M.P.G.
- Fra. F.R.C. Junior haeres S. Spiritus [younger heir
of the house of the holy spirit]:
- Fra. F.B. M.P.A. Pictor et Architectus [painter and
architect]: possibly Francis
Bacon (1561-1626)?
"Secundi Circuli"
- Fra. P.A. Successor to Fra. I.O., Mathematicus
- Fra. A. Successor to Fra. P.D.
- Fra. R. Successor to Patris C.R.C., cum Christo
Triumphantis [with Christ Triumphant]
The enigmatic "Fra. F.R.C." in the vault (the "R.C." in
the narrative, see above) is mentioned as "heir";
this statement "younger heir of the house of the holy
spirit" seems to provide evidence of the intimate relation
to "Father C.R.", possibly meaning "Father R.C." [forming
the C.R.C. initials]:
- The poet Fernando
Pessoa - known defender of Masonic
and Rosicrucian
ideals and possible Rosicrucian Initiate, as he
states "Initiated from Master to Disciple in the
three minor degrees of the (apparently extinct)
Portuguese Templar Order" (Rosicrucians seem to have
had a deep presence in Portugal, intermixed with
Templar tradition, and with evidence in monuments
and literature, from medieavel times into the 20th
century) - wrote an hermetic
poem titled "
No Túmulo de Christian Rosenkreutz" [In the Tomb of
C.R.C], which states in the final line/verse: "Our
Father Rose-n-c[k]reuz [Rosaecruz] knows and keeps
silent", which may attribute the whole key to the
understanding of the "Fama" to the enigmatic character
described as "R.C." or "F.R.C".
- The sentence "cum Christo Triumphantis" [with
Christ Triumphant] may imply that the central meaning
of the "Fama" is to give account of the final
achievement into the "Great Work" (the Philosopher's
Stone of the alchemists, or the Holy
Grail of the Templars) by C.R.C., Christian
Rosenkreuz. This seems to describe that the
symbolism of the unification of the "Rose" and the
"Cross" (Christian Rose Cross), in the Legend,
implies the existence of a Christic
state (Christ, the Light of the World), which
includes liberation from the cycle of births
and deaths, comparable and higher than the
Buddhic
state (Buddha, the Light of Asia) described
in the eastern sacred literature. This "Christic"
process and state is pointed by major occultists
as being described in some major western literary
works as the 14th century The
Divine Comedy
[2] or the 16th
century The
Lusiads,
[3] and, it is
also, to some extent, explained in the Rosicrucian
literature known as
Western Wisdom Teachings.
According to Émile Dantinne (1884–1969), the origins of
the Rosicrucians may have an Islamic
connection. Rosenkreuz started his pilgrimage at the age
of sixteen. This led him to Arabia,
Egypt, and
Morocco,
where he came into contact with sages of the East who
revealed to him the "universal harmonic science." After
learning Arabic philosophy in Jerusalem,
he was led to Damcar. This place remains a mystery—it
did not become Damascus but
is somewhere not too far from Jerusalem. Then he stopped
briefly in Egypt.
Soon afterwards, he embarked to Fes, a
center of philosophical and occult studies, such as the
alchemy of Abu-Abdallah, Gabir ben Hayan, and Imam
Jafar al Sadiq, the astrology and magic of
Ali-ash-Shabramallishi, and the esoteric science of
Abdarrahman ben Abdallah al Iskari. However, Dantinne
states that Rosenkreuz may have found his secrets
amongst the Brethren
of Purity, a society of philosophers that had formed
in Basra
(Iraq)
sometime during the 900s. Their doctrine had its source
in the study of the ancient Greek
philosophers, but it became more neo-Pythagorean.
They adopted the Pythagorean
tradition of envisioning objects and ideas in terms of
their numeric aspects. Their theurgy
and esoteric
knowledge is expounded in an epistolary style in the
Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity.
The Brethren of Purity and the Sufis
were united in many points of doctrine. They both were
mystical orders deriving from Qur'anic
theology but supplanting dogma with
a faith in the Divine Reality. There were many
similarities between the Rosicrucian way as expressed in
the manifestos and the way of life of the Brethren of
Purity. Neither group wore special clothing, both
practiced abstinence, they healed the sick, and they
offered their teachings free of charge. Similarities
also were evident in the doctrinal elements of their
theurgy
and the story of creation in terms of emanationism.
Notes and
references
-
^ It is generally assumed, among researchers,
that the Fama may have been in circulation ca.
1610 since a reply to the Fama had already been
printed in 1612 by Adam Haselmayer who had seen a
manuscript copy of the Fama in Tyrol
in 1610. In 1612 "De Ragguagli di Parnasso
[Advertisements from Parnassus]" was published in
Venice and Trajano
Boccalini, listed as author of the "Generale
Riforma dell' Universo" (77th. Advertisement), had
died in 1613. Manly
Palmer Hall refers that the author of the 77th
Advertisement may have been Francis
Bacon.
-
^ Dante Alighieri in "The Divine Comedy: 3rd
Cantica, Canto XXXI": «In fashion then as of a
snow-white rose / Displayed itself to me the saintly
host, / Whom Christ in his own blood had made his
bride,»
-
^ Camoens in "The Lusiads: Canto X": «Makes
you reward, baron, the Sapience / Supreme of, with the
corporal eyes, / see what can not the vain science / of
the wrong and miserable mortals»
See also