Church Hopping #14
THE ROSICRUCIANS
Last night, my husband and I went to the local Rosicrusian Temple for the first time. He initially agreed to go but as we drove up he became hesitant. I therefore, also started to get nervous and when I noticed the word “LODGE” on their sign I began to wonder if this was an ALL MALE type of gathering. To my delight, it was NOT.
As we walked up to the small building (the first floor being a parking garage) we saw a glass door to a small lobby with stairs and a handicapable lift. Inside this midcentury sand-colored concrete room, there were framed Egyptian pictures, a Buddha sculpture and the wrought iron stairwell’s flora was painted green with red florets.
At the top of the stairs were bright turquoise double doors. I took a deep breath as I opened one of the doors and half-expected to be quickly ejected by a room full of old white men, BUT I was quickly relieved. A very gentle Anglo man, smiled and welcomed us behind a desk full of books and Egyptian paraphernalia and then immediately a beautiful strong, kind African-American woman also greeted us. I was so relieved to see her and she was as informative and helpful as you would hope an angel would be when you first arrived in Heaven. She introduced herself and asked if it was our first time and how we had heard of them. I don’t know if any of my words were audible.
She told us we were welcome to join them shortly, in the Temple for a meditation. A few other gentle souls introduced themselves, brought pamphlets with interesting mystical images and all invited us to look around or have a refreshment.
A few others filtered in (including one other newcomer, Seraphim, which is the name of singing angels and he told them he had read about them whilst studying Hermeticism) and soon we were all invited into another portion of the building that they called the Temple. The greeting lady and man went ahead of everyone, they wore an apron type belt (similar to what I’d seen worn in a Masonic lodge) but the waist strap was red and over their genetalia was a downward pointing red triangle with a cross and a rose in the center. To me, this symbolized the Womb of the Divine where all life begins.
So, we walked through another set of turquoise doors through a small corridor and through another set. Before entering, another very friendly Rosicrusion (a Romanian, born in Transylvania whom had roses on her shirt. ) had encouraged us to walk in straight lines and then turn at right angles.
Entering this candle lit Temple, the fragrance of rose incense greeted us simultaneously with the the quiet darkness. The leader lady, let’s call her Priestess, was standing in the middle of the room facing the door, facing a 3x3f foot raised area that contained 3 tall candelabras. We followed the Romanian woman who sat to the right on one of the tiers of pews.
It WAS FANTASTIC inside. I looked around like I was on a new ride at Disneyland. The same sand-colored concrete bricks created a holy and intricate cave. There were arches and Egyptian scenes painted behind the two opposite walls of pews. At the opposite end from the entrance was a slightly elevated stage with a podium where the Priestess retired to. On either side of her on the walls I could see wings of the Goddess Isis painted.
She began and telling us to relax, we envisioned the Earth from space. She asked up to surround it with light from the Divine and to imagine it as loved, safe, peaceful and happy. The Priestess then asked us to think of someone we knew that needed healing in some way. She went on and on telling us to see them getting better and better and what this would look like.
I don’t remember what else we did, really, BUT I didn’t feel like I was in Dallas anymore. I was no longer stressed or in a hurry. I felt blessed.
We chanted three OMs (which she would later discuss was the sound scientists have heard coming from the Moon) and a gong was heard from the hallway.
IT WAS RAD. I think my husband shed 50 pounds of worry in that room, at least while there.
We exited back into the main meeting room which looked like a large midcentury modern living room. One corner was a library, another a kitchen and near the entrance a display case with bookshelves of Rosicrusian books (like “The Mystical Life of Jesus”, “Great Women Initiates” ) for sale as well as a timeline of Rosicrucian (meaning “Rose Cross”) history.
At this month’s open-to-anyone meeting they were viewing part 3 of a documentary entitled “Sacred History of Rosicrucians, Part 3” seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtBWZNeynX0 It was only 15 minutes but it made my brain hurt. It began with Pythagoras’ roots in Rosicrucianism and how numbers had meaning and value and ultimately were musical notes and everything in the Universe had a song. (The #7 represented Athena and there was a lot about Her and Isis in the film.)
Luckily, she replayed the film, stopping to elaborate and ask for comments. My questions and comments were so welcomed and respected, I felt immediate acceptance and community. Pythagorean had a society of initiates and it was completely egalitarian. I liked that, and felt that in the room. I can’t think of many places on Earth that the sexes are equal like that.
We discussed a lot more and the evening ended at the time the meetup website had said it would.
They genuinely thanked us for coming and we left happy, excited to share with loved ones our findings. As I drove us home in the dark, I peculiarly felt like I was still in the Temple.
So, what made me go to a Rosicrucian Temple (besides a fun, church-hopping addition to the blog)? When I was researching my last article, “CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES REVEALED” https://plus.google.com/u/0/107287050579003737566/posts/iAzARfdbTEq I began to read about the ancient societies that the Virgin Mary, Joseph, Jesus and Mary Magdalene had ALL come from. These ancient and mystical communities began in Egypt (or as the timeline showed me last night, Atlantis) and morphed into a lot of other societies including: Pythagoreanism, Essenes, Gnostics, Knights Templar and Sophiaism among others.
The Rosicrucian Priestess lady (who is referred to as “Master”, not Grand Master in their bulletin) said that they were a “PHILOSOPHICAL ORGANIZATION”, that they weren’t a religion nor did they put down any religion. The bookmark I took from there states: “Rosicrucians are women and men around the world who study the laws of nature, in order to live in harmony with them.”
For more about Free Sophia visit freesophia.com or “LIKE” our Free Sophia Facebook page.
]]>