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CONTENTS

Chapter One: Who Are the Martinists9 1Chapter Two. So You WantTo Be A Martinis 12 4Chapter Three:A Brief History of Martinist Orders

Currently Operatingin the United States 8ChapterFour: TheTraditional Martinist Orderand the

Martinist OrderandSynarchy:An ExaminationofClaims andRelationships 21

Martinist Excerpts 51Appendix A: The AMORC Imperator Controversy 54Appendix B: The TMO Problem 62

Copyright© 1991 by

The Rose+CroixMartinist Order, Inc.

Revisededition copyright© 1992 by

The Rose+CroixMartinist Order, Inc.

ISBN 0-932104-02-9

Publishedby St.GeorgePress,Rt. 1, Box 75, Geneva,NE 68361

DistributedbyTheMartinist Information Service

264411th Ave. #D-109 • Greeley,Colorado80631 U.S.A.

-J

INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION

Whenthefirst edition of thisbook waspublished,I hadno ideathatitwould become,in so short a time, a Martinist “best-seller” withworld-wide distribution. From this distribution, I learnedthat thereare personsthroughoutthe world who werehungryfor informationaboutthat mysteriousesotericorganization,The Martinist Order.Therewere personswho wantedto contactan authenticMartinistOrder, to correspondwith a true Martinist, and, hopefully, toeventually become Martinists themselves.Finally, I discoveredthat therearetwo typesof Martinists:first, thereareMartinistswhobelieve that theirs is the only true Martinist Order, and that allothersare spurious;andthereare Martinistswho, in true Martinistspirit, love their own particular Martinist Orders,but who arealways ready to extend a hand of kindnessand friendship toMartinists of other branches.To theseI offer a warm “thank you”for their supportandencouragement.

Also, I was not awarethat there were so many errors—bothmajorand minor—to be correctedand that so much new informationwould be requiredto updatethe book. Martinists and Rosicruciansof all types sentinformationandphotocopiesof documents.Much ofthe information providedhas been incorporatedinto this secondedition, and I thank thosepersons,both cognito and incognito, fortheir kindnessand their help. I especiallythank “Inconnu,” theanonymousdonor from California who sent photocopiesof veryvaluabledocuments,but who wished to remain “Inconnu” becausedealing with “occultists” had left a “bad taste” in his/hermouth.Further, I thank “Christopher,”SIL, of’ New York for his informationandcomments.The Treasurynow standsat over 26,000words.

So much information was provided about the recent difficultieswithin the RosicrucianOrder (AMORC) andthe TMO sponsoredbyAMORC that I haveaddedtwo special sectionsto the book givingoverviewsof theseproblems.The animosityof the struggleandtheclaims and counterclaimshave madeit difficult to sort out truthfrom exaggeration,misinterpretation,and lies, but I havedone mybestto remain objective and to makecarefuljudgmentsabout thedocumentsandstatements.The AMORC hasbeenthe target of anenormous amount of animosity from ex-members and non-members,especiallyduring its recentdifficulties, but no one shouldforget that despitewhateverfaults it mayhave,AMORC hasbeenavaluable andstabilizingforcewithin the occult world, andhas led

AMARTINIsT TREASURY

manythousandsof personsinto a deeperstudy of the mysteriesoflife, personswho might have,otherwise,neverenteredthe study ofmetaphysicsandmysticism.For thosereasonsalone,no one shouldwish it harm. Further,the TMO of AMORC—even thoughit haslostits Line of Filiation andtherebyhasinvalidatedits Initiation, anddespiteits pretense,in the faceof all contraryevidence,that it, anditalone,is the one true Martinist Order—neverthelesshaskept theflame of Martinist interestflickering, and, therefore,I believealltrue Martinists everywhere owe the AMORC/TMO a debt ofgratitude.

—Br. Trophimus, S:::I:::I:::R~C

February1992

CHAPTER ONE

Who Are The Martinists?

Who arethe Martinists?The iViartinists: admired by the wise...feared by the

tyrant...persecutedby the dictator...respectedby the mystic...soughtby the Seeker.Since the seventeenthcentury,the Martinists havebeenfound at the very heartandcenterof esotericismandmysticalbelief in all its various expressions.While the Martinist Order isnot a secret society, rarely do individual Martinists allowthemselvesto be seen directly; generally, only a hint of theirpresenceis noted. Yet always, their influence is great, and theircharismais felt by thosewho know. Frequentlyare they discussedby theuninitiatedwho havelittle knowledgeor understandingof theMartinists or their abilities.

In general,it canbe said thatMartinism is asystemof mysticalChristian Illuminist philosophy and practice that traces itsknowledgeandpower to Louis Claude de Saint-Martin (the famousFrenchphilosopherandadept,b. 1743—d.1803) who, himself, wasInitiated by RosicrucianadeptMartines de Pasqually. Saint-Martin privately propagatedthis Christian Illuminism by way ofpersonal initiation andtheprivate instruction of his men andwomen students.These students eventually becameknown as“Martinists,” men and women adepts who to this day havecontinuedto transmit not only The Initiation of Saint-Martin,butalsohis esotericinstruction.

The Martinist InitiationEntranceinto the authenticMartinist Orderhasalwaysbeenby

way of private invitation to receivein personThe Initiation as itwas received and conferred by Louis Claude de Saint-Martinhimself. This mysteriousandsecretInitiation is a ritual ceremonythat confers powers and abilities which enablea Martinist tounderstandandapply the ancientesotericwisdom. The goal is forthe Martinist to developand live a Christian spiritual life and tobecome an adept in esoteric wisdom and, especially,Rosicrucianism.Indeed,by the endof the 18th century, MartinismandRosicrucianismwere closely identified, an identity which hascontinuedinto moderntimes.

1

AM ARTINIST TREASURY AMARTINIST TREASURY

Becausethe Martinist is theurgically empoweredby TheInitiation andbecausetheMartinist carriesthe secretwisdomandknowledge of the Adept, it is no surprise that Martinism isconsideredby Initiates and non-initiates to be the very hub andspoke of esotericismandmystical wisdom.

The Foundingofthe SupremeCouncil of N’IartinismAfter Saint-Martin’s death in 1803, Martinists continued to

teach and initiate new membersprivately and independently,justas Saint-Martin hadtaught them to do. Eachnew Martinist, afterdevelopingproficiency in the Work, was expectedto initiate others.

Both during and after Saint-Martin’s lifetime, there were, inmanymajorcities, Martinist groupsthat cametogetherto studyandpracticeesotericscience.Thereare recordsof Martinist bodies inParis, Venice, Lyons, St. Petersburg—allwell before 1890-91.Sometimeduring those two years (recordsare not clear, although1890seemscloser),the respectedFrenchesotericistsandMartinists,Pierre AugustineChaboseauand Dr. GerardEncausse,to preventirregularities in the Martinist Initiation, gatheredtogether ten oftheir friends, Initiated them, and, with them, formed the firstMartinist SupremeCouncil. This SupremeCouncil safeguardedThe Initiation andestablishedMartinist groupswith officers. Fromthe Initiates of this SupremeCouncil many (but not all) regular(legitimate)Martinist bodieshavedescended.

Regularity andAffiliationAll legitimate Martinism is united on the Inner Planeby The

Initiation. Thereare now several regular (legitimate)branchesofTheMartinist Orderthroughoutthe world, manyof which havebeenfounded by Initiates who derive The Initiation from ChaboseauorEncausse.

In the UnitedStates,regularMartinist activity is representedbythreelegitimate branches,The Rose+Croix Mart mist Order and theMartin ist Order and Synarchy(with its affiliated Church,TheUniversal Apostolic Church).The backgroundof each is providedin the Chapter entitled “A Brief History of Martinist OrdersCurrently Operatingin America.”

There are two a branchesof Martinism in America which arenot recognizedas legitimate.One is connectedwith AMORC and iscalled the “Traditional Martinist Order” with headquartersat SanJose,California. This branchdoes not hold valid initiatory powerbecauseit offers (or, onceoffered)the Martinist “initiation” by mailand becauseit no longer has the all-important “fourth degree”ofInitiator. There is alsoabranchcalled the TMO/USA, but, sinceit

is an offshoot of the AMORC/TMO, it also is not consideredasvalid. SeeAppendix B for a full accountof the problemsconnectedwith bothTMOs.

FamousMarti nistsWell-known members of the Martinist movement include

Gerard Encausse(Papus),Augustine Chaboseau,Sar Hieronymous(Emile Dantinne),Eliphas Levi, Lord Bulwer-Lytton, the ComptedeSaint-Germain,A.E. Waite, H.P. Blavatsky, John Yarker, FranzHartmann, J.I. Wedgwood, Mouni Sadhu, Victor Blanchard,Honor~ Balzac, Pamela Coleman Smith, Margaret Peeke, andmany others in the fields of government,religion, literature,education,business,andthe arts.

2 3

SoYOU WANT ToBaA MARTXN]ST?

CHAPTER TWO

SoYou Want to be a Martinist?

When a person who is interested in esoteric and mysticalmattersfirst hearsabout the mysteriousMartinist Order, often thefirst reactionis “Where can I get in touch with theseInitiates, andhow can I join?” Yes, for manythereis anaturalattractionto thegoals and idealsof Martinism. Yet, one doesnot join the MartinistOrder, one becomesa Martinist, first by receivingpersonallyandby invitation only The Initiation, and then by the practicalapplicationof the Martinist Tradition. To becomeaMartinist is nolight matter, nor should someonebe misled into thinking that theMartinist Order is a mere social club or “just anothergroup” intowhich he or she can enter without giving any thought to theobligationsand dutiesof being aMartinist. Becausethe Orderhas abody of teachingandpracticewhich it expectsits membersto study,interpret, and apply, the Martinist will be expectedto attendregularly the meetings, and the Martinist will be expected toregularly conductMartinist Work at home and otherwisein his orher personallife. Remember,the preciousheritageof TheInitiationis too valuableto simply give away to a “joiner,” someonewho willmerely put an Initiation Certificate on the wall and then let it beknown that, yes,he possessesthe mysteriesof Martinism. Rather,the Martinist holds an enablingtransmittal of power and authoritywhich links him or her to the venerableMartinist chain whichreachesback into distant time. The Martinist is expectedto behumble about the trust given and about the knowledgeobtainedthroughMartinist status.

Therefore, the first consideration is this: is the Postulantspiritually prepared to enter the mysteriesof Martinism? Does he(or she) have a solid life of Christian spiritual practice, whichincludes religious activity, authentic meditation practice, anunderstanding of spiritual and occult matters, and, finally, asincere desire to know God, especially through service?1These

In fact,Martinismis a Christianmovement,andsomeMartinist Ordersrequire that their membersbe baptizedChristianswho areactivein somebranchof the ChristianChurch.Sucha requirementis in keepingwith thetraditionestablishedby Saint-Martinhimselfandis establishedbecausetheseOrdersbelievethatTheInitiation of Martinism cannotbereceivedexceptbysomeonewho is linked to the ChristianCurrentof Initiation throughBaptismandsubsequentreligiousactivity.

matters are all-important, for Martinism cannot use a shallowperson,one who is merely curiousaboutthe “other world.” Secondly,Martinism requiresthat its Postulantsbe living a moral life, a lifethat is law-abiding, and that is productiveanduseful to the personand to society in general. The Martinist must be gainfullyemployed with sufficient income so that money and economicworries don’t intrude upon the Work time the iViartinist needs.Thirdly, a requirement is that the Postulant must know and beconsidereda friend of a Martinist prior to receiving the Invitationinto Martinism. This senseof friendship is a tradition from Saint-Martin, himself, for he gaveThe Initiation only to his “Societ~desIntim~s,” his “society of friends” who visited him regularly in hisprivate apartments.No one can merely find a Martinist and thenask to “join” and expecta favorable response.Any Martin ist Orderthat “takes all comers” is suspect as to its objects, goals, andlegitimacy.

A Postulantmust considerwhat his motives and objectivesarein wanting to be a Martinist. If the Postulant is only desiringpersonalpower” or merelywishes to feel exclusiveby belongingto

a “secretorder,” then thesemotives are not worthy, and Martinismwill be a failure in that Postulant’s life—indeed, The Initiation,undertheseego-centeredcircumstances,can recoil upon the egotistand causeseriousproblems.Rather, the Postulantmustbepreparedto apply Ritual action and concentrationon the mind, the body, thespirit, and the world for the purposeof improvement.The fact is thatMartinism is not a social club, but an opportunity to work for thereestablishmentof the world’s original Divine union, a state whichMartinists call “Reintegration.” The Martinists teach thatInitiation transmitspowers and abilities to the Martinist. In turn,the Martinist works to apply, in apracticalmanner,the teachingsofesoteric science for the purpose of Reintegration. This Workrequiresa regular methodology,as well as concentrationand self-discipline. Therefore, the Postulant will be expectedto attendMartinist meetings regularly and will be expectedto perform,regularly and privately, other Martinist Work at home. Thus, theIV2artinist will be expectedto make time availablefor MartinistmeetingsandWork, andthe Martinist must bereadyto work for theadvancementof thosewho will haveno knowledgeof the benefitsofMartinist Work.

The Martinist must be certain that participation in the Work ofthe Order will not be a sourceof difficulty in his family life. TheauthenticMartinist works the Martinist Work regularly and mustbe able to do such Work in peace.Therefore,the Postulantmust becertain that he will not face unrelenting family hostility and

54

AM ARTIM5T T ~EA5URY SoYou WANT TOBE A MARTINIST?

oppositionbecauseof Martinism.The true Head of the Martinist Order is JesusChrist, and His

Name is regularly mentioned in Martinist Work. Therefore, theMartinist must feel no hesitation in being, perceiving, anddescribinghimself as a Christian. Long-winded discoursesabout“toleration” found in someMartinist literature are often simply acover for disinterest, dislike, non-belief, or contempt for theChristian religion. Of course the Martinist is tolerant, but thattoleration comesfrom his developmentas a Mystic. To paraphraseJacobBoehme, “All mystics speakthe samelanguage,becausetheyall come from the samecountry.” Toleranceis not intellectual orregulatory,but aresult of a mysticalexperiencewhich allows onetosee God in all His manifestations.To be truly “tolerant,” onemustn’t be indifferent to religion, merely assertingthat, somehow,all religions are ‘‘the same‘~ or are ‘‘equally valid.’’ Neitherstatement is true. To experiencethe Beatific Vision, the trueMartinist must stand for something, must have a belief insomething,and that “something” must be Christianity. Just as OurVenerable Master, Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin proclaimedhimself a Christian2, so must his follower be a Christian and mustthink of himself as one, even if his personal understandingofChristianity is neither standard-brandor orthodox. Indeed, afterthe Martinist hashad amystical experience,it is often difficult to bea “standard-brand” Christian. At any rate, the truth is thatMartinist Orderswhich attempt to passon a Christian Initiation toall comers,including those of non-Christian faiths or no faith at alleventuallybecome,sadly, not truly Martinist at all.

Further,the Martinist musthavedevelopedan understandingofJesusChrist, His natureandWork. We’ve alreadyestablishedthat,in general,Martinists are not “standardbrand” ChristiansbecauseThe Initiation has given them a more mystical and esotericunderstandingof Christianity. Nevertheless,it is the nature of theMartinist, nothis church,that is important;Martinists belongto allkinds of Christian Churches,from the mostconservativeto the mostliberal. Real Martinism insists upon the Christian life for itsmembers,althoughthe form andcontentof that Christian life is leftto the individual Martinist. Many Martinist Orders have an

2 In fact,Saint.Martin wasaRomanCatholic,eventhoughhe wascriticalof thepolitical andintellectualoppressionof theFrenchpriests.In retaliationto his opposition,the RomanCatholic ChurchplacedSaint-Martin’s booksonthe Index of Forbidden Books. However, Saint-Martin was neverexcommunicated,andhelived anddiedaRomanCatholic,althoughalwaysamysticalandmetaphysicalone.

official Church, the “Gnostic Catholic Church” (also sometimescalled the Universal Apostolic Church, or variations thereoD, andits officers andmembersare expectedto participate in that Church.3However, other authentic Martinist Orders (such as The Rose +

Croix Martinist Order) have no official or unofficial church. Inthose Martinist bodies, your religious affiliation andunderstanding would be your own. However, Martinism is aChristian Order.Therefore,Martinists of all branchesare stronglyencouragedto develop a spiritual life both individually and in achurch setting.

Finally, it is important to say that there are no initiation ordegreefees in Martinism. However, the Ordermust be able to meetits bills, since it must have supplies for group meetings, not tomention rent and utilities. Therefore,the individual Martinist willbe expectedto help supportthe Work of the groupthroughreasonable,regular contributions.The Martinist must not foreseeany problemsin meetingthesefinancial obligationsto the Order. Therefore, theMartinist should be gainfully employed in a regular job oroccupation.

This Chapter gives a solid foundation for helping a persondecidewhether or not to seekMartinist Initiation. If, after carefulconsideration,the personwishesto proceed,then that thoughtshouldbe formed and sent forth—a strong desire to become a Martinistalwaysresults in a Martinist contact,sometimesby the Postulant,sometimesby a Martinist.

Papus,in 1914,actingin his capacityasaGnosticCatholicBishop andas Presidentof the Martinist SupremeCouncil at Paris,signed agreementsmaking the Gnostic Catholic Church the “official” church of FrenchMartinism. However, theseconcordatsresultedin preventingthe widerparticipation of French Martinists in a variety of other churches, thusisolating French Martinists from other churchesand reducing Martinistimpact on generalchurch life and theology. For RussianMartinists whoseLine of Filiation came from Saint-Martin through Prince Kourakin, theRussianAmbassadorto Paris,thisofficial actof Papusdid notapply,andmostRussianMartinists remainedactive membersof the OrthodoxChurch.

6 7

CHAPTER Tm~EE

A Brief History ofMartinist Orders Currently

Operating in the United StatesThe Martinist Movement

The LegendThe very name “Martinist” conjuresimages of the mysterious

andthe unknown adeptwho has at his commandoccult powersandwho studies “quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore.”Martinists are known to be theurgists,alchemists,and Grailists.Since such personsas the Count of St. Germain,Cagliostro,EdwardBulwer-Lytton, Mine. H.P. Blavatsky, and Eliphas Levi wereMartinists, Martinism and Martinists have been identified asmajor forces in the occult and esotericmovementsof the last threecenturies.

The History“Martinism” is a system of mystical Christian Illuminist

philosophy and practice basedupon the private instruction andpublic writings of FrenchphilosopherLouis Claudede Saint-Martin(1743-1803). Saint-Martin’s major published works include OfErrors and Truth, The New Man, andThe Spirit of Things. (SeeWaite’s The Unknown Philosopherfor a completebibliography ofSt. Martin’s works.) Saint-Martin was initiated into the Order desElus-Cohens, an esoteric and medieval magical quasi-Masonicbody founded by Rosicrucian and Freemason, Martines dePasqually(?-1774).Saint-Martin eventuallydevelopeda preferencefor mysticism and Theurgy rather than for Pasqually’s medievalmagic. Therefore, Saint-Martin evolved his own system ofChristian Illuminism built upon the foundationsof PasquallyandJakobBoehme.This Christian Illuminism Saint-Martin privatelypropagatedby way of personalinitiation andprivate instruction ofhis men and women students.Thesestudentseventually becameknown as “Martinists.” After Saint-Martin’s death in 2 803, his“disciples” continuedto teach and initiate new disciples privatelyand independently,just as Saint-Martin had taught them to do.EachMartinist was expectedto initiate others.By theendof the 18thcentury, Martinism and Rosicrucianism were closely identified,an identity which continuesinto modern timesin certain Martinist

K—A BRIEFHIsTORYOF MARTINIST ORDERS

Orders.In 1890-91, the respected French esotericist, Dr. Gerard

Encausse, and his friend, Augustin Chaboseau, to preventirregularities in the Martinist Initiation, gathered ten of theirfriends, Initiated them, and formed the first Martinist SupremeCouncil. Papusand Chaboseau,along with their SupremeCouncil,divided The Initiation (as Martinists called their initiaticceremony)into four constituentparts4 and establishedMartinistLodges with officers. Not all Martinists at first enteredthe newly-organized Martinist Order, preferring to continue independentoperations. It was these “free” Martinists5 and former SupremeCouncil membersthat Victor Blancharddrewupon in 1918 to formhis branchof the Martinist Order.To this day, thereare in Europeafew independent“free” Martinists. The Martinist Order of the Elus-Cohens(ca. l940s) is also considereda “regular” Martinist body, butits methodsare the Masonic/medieval.magicalonesof Martines dePasqually rather than the Theurgical-mystical ones of Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin. There are other tiny regular MartinistOrders, such as a “Russian” branch descendedfrom the MartinistLodgeat the Court of CzarNicholasII (seeWaite’sBrotherhoodoftheRosyCross).6Martinist topics of study in the 18th, 19th, and 20thcenturies include Christian mysticism, esotericism, theosophy,Kabbalah,Hermeticism,Rosicrucianisin, and related subjects.

Evolution of the Various Martinist OrdersThe history of the variousMartinist Ordersthat followed the

formation of the first SupremeCouncil is directly connectedto theeventswhich followed the death (from lung disease)of Dr. GerardEncausse(Papus)in 1916. CharlesDetre (esotericname—”Teder”)ascendedto the GrandMastershipafter Encausse’sdeath.As GrandMaster,Detre decided that the Martinist Order (Ordre Martiniste)would best be served by limiting membershipto Freemasons,

~‘ The Degreesof Associate,Initiate, S.I., and, the all-important finalInitiator’s Degree,that of S.I.I. The final Degreeis also called “UnknownPhilosopher,”“SI IV,” and“L.I.,” or, “FreeInitiator.”

~BecauseMartiniststend to be sociableandhavecometo prefergroups,theindependent(“Free”) Martinisthasalmosttotally disappeared.

6 Martinismwas apparentlyfirst introducedinto Russiathrough PrinceKourakin, the RussianAmbassadorto France,who receivedTheInitiationfrom Saint-Martin. He, in turn, gaveThe Initiation to Nicolai Novikov, the“father of RussianMasonry,” who wasa strong proponentandsupporteroftheMartinist movement.Thus, Martinism waswell-establishedin theRussianroyal courtby the time Papusarrived.

8 9

AM ARTINIST TREASURY A BRIEFHIsToRY OF M ARTINIST ORDERS

especiallythose of the Rite of Memphisand Misraim—the RMM.Detre was an ardentsupporterof the Rite of Memphis andMisraim,a huge collection of Masonic Degreesassembledinto a rite about1814 by G.M. Marconis.The “RMM” consists,first, of avariation ofthe ScottishRite called the “Primitive Rite” of 33 Degrees;thentheRite of Misraim of 90 Degrees;and, finally, the Rite of Memphisof96 Degrees.Holdersof the Rite place,after their names,their ranksby gradenumber, usually 33, 90, 95, thus giving the appearanceofoutranking everybody in all of world-wide Freemasonry.Thecompletehistory of the Rite is too complex to recounthere7 (seeWaite’s Encyclopediaof Freemasonry),but the Grand Lodge ofFrance eventually recognizedthe Rite in the early 19th century,ostensiblyso that the Rite couldfunction, butactually for the purposeof putting the RMM “to sleep.”The FrenchGrandLodgeallowedtheRMM to work the first threeMasonic Degrees(Apprentice, Fellow,and Master), but proscribed the “higher” degrees. Later, J.E.Marconis (son of G.M. Marconis) revived the Rite, accusing(correctly) the FrenchGrand Lodge of duplicity in falsely declaringits purposefor recognition.However, sincethe FrenchGrandLodgehad control of the RMM, Marconis’ efforts merely resultedin theestablishing of more French “clandestine” (illegal) Masonry. [n

A peculiartransformationhasoccurredin someversionsof the RMMthathavecomeunderthe control of the GnosticCatholic Church,the“officialchurch” of mostbranchesof Martinism such as the “Martinist Order andSynarchy”andthe“Ordre Martiniste”: as the candidatepassesthroughthevariousdegrees,he (and it is always a “he”) is supposedlyordainedto thepriesthoodandepiscopacy(at the 66thdegree),i.e., the personallegedlyismadea priestandbishopof the ChristianChurchduring theprocessof thevariousso-ca[ledMasonicceremoniesin the RMM. Thisconfusionof spuriousFreemasonryand Catholicism shows a confusion of mind that is notunexpectedin someoccultcircles.Not only might aMasonic/Catholicmixturebe unsettlingto ProtestantChurchcandidates,but also such “ordinations”would notberecognizedasproperor legitimateby establishedChurchbodies.Thus,in thosebranchesof the RMM which practicesuchrituals, the candidateundergoesceremoniesthat many would consider fraudulent or evensacrilegious.Such “ordinations” apparentlyoccur more often than manyrealize. In arecent(9/11/91) long-distancetelephoneconversationwith amanliving in California, themanrevealedthathe hadbeenordaineda “Deacon” ofsomeindependent“catholic” churchduring a“Masonic lodge meeting.” Thatis, a “Masonic” lodgehadbeenopenedandthe ordinationoccurred.Needlessto say,this “Masonic”body wasspuriousandnot in anyway connectedwithor relatedto the genuineMasonicGrandLodgeof California—nor,indeed,wasthe “church” re[ated to any regular church body. The man wantedtoknow if he wasreallya“deacon.”Theansweris simple—No.

(I

the late 19th century, the “RMM” enteredthe jurisdiction of BritishFreemasonryunder the headshipof John Yarker (founderof theHoly Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests).The Grand Lodge ofEngland neither recognizednor rejected Yarker’s RMM, therebygiving the English version a sort of quasi-legitimacy,and it hassurvived on the fringes of regular English-speakingFreemasonryever since. Yarker conferredthe Degreeson someAmericans,and,for a period of about fifty years,the RMM was very popular in theAmerican West, where it also had a quasi-legitimacy.Today inAmerica and Great Britain, the Grand College of Rites holdsauthority over the RMM, and it isn’t likely that the RMM couldsuccessfully (i.e., legitimately) be revived. French RMM bodiesand those deriving their “authority” from them are, in fact,clandestine(illegal, unrecognized,or spurious)Freemasonry,andregular Freemasonsin all countries are prohibited from enteringsuch bodies. Waite described (in A New Encyclopedia ofFreemasonry)most of the RMM Degreesas “puerile,” but alsoacknowledgedthat the mammothRite did contain someDegreesofconsiderableinterest and value.

Detre’sdecisionto restrict membershipin the Martinist Order toMaster Masons was right insofaras Freemasonrycould serve as a

membershippool and insofar as the availability of the resourcesofthe Masons(use of lodgesfor Martinist meetings,for example).Theproblem, of course~ was that excluding women from MartinistInitiation violated a fundamentalprecept of original Martinism,not to mention the fact that there were already numerousfemaleMartinists who suddenly found themselvescut off from Martinistactivity. The first result of Detre’s actionwas the exit of severalmembers from the original 1891 Martinist SupremeCouncil asestablishedby Papus (the original SupremeCouncil consistedofGerard Encausse,Pierre Augustin Chaboseau,Paul Adam,Francois-CharlesBarlet [pseud. of Albert Faucheux,1838-19211,Maurice Barres, Burget, Lucien Chamuel, Stanislas de Guaita,LeJay, Montiere, JosephinPeladan,and Sedir). Soon after theformation of the first Supreme Council, Maurice Barres andPeladan left to develop Rosicrucian societies, and they werereplacedby Marc Haven and Victor-Emile Michelet (about whommore later).

A second result of Detre’s action was the renaming of theMasonic branch of Martinism as the “Martinist Order of Lyons,”the city to which Detre moved, taking the “headquarters”of theMasonic Martinists with him. Today, the “Martinist Order ofLyons” no longer exists, having merged with the “OrdreMartiniste” of Philippe Encausse.Accordingto a November10, 1960

10 11

A MARTINIST TREASURYA BRIEF HISTORY OF MARTINIST ORDERS

documentwritten by “Fra. Sorath” and issuedby the MOS GrandLodgeof Canada,in 1951, Philippe Encausse,sonof Papus,gatheredtogether a number of unattached(“free”) French Martinists andformed the “Ordre Martiniste” under the original constitution. InOctober1960,HenriDuPont,GrandMasterof the Martinist Order ofLyons, died, leaving the Grand Mastership to Philippe Encaussewho was confirmed in that office. Thus, Encausseheaded twoMartinist Orders, the OM and the 0Mb. He then mergedthe twoOrders after the Masonic qualification of the OML was removed.An undateddocumentissuedby the MOS Grand Lodge of Canadashows the line of fihiation for the modern OM as: Jean-AntoineChaptal (d. 1832); Henri Delaage(d. 1882); Gerard Encausse(d.1916); Charles Detre (d. 1918); JeanBricaud (d. 1934); ConstantChevillon (d. 1944); Charles-HenryDuPont (d. 1960); and PhilippeEncausse.

A third result of Detre’s new Masonic requirementwas theestablishingof two otherMartinist Orders.The first of the two wasthe Martinist Order andSynarchyestablishedin 1918 underVictorBlanchard. At Detre’sdeathin 1918, Blanchardwas to havebecomeGrandMasterof the OM, but Blanchardrefusedthe office becausehedid not agreewith the Masonic requirement.In the sameyear,Blanchardgatheredtogether independentMartinists who did notadhereto or belongto the MasonicMartinist branch, forming aMartinist branchwhich hadno Masonic qualification andwhichInitiated men and women.8 Severalyears later, in 1934, at aconvention of Martinists called by Blanchard,Blanchard’sOrderchanged its name to the Martinist Order and Synarchy, andBlanchardwas electedMOS UniversalSovereignGrandMaster.9

Unfortunately,Chaboseau’scandidatefor Universal SovereignGrand Master, V.E. Michelet, did not accept the election of

8 Ironically, the modern MOS has establishedclose ties with thereconstituted“Orderof Elus-Cohens,”a spurious“Masonic” bodywhich nowservesasthe MOS“inner order”; women MOS membersare excludedfromthisactivity. Thus,themodernMOShasturnedits backon theveryreasonforits original formation.

~ The American MOS, facingthe growing successof otherMartinistOrdersandwishingto bolsterits own claims,is now insistingthat only thoseOrdersfoundedby the original SupremeCouncil membersare “legitimate.”Such a claim cannotbe supported,especiallyin view of the fact that theoriginal foundersthemselvesbelongedto no SupremeCouncils beforefounding their own Order. Also, sucha claim ignoresthe RussianMartinistOrderswhich were formed withoutany connectionto Lhe FrenchSupremeCouncil.

Blanchard, so he and Chaboseauleft the SupremeCouncil andfounded the Traditional Martinist Order, with Michelet as GrandMasterandwith ChaboseauasdeputyGrandMaster.10

The ParisianMartinist Order,with its membershiplimited toFreemasons,was renamedthe “Martinist Order of Lyons,” the cityto which Detre moved.In 1951,PhilippeEncaussegatheredtogetheras many unattached(“free”) FrenchMartinists ashe could locateandformed the “Ordre Martiniste” under the original constitutionas written by his father, Dr. Gerard Encausse.In October 1960,Henri DuPont,GrandMasterof theMartinist Order of Lyons, died,leaving the Grand Mastershipto Philippe Encausse,who wasconfirmed in that office. Thus, Philippe EncausseheadedtwoMartinist Orders,the Ordre Martiniste which he founded andtheOML, which wasthe original Martinist body. Then, the two Ordersmergedafter the Masonic qualification of the OML was removed.Therefore, the “Ordre Martiniste” of Franceis the continuationofthe original body founded by Dr. Gerard Encausseand PierreAugustineChaboseau.The line of filiation for the OrdreMartinisteis: Jean-Antoine Chaptal (d. 1832); an unknown brother(consideredto be an uncertainbreak in the chain); Henri Delaage(d. 1882); GerardEncausse(d. 1916); CharlesDetre (d. 1918);JeanBricaud (d. 1934); ConstantChevillon (d. 1944); Charles-HenryDuPont(d. 1960); andPhilippeEncausse.Becauseof theuncertaintyof the Line betweenChaptal and Delaage,Chaboseauand Papus“exchanged” their Initiations, since there was no break inChaboseau’sLine of Filiation. Thus, PapusheldFiliation probablythrough Delaageand definitely throughChaboseau.

There are now several regular (legitimate) Grand LodgesandJurisdictionsof The Martinist Order throughoutthe world, many ofthem founded by Initiates who trace their Line of Filiation toChaboseauor Papus.11Such GrandLodgesusually sharethe same

10 Chaboseauwasa manof greatpersonaldignity andhumility andwas

not particularly interestedin the ambition which Grand Mastershipsrepresented—hencehisrefusalto taketheleadoffice. He acceptedthe DeputyGM office only at the insistenceof Michelet, and later took the GrandMastershiponlybecauseof Michelet’s death.The THO’s successfulgrowthinPariswasprimarily due to Chaboseau’scharisma.

11 But not all Lines of Filiation are from Chaboseauor Papus.BaronSpedeliere,friend of EliphasLevi, joined a Martinistlodgein Venicein 1830;this wasagroup whoseFiliation obviouslycamefrom neitherChaboseaunorPapus.Furthermore,the “Ordre Martiniste des Chevaliersdu Christ” aRussianMartinist Order,claims this Filiation Line: Saint-Martin—>PrmnceKourakin (RussianAmbassadorto Francein the time of Saint-Martin)—>

1213

A MARTINIST TREASURY A BRIEF HIs¶roRYOF MARTINIsT ORDERS

territory, the idea of “exclusive territorial jurisdiction” not beingpracticed in Martinism. TheseGrand Lodges are often definedbythe different emphasesplaced on various aspectsof Martinistdoctrineandpractice.In the UnitedStatesof America,therearefourfully functioning Martinist Orders: the Martinist Order andSynarchy of the U.S.A.,The Rose+Croix Mart mist Order, theTraditional Martinist Order U.S.A., Inc., and the TraditionalMartinist Order ofAMORC.

The Traditional Martinist Order which functions under thewing of AMORC is not recognizedaslegitimate,as describedbelow.Further, the Traditional Martinist Order of the U.S.A. (notAMORC, but under Gary Stewart) also lacks evidence of anunbrokenLine of Filiation.

Martinist Order and Synarchy,Grand Lodgeof the U.S.A.(Sar Benedictus[Eliakim], Grand Master)

The Martinist Order and Synarchy was establishedin 1918underVictor Blanchard.At Detre’s deathin 1918,BlanchardwastohavebecomeGrandMaster of the Ordre Martiniste, but Blanchardrefusedthe office becausehe did not agreewith the new Masonicrequirement. In the same year, Blanchard resigned from theSupremeCouncil and formed a Martinist branch which had noMasonic qualification and which Initiated men and women.Severalyears later, in 1934, at a convention of Martinists called byBlanchard,Blanchard’sMartinist Order, to avoid confusion withthe Lyons Order, changed its name to the Martinist Order andSynarchy, and Blanchardwas duly electedMartinist Order andSynarchyUniversal SovereignGrandMaster.

The Martinist Order and Synarchyhas an official church12,the“Universal Gnostic Church” (also called the “Universal Apostolic

Nicolai Novikov—> Gamalei—> Posdeev—> Arseniev—> PierreKasnatcheev—>SergeMarcotoune(SarHermius)—>ArmandToussaint—>SarHieronymous(not EmileDantinne)—>SarDionysus.

12 The “official church” was establishedby GerardEncaussehimself.

Encaussehadbecomea bishopof the GnosticCatholic Churchand,in 1914,signeda concordatwith theGCC makingit the“official” churchof Martinism.Thereafter,officers of the Martinist Order SupremeCouncil were madebishopsof the GCC, while subordinateMartinist officerswere madepriests.Havingan “official church”mayhaveseemedappropriateatthe time,but this“official church”hascausednumerousproblemsfor theMartinist Ordersthatfollow the custom.

Church” or the “Gnostic Catholic Church”) and most of its officersare deacons,priests, or bishops of this church. Also, the “innerorder” of the Martinist Order andSynarchyis the Orderof theElus-Cohens.This is a reconstitutedbody, since the charter of theoriginal Elus-Cohensexpiredwith the deathof its founder,MartinezPasqually.Even though the initiation rituals of the higher degreesof the original Elus-Cohenswere irretrievably lost, the Elus-Cohenswas reconstitutedby adding the degreesof the Masonic lodge. In1969, by order of its GrandMaster, the reconstitutedElus-Cohenswas officially closed.However, the Martinist Order and Synarchyignored the closing order and has maintained its Elus-Cohensasan inner order.” Becausethe “Elus-Cohens”of the Martinist Orderand Synarchy confers “Masonic” degrees, it is consideredas“clandestine” (illegitimate, or, more accurately, spurious)Masonry by the regular Masonic Grand Lodges, thus causingproblemswith MOS Masons who are also membersof regularMasonicbodies.The “regular” Grand Lodgeshave descendedfromthe original British Masonic Grand Lodge, and all regularMasonic bodies prohibit their membersfrom interacting withspurious Masonic organizations (such as the French Rite ofMemphis & Misraim—and the Elus-Cohens).Thus, regularFreemasonswho are also in the MOS would be prohibited fromentering the “inner order” of that Martinist body. Furthermore,since the Martinist Order andSynarchyhas its own church,therearesomeproblemswith its memberswho prefer their own churches.Finally, since the reconstituted “Elus-Cohens” of the MartinistOrder and Synarchy is “Masonic” and “priestly,” once again,women MOS Martinists find themselves excluded from theseaspectsof Martinist Order and Synarchyactivities.The MOS wascharteredin 1990 in theUnited Statesunderthe sponsorshipof theMOS GrandLodge of Britain. Theheadof this Martinist body is SarBenedictus(formerly known as “Sar Eliakim”) of New York City.

Unofficially relatedto the Martinist Order andSynarchyis the“International College of Esoteric Studies” whose addressisWorthing 31W, Barbados,West [ndies ($1.00 brings information).Its series of graded lessonscontain historical and philosophicalinformation relatedto Martinism andahost of other esotericandmystical subjects. Martinists of all affiliations are welcomed asstudentsand many find their lessonsandpublicationsinteresting.Recently, the ICES has de-emphasizedits Martinist connectionsandhasbegunpublicizingandpromotingthe “Order of the Grail,” aRosicrucian,knightly body that is interestedin the writings andphilosophyof SarPeladan,the founderof the “Catholic Order of theRose + Cross.”

14 15

AM ART] NISTTREA5URY

Traditional Martinist Order(AMORC Sponsored;Christian Bernard13,

SovereignGrand Master)

In 1934, a convention of Martinists was called by VictorBlanchardwho hadbeenthe headof aMartinist Order he foundedafter the original Martinist Order restrictedits membershiptoMasons.At the 1934 convention,Blanchard’s Order changeditsnameto the Martinist Order and Synarchy,and BlanchardwaselectedMartinist Order andSynarchyUniversalSovereignGrandMaster.However, PierreAugustineChaboseauhadoffered his owncandidatefor Universal SovereignGrand Master, V.E. Michelet.When Michelet wasnot elected,ChaboseauandMichelet withdrewfrom the Supreme Council of Blanchard’s and founded theTraditional Martinist Order, with Michelet as GrandMaster andwith Chaboseauas deputy GrandMaster. After Michelet’s death,ChaboseaubecameGrand Master.The TMO was very successfuland grew steadily. After Augustine Chaboseau’sdeath,his son,Jean,was nominatedto succeedhim. However, the son was notconfirmed in the office of Grand Master by the TMO SupremeCouncil, andJeanthenorderedthe TMO to dissolve.This orderwasrefused, and a “Regency Council” of F.U.D.O.S.I. membersattemptedto maintain the TMO, but this effort eventually failed,andEuropeanTMO membersenteredeither the Ordre Martinisteorthe Martinist Order and Synarchyor remainedindependentas“Free Martinists.”

Meanwhile, in the United States,the headof the Rosicrucian

1 ~ The original edition of The Alartinist Treasury incorrectly listed

RaymondBernardas the TMO SovereignGrandMaster.That erroris herecorrectedto Christian Bernard.RaymondBernardis Christian Bernard’sfather.At onetime, thefadier was“SupremeLegatefor Europe”for AMORC,butnow RaymondBernardis t:heheadof C.I.R.C.E.S.,anouterorganizationwhoseinner groupsarethe Orderof Pythagoras,the Orderof Melchezidek,andtheKnights of theTemple.Thesourceof RaymondBernard’sauthority toform these groups is not: known. A “Dean” of the organization, whenquestionedas to Bernard’sauthority or Initiatic Chain,didn’t know. Theremaynot bean Initiatic Chainfor C.I.R.C.E.S.,but sucha lacl~ would notimpairthe organization’slegitimacy or effectiveness,especiallysince its founder,RaymondBernard,is a known andrespectedoccult leaderandauthority.However, thereare alreadyexistingactivebodiesof the Orderof Pythagoras,the Order of Melchezidek, and the Knights of the Temple, and theseorganizationsreportedlyare notpleasedto find RaymondBernardoperatingsimilar bodieswith thesamenames,possibly without authority. The matterhasyetto be settled.

A BRIEF HISTORYOF MARTINIsT 0RDER5

Order (AMORC), Ralph Lewis, had been appointed as a RegionalGrand Master for the TMO by TMO LegateGeorgesLaGreze.Afterthe SupremeCouncil of the international TMO was dissolved, Lewiselevated himself to the office of Sovereign Grand Master andassumedfull control of the TMO. Today, the TMO operatesunderthewing of the AMORC, and onemustbe an AMORC memberto bein the TMO (at leastthis is so at presstime—1992;AMORC’s policyhas see-sawedover the past severaldecades,first allowing non-AIvIORC members to enter the TMO, then restricting suchmembershipto Ninth Degree AMORC members,then allowingentry by First Degree members).The AMORC sponsorsTMO“Heptads” and “Septa” (singular,“Septem”). The teachingsof theAMORC/TMO are given in the form of mail-order papers.Theinstructionpapersare basedupon thoseof the Martinist Order andSynarchywhich the TMO officersobtainedwhen theywere Initiatedinto the Martinist Order andSynarchyby Victor Blanchardin the1930s.TheseMOSpapershavebeeneditedto reflect the non-magicalphilosophyof AMORC.’4 The SovereignGrandMasterof the TMOis Christian Bernard, who can be reachedvia AMORC/TMOheadquartersin SanJose,California.

The AMORC/TMO doeshaveamajorproblem:no other regularMartinist body recognizesthe TMO as legitimate because(a) theTMO offers (or, at onetime offered) a mail-order “initiation,” thusviolating the Martinist requirementof personal transmissionofThe Initiation; and(b) the TMO lost its link in the Line of Filiationbecauseit failed to give its initiating officers the fourth degreeof“[nitiator,” therebyinvalidating all its initiations. SeeAppendix B:The TMO Problem.

The Traditional Martinist Order of the U.S.A., Inc.(Gary Stewart, SovereignGrand Master)

(Maltimore Smith, NewYork, Grand Master for U.S.A.)

After thedeathof AMORC ImperatorRalphM. Lewis, the Boardof Directorsof AMORC appointedGaryStewartas Imperatorof theOrder and installed him as Grand Master of the AMORC/TMO.

14 For example,thepaperscontainno referencesto magic, to Theurgy,to

thewritings of Saint-Martin,to God,or to theChristianreligion. Further, thepaperscontainvery little practicalapplications.The editing of the old papersandthewriting ofnew onesweredonein themid.1940sby J.DuaneFreemanandGilbert N. Holloway,Jr., both AMORC officers. Ralph Lewisapprovedalleditorial changes.SeeAppendix B.

1617

A MARTINIST TREASURY A BRIEFHISTORYOF MARTINIsT ORDERS

However, after only a few yearsin office, Stewartwas accusedofmismanagementof ANIORC andthe corporateBoard of Directorsstunned the occult world by removing Stewart from theImperatorship.’5 Stewart claims that during the turmoil andlawsuits which followed, the Boardmembersfailed to remembertoremovehim from the office of SovereignGrandMasterof AMORC’sTMO.’6 Upon thesefoundations,Stewartreestablishedthe TMO asthe TMO/USA, Incorporated. Stewart claims to hold the all-important Fourth Degree of Initiator from Cecil Poole, whosupposedlyheldthe Degreefrom Ralph Lewis.17Stewart’sclaim tothe Fourth Degreeis enhancedby the fact that he was an installedSovereignGrand Master.There is, however,a problem:Stewart’ssupportersin the TMO/USA claim that the documentationof hisInitiation to the Fourth Degreewastaken to Paris,along with allother TMO papersand records,by the new AMORC Imperator,Christian Bernard, and that, therefore,he (Stewart) is unable toproducethe necessaryevidenceof his Initiator status.t8If thereisany evidenceof Stewart’sFourth Degreestatus,it mustbe inferredfrom scant information. Stewart’s lack of definite verification ofFourth Degree Initiation has caused much concern amongTMO/USA Martinists. For further details,seeAppendixB.

The Rose+CroixMartinist Order ofAmerica(Trophimus, SII, Premier National CouncilPresident)

The founders of the Rose+Croix Martinists, Basileus andTrophimus,19were originally SI Initiates andGrand andRegional

15 But it hadall beendonebeforein the late 1930swhen Ralph Lewis

manueveredto have Victor Blanchard removed as Imperator of theF.U.D.O.S.I.

16 In a sense,theclaim appearsto be true—it seemsthat Stewartwasn’t

“removed”becausehehadalreadyresigned.SeeAppendixB.~ Thefirst: editionof TheMartinistTreasurystatedthat Pooleheldhis

Initiation from V. Blanchard.However,new evidenceshowsonly that Poolewas supposedto have receivedhis FourthDegreefrom Ralph Lewis. SeeAppendixB.

~8Thereis suchevidence,butit isin gravedoubt.SeeAppendixB.

~ Trophimuswasoneof the sevenMartinist OrderandSynarchy/grandofficers who co-foundedthe AmericanGrandLodgeof the MOS. The petitionfor a GrandLodgeCharterfor the MOS is datedFebruary22, 1990 andisaddressedto SarGulion, GrandMasterof the GrandLodgeof the MOS forGreatBritain. At the time of the petition, Trophimusdid not know of the

Officers of the American SupremeCouncil of the Martinist Orderand Synarchy. Indeed,Trophimus was a SupremeCouncil officerand Charter Member and a signatory of the application for theCharter of the American Grand Lodge. However, the UniversalGnostic Church and the clandestine(spurious)“masonry” of theElus-CohenscausedproblemsbecauseTrophimusandBasileusandthe Martinists under their chargewereactivein their own churches.Furthermore,becausemany of their male Martinists weremembersof “regular” (recognized)Masonic bodies, Trophimus and Basileusfound themselves in a difficult situation, having to reconcilethemselves, somehow, to the conferring of illegal “Masonic”degrees.

Finally, after it becameclear that the American MOS was notplanning to ceaseits “Masonic” and Church activities, Trophimusand Basileus and the thirty Martinist Initiates under their caredeterminedthat theywould haveto withdraw from this particularMartinist body because their own Church and Masonicmembershipswere beingjeopardized.Afterwards,Trophimus andBasileus made contact with the Grand Master of “Le OrdreMartiniste des Pays-Bays,” a regular European Martinist bodywhoseSee is at Amsterdam.The GrandMaster of this regularandlegitimate Martinist body, conferredthe completeInitiation (that ofAssociate,Initiate, SI, and SI Initiator) on Trophimusand Basileus.

In order to meet the increasing demandfrom Seekersfor aregular andauthentic Martinist Initiation that is free of officialChurch and illegal Masonic affiliations, and that practices theauthentic Theurgy as taught by Saint-Martin, Trophimus andBasileus, like Papus, Chaboseau,and Blanchard before them,founded, in 1991, a Martinist Order—The Rose+Croix MartinistOrder, which offers the authenticInitiation and inner teachingsoftraditional Martinism without Masonic activity (clandestineorotherwise)andwithout official churchaffiliation.

The Rose+Croix Martinist Order, while maintaining theauthentictraditionsof Saint-Martin himself, is unique in that it:

1—offers genuine,world-affectingTheurgy as found in thetradition from Saint-Martin.Saint-Martin himselfwrote asa

activities of the “inner order,” the Elus-Cohens,nor washe awarethat theGnostic Catholic Church was soon to becomethe ex-officio Churchof theMOSin America.When he discoveredtheseactivities,Trophimusconsideredthem intrusionsinto true Martinismandinto the privatelives of Martinists.Whenit becameclearthatthe AmericanMOS wasplanning to continuethesenon-Martinist:,intrusive activities,Trophimuswithdrew and,with Basileusandthirty otherMartinists, foundedThe Rose-+CroixMartinist Order.

18 19

—U

AM ARTINI5T TREASURY

Theurgist when he said... (Letter XCII, 11 July, 1796 inTheosophicCorrespondence):

...Therewerepreciousthingsin our first school.I ameveninclinedto think that [Martinez] Pasqualis...hadthe activekey to all that our dearBoehmeexposesinhis theories....Fromall this, it follows thatan excellentmatchmay be madeby marrying our first school tofriend Boehme.This is what I workat; andI confesstoyou candidlythatI find the two spousesso well suitedto each other that I know nothing moreperfect in itsway....Iiemphasisadded]

2—confers all four Degrees upon its members (usingceremoniesderived from the original Papusand ChaboseauRituals);3—transmitsthe ancientRose+CroixInitiation to its members(as Saint-Martin himself originally planned);4—has no official church affiliation or requirements;5—is not connected with clandestine (unlawful)Freemasonry;6—functions under a national council system as originallyplannedby ChaboseauandPapus.

The esoteric Work and secret teachingsof The Rose+CroixMartinist Order are drawn from the secretand public papersofLouis Claudede Saint-Martin, aswell asfrom certain otheresotericwriters who influenced St. Martin. The Rose+Croix MartinistOrderemphasizesthe active, world-affectingspiritual developmentthat is providedby Martinist Theurgy. The Rose+CroixMartinistOrder has establisheditself in several American statesand isincorporatedunder the non-profit laws of the State of Colorado,U.S.A.

The President of the Premier National Council of TheRose+CroixMartinist Order is Br. Trophimusof Colorado,andtheVice-Presidentis Br. Basileusof Nebraska.(Note that the officersof the Rose+CroixMartinists do not use the title “Sar” in theirNomen Mystica.) The Rose+Croix Martinist Order, as acorporation organizedunder the non-profit corporation laws of theState of Colorado, is the legal entity which owns trademarksandcopyrightspertainingto the Order.

CHAPTER FOUR

TheTraditional Martinist Orderand the Martinist Order and Synarchy:

An Examination ofClaims andRelationships23

The Formation of the F.U.D.O.S.I.The Martinist Order and Synarchy and the Traditional

Martinist Order both participated in the FUDOSI. The term“FUDOSI” is an abbreviationfor the well-known F~derationUniverselle des Ordres et Soci~t~sInitiatiques, a federationof theheadsof certain initiatic orders.The FUDOSI’s first meetingwasheldduringAugust 13-18, 1934, in Brussels,Belgium.The FUDOSIapparentlywas the idea of the well-known and respectedFrenchRosicrucian Imperator “Sar2’ Hieronymous,” whose name wasEmile Dantinne. In fact, it appearsthat the FUDOSI may haveoriginally beenplannedas a generalmeetingof Martinists. Thereis no doubt that Victor Blanchard, already a Martinist GrandMaster, and soon to be elected SupremeGrand Master of TheMartinist Order and Synarchy, did call a generalmeeting of allMartinists at the sametime as the August 1934 FUDOSI gathering.Victor Blanchardwasalso electedan Imperatorof the FUDOS[.

Accordingto theAugust1975issueof The RosicrucianForum (p.20), the “initiatic orders”which constitutedthe FUDOSIwerethe...

Ordre de Ia Rose+CroixUniverselle;Ordre de Ia Rose+CroixUniversitaire;Ordre Pythagoricien;OrdreMartiniste et Synarchique(formed in 1918);AMORC (Ancient Mystical Order RosaeCrucis);

20 This chapteris a revisedand updatedversion of an article thatoriginally appearedin The Philalethes:The Journal ofMasonic ResearchandLetters 43(October1990),pp. 18-23; 43(December1990), pp. 19-23 and is ©1990.Thearticleandits revisionsare herereprintedwith permissionof thecopyrightholder.

21 “Sar,” a title originally discoveredusedby JosephinPeladan,is nowusedby most—butnotall—Martinist Ordersto denotea holderof the rankofInitiator. Peladanclaimedthat the title wasAssyrian,andthe termis foundinthe Old Testamentwhereit means“captain.” “Sar” also appearsto be closelyrelatedto the term“Czar,” andverylikely wasmaintainedin Martinism by theMartinists in thecourt of CzarNicholasII.

21

A MARTINIsT TREA5UR~r THE TMO ANr THE MOS

Ordre Martinist Traditionnel(formed at the FUDOSI in 1934);Eglise Gnostique Universelle (or, the “Universal GnosticChurch,” a religious body which servesas the official churchof the MOS; mostofficers of the MOS aredeacons,priests,orbishopsof thischurch);

Soci6t~d”EtudesMartinistes;Union Synarchiquede Pologne; and...the Ordre de Ia Militia Crucifera Evangelica.

The FUDOSI has been made famous by AMORC’s22reproduction in its advertising literature of various FUDOSIdocumentswhich attest to AMORC’s authenticity as a Rosicrucianbody. Indeed,a commoncriticism of AMORC is that it continuestousethe FUDOSI documentsto attestto its authenticity, eventhoughthe FUDOSIceasedto existin 1951.AMORC ImperatorH. SpencerLewis was literally fighting for AMORC’s life in the 20’s and 30’s,fending off virulent and vicious (and actually slanderous)attackson both AMORC and H. SpencerLewis personally from ReubenSwinburneClymer of the Pennsylvania“Rosicrucian Society.” Forexample, Clymer made a great noise about Lewis’ claim of beinginitiated as a Rosicrucianin 1909 in Toulouse,Francein what iscalled the “Dongeon,” or city castle.Clymer correctly said that the“Dongeon” was a city building and not likely to be availableforRosicrucianactivity. However, Frenchoccult activity was peakingabout 1909, and it is quite possiblethat governmentworkerswereoccultistswhohadaccessto thepicturesque“Dongeon” andwho wentin the eveningto useits vacantrooms for ritual activity (SeeEliphasLevi and the FrenchOccult Revivalby ChristopherMcintosh or TheOccult Underground by JamesWebb). Lewis was quite specificaboutthe time of his “reception” into Rosicrucianism.Ralph Lewis,in his biographyof his father,CosmicMission Fulfilled, reports H.SpencerLewis as saying(page100) that the Rosicrucianceremonyoccurred“Later that night” and“at midnight.” If the Dongeonwereactuallyusedasapublic building, it would haveonly beenavailableat such times. Indeed, based upon Lewis’ expectedly vaguedescriptionsof that “Rosicrucian initiation,” one might concludethat Lewis was actually receiving a Martinist/Rose+Croixceremony.At any rate, becauseof the public attacksmountedbyClymer (and becauseof doubtsaboutAMORC’s authenticitycastbysuch occult illuminaries as Paul FosterCase,RudolphSteiner,andManley Palmer Hall), H. SpencerLewis desperatelyneeded theFUDOSI documentsto establishhis claims to authenticRosicrucian

22 Foundedby HarveySpencerLewis in 1915.SeeAppendixA.

teachingand authority, which mayexplain why Lewis was willingto commit AMORC’s rather considerablewealth to support theFUDOSI. Not to be outdone,Clymer went to Francein 1939,formedan alliance with the Ordre Martiniste de Lyons (underits GrandMaster, ConstantChevillon) and assembledhis own version of theFUDOSI. However, Clymer’s organizationexistedmostly on paperandwasnot as successfulas the FLTDOSI itself, primarily becauseClymer did not have the resourcesthat AMORC was makingavailable to the FUDOSI. Also, the outbreakof hostilities in Europepreventedthe developmentof Clymer’s efforts; in fact, ConstantChevillon, asthe headof aproscribedorganization—theOML—wasassassinatedby the Gestapoduringtheearlyl940s.

Certainly, in modern times, there is no reasonwhy AMORCshouldnot usedocumentslegitimatelyissuedby the FLTDOSI, evenif that bodyno longereKists.The documentswereissuedfor the verypurposeof display, so displayingthem can hardly be consideredimproper. Furthermore,the disbandingof the FUDOSI does notnullify those documents.For example,if a personearnsa collegedegreeand thenthat college is absorbedby anotheror the collegeclosesits doors becauseof financial problems,the college degreedoesn’t suddenlybecomenull and void. The sameapplies to theFUDOSI. Its documentsare still valid, whetherthe FUDOSI existsor not (and it doesn’t, althoughfrom time to time, officers of theoriginal esotericOrdersdream of reestablishingit). Further, thereis no doubt that the FUDOSI, through its officers, recognizedAMORC as an authentic Rosicrucian body. For example, inAMORC’s Rosicrucian Documents(p. 20) is a photocopyof adocumentwhich extendssuch recognition;the documentis signedby Victor Blanchard,the Imperatorof the FUDOSI. BlanchardalsosignedanotherFUDOSIdocumentauthorizingAMORC to extenditsjurisdiction to South America (p. 15). Even Sar HieronymousacknowledgedAMORC’s authenticity (seep. 14). Such recognitionof AMORC’s authenticityas a Rosicrucianbody cannotandshouldnot be ignoredor belittled. On the otherhand,AMORC weakensitscase considerably when it claims to be the only authenticRosicrucianbody, when FUDOSI documentsare signedentirely byAMORC members(such as the one on p. 13 of RosicrucianDocuments),or when FUDOSI stationery is used well after thedissolutionof the FUDOSI(suchas theoneon p. 29—datedSeptember6, 1962!).23

23 Thereisstill ongoing controversyregardingH. SpencerLewis’ claims

asto the Rosicrucianauthorityof hisAMORC andthe sourceof its teachings.SeeAppendixA.

23

AM ARTINI5T TREA5URY THE TMO AND THE MOS

An Examination of the ChargesAgainst the Traditional MartinistOrder

The Lodge Officer’s Handbook of the Martinist Order andSynarchy(abbreviated“MOS”) is very clear about the TraditionalMartinist Order (abbreviated“TMO”): the TMO is not recognizedas “legitimate” N’Iartinism, eventhough the Traditional MartinistOrder is both successfulandwidespread,operatingas it doesunderthe sponsorshipof the Ancient andMystical Order RosaeCruciswhoseSeeis at SanJosein California, USA (and hereafterknownby the familiar initials “AMORC”). What are the objections to theTraditionalMartinist Orderthat the “Ordre Martiniste” (or, “OM”)of Franceand the “Martinist Order and Synarchy” (or, “OMS”)throughout the world make? To answer this question, anexaminationof the objectionsnormally madeagainstthe TMO willbe required.Then, the book Martinist Documents,publishedbyAMORC, will be examined to further answer any questionsconcerningthe TMO’s “regularity.”

The chargeslisted againstthe TraditionalMartinist Order arethese:

1. After Chaboseau’sdeath, the SupremeCouncil refused toconfirm Jean ChaboseauasGrand Master; therefore,the TMO hadno Grand Master.

2. Jean Chaboseau,acting under his inherited right asTMOGrand Master, dissolvedboth the TMO and the TMO SupremeCouncil.

3. A “Regency Council” within the FUDOSI,apparently madeupof the former TMO SupremeCouncil, attempted to rule the TMOafter Jean Chaboseau’sactions of dissolution; and when theFUDOSIdisbandedin 1951,sodid theRegencyCouncil, thus endingtheTMO.

4. (a) The only surviving branch of the TMO after itsdissolutionbyJeanChaboseauwasthe American branch originallyfoundedby SupremeLegateH. SpencerLewisof AMORC, who wasnot a Grand NIaster.

(b) Furthermore, Ralph M. Lewis wasnot a Grand Masterandneither Lewisesheld theDegreeof UnknownPhilosopher(thedegreeof “Initiator”).

5. The AMORC/TMO extended its activity withoutauthorization.

6. The AMORCiTMO beganto chargefor its degrees.7. TheAMORC1TMO began to offer its initiation by mail, which

methodof passingon The Initiation wasnot andis not legitimate.8. TheDegreeofUnknown Philosopherwasdiscontinuedby the

AMORCiTMO sothat the essentialfourth portion of the originalMartinist Initiation wasomitted, thus invalidating all Initiationsgiven by TMO officers.

Letusexamineeachof thesecharges.

1. After Chaboseau’sdeath, the SupremeCouncil refusedtoconfirm Jean ChaboseauasGrand Master; therefore,the TMO hadno Grand Master.

The first Grand Master was V.E. Michelet, who was eitherelectedor appointedin 1934 when the Traditional N’Iartinist Orderwas founded.Michelet was later succeededby Augustin Chaboseau.The TMO SupremeCouncil after Michelet’s death consistedofFUDOSI membersPierre Augustine Chaboseau,his son JeanChaboseau,0. Beliard, and GeorgesLagreze(Their namescan befound listed on the TMO “Chart of the [nitiatique Filiation” on page11 of AN’IORC’s Martinist Documents.)

After the deathof Augustine Chaboseau,his son, Jean,was tohavebeenelevatedto the GrandMastershipof the TMO; however,the Traditional Martinist Order Supreme Council refused toconfirm Jean as Grand Master, apparentlybecausethere wassomethingin JeanChaboseau’spersonallife or moralsof which theSupremeCouncil did not approve. Since he was “unconfirmed,”Jeanwasnot installedasTMO GrandMaster. That is to say, JeanChaboseauappearsto have beena Grand Master-elect,by right ofinheritanceandappointmentby his father,but it alsoappearsthat arequirementwasthat the TMO SupremeCouncilplay avital part inthe establishingof the successionby installing the GrandMaster-elect. How do we reach this conclusion? It is clear that theTraditional Martinist Order would havehada constitutionor somesimilar “operating document.” Without having accessto andexamining the original TMO document, it is difficult to say forcertain what the correct proceduresshouldhavebeen,but it doesappearthat the correctprocedureasrequiredby the constitutionwasfor the Grand Master-electto be “confirmed” by the TraditionalMartinist Order SupremeCouncil, i.e., for the SupremeCouncil toempowerthe Grand Master-electby a confirmationvote. Had theTMO Supreme Council acted illegally, it is certain that JeanChaboseauwould have protestedthe SupremeCouncil’s right topreventhis taking the office andthat he would haveappealedto theTraditional Martinist Order members to rally around him.However, so far no evidenceof such protestshas surfaced,so thepresumptionis that the TMO SupremeCouncil followed correctprocedure.

24 25

A MARTIMST TREASURY THE TMO AND THE MOS

Conclusion: The TMO SupremeCouncil waswithin its rights torefuseto “confirm” JeanChaboseauasTMO GrandMaster.

2. JeanChaboseau,acting under his inherited right asTMOGrand Master, dissolvedboth the TMO and the TMO SupremeCouncil.

After the TMO Supreme Council refused to act on JeanChaboseau’sclaim to the TMO GrandMastership,he took aradicalstep:he simply declaredthe Traditional Martinist Order dissolved,then steppeddown from the “office” of “Grand Master” andwithdrew completely from the Martinist movement. Was JeanChaboseauwithin his rights to “dissolve” the TMO? According toone MOS GrandMaster,a GrandMasterdoeshavethe power andauthority to close down an entire Grand Lodge simply bywithdrawing its Charter. However, Jean Chaboseauwas not aconfirmed Grand Master and, lacking that confirmation, anyaction he might have takencould have had no effect, or, at least,such actiondid not haveto be acknowledgedas effective.

Conclusion: JeanChaboseauhadneither the power nor theauthority to declarethe Traditional Martinist Order dissolved.

3. A “RegencyCouncil”within the FUDOSI~, apparentlymadeupof theformerTMO SupremeCouncil, attempted to rule theTMOafter Jean Chaboseau’sactions of dissolution; and when theFUDOSI disbandedin 1951,sodid the RegencyCouncil, thus endingthe TMO.

Without complete documentation,it is difficult to ascertainexactly who constitutedthe “RegencyCouncil” within the FUDOSI,otherthan0. Beliard andGeorgesLagreze.It is certainthatneitherof the Chaboseauswere a part of the RegencyCouncil—Augustinewas dead and Jean had resignedfrom Martinism. It might beassumedthat the former TMO SupremeCouncil andthe RegencyCouncilwerethe same,althoughone MOS grandofficer hastold methat the two bodies were not the same.The sameofficer said thatwhenJean“dissolved” the SupremeCouncil, it did, indeed,disband,and that certain TMO memberswithin the FUDOSI formed theRegencyCouncil. However, as yet no written evidencehassurfacedto support thosestatements.But, no matterwho was on the TMOSupremeCouncil or FUDOSI RegencyCouncil, if JeanChaboseauhad no right to dissolve the SupremeCouncil, then the FUDOSIRegencyCouncil waswithin its rights to attemptto hold togethertheTraditional Martinist Order while searchingfor a new GrandMaster, for the assumptionis that while Martinism needsno GrandMasters, Martinist Orders must have them. In the case of the

Il

Martinist Order and Synarchy, there are various independentjurisdictions, each with its own Grand Master, so the MOSregulation is that a GrandMasterof one jurisdiction installs thenew Grand Master of another. However, becausethe TMOSovereignGrand Masterheadsa single branchof Martinism thathasno otherjurisdiction andbecausethat SovereignGrandMasteralso holds the office ad vitam, then it is obvious that he cannotinstall his successorand that such installation must be done bysomeone or somethingelse. For example, no Pope installs hissuccessor.That job falls to the College of Cardinals. In likemanner, a Supreme Council could properly elect and install aGrand Master. However, one high MOS officer has told me thatinstallation authority would actually be vested in a Council ofUnknown Philosophers,not a “SupremeCouncil.” [t maybe that, forthe TMO, the Council of Unknown Philosophers,the SupremeCouncil, andthe RegencyCouncil were all the same.It is not clearwhy the TMO RegencyCouncil did not proceedto find a replacementfor Jean Chaboseau.Some possibilities might be: (a) the“dissolution” pronouncedby Jean Chaboseau,despite its likelynullity, may have had a chilling effect on then-current andprospectiveTMO members;(b) no one could be found who wasinterestedin taking anunpaidjob that promisedto be enormousandunrewarding;(c) the TMO membershipitself maynot, at that point,havebeenlargeenoughto sustainthe work.

Further, evenif the TMO SupremeCouncil did disappearwiththe FUDOSIin 1951, therewas a fully functioningTMO jurisdictionin the United States,headedby a Provincial GrandMaster (RalphM. Lewis of AMORC) and a provincial TMO Council (all AMORCofficers). If all otherjurisdictions of the TMO vanished(and thereis no evidencethat that were any otherTMO jurisdictions), then,ipso facto, the American jurisdiction would becomeindependent(which it did).

Conclusion:Whateverits reasonsfor not vigorouslypursuingareplacementfor the Grand Master’s office, the TMO RegencyCouncil was probably within its rights to overseethe TraditionalMartinist Order during the interregnum. Further, when theRegencyCouncil disbandedwith the FUDOSI, the TMO remainedalive through its American operations.

4. The onlysurvivingbranchof theTMO after its dissolutionbyJeanChaboseauwasthe Americanbranchoriginally foundedbySupremeLegateH. SpencerLewis ofAMORC, who wasnot aGrandMasterand notan Initiator; furthermore,RalphNI. Lewiswasnot aGrandMasteranddid notholdtheDegreeofUnknownPhilosopher.

27

AMAwrIMsT TREASURYTHE TMO AND THE MOS

Thereis no questionbut thatH. SpencerLewis wasa “RegionalSupremeMaster” (i.e., a kind of Grand Master) for “Californie etpour les Etats-Unisd’Amerique” (California and the United Statesof America).Further, it is perfectlyclearthat H. SpencerLewiswasan Unknown Philosopher, and the document that proves bothassertionswill be astonishingto MOS members,for the documentattestingthat Lewisheldbotha GrandMastershipandthe UnknownPhilosopher degree was issuedfrom the Martinist Order andSynarchyover the signature of Victor Blanchard! This Decree,dated July 9, 1937, appearson page13 of AMORC’s Mart mistDocumentsover the signatureof “Paul Yesir” (Victor Blanchard’sesotericsignature).It is clearthat H. SpencerLewis neverheadedaTMO branch. In a letter (October 18, 1978) to me, JamesR.Whitcomb, then Sovereign Inspector and Secretary of theTraditional Martinist Order, wrote:

The schematic drawing to show our Grand Master’ssuccession would be quite brief since the TraditionalMartinist Order had its revival in 1934, having beeninactive and non-existentfrom the time of the transition ofPapus during World War 1. Dr. H. Spencer Lewis wasinitiated by Victor Blanchardin 1934; Ralph M. Lewis byBlanchardin 1936; my wife and [by Blanchardin 1937.

How the TMO could havebeenboth “non-existent” and a “revival”is not explained. Whitcomb was then a full-time employeeofAIVIORC at SanJose,California. He hassinceretired. Whitcomb’sletter clearly showsthat neither of the Lewises were initiated byAugustine Chaboseau,eventhoughChaboseaulatergrantedRalphM. Lewis authority as a TMO grand officer. But the letter is notwholly reliable.For example,Whitcombgoes on to say:

The FUDOSI recognizedBlanchardas the legitimate GrandMasterof the Traditional Martinist Order andPresidentofthe SupremeCouncil in Paris,France.However, in 1939,hewas removed from that office by the Federation,andreplacedby Brother Chaboseau;who was a memberof thefirst SupremeCouncil when Papuswas elected Presidentand GrandMaster.

These assertionsby Whitcomb cannot be correct. Blanchardhadbeen,since 1918, SupremeGrand Masterof what would later benamed“The Martinist Order and Synarchy,” so he was not andcould not havebeen“recognized” asheadof the TMO, nor couldhe

have been “removed” as Grand Master, since the Frenchmonarchistswho founded the first SupremeCouncil made noprovision for “removing” a Martinist Grand Master. To date, norecordssupportingWhitcomb’s statementshavecometo light, so thepresumption is that Whitcomb was simply misrememberingevents.24 Indeed, in a September1, 1978 letter to the author,Whitcomb claimsthat the MOS “came into beingin the decadeof the1950’s.” There is no evidenceto support that statement.Whitcombmay have been thinking of Philip Encausse’sOrdre Martinistwhich he founded in 1951. Recordsof the former MOS ProvincialLodge of Canadashow that Blanchard’s 1918 Martinist Orderwasrenamedthe Martinist Order andSynarchyin 1934at the FUDOSIgathering. The purpose of the slightly longer new name, “MOS,”was to distinguish Blanchard’s Order from the “Masonic”Martinist body at Lyons.

Since the Traditional Martinist Order was founded andrepresentedat the 1934 FUDOSImeeting,why weren’t the Lewisesinitiated by thatbranchof Martinism?Thereis no definite answer,although it is possible that the Lewises saw the TraditionalMartinist Order as the “new” branchof Martinism (which it was),as opposedto Blanchard’solder Martinist Order, and, at the time,the Lewises were interestedin “ancient” more than opportunity.(Later, it appearsthat the reversewas true.) Another possibility isthat even though the “founding year” of the TMO is 1934, theorganizationmaynot haveactually operateduntil someyearslater.

Ralph M. Lewis also held a Martinist Order and SynarchyFourth Degree (Unknown Philosopher) initiation certificatefromBlanchard (see page5 of Martinist Documents).Ralph’s TMOGrand Mastership for California and the United States wasconfirmedby AugustineChaboseauin a Martinist Orderdocumentdated“October1939” (page15 ofMartinist Documents).

The obviousfact is that both Lewisesat first derivedwhateverMartinist authority they had, not from the Traditional Martin istOrder, but from the Martinist Order and Synarchy under itsfounder, Victor Blanchard. The photocopiesFound in MartinistDocuments are perfectly clear. However,neitherRalph M. Lewisnor AMORC everclaimedMartinist OrderandSynarchyauthority,despitethe obviousMOS sourceof both Lewises’original initiations

24 Blanchardwas removedfrom his office as an Imperator of the

F.U.D.O.S.I.,primarilyattheinsistanceof Ralph Lewis. Perhapsthisis whatWhitcomb was remembering.At any rate, the precedentfor removing anImperatorwas set,andthe precedenthascomebackto hauntAMORG. SeeAppendixA.

29

A MARTINIST TREASURY THE TMO AND THE MOS

and, in the caseof H. SpencerLewis, elevation.25But why? Whydidn’t Ralph Lewis, after the death of his father, operate theMartinist Order and Synarchy?Why did Ralph Lewis choosetheTraditional Martinist Order?The answerwill be fully developedlater,but basically,the MOS authorityof H. SpencerLewis diedwithhim, andRalphM. Lewiscould not obtain MOS authoritybecauseofa falling out with FUDOSI andMOS officers. Another reasonforshying away from the Martinist Order and Synarchymay alsohavebeen Ralph M. Lewis~ aversion to theurgyand ritual. RalphLewis, who was somethingof an “existentialist,” much preferredto“demythologize”the complexritualswhich he was taughtandwhichhe inherited from the various bodies into which he was initiated,including Martinism. Where he kept theurgicalpractices,Ralphrenamedthem as “experiments”or “demonstrations.”Ralph Lewis’“demythologizing” was detailed and complete; it was he whoreplacedthe term“God” with the phrase“the Cosmic” in all AMORCteachingand literature. Of course, he deletedall invocationsandreferencesto angelic beings in Martinist (and other) rituals. (Itmay havebeenat this time that the Initiator Degreeof UnknownPhilosopherwas dropped,thereby,accordingto regular MartinistOrders,invalidating TMO initiations.) Simply put, Ralph Lewis(who neverallowedMartinism to competewith AIvIORC) may havefound the flexibility of the Traditional Martin ist Order moreto hisliking, especiallyafter the FUDOSI and the TMO RegencyCouncildisbandedin 1951.Thus,he would be ableto remove,withoutprotestfrom any other authority, whatever theurgical practices theTraditional Martinist Order may have had, then simplify theremaining practices,and finally leave only the philosophy andethical lecturesof Martinism to be distributedto TMO members.26

25 In fact, the AMORC Martinist body is incorporatedin California as

“The Martinist OrderandSynarchy,” eventhough it usesthe nameof theTMO. To addto the confusion,theAMORC/TMO secretpapers,until recently,carried the running head,“Martinist Orderand Synarchy.”SinceAMORCalreadyhasa MartinistOrderandSynarchycorporationin California,it is notclear what the legal implications might be for the non-AMORC MartinistOrderandSynarchy headedby SarBenedictus[Eliakiml of NewYork.

26 Photocopiesof letters in the archivesof The Martinist Information

Service indicate that J. Duane Freeman,Regional Grand RecorderofAMORC, and Gilbert N. Holloway, Jr., Master of Hermes Minor Lodge(AMORC) were responsiblefor rewriting some—ifnot all—of the Martinistpapers,at leastnominally underthe directionof Ralph Lewis. The lettersaredated9/27/45—Freemanto Gilbert N. Holloway, Jr.; 9/29/45—Holloway toFreeman; 10/1/45—Freeman to Holloway; 12/27/45—FreemantoHolloway;and1/16/46—Freemanto Holloway; in the 12/27/45letter,Freeman

Membersof the TMO know that there arevery few “exercises~~andno theurgywhatever in the TMO teachings.As one TMO memberoncetold me, “I was disappointedin TMO meetings.They seemedrather tame.”

With this opportunity,of course,Ralph Lewis could alsomake“Martinism” available by mail order. Before the “dissolution,”letter photocopiesin Martinist Documentssuggestthat Chaboseauhimself was old, sick, andfailing andthat most of the TMO workwas being performedon Chaboseau’sbehalfby GeorgesLagreze.Further, certainpapersreproducedin Martinist DocumentsshowthatTraditional Martinist Order activity, whetherin the USA or inEurope,wasfinancially assistedby AIvIORC, suggestingthat RalphLewis was, at the very least, economically in control of theTraditional Martinist Order. Lagreze welcomed such financialassistance,especiallyconsideringthe post-wareconomyof Europe,andhis lettersto Ralph Lewis often containpleasfor financial help.The fact is that Jean’sdissolution decreeandthe inattention andlater disbandingof the TMO SupremeCouncil in the FLTDOS[ leftthe Traditional Martinist Order in Americaunder the wing of awell-organizedand wealthy Rosicrucianbody and with a strong,standingRegionalGrandMaster (Ralph Lewis) who unexpectedlyfoundhimselffree from the restraintsof either SupremeCouncil orSupremeGrandMasterand, therefore,rightfully felt perfectly freeto actashe thoughtbestin regardsto his branchof Martinism, theTraditional Martinist Order.27

Conclusion:It is indisputablethat bothLewiseswereUnknownPhilosophersandwere Grand Masters;the Americanbranchof theTraditional Martinist Order was correct in ignoring Jean

asksHolloway:

“May I offer a suggestion?That is, that in writing thesediscourses,regardlessof what type of material you use, won’t you please useMartinist terminology?... In orderthat theselecturesmaybe consistentwith Martinism andno socloselyalignedwith theAMORC teachings,it ismy opinion that it would be betterif we stayedmore closelyto Martinistteachings.”

Thus, the “de-Martinizing” of the Martinist lessonshadbegun.Theselettersoffer a valuableinsightinto how theAMORC/TMO lessonsdeveloped).

27 Following the deathof Ralph Lewis, Gary Stewart waselectedand

installedas Imperatorof AMORC, and,since the Imperatorof AMORC isalwaysthe GrandMasterof the TMO, Stewartwas also installed as theSovereignGrandMasterof the TMO. SeeAppendixB for a detailedaccountof Stewart’sImperatorship.

30 31

A MARTINIST TREASURY THE TMO AND THE MOS

Chaboseau’s“dissolution” decree;once the Traditional MartinistOrder was disbandedelsewhere,the surviving American GrandMaster acted properly in continuing the Traditional MartinistOrder and in elevatinghimself to a position of SovereignGrandMasterof theTraditional Martinist Order.

5. The AMORC/TMO extended its activity withoutauthorization.

In a letter dated August 25, 1945, George Lagreze, TMOPrincipal Inspector, acting on behalf of Augustin Chaboseau,inquired of Ralph Lewis as to whether or not the AMORC/TMOcould extend TMO activity to both South America and Canada.Lewis neededlittle encouragementand proceededto arrangeandexecutethe extensionboth southandnorth. Later,after thedeathofAugustineChaboseauand the so-called“dissoluUon” orderof Jean,andafter the TMO SupremeCouncilwithin the FUDOSI disbanded,the AMORC/TMO, with its own jurisdictional GrandMaster, actedindependentlyto extendits jurisdiction throughoutthe world.

Conclusion:The extensionof AMORC/TMO activity throughoutthe world wasand is proper.

6. TheAMORCITMO began to chargefor its degrees.The peculiar aversion to money held by the OM and the

Martinist Order andSynarchyis an oddity inherited from pre-OMSupremeCouncil days when Martinist Initiation was passedonfrom person to person in the Initiator’s private home.No moneychangedhandsi~hen becausethere was no “overhead” (operatingexpenses)and becausethe Martinist Initiation was freely givenfrom friend to friend (Saint-Martin often called his gatherings“asocietyof friends”). Even Papusboastedthat no Martinist was everexpelledfor non-paymentof duesandthat the matterof moneywasto be ignored. Such an attitude aboutmoneywas acceptablewhentherewereno Martinist bills to pay. However,after the formationofthe Martinist Order, monieswere neededfor room rent, utilities,and supplies.Unlessthe Mastersof the Order are to pay all theexpenses,donationsfrom Members are needed.No one seemstomind paying for subscriptionsto L’Initiat ion, a monthlyMartinistjournal that has beenin continuouspublication since it first sawprint under the direction of Dr. Gerard Encausse(address:L’Initiation, 6, rue Jean-Bouvin, 92100 Boulogne-Billaucourt,Paris). Nor does anyoneobject to paying for the studymaterialsissuedby the InternationalCollege Of EsotericStudies(formerly theInternational College Of Martinist Studies), a correspondenceschool sponsoredby the MOS GrandLodge of Barbados,Worthing

W31, Barbados, West Indies. The ICES offers gradedcorrespondencecoursesin mysticism and ritual magic, history ofFreemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Martinism, Kabbalah, andspiritual andHermeticpractice.The ICES offers no “initiation” bymail, nor does onebecomea Martinist by subscribingto the ICEScorrespondencecourses.

Further, no oneobjectsto providingfor the rent thatmustbe paidto houseMartinist activities of the OM or Martinist Order andSynarchy.Of course,this shouldnot be taken t~o imply or to meanthatregularMartinism shoulddemandinitiation feesor dues,but itdoesmeanthat all regularMartinistsshould be expectedto supportthe Work of the Order, not only with their time, but alsowith theirpocketbooks.Therefore, no one can or should blame or castaspersionson the AMORC/TMO for askingits membersfor moneyto pay the expensesincurred in mailing the Traditional MartinistOrder materialsandotherwisepayingTraditional Martinist Orderoperatingcosts.

Conclusion: Asking for dues,while not traditional, does notimpair the regularityof anyMartinist body.

7. The AMORC,TMO beganto offer its initiation bymail, whichmethodof passingon The Initiation wasnot andis not legitimate.

The mail-order “initiation” method of the TraditionalMartinist Order is one of the two major problems with thelegitimacy of the Traditional Martinist Order (the other being theloss of the Unknown Philosopher[Initiator] Degree).Papussaidthathe founded the original Martinist Order primarily becausehewantedto insurethat TheInitiation would not belost. To what“loss”did Papusrefer?How could sucha loss occur? In his book Saint-Martin: The French Mystic and the Story of ModernMartinism28,Arthur Edward Waite providesan importantclue:

The mode[of initiation] adopted[by Martinistsprevious tothe formation of the SupremeCouncil] was usually thatwhich is known technicallyas “communication,”that is tosay,personallyandnot in Lodge or Temple. To my certainknowledge,reception was arrangedeven by post (pp. 73-74;emphasisadded).29

28 Rider.Unfortunately,thisbook isnow outof print.29 Waite’s “knowledge”was“certain” becauseft washe,himself, who had

beenthus “admitted” as a ‘~Martinist” by the British fringe Mason,JohnYarker,who, whenWaitewrote to him aboutMartinism, simply sent a writtenObligation which Waite completedandreturned.Yarker then considered

33

A MARTINIST TREASURY THE TMO AND THE MOS

The answer is clear. Papus was aware of the mail-order“initiations,” an aberrant method of “initiation” that Papusknewwould destroy the successionof The Initiation. Hence, Papusformed the first SupremeCouncil of Mart,inism in order to preservethe primary requirement that The Initiation be passedon fromperson to person, directly, with Initiator physically standingdirectly before Candidate.No othermethodwill work, especiallynota “mail-order” type of self-initiation aspracticedby theTraditionalMartinist Order. A private MOS publicaUon30carriesthe followingquestionandanswer:

Can a personbea Martinist if theyhavenot beeninductedbyan Initiator?

No! And I’m gladyou askedbecausethereare some peoplewho havebeensent“do-it-yourself’ instructionsby acertaincorrespondenceschool[sic] wherein they aredirectedto uttersomewords and tap themselveson their headswith someobject suchas a stick. After havingdone this, they send a“report” to the school, and, in return, they receive a“membership card”! These unfortunatepeople are thenmisled into believing they are Martinists! Pleasebe alwayscautiousof peopleyou meetwho say they are Martinist ... ifyou ever meet anyonewho has beenmisled as a result ofsuch fraudulent practices, please in love direct theseinnocentmasqueradersto the true Light.

The referenceis, of course,to the TMO of AMORC. However, in allfairness, it really isn’t strictly accurateto refer to AMORC as a“correspondenceschool.” Although AMORC doesoffer Rosicrucian

Waite a“Martinist” andsuggestedthata Charterbeobtainedfrom PapusinParis.Waite’s “admission”occurredin Februaryof 1897,somesix yearsafterthe formationof the first Martinist SupremeCouncil. Who knows how manyother“Martinists” Yarkeradmittedby mail?Apparently,Waitedidn’t considerthemail-order“initiation” to besufficient, andhe neverobtainedaMartinistCharterfrom Papus,but he did receivea “Doctor of Hermeticism” degreefrom Papus.(SeeR.A. Gilbert’s biographyof Waite,A.E. Waite:Magician ofMany Parts,Crucible,1987. ISBN: 1-85274-023-x.)Hence,it is obviousthatmail-orderadmission,eventhoughinvalid, wasnot new when the AMOROTMO beganthe practice.

30 The MOSofficer who providedthe publicationhasrequestedthat itstitle notberevealed.Therefore,to honor this requestandto avoid a breachofconfidence,the publicationdoesnot appearin theReferenceslist. The excerptquotedappearson page51 of thispublicationwhoseinitials areTMC.

instruction and even Rosicrucian initiation by mail, it also hasPronaoi,Chapters,andLodgeslocatedthroughoutthe world. In thesebodies,AMORC Rosicruciansmeetfor instruction,practice,andtheconferral of RosicrucianDegrees.The same is true of the TMOwhich AMORC supports.The TMO also has Heptads and SeptawhereTMO Martinistswho are willing andable actuallymeetandconfer initiation, valid or not. But it mustbenotedthat the majorityof TMO “Martinists” are “Home SanctumMembers” who have“initiated” themselvesvia a mail-orderceremony.

How did the Traditional Martinist Order come to give“initiations” through the mail, especially consideringthe TMObackground,i.e., its sourcein A. Chaboseau,who certainly neverconferred“initiation” by mail, and the Initiations conferreduponthe Lewisesby the Martinist OrderandSynarchyunder Blanchard?The answer must lie in AMORC’s enormously successfuldevelopment of correspondence school methods in thedisseminationof its teachingsand in its understandingof rftual.AMORC wasfoundedin the early days of the United Si~ateswhencorrespondenceschoolsflourished. Hence,it would naturally occurto H. SpencerLewis to spreadAMORC via the correspondencemethods. There is no doubt that the mail-order techniquehasallowed AMORC to grow well beyond anyone’s (except HarveySpencerLewis’) expectations.Certainly, it is perfectly legitimate togive teachingsby mail, whetherthe teachingsare secretor not. Inthe caseof Rosicrucianand Martinist bodies,not only are thereesotericteachings,thereare alsoritual andInitiation. What to do ifyou are AMORC delivering teachingswith a well-developedmail-order system?Obviously, you also give those“initiations” by mail,exceptthat not evenAMORC gives its “First TempleDegree”or its“Ninth Temple Degree” by mail. The AMORC Rosicrucianmustpresenthimself in person at an AMORC Lodge to receive thoseDegrees.The first-year probationerDegreesmustbe (and TempleDegrees2-8 may be) taken at home, i.e., self-initiation. However,AMORC Lodgesalso confer all Temple Degreesin a full form. AnAMORC Rosicrucian can take the Degrees in a Lodge in anychronologicalorder. This writer personallyknows of oneAMORCRosicrucianwho took the Ninth Temple Degreebefore taking theFirst.

Can “mail-order initiations” be legitimate? Yes—if youunderstandrituals to be reflectionsof statesof consciousness,ratherthan conveyersof power and authority. And, indeed, that isAMORC’s view of ritual—a ritual is only an outer symbolictechnique whose purpose is to reflect an inner state ofconsciousness.That is to say,for AMORC the “reality” of a ritual is

34 35

AMANTINIsT TREASURY THETMO AND THE MOSnot in itself, but in its perception.Therefore,AIIvIORC reasoned,if aritual is effective only in perception, then that ritual can beconferredeither in personor singly, alone,by mail-ordermethods.Following that line of reasoning, mail-order initiation ispermissible.However,regular Martinism doesnot hold AMORC’sview that the “reality” of a ritual is in its perceptiononly; rather,(ascan be seenin the writings of Saint-Martin and of Pasqually)regular Martinism holds that The Initiation actually confers apowerandan authority, i.e., the “reality” of The Initiation is in thedoing aswell as in the perceiving.Thus, to passon The Initiation isto passon a “reality” that is inherentin the Ritual itself andwhichrequiresboth Initiate andCandidateto be physicallypresent,face-to-f’ace. In one sense,it could besaid thatthe TMO’s view of ritual is“protestant,” while regular Martinism’s view is “catholic.”Unfortunately,the TraditionalMartinist Orderhasrevertedbacktoapre-SupremeCouncil (pre-Papus)practicethat wasneverusedbyPasquallyor Saint-Martin and was certainly not approvedof byPapusor by anyof thegreatnamesof regularMartinism.31

Conclusion: The Traditional Martinist Order cannot berecognizedby the Ordre Martiniste or the Martinist Order andSynarchyas a regular branchof the Martinist Order; furthermore,the OM and the MOS must declare the TMO mail-order“initiations” as invalid.

8. TheDegreeof UnknownPhilosopher(or, 511Initiator) wasdiscontinuedby the AMORC/TMO sothat theessentialfourthportion of the original Martinist Initiation was omitted, thusinvalidatingall Initiations givenby TMO officers.

This is the flnal andmostfatal objectionto the TMO. A formerTMO member of many years’ experience(now an MOS grandofficer) told me that the TMO lost the Unknown Philosopher’sDegreeearly in its careerandthat he never saw or heardof theDegreeof Unknown Philosopher(or, IV Initiator) being given orconferred within the TMO. This assertion about the TMO isgenerallyunderstoodby non-TMOMartinists to be correct.Why isthe Degree of Unknown Philosopherimportant? Papusand theoriginal SupremeCouncil divided the original Martinist Initiation

31 John Yarker, aspreviouslymentioned,usedthemail-ordermethodof

“admission” for Waite—but Yarker was the “head” of so many occult,mystical,and Masonicbodiesthat, to him, Martinism wasmerely one moretitle ofhonor to bedistributed,evenby mail. Waite neverattemptedto giveMartinist Initiation—evenafterhehadlaterbeen‘regularized,” i.e., receivedTheInitiatwn directly from Papus.

into four constituentparts, the fourth part (and Degree)being theportion that enablesa Martinist to passon not only the first threeDegrees(or,portions),but the last portionof Initiator aswell. Thereis no doubt that bothLewisesreceivedthe fourth Degreeof Initiator,but, apparently,this Degreewasnot usedby the TMO. Theproblemis that, accordingto MOS Martinist teaching,aholder of the Degreeof’ SI (the third degree)canInitiate only to the rank of Associate.32On theotherhand,the holderof the Degreeof UnknownPhilosophercan further Initiate to the seconddegreeof Mystic, third degreeof SI,and, finally, to the all-important fourth Unknown Philosopher(Initiator) Degree. Thus, if the Unknown Philosopher ([nitiator)Degreewas not conferredearlywithin the TMO history, then, afterthe third generationof Initiation, no TMO SI Martinist could conferany Martinist Degreewhatever,even if the Rituals for the Mysticand SI Degreeswere known andused.With a missing UnknownPhilosopherDegree,the TMO Martinist filiation looks like this:

1stgeneration:Unknown Philosopher(511) confersto SI, butnot to UP; —>

2nd generation:Valid SI confersto SI, but,without UP,onlythe AssociateDegreeis valid; —>

3rd generation: Valid Associate(invalid Mystic & SI)confersto SI; all Degreesare invalid, since Associatescan’t confer The Initiation; —>

4th generation: Thereafter, all TMO “initiations” areinvalid.

According to one anonymoussource,the TMO “discovered” theUnknown Philosopher(Initiator) Degree in its archivessometimein 1988,and it was workedtemporarily. However, the Degreewaswithdrawn within the year, and it has not been used since.33Further, whether it was usedor not would be of no consequence.Once the Unknown Philosopher(Initiator) Degreewaslost, it couldnot be restored simply by locating and using a Ritual, any morethan a Master Mason could be “made” by a non-Mason(or evenaMason) who attemptedto use a so-calledMasonicexpos6 to “makeMaster Masons.”

Why withhold the Unknown Philosopher (Initiator) Degree?

32 However,the OM andTheRose+CroixMartinist Orderallow only the

SII (FourthDegree)Martinist to Initiate to anyDegree.In theseOrders,the SIhasno Initiatic powerwhatever.

~ The anonymoussourcegarbledthe events.SeeAppendix B for anaccurateaccountof the AMORC TMO “ConsecrationCeremony.”

3637

AMARTINIST TREASURY THE TMO AND THE MOS

The reason is that, with it, a person would hold full initiaticauthority and could simply leave the TMO and start anotherMartinist Order. By withholding the UP Degree,the TMO avoidedsuch schism. Unfortunately, by withholding the Degree, allInitiations eventuallybecome invalid, as shown in the filiationline, above. Another Martinist who wishesto remain anonymoussuggestedto me that it might be possible that the high officers ofAMORC were passingthe Unknown Philosopher(Initiator) Degreeamongthemselves,but not amongthevariousTMO Martinistswhoneedthe Degreefor valid Initiations, but basedupon Olive Asher’sletter, this “passingaround”of the Initiator’s Degreedid not occur.

Conclusion:If the TMO haswithheld the Unknown Philosopher(Initiator) Degreefrom its initiating officers, then after the thirdgenerationon the line of filiation, no TMO Initiation would bevalid.

An ExaminationofAMORC’s TMOMartinist Documents

What follows is a page-by-pagetextual analysisof the book,Martinist Documents.This book is issuedby the TMO of AMORCfor the purposeof establishingthe legitimacy of the TMO by (a)showing documentsof’ initiation into Martinism; (b) showingpapers of authority from Martinists in Europe;and (c) showingletters of recognitionfrom Martinist officers. However, given thenatureandcontentof the documentsandthe natureof the captionsand commentary,the book does not necessarilyaccomplishthesepurposes.Unravelingthe TMO problemof filiation andauthority isdifficult, but, essentially, these documents demonstratethefollowing:

(a) that both Lewisesand their wives were initiated by VictorBlanchardof the Martinist Order andSynarchy;

(b) that for two years(1937-1939)Harvey SpencerLewis heldMartinist Order and Synarchyauthorityfrom Victor Blanchardasa Regional Grand Master for the purposeof establishingtheMartinist OrderandSynarchyin theUnitedStates;

(c) that the MOS authoritydied with H. SpencerLewis andthatRalph Lewis turned from the Martinist Order and Synarchyandsoughtsimilar authorityfrom the Traditional Martinist Order;

(d) that theTMO personprimarily responsiblefor aiding RalphLewis was not Augustine Chaboseau,but GeorgesLagrezewhoswitchedhis obediencefrom theMartinist Orderof Lyons headedbyConstantChevillon to the TMO headedby Chaboseau;

(e) that JeanChaboseau’sactionsof dissolving the TraditionalMartinist Order and of dissolving of the TMO SupremeCouncil

wereboth ignoredby Ralph Lewis;(1) that after the deathsof ChaboseauandLagreze,Ralph Lewis

assumedthe office of SovereignGrand Master of the TraditionalMartinist Order;

(g) that thebook’s photocaptionsmakeno distinction amongtheTMO, the MOS, or the OM, claiming them all as TMO bodies;andthat the conclusionsreachedand commentsabout the TraditionalMartinist Order as found in the photo captions in MartinistDocumentscannotbe wholly relied upon.

I

38 39

A MARTINIsT TREASURY THE TMO ~r THE MOS

Martinist Documents...

Page1: This photographshowsapicture of Lewis sitting at hisdesk.The captionsuggeststhat there is only one Martinist Order,the Traditional Martinist Order.

Page2: This is adescriptionof the book’scontent.

Pages3-4: TheseareFrenchandSpanishversionsof Page2.

Page5: The photographshowsRalph M. Lewis’ Martinist OrderandSynarchyInitiation Certificate to the fourth Martinist Degree(Unknown Philosopher);signedby Victor Blanchard (as SovereignGrand Master of the Martinist Order and Synarchy and asImperatorof the FUDOSI) anddated9/10/36,or, two yearsafter theformationof the TraditionalMartinist Order;it is importantto notethat Martin ist Documents carries no photocopies of a TMOinitiation certificate f’or the Lewises or for anyone (except anonstandardone on page 22); the caption incorrectly identifiesBlanchard and other signators as officers of’ the “TraditionalMartinist Order of Europe.” Certain OMS Grand Lodge officersquestionthe authenticityof this certificatebecauseLewis’ esotericdesignationdoes not follow OMS regulations.There are threesignaturesin the bottom margin,but they are somewhatillegible.One reads“Sar Nitram,” a “SovereignGrandSecretaryGeneral”ofthe Martinist Order and Synarchy.“Sar Nitram’s” signaturealsoappearswith Blanchard’son the documenton page13. A secondsignatureis that of “Fidel m Rosa (?)“ an unidentified“SovereignGrand InspectorGeneral,”apparentlyof the MOS. A third reads“Michael,” which is Georges Lagreze’s esoteric designation.Lagrezesignshimself as a “SovereignGrandMasterSubstitute”ofthe MOS, a ratherhigh title that definitely showshis membershipinthe MOS (assumingthatthe designationis correct;Lagreze’snamedefinitely appearsin the MOS “Line of Filiation”). His seal is notclearin the photograph.Oddly, Lagrezeneverusesthe title “Sar.”

Page 6: This photograph shows a typewritten initiationcertificatefor Ralph Lewis to SI (but not to the rank of initiator),signedby GeorgesB. Lagreze,anddated01/09/39,countersignedbyAugustineChaboseauwho writes “Vu et approuv~,”i.e., “seen andapproved.”The certificate is headed“Martinist Order,” but not“Traditional Martinist Order.” It seemsclear that Lagrezewasa IVDegreeMartinist under Blanchardand under Detre, for all hiscertificatesand signaturesindicatehis MOS and OM affiliations,

and A. ChaboseaualsomentionsLagreze’sMartinist Order (OrdreMartiniste) affiliation in a documenton page 18 of MartinistDocuments, which see. The caption identifies Lagreze asChaboseau’s“Legate.” The suggestionis that the Martinist Ordersof the time cooperatedandhadamembershipoverlap.

Page7: This photographshowsaprinted Martinist Order (butnot TMO) initiation certificatefor Ralph Lewis to the Degreeof SIInitiator, againsignedby GeorgesLagrezeanddated01/09/39.Thiscertificateis simplyadoubleof the oneon page6, exceptthat it addsthe “Initiator” rank. Lewis receivedtwo certificatesfor the sameinitiation becausethe first is to the Degreeof S.I. only. The captionreadsthat Lewis received“a Degreeof’ the Traditional MartinistOrder,”but it is obviousthat thisis notaTMO certificate.

Page8: The photographshowsan elaboratelyprintedMartinistOrder(not TMO) certificateto SI for GladysLewis, dated01/09/39,also signed by Lagreze. The caption incorrectly identifies thecertificateasaTMO one.

Page9: Thephotographshowsan elaboratelyprintedMartinistOrder (not TMO) certificateto SI for Martha Lewis, dated01/09/39,also signed by Lagreze. The caption incorrectly identifies thecertificateas aTMO one. The certificateon page8 andthis one areidentical, but are quite different from the onegiven to Ralph, eventhoughhis initiation wason the sameday andby the sameperson,Lagreze.It is possiblethat menreceivedonel~ind of certificateandthat womenreceivedanother,moreelaboratecertificate.

Page10: The photographshowsthe GrandHeptadTempleof theTraditional Martinist Order at RosicrucianPark in San Jose,California. The arrangementwould be familiar to Martinists ofany branch.Note, however,that thoughthe Traditional MartinistOrder has Heptads and Septa, it has no Lodges, not even atinternationalheadquartersat SanJose,California,U.S.A.

Page 11: The photograph shows the Chart of “InitiatiqueFiliation” of the TMO. Correctup to the SupremeCouncil of’ Papus,the Chart shows that Lagreze was initiated by Teder (henceLagreze’suseof Martinist Order certificatesanddesignations),butit also showsJeanChaboseauon the line of filiation, followed by the1939 “Traditional SupremeCouncil and PermanentCommittee,”i.e., the FUDOSI membersAugustin and Jean Chaboseau,0.Beliard, and G. Lagreze. The term “Permanent”is deliberately

40 41

A MARTINIST TaEAsuwi THE TMO AND THE MOS

used,probablyto overcomethe difficulty causedby JeanChaboseau’slater attempt to dissolve the SupremeCouncil.The chart suggeststhat JeanChaboseaucamebefore the ~‘UDOSImembersandthatAMORC’s line of descentis through Jean.Of course,history showsthat a line of filiation through JeanChaboseauwould be unlikely.Further, the caption also statesthat “Augustine ChaboseauwasGrand Master and first Presidentof the Traditional SupremeCouncil.” History also showsthis to be incorrect, since the firstTMO GrandMaster and Presidentwas V.E. Michelet. The line offihiation chartis, at best,confusingandincorrect.

Page12: The photographshowsaletter (in French)from VictorBlanchardon MOS stationeryto H. SpencerLewis, datedJuly 30,1937, informing Lewis that chartersanddecreesare being senttoLewis to allow him to exercise“authority.” The letter is vague as toexactlywhatkind of authorityis beinggiven to Lewis, but thereis nodoubt thatit refersto Martinist OrderandSynarchyauthorityfor theUnitedStates.The photo caption incorrectlyrefers to Blanchardas“the SovereignGrandMasterand Presidentof the SupremeCouncilof the TraditionalMartinist Order,” which office was actuallyheldatthat timeby A. Chaboseau.Rather,Blanchardwasat the time theSovereignGrandMasterof the Martinist Order andSynarchy.

Page13: The photographshowsoneof the “decrees”referredto inthe photo on page12; on MOS stationery,datedJuly 9, 1937 andissuedover the signatureof Victor Blanchard,H. SpencerLewis isdesignatedas aSupremeLegateand“SupremeRegionalMasterf’orthe United States of America” for the Martinist Order andSynarchy! This remarkable document, in which Blanchard isclearly identified as “Le SouverainGrand Maitre, PresidentduSupreme Counseil Universel, de l’Ordre Martiniste etSynarchique,”shows that H. SpencerLewis did not have TMOauthority originally, but rather derived his authority f’rom theMartinist Order and Synarchy.The caption incorrectly identifiesthe MOS documentas showing “the variousrules andregulationsregardingthe Traditional Martinist Order.” In fact, the TMO is notmentionedin the document.Up to 1937, therefore,the conclusionmust be that H. SpencerLewis held MOS authority, not TMOauthority. However,akey letter is reproducedon page14, following:

Page 14: This is a crucial document,for, on “Ordre Martiniste”letterheaddatedOctober15, 1939, Lagrezedescribesthe illness ofAugustin Chaboseau(who died sevenyearslater on January2,1946), and then, in the sameletter, Lagrezeidentifies himself as

Legateand “principal inspector” who is chargedto act on behalfofChaboseau.The stateof Chaboseau’shealthis not clear, but the fewdocumentsin Martinist Documentsthat come from the non-AMORC Traditional Martinist Order carry only Lagreze’ssignature, countersignedby Chaboseau.The implication is thatLagreze was acting as a “regent” for the Traditional MartinistOrder,with Chaboseausimply approvingwhat wasdoneby Lagreze.H. SpencerLewis died on August 2, 1939, andLagreze’s letter isaddressedto Ralph Lewis sometwo monthslater (October15, 1939).Ralph Lewis hada problem,for he did not hold authorityfrom theMOS (if’ he had, that documentationwould surely appear inMartinist Documents).34Yet, Ralph Lewis apparentlyhad inheritedsomekind of Martinist activity from H. SpencerLewis, eventhoughthat activity (if it existed)was probably only about two years old(basedon the 1937documentsfound on pages12 and 13). Had therebeenno AMORC Martinist activity either ongoingor planned,therewouldhavebeenno reasonfor Ralph Lewis to pursuethematterwiththeTraditionalMartinist Order.Why are thereno MOS documentsgiving Ralph Lewis authority of any kind? Thereare two possiblereasonsfor the MOS’s refusing authority to Ralph Lewis: first,Ralph Lewis hadan unspecifiedconflict with JeanMallinger (SarElgin) of the FUDOSI andthe Martinist Order and Synarchy,andthe two werenot on speakingterms;second,by 1939 Blanchardhadleft the FUDOSI andwas not willing to give authority to RalphLewis, for reasonsapparentlyhavingto do either with Ralph Lewishimself (a personality conflict) or with AMORC’s methods(advertisingand mail-order initiations). Unlessother documentsturn up to proveotherwise,it seemssafeto saythat,with thedeathofH. SpencerLewis, the AMORC/OMS relationshipendedandthat noone at Rosicrucian Park (AMORC headquartersat San Jose,California) hadanyfurther contactwith or authority from the MOS.The photocaption correctly describesthe letter. Interestingly,even

~ In fact,therehadbeena falling outbetweenLewisandBlanchard, thenatureof which is uncertain.It can be inferred that BlanchardobjectedtoAMORC’s advertising for membersin the popular press—somethingtheEuropeanOrderswould neverdo,even thoughRosicrucianismfirst cametopublic attentionin 1614 via public advertising.Hence,AMORC could claimtraditionfor afoundationto its advertising.In retaliation,Lewis claimedthatBlanchardwas objecting to AMORC’s policy of taking in Black members(refreshingly, AMORC has always been color-blind inits membershippolicies). No matterwhat the cause,oneof theresultsof this falling out wasthat Blanchardwas oustedasan Imperatorof the F.U.D.O.S.I.Hence,therewould havebeenno chancewhateverthat Lewis could haveobtainedanykind of MOS authority from Blanchard.

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AMARTINI5T TREASURY THE TMO AND THE MOS

thoughpartsof the letterare coveredin thephotocopy,it appearsthatLagrezewas once again appealingto Ralph Lewis for funds. Thecaptiondoesnot mentionthis.

Page 15: This is another crucial document showing themovementof Ralph Lewis andof AMORC from MOS authority toTMO authority. This typewritten letter, with “Ordre Martiniste”typed as a heading, specifically names Ralph M. Lewis as a“Souverain Delegue General [Sovereign Delegate General] del’Ordre Martiniste Traditionnel, pour la Californie et les Etats-Unis d’Amerique du Nord.” The letteralsoestablishedthe USA asa“Grand CounseilRegional.”The dateis October1939 (dayomitted)and is signed by Augustine Chaboseau,Jean Chaboseau,andLagreze.The caption correctly identifies the documentas a TMOone,but the captionalsosaysthat the letter confirms“the rankandauthority of Brother RalphM. Lewis as a memberof the SupremeUniversalCouncil andGrandMaster for the Americas.”However,the letter doesnot show that Lewis was amemberof the SupremeUniversal Council of the Traditional Martinist Order, nor doesitshowthathewasmadeaGrandMaster.

Page16: This is the all-importantdocumentwhich establishesRalphLewis’ andAMORC’s claim to TMO authority. DatedOctober16, 1939,on TMO letterhead,the letterfirst namesRalphLewis asa“Sovereign Delegate”of the TMO UniversalSupremeCouncil, thennames Lewis as TMO “Regional Grand Master” for a RegionalSupremeTempleof the Traditional Martinist Order in the UnitedStates.The letter makesit quite clear that Lewis requestedthesefavors from the Traditional Martinist Order, thus finalizing theshift from the Martinist Order andSynarchy to the TraditionalMartinist Order.35 The signatureson the letter are those of

In part, theletterreads:Nous soussign~,AugustinCHABOSEAU,SOVERAIN GRAND MAITRE

et Presidentdu SUPREME COUNSEIL UNIVERSEL de l’ORDREMARTINISTE TRADITIONNEL, Apr~s examende la demandefaite parRalphMaxwell LEWIS, ~ l’effet d’~tablierenCalifornieetpourlesEtats-Unisd’Ameriqueun TEMPLESUPREMEREGIONAL de l’ORDRE MARTINISTETRADITIONNEL; sur rapport favorabledu SOUVERAIN SECRETAIREGENERAL et GRAND CHANCELLIER du SUPREME CONSEIL del’ORDRE MARTINISTE TRADITIONNEL; en vue de la d~cision prise enfavourde RalphMaxwell LEWIS par le SUPREMECONSEIL UNIVERSELde l’O RDREMARTIN ISTE TRADITIONNEL....

[Note:theerraticcapitalizationappearsthusin theoriginal.]

AugustineChaboseau,GeorgesLagreze,andJeanneGuesdon.JeanChaboseau’ssignaturedoesnot appear.An examinationof the letteron page17, suggeststhat appointing Ralph Lewis as a RegionalGrand Masterof a TMO RegionalSupremeTemplewasprimarilythe work of GeorgesLagreze.

Page 17: This letter from Lagrezeis a report to Ralph Lewisregarding Augustine Chaboseau’sstepping down from activeparticipation in Traditional Martinist Order activity andestablishingLagreze’spowerto acton Chaboseau’sbehalf.The letteris not countersignedby A. Chaboseauandis datedOctober23, 1939,only seven daysafter the vital letter of Lewis’ TMO GrandMasterempowerment,which indicates Lagreze’s importancein grantingLewis TMO authority. Becausethe photographicreproductionhasreducedthe letter to fit on the page,much of the letter is difficult toread.However, the letter doesappearto be exactlywhatthe captionsaysit is—Chaboseau’sswan song in the Traditional MartinistOrder.

Page 18: Lest any doubt should exist as to Lagreze’sTMOauthority, this photocopyclearlyshowsthat Lagrezewas confirmedby AugustineChaboseauas a Principal Inspectorof theTraditionalMartinist Order and as a Legate of Chaboseau’sfor the USA,meaning, apparently, that Lagreze had a free hand in TMOdevelopmentin the United States.The TMO documentstatesthatChaboseauhas examinedLagreze’sOM documentson which thesignaturesof Papusand Teder appear; these documentsnameLagreze as a General Inspector,Principal Inspectorand activemember of the SupremeInternational Council of, “the Order,” bywhich is meantthe (Masonic) Martinist Orderof Lyons. Chaboseaudoes not mention seeing Lagreze’s MOS documents,which hecertainly must have held if he was, indeed, a “Sovereign GrandMasterSubstitute”in the MOS asper his signatureon the initiationdocumenton page5 of this book.

What Chaboseaudid was to “maintain” Lagreze’s OMappointmentsin the Traditional Martinist Order, i.e., changeLagrezef’rom OM obedienceto TMO obedienceby reappointinghimto the sameoffices in the TMO. It is not clear why Lagrezewouldwant to movehis membershipandobediencefrom either the OML orthe MOS, unlesshe sawgreateropportunitiesin the TMO thanhe didin the two older Martinist bodies. The photo caption is fairlyaccurate,exceptthat it assumesan identitybetweenthe OM andtheTMO whenno suchidentity existed.

44 45

A MARTINIsT TREASURY THE TMO AND THE MOS

Page19: This letter from Lagreze,datedAugust 25, 1945, isimportantbecauseit is the foundationof AMORC’s TMO extensioninto Canadaand South America. Previous to this letter, theAMORC/TMO had authority only in the United States. Lagrezemerely askedRalph Lewis ,“Do you think that we could extendouractivities to SouthAmerica...or would you be willing to organizethework aswell for SouthAmericaas for Canadawhereyou couldhaveProvincial and Regional Councils under your jurisdiction?”Lagrezehadbut to ask.

Having now switched obediencef’rom the two older MartinistOrders, Lagreze now complains of “false organizations” ofMartiniststhat arenot recognizingthe TMO or “do not know” thetraditional “filiation” of Chaboseau.However, Lagreze does notidentify which Martinist organizationshe means.This complaintappearsto be Lagreze’sway of establishingthe TMO “ascendency”over the two older organizations.If so,he wasbeing disingenuous.

A very importantparagraphis the secondone in which Lagrezethanks Ralph Lewis for sending him “diplomas, cards anddiscoursesfor the MARTINIST ORDER (sic).” This shows theinfluence that the American TMO (which, like the Swiss GrandLodge of the Martinist Order andSynarchy,hadnot suffered theravagesof war) hadon the FrenchTMO, a situationin which thecreatedsupportedandinfluencedthe creator.

The photo caption describesthe letter as “authorizing” RalphLewis to extendTMO activity to CanadaandSouthAmerica, but, infact, the letter doesn’tgrantauthority, it only asksa question.Thecaption also points to the line in the letter about unnamed“fraudulent” Martinist Orders, suggesting that only theTraditional Martinist Order was the legitimate Martinism. Such aclaim by the TMO cannotbe substantiated.

Page20: This is an Englishtranslationof aFrenchletterwithtyped TMO letterheadanddatedJanuary1940 from LagrezeandJeanneGuesdon,warning“Delegates,Inspectors,andPresidentsofColleges”to be on the alertagainstMartinist groupsthat “pretendtocontinue the work undertakenby the Martinist SupremeCouncilfoundedin 1890.” The letter claims that suchOrdershavemodifiedMartinist ritual andtradition, althoughno specificsare given. Nospecific Ordersare named,but the implication is thatanyMartinistOrderother than the TraditionalMartinist Orderis not legitimate,a claim which cannotbe substantiated.The photo caption fairlyaccuratelydescribesthe letter, exceptthat it saysthe letter’s dateisMarch 1, 1940whenJanuary1940 appearsclearlyon the letter.

Page 21: This letter from Lagreze(who signshimself as GrandMaster of the “Elected [sic) Cohen Knights),” datedNovember12,1945,grantsto Ralph Lewis rights to establishthe “Elus-CohensdeL’Univ[erse]” in the USA. The first two sentencesof the lettersuggestthat Ralph Lewis had written to Lagrezerequestingsuchpermission.However, Lagrezeindicatesthat he doesnot havethenecessaryrituals, thatthe rituals mustbe translated,andthat theymustbe revised.No evidenceis presentedthat Ralph Lewis waseverinitiated into, established,or worked this “Elus-Cohens”body.36Typically, Lagreze’s letter also contains a plea for money (75dollars, a considerable amount in 1945) and ends with anencouragementto sendthe moneyquickly. The photo caption fairlyaccuratelydescribesthe letter.

Page22: This photo showsaDecember13, 1976 TMO initiationdocumentfor RaymondBernardin which Ralph Lewis is identifiedas SovereignGrandMasterof the TMO, sans the ChaboseausandLagreze. How Lewis’ assumptionof’ that office came about hasalready been described. The document also gives Bernard’sauthority to “reestablish” the Traditional Martinist Order in“French-speakingcountries.”The documentfurther claims thatRalph Lewis was given permissionby A. Chaboseauto succeedH.SpencerLewis as SovereignGrand Master of the TMO. Suchpermissioncould not be given, as H. SpencerLewis was never aGrandMaster (much lessaSovereignGrandMaster)of the TMO.The document additionally claims that the AMORC/TMO isdirectly descendedfrom Louis Claude de Saint-Martin and theoriginal SupremeCouncil, when, in fact, the TMO was f’oundedbyAugustine Chaboseauin 1934. Actually, authentic Martinismdependsupon The Initiation transmittedvia an unbrokenline of

36 Which isjust as well. The “Elus-Cohens”usesMasonicrituals, grips,and passwords,somethingthat AMORC hadalwayscarefully avoidedinorder to avertproblemswith regularAmericanFreemasons.Thelast thingLewis neededwas the wrath of the AmericanMasonicGrand Lodges,whowould view Elus-Cohensactivity as “clandestineMasonry”and who couldcauseconsiderablegrief for AMORC by brandingAMORC as“clandestine”MasonryandprohibitingAMORC membershipfor regularMasons.Indeed,theMasonicRosicrucianSocietydoesproscribeAMORC membershipfor itsmembers(an odd andinexplicableproscription,sincethe AmericanMasonicRosicruciansdo not haveand neverclaimedto haveauthenticRosicrucianconnection;the SocietasRosicrucianain CivitatusFoederatis—theMasonicRosicrucians—hasalwaysclaimedto be nothingmorethana scholarlyandliterary body). The MOS American GrandLodge currently operatinginAmericawill eventuallyhavetoface theproblemof its illicit Masonicactivity.

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AM ARTINI5T TREASURY THE TMO AND THE MOS

“filiation,” not on a relationshipto the SupremeCouncil of Dr.Gerard Encausse.The photo caption fairly accuratelydescribesthedocument.

Page 23: This photo showsa May 16, 1959 letter confirming ameeting with Ralph Lewis from someonewho signs himself as“Sovereign GrandGeneralDelegate”of the “Martinist Order of theElus-Cohens.”The signatureis not legible.The “Martinist Order ofthe Elus-Cohens”is amoderncontinuationof Martines Pasqually’s“Order of Elus-Cohens.”After Pasqually’sdeath in Haiti, J.B.Willermoz, who had been left in charge of the Elus-CohensinFrance,saw the Elus-Cohensgraduallyfadeaway becauseof lackof Pasqually’senlightenedleadershipandbecausePasquallyhadnot left all the Elus-Cohensmaterialswith Willermoz. To preventits total loss,Willermoz attachedthe remainingdegreesof the Elus-Cohensto a Masonic rite which he headed.From theseactionsemergedlater the “Knights Beneftcientof the Holy City” and“TheMartinist Order of the Elus-Cohens,”a Martinist body that isinterestedin Pasqually’s“operative way” (i.e., magical ceremony)as opposedto “the way of the heart” (i.e., prayer and theurgy) asestablishedby Saint-Martin.

The letter implies that RalphLewis is amemberof that Orderand that there are other Elus-CohensMembers to be met.Interestingly, the letter addressesRalph Lewis as a “RegionalSupremeGrand Master,” not the “Sovereign Grand Master” asRalph Lewis began to sign himself after the ChaboseausandLagrezepassedfrom the scene.There is no internal evidencethatthe letter is authentic,although it probably is. The photo captiondescribesthe letter as an “official communication”requestinganappointmentfrom Ralph Lewis, when, actually, the documentisonly apersonalletter confirming an appointmentalreadymadebytelephone.

Page24: The photosin thebook cometo an endon page23. Pages24, 25, and26 are identical one-pagehistoriesof Martinism in theEnglish, French, and Spanish languagesrespectively. Thehistoriesarewritten as seenby AMORC’s TMO. The entireepisodeof the TMO troubles after the deathof Augustine Chaboseauisomitted, and the history reportsthat Ralph Lewis receiveddirectauthorityfrom the “Martinist Orderin Europe”ratherthan from A.ChaboseauandG. Legrezeof theTraditional Martinist Order. Thehistory implies a transitionof authority from AugustineChaboseauto Ralph Lewis , when, in fact, a transition of SovereignGrandMaster power and authority from Chaboseauto Lewis never

occurred.

ConclusionThus we cometo the endof the examinationof the relationship

between the Martinist Order and Synarchy and the TraditionalMartinist Order. Partsof this examinationhavebeenconstructionsbasedupon documentsavailablefrom AMORC andfrom the files ofthe author.Should further evidencecometo light, it, too, will beexaminedand includedin future historiesof Martinism.

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AM ARTINI ST TREASURY

REFERENCES

“About the F.U.D.O.S.I.” The Rosicrucian Forum: A PrivatePublicationfor MembersofA1VIORC46.1 (1975): 19-20.

Lewis, Harvey Spencer.Rosicrucian QuestionsandAnswers:WithComplete History of the Rosicrucian Order. San Jose,California: SupremeGrand Lodge of AMORC, 1929. Rpr.1979.

Lewis, Ralph Maxwell. Cosmic Mission Fulfilled. San Jose,California: SupremeGrandLodge of AMORC, 1966.

Lodge Officer’s Handbook. Barbados:The Martinist Order andSynarchy,1989. [Privately printed andcirculated.]

McIntosh, Christopher. Eliphas Levi and the French OccultRevival. New York: Weiser,1974.

Martinist Documents.SanJose:RosicrucianPress,1977.Rosicrucian Documents.(SanJose:RosicrucianPress,no date).Waite, Arthur Edward. The Brotherhoodof the RosyCross:Being

Recordsof the Houseof the Holy Spirit in Its Inward andOutward History: New York: University Books, no date[original publicationdate:1924].

A New Encyclopediaof Freemasonryand of CognateMysteries:Their Rites, Literature, and History. New York:Weathervane,1970.

Saint-Martin: The French Mystic and the Story of ModernMartinism. London: William Rider, 1922. [now out ofprint.]

The Unknown Philosopher:the Life of Louis Claudede Saint-Martin and the Substanceof His TranscendentalDoctrine.Blauvelt, New York: RudolphSteinerPublications,1970.

Webb, James.The Occult Underground. LaSalle, Illinois: OpenCourt,1974.Rpr. 1988.

Martinist Excerpts

McIntosh, Christopher. Eliphas Levi and the French OccultRevival.

“The true initiates who were Etteilla’s contemporaries,theRosicrucians,for example,and the Martinists, were in possessionof the trueTarot....” [quoting EliphasLevi]—p. 148.

Waite, Arthur Edward. TheBrotherhoodofthe RosyCross..The Rosy Cross[wasl known in commonparlanceand[was]

identified...underthe genericnameof’ Martinism.” —p. 530.“The process[of persecutionby Russianpolice] was directed

nominally againstthe Martinists... .“—p. 546.

Cadet-Gassicort, C.-L. Le tombeaudeJacquesdeMolay (Paris,1797).

“Of thesemysteriousinitiates—nowbecomenumerous,bold,conspiring—all [conspiracy] was born: Jesuitism, magnetism,Martinism.. . ~ —p. 91.

Mackenzie,Kenneth. TheRoyalMasonicEncyclopaedia.Article: “Martinism”

“The Martinistswere mystics andbelievedin the possibility ofcommunicatingwith spirits of the ultramundanespheres.”

Article: “Saint-Martin, Louis Claude De.”“His system was introduced into Russia and the Martinist

Lodgeswereeverheld in high esteem.”

Blavatsky, H.P. TheSecretDoctrine.“...The Astral Light, with which the ancient priests were

perfectly well acquainted,though the name ‘Astral Light’ wasinventedby the Martinists.” —Volume II, p. 62.

Sadhu,Mouni. TheTarot.“In someWestEuropeancountries,we can still encountersome

Martinist initiates. But only if we ourselvesare alsomembersofthatmysteriousOrder. For otherwise,we cannotseetheir signsofrecognition,nor understandthe words they speak in order to findbrotherinitiates.” —p. 269.

I

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AM ART] NIST TREASURY

Webb,James.TheOccult Underground.“Martinist doctrines...wereintroduced into both Russia and

Poland,wherethey were combined in the Lodgeswith alchemicalsymbolism.”—p. 249.

Waite, Arthur Edward. TheNewEncyclopaediaofFreemasonry.Article: “Acacia”

“But on the continentof Europe,in the old placesof Lyons, underthe auspicesof Martinism, there were those who had eyes forsymbolismand they saw clearly.”

Spence,Lewis.AnEncyclopaediaof Occultism.Article: “St. Martin, Louis Claudede”

“As aphilosopher,St. Martin found ahostof disciples...,thesegradually...acquiringthe nameof ‘Martinists.”’

Coil, Henry Wilson. Coil’s MasonicEncyclopedia.Article: “Martinism”

“His followers were styled Martin ists and the philosophyofMartinism held that man, in oneaspect,was a microcosmof theuniverseand,on the otherside,the mind andreflection of God.”

Mackey, Albert G.Encyclopediaof Freemasonry.Article: “Martinism”

“The Degreesof Martinism aboundedin the reveries of theMystics.”

Howard, Michael. The OccultConspiracy:SecretSocieties—TheirInfluence andPowerin World History.

“By the end of the eighteenth century Freemasonry,Rosicrucianism and Martinism were flourishing in.. Russiansociety...”—p. 98.

“[Czarina] Catherinehadoutlawedthe Martinists in the wakeofthe FrenchRevolutionbecausesheresentedtheir radicalism.”—pp.99-100.

“Early in his reign [Czar] Ale,canderlifted the prohibition of theMartinists andhe activelysupportedthe role of the secretsocietiesinpolitical life.” —p. 101.

Webster,NestaH. SecretSocietiesandSubversiveMovements.“Cagliostro also formed a link with the Martinistes.. .It wasthe

Martinistes who—following in the footstepsof the Rosicrucians—had suggested...the device of presenting Christ as an‘Illuminatus....”’ —p. 233.

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Cooper-Qaldy,Isabel. The Count ofSaint-Germain.“Investigationproves[the Countof Saint.Germainlto havebeen

connectedwith.. .the ‘Knights of St. Johnthe Evangelistfrom theEastin Europe,’alsowith the .. ‘Knights of Light,’ andwith variousotherRosicrucianbodiesin Austria andHungary;andalsowith the‘Martinists’ in Paris.” —pp. 151.152.

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APPENDIX A.THE AMORC IMPERATOR CONTROVERSY

Foundedby Harvey SpencerLewis in 1915, AMORC (AncientMystical Order Rosae Crucis) is, in terms of wealth andmembership, probably the most successful Rosicrucianorganizationin the history of occult movements.The Order mostlyoffers its teachingsand initiations by mail, and the majority of itsmembers are “Home Sanctum” (mail-order) members, but theAIvIORC also has activelodgesandgroupsthroughoutthe world. Itshistory is too long and complexto detail here.A detailed,objective,scholarly history of AMORC has not been written. Ralph Lewis’biographyof his father, CosmicMissionFulfilled ~ containsmuchinformation regarding the early days of AMORC, as does H.Spencer Lewis’ history of the Rosicrucians in his RosierucianQuestionsandAnswers.However, the readerneedsaconsiderableamountof backgroundknowledgeanddiscernmentto ascertainthedifference betweenAMORC tradition and documentablehistory.For example,Lewis’ story about “Mrs. May Banks-Stacey”passingon Rosicrucianpapersand American Rosicrucianauthority to himis doubtedby manybecauseshehasprovedso elusive—therearenorecords concerningher. Even the photographof her in AMORC’sThe Rosicrucian Manual is said (by Clymer, whose testimonymight be tainted) to be of an actress portraying her. Lewis’“Rosicrucian Manifesto” of 1918 indicatesthat at least some of theAMORC teachingswerereceivedby amethodthat is todayknownas“channeling.” The AMORC has constantly suffered opposition,typical of which is that from Paul Masson who is quoted byRaymondBernard38(page35) in The Great Secretof CountSaint-Germain:

“I know of only two [Rosicrucian Societies]that arestill functioning [in America), i.e., the AMORC(Lewis Spencer’s very, very spurious order), nowcarried on by his heirs....”

(Mokelumne Hill, California: Health Research).Nevertheless,whether or not Lewis had anyRosicrucianauthorityin the early days of AMORC (i.e., before 1934), he certainly had

~‘~‘ availablefrom AMORC Books andSupplies/RosicrucianPark/i342NagleeAvenue/SanJose,CA 95191.(408) 287.9171)

38 This “RaymondBernard”is obviouslynot the RaymondBernardwho

wasfor manyyearsthe AMORC Legatefor Europe.

French Rosicrucian connections after the 1934 F.U.D.O.S.I.convention.The AMORC had (and has) many critics, but a casecould be made that the controversy regarding AMORC’sRosicrucian authority exists primarily becausethe organizationhasbeenso important in the world-wideoccultmovement.

After H. SpencerLewis’ deathin 1939, his son, Ralph, becameImperator, a position which he held for life. After Ralph’s death,Gary Stewart was electedby the AMORC corporation Board ofDirectors to be the Imperator (in legal terms, president of thecorporation).

Gary Stewart’s rise to the Imperatorshipof the world’s largestand most successfuloccult organizationwasmeteoric. Accordingtoan undated anti-Stewart letter from one who signs the name“Operasus,”Stewart’sAMORC careeris summedthus:

1—in the early 1980s, Gary Lee Stewartmovedto RosicrucianPark at SanJosefrom Fresno,California whereheheldan office inaFresnoAMORC body;

2—his employmentat RosicrucianPark was as an “adjustmentclerk”; at the Park, he befriended Ralph Lewis, who had nochildren, and thus had no heir who might be eligible for theImperatorshipafter Lewis’ death;

3—Stewartsoon was transferredfrom “adjustmentclerk” to aplace in AMORC’s Public Relations department, a position thatwould ensurehigh visibility since he was assignedto the CourierCar,meaningthat he would travel the country to the AMORC lodges,giving lecturesandselling AMORC supplies;

4—asit turnedout, eventhoughthe CourierCarwas(reportedly)a dreadedjob andeventhoughit lostmoney,it wasa favorite projectof RalphLewis; thus, Stewartwas in afavoredposition;

5—after Grand MasterRobertE. Daniels retired (supposedlyforced to retirebecauseofunpopularity),Gary Stewartwasappointedto the office of English Grand Master; he was supportedin thisappointmentby Cecil Poole,anAIvIORC “patriarch” who wasclose tobothH. SpencerLewis andRalph Lewis;

6—with the friendship and support of Ralph Lewis and CecilPoole,Stewartwasappointedto the AMORC boardof directors;

7—when Ralph Lewis died in early 1987, Gary L. Stewartseemedthe natural choice for Imperator; he had beenadmired,respected,andtrustedby the two greatnamesin AMORC, PooleandLewis; he was young, educated,a good speaker,and had risenrapidly through the ranks to a Grand Mastership and anappointmentto the AMORC corporateboard;

8—thus,in 1987,GaryLee StewartbecameImperatorof AMORC.

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AM ARTINI5T T REA5tJRY

However, as Grand Master and then as Imperator, Stewartinstituted certain changeswhich began to generatepowerfulopposition. Ralph Lewis, a fixture andstabilizing forceat AMORC,had been surrounded with long-time friends and AMORCRosicrucians,all of whom acceptedrelatively modestsalariesfromAMORC andall of whom lived somewhatfrugally. The first of’ themajorchangesStewartmadewasto alsosurroundhimselfwith hisown friends, andhe madecertainthat they—andhe—receivedtheincreasedsalariesthathe consideredto be properfor such positions.Self-appointedsalary increasesare always met with anger andskepticism, no matter what the circumstances,as Stewartdiscovered.Also, to bring in friends and supportersmeans thatotherswho hold key positionsmustbe fired. The firings resultedinpanic,which resultedin resignationsandin “a paradeof SupremeandGrandLodge officers,” as the “Operasus”letter sayson page3.

By 1990, AMORC was suffering from considerableinternalturmoil relatedto the activities of its new Imperator.What to do?was a questionStewarthad to decide. In the backgroundof theturmoil (but not necessarilythe causeof it, eventhoughStewarthadhis suspicions)was Christian Bernard,who, manybelieved, shouldhavebeenthe Imperator,not Stewart.Bernard’sfather, Raymond,had been a close friend and confidant of Ralph Lewis, and hadservedasFrench GrandMaster,thenas“Legate for Europe”andaDirector on AMORC’s corporateboard.Christian Bernardhadnotonly beena “cradle Rosicrucian,”hehadactuallyenteredthe Orderas a teenager,long before the normal AMORC legal age of entry(18). Thereafter,he hadheld many positionsin the FrenchGrandLodge,andhehaddonewell in each.In the 1970s,Raymondtook thepositionas LegateandChristian becameFrenchGrandMaster, atwhich he was quite successful,as demonstratedby a dramaticincrease in French Grand Lodge membership.While ChristianBernard’srole in the controversyis neitherclearnor established,itdoesappearthatStewartbelievedthat, somehow,ChristianBernardhad to be appeasedto help quell the troubles. Stewartprobablybelievedthat Bernardmerelywantedrecognition,andto satisfythatneed, Stewart thought that the Traditional Martinist Order ofAMORC might be the methodof satisfaction.The TMO (which hadlittle moneyand little prestigein AMORC) held no attraction forStewart,andan idea cameto him—Bernardcould be appeasedbyoffering him the SovereignGrandMastershipof the AMORC/TMO.To accomplishthis, on Tuesday,April 3, 1990, AMORC ImperatorGary Stewartconveneda meetingof the AMORC GrandMastersinEdinburgh, Scotland (Stewart was fond of travel). Notes of themeeting were taken, reportedlyby Peter Bindon, who had been

AMARTIMST TREASURY

appointedto the AMORC SupremeGrand Lodge by Stewart.Thenotesshow,at item #5, that approximatelytwo weeksprior to hisremoval as Imperatorof AMORC, Stewartresignedfrom the officeof AMORC/TMO SovereignGrandMasterandhandedthe title andoffice over to Christian Bernard.The last sentenceof item #5 says:“All present accepted Gary’s resignation and endorsed hisnomination of Christian [Bernard] to the position of SovereignGrandMaster.” The purposeof the resignationis not madeclear inthe notes,but oneAMORC membersuggestedthat the notesdo notshow the pressureStewartwas under; the AMORC memberalsosuggestedthe obvious—thatthe purposeof this resignationwasto“buy time” so that Stewart could gain control of the AMORCproblems.However, appeasingthe opposition is not the way toforestall problems; suchaction can be seenas anotherexampleofStewart’sleadershipmiscalculations.39

Thereafter,Stewartdid not remain long as AMORC Imperator,nor was his term of office peaceful.Far from it. In fact, any newImperator would have faced the almost impossibletask of takingoveraRosicrucianbody whosetwo previouscharismaticleadersnotonly representedthe stability of family lineage,but who also werewell-liked, highly respected,and, having known the legendaryfigures of 1 9th French century occultism, were themselveslegendary. Upon becoming Imperator of AMORC, Stewartautomaticallyhada numberof strikesagainsthim:

• Stewartwas not a life-long AMORC member,i.e., was not a“cradle Rosicrucian,” as, for example, was Christian Bernard.Many AMORC members,both at RosicrucianPark, and elsewhere,resentedhis comparatively short and, to them, undistinguishedmembershiprecord; worse,the presenceof ChristianBernardwasaconstantdestabilizingforce, evenif only for comparison;

• Stewart was too young—AMORC members needed andexpecteda patriarch for their Imperator, not someonewho lookedyoung and who wore casualclothes to RosicrucianPark. With ayouthful face,hairstyle,anddemeanor,Stewarthadno clue that,foran Imperator,youth wasnotan advantage;

• Stewart rose too rapidly through the ranks, and hisinstallation as Imperatorcameas a surpriseto many—too many,including the powerful, intelligent, and charismaticChristianBernardwho had inherited AMORC activities in Europefrom his

~ The photocopyof the notesis in the archivesof The MartinistInformation Service.The notesappearauthenticandhavenot, so far, beenrepudiatedby the partiesconcerned.

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A MART]NIST TREASURY

father,Raymond;Stewartwaslaterto claim that ChristianBernardhad“planned”his ouster;circumstancessuggestthe possibility thatthis chargewas at leastpartially correct,especiallyin the overnightspeedof the preparationof the legal documentsneededto oustStewart; long legal paperswhich would have taken weeks toassemblewerereadyalmostimmediately;acasecould be madethatthey were arrangedweeks in advance,and Christian Bernardmight have beenthe very personto see to it that such advancepreparationwas accomplished;

• Stewart—whoholds an MBA—apparentlydecidedto treathisascendencyto power as a corporatetakeoverwhich would requirea“shakeup” in command.While this approach would work in abusinesswhosefoundationwas economic,the formula would provedisastrousin an organization whosefoundation was cooperation,good will, andrespect.The list of thosewho were fired or who leftunder duresswere the very ones who could haveprovided smoothtransition support for Stewart and who would be the very onesStewartwould needto makehis Imperatorshipwork: amajor losswas Lamore Kilgore, the respectedand well-known Rosicrucianwho was also Vice-Presidentof the AMORC corporation; thenfollowed the SupremeSecretary,the Grand Secretary-Treasurer,two Directors of Personnel,the Director of Public Relations, theDirector of Purchasing,the Comptroller of AMORC, the GroundsSupervisor,the Supervisorof the RegistrationDepartment,severalaccountingdepartmentpersonnel,all the personnelof the ComputerDepartment,the Supervisorof SpecialServices,the GrandMaster’sSecretary,andmanyothers;obviously, the exoduscreateda senseofalarm and an atmosphere of dread among the remainingemployeesat RosicrucianPark; the foundationof the empirewascrumbling, and many saw in the Imperator the cause of thecrumbling;

• StewartallegedlybeganspendingAMORC money on what hisopponents perceived to be personal frivolities~ including officerenovations, a personal meditation room, and travel; indeed,Stewart was often gone from RosicrucianPark for monthsat atime...or so his opponents claimed. Among his other proposedexpenditures:a new magazine,Heterodoxy, for non-AMORCmembersand the addition to AMORC of non-mystical teachingssuch as health care and retirement investments(books on suchtopics arefound on page23 of the 1990AMORCBooksandSuppliescatalog;theyhavebeenremovedin subsequenteditions);

To replace his rapidly-dwindling staff, Stewart brought inpeople whom he knew and trusted, including Antonio de Nicolaswhose allegedconnectionwith the Unification Churchapparently

rAM ARTINIST T REA5URY

was the final straw. A vilification campaignagainstStewarthadalready begun, headedby one or more personsin the AMORCHierarchy (high-degreemembers),and the eight now-infamous“Hierarchy Letters” beganto be circulated.The first Letter carriesthedateof December1, 1987; letter#2, datedDecember27, 1987,listseightconcerns.Finally, adocumentdatedJune1, 1990 entitled “TheRosicrucian—UnificationConnection”by “J. Sairam” appeared.Written in the breathless,urgent style of “there’s a conspiracytotake over the world” literature, the documentattemptsto show aconspiracyamongthe Knights of Malta, the Unification Church,andthe AMORC, andthe writer accusesStewartofbeinga tool in thehandsof the Unification Church which was planningto take overAMORC—to quotefrom the document:

a world wide ~Unification’ plot, in which a peacefulworldwide fraternity, and all the teachingsand landholdingsassociatedwith it, were caught up...to set it upas a front for the worldwide movementof Mr. SunMyungMoon and his political connections.

This document—accurateor not—soundedthe deathknell forStewart’s already-troubled Imperatorship, and the ten GrandMastersof AMORC’s ten jurisdictions gatheredto confer. Stewartapparentlywasplanningto transfera largeamountof moneyto theGrand Lodge of Spain, supposedlyhaving been told by DeNicolasthat the governmentof Spain would grant AMORC tracts of freeland if an independentGrand SpanishLodge of’ AMORC would beestablished.The money would be moved to Spain under theabbreviationof “GLS,” or “Grand Lodge of Spain.” However, theGrand Masters noted that “GLS” could also mean “Gary L.Stewart,” and,believing thatStewartwaspossibly in the processofembezzling AMORC monies, the Grand Masters, acting asAMORC’s corporate officers, fired Stewart as president of theAMORC corporation—and,therefore, as Imperator. The GrandMasters, still acting in the capacity as officers of the AMORCcorporation, then filed legal proceedingsdesigned to make theouster permanent.The necessarylegal documentsmentionedearlierwereproduced,andStewartfoundhimselfbeingescortedoffthe premisesof Rosicrucian Park by the police; his supportersreceived similar treatment. As could be expected, there wasunrelentingand vicious animosity in the form of letters, charges,and counter-charges.Suits and countersuits were filed, buteventually the California Court which heldjurisdiction ruled thatthe “Board of Directors” of the legal entity called AMORC had,under California law, the right to removethe Board President,

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AMARTINI5TTREA5IJRY

Stewart.Legally, that settledthequestion,and theBoardof Directors(the GrandMasters) elected and installed Christian Bernard (ofParis) to be Imperator. However,for manyAMORC members,thereis the occult questionas to who is truly the actual Imperator ofAMORC andthe SovereignGrandMaster of the TMO. Many feltthat thesepositionsare held“for life” andcannotbe afThctedat thediscretion of subordinateGrandMastersor by the decisionof legaland court proceedings.Many loyal AMORC membersof manyyears standing,believing that the Imperatorshipwas, indeed,advitam supportedStewartduringthe difficulties andsuddenlyfoundthemselves ousted from the Order, their Monographs (monthlyRosicrucian teachings)stopped,and their dues receiptswithheld(which preventedthem from attendingAMORC meetings).OtherAMORC membersremain quiet to protecttheir memberships,butprivately do not acceptChristian Bernard as the true Imperator.However, the AMORC Constitution does not state that theImperatorship is ad vitam, and, in fact, clearly establishesthepower of the Board to removethe Imperatorfor cause.However, thelife-long terms of both Lewisesset the precedent.Furthermore,asStewart’ssupporterspoint out, legalities,whether in the CaliforniaCourtsor in the AIMORC Constitution,cannotsupersedethe occultormetaphysicallaws governing the Head of an Order. That is,Stewart’s supportersask: while the Head of an Order canresign andrelinquish power,can the office and its powerbe takenawayby hissubordinates?Their answeris, “No.”

Dorothy L. Stewart issued an open letter to all AMORCRosicrucians(May 10, 1990)detailingthe eventsasthe Stewartssawthem.Accordingto this letter, completedocumentationis availablef’rom the Stewart’s attorneys:Maynard Law Offices, 1475 SouthBascomAvenue,Suite115, Campbell,CA 95008: telephone:(408)559-8990. AMORC has countered by offering, at a cost of $150.00,transcripts of the court proceedingswhich confirmed Stewart’sdismissal.

Once begun,hysteriahas a way of maintaining itself. Soonafter Bernard’s installation as Imperator, rumors begancirculating thathe wasin somekind of legal difficulty with Frenchauthoritiesovermattersof money.Thereis currently no evidencetosupport the allegation. Further, recently (December1991-January1992),the specterof conspiracyagainappeared—aletter, supposedlyfrom a Hierarchy member, was circulated among AMORCmembers claiming that now Scientology was attempting anAMORC takeover.

Meanwhile, Stewart, to counteractthe measurestaken againsthim, founded the “Ancient RosaeCrucis” (ARC) and activatedhis

AMARTINIST TREASIJRY

own branch of the “Militia Crucifera Evangelica,”an organizationthat servedboth Lewisesas a“protective army.” Foundedalongthelinesof the Jesuits(the “Vatican’s army”), the Knightsof the MCEpledgepersonalallegianceto the Imperatorand seeto it that theOrder is protectedin whatevermannerneeded.While the MCEseemsthreatening,andwhile it could very likely be threatening,itgenerally served in the areaof propagandadefense.Stewart hasbeenbusyspeakingto AMORC membersin variousAMORC bodiesalongthe Eastcoast,but his future andthe future of his efforts areuncertain. In 1990, Stewart founded the “Traditional MartinistOrder of the U.S.A., Inc.” For more information about Stewart’sMartinism, seethe Chapteron Martinist Orderscurrently operatingin America. Seealso Appendix B which follows.

There is no doubt that both AMORC’s economicfoundation andits reputationas ametaphysicalschoolhavebeendamagedby thesedifficulties. A sign of AIMORC’s weakenedeconomicfoundationisthe lack of AMORC’s famous advertising,40once ubiquitous,nowrarely to be seen.The new legal Imperatorof AMORC is ChristianBernard of Paris, France—for the first Lime, the world-wideorganization does not have an American Imperator. Bernard’sresponsibilitiesare enormous,for he must(a) reestablishAMORC’sleadership credibility among AMORC members, (b) reestablishAMORC’s financial basis,and (c) overview, update, and,withoutchanging their essence, modernize AMORC’s system ofmonographswhich suffer from 1920s and 1930s language andillustrations. The challenge for Bernard is Promethean—butwhetherhe is AMORC’s Prometheusor Mary Shelley’sPrometheusonly the future cantell.

40 Who canforget the two mostfamousads,A Split SecondIn Eternitywhich shows a man being crucified on a stonecross, a bolt of lighteningstrikinghis forehead;andSeeret8Known to a Few which showsthe dusty,old cobwebbylockedbook surroundedby mysteriousalchemicalretorts?In1974,at AMORC’s regional convention,thenGrandMasterChris Warnkenpersonallytold me[Trophimus] that thedramaandvisualimpactof theseadsbroughtin thousandsof inquiriesandmemberships.

I

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APPENDIX B: THE Th1O PROBU~M

Since the AMORC/TMO is not recognizedbecauseof a break inits the Line of Filiation, the question arises: is the TMO/USAlegitimate through an unbroken Line of Filiation? BecausebothTMOs are tightly bound together, Stewart’s TMO cannot bediscussedwithout again examiningBernard’s TMO.

According to rumors being circulated among non-TMOMartinists, the installation of Gary Stewart as TMO SovereignGrand Master was done by the New York Heptad. If this werecorrect, therewould be aproblemwith Heptadofficers installing aGrandMaster,a rite normallyperformedby anotherGrandMaster,a SupremeCouncil, or a Council of Unknown Philosophersor SIiInitiators. Hence, the legitimacy of the installation has beenquestionedby at least one MOS Grand Masterwho believesthereportsto be true.However, “Christopher,” a New York Martinist,writes: “Gary told me that he was,in fact, installed by Olive Asher,GrandRecorderof the T.M.O. in SanJose,c. May/June,1987.Theofficers, of course,would havebeenfrom the GrandTemplethere,not the N.Y. Heptad.” This statementappearsto be more likely,sincethe story is alsoreportedfrom other sourcesand sinceStewartwould probablynot travel to NewYork to havean Installation thatcould just as easily occur in the SupremeTemple in San Jose,California. Olive Asher was once Grand Recorderof AMORC’sTMO. As will be seen shortly, she knew nothing of Martinism’srequirementof an unbrokenLine of Filiation from Saint-Martin orof the requirementof the Fourth Degreefor valid Initiation. OliveAsherdid not hold the Fourth Degree,and to be “installed” by heractuallymeantnothing.

The TMO/USA members(and Stewart)also claim that Stewartwas never removed as Sovereign Grand Master of theAMORC/TMO, andthat, therefore,the office was still his, evenif hehadbeenoustedfrom the AMORC Imperatorship.Strictly speaking,the claim is quite true—Stewartwas not removed as SovereignGrand Master of the AMORC/TMO...but only becausehe hadalready resignedthe office, and a removal was not necessary.ThePeterBindon notes of the meeting Stewart called at Edinburgh,Scotlandestablishthe fact of Stewart’sresignation(assumingthenotesare authentic).

A larger problemfor Stewartis the questionof whetheror notheholds legitimate Martinist Initiation, including the Fourth Degree.The claims by Stewart’s supportersare that the documentswhich

A MARTIMST TREASURY

would prove Stewart’slegitimacy were takento Paris by ChristianBernard.41In fact, notwithstandingthose claims, a photocopyof aletterof “regularization”for Stewartfrom Poole datedMay 22, 1987exists.In the letter,Poolewrites: “I furtherattestthat I had,by mypersonalpresence,transmittedto me the Fourth Degreeof FreeInitiator of the Traditional Martinist Order, under fullauthorization of the Sovereign Council—that I, in turn, aminitiating with such authority.” However, the letter doesn’t saythatthe Fourth Degreewas transmittedto Stewart, although this isimplied: “I, therefore, in full ritualistic and initiatic tradition,transmit to the aboveInitiate our traditional, unbroken,andpurelineage....”The casecould be madethat the phrase“transmit...ourtraditional, unbroken, and pure lineage” could mean all fourDegreesof Martinism. Unfortunately, the statementis just vagueenoughto leave doubts. It is always possiblethat the letter is aforgery, but the signatureattachedto the documentdoesappearto beCecil Poole’s.42While it would havebeenmuchbetter if Poolehadstatedforthrightly that Stewartreceivedthe FourthDegree(or, “FreeInitiator” as the TMO calls the Degree), the implication is thatStewart received the Fourth Degree since Stewart receivedan“esoteric name” as required in TMO and MOS tradition (i.e., intheir tradition, the esotericnameis given only with the FourthDegree).Luckily for Stewart, Poole alsoprovided Stewartwith a“Certificate of Free Initiation” which clearly statesthat StewartreceivedtheFourth Degree.The documentis datedMay 22, 1987anddoesnot appearto be a forgery. Photocopiesof bothdocumentsare inthe archives of The Martinist Information Service.The problemthat thesedocumentsdo not solve is—did Cecil Poolehold the FourthDegree?

Accordingto aphotocopyof a carboncopy of an April 16, 1945letter from Ralph Lewis to JeanneGuesdon,both Cecil Poole andOrval Graveswere to receivethe TMO “Free Initiation” (or, FourthDegree)from R.M. Lewis and then be placedon the TMO BoardofDirectors.43The difficulty of this “documentation” is immediately

41 The original of Stewart’sdocumentmaybe in Paris,buta photocopy

ofit is in the archivesof TheMartinist InformationService.Probablywhat smeantby Stewart’ssupportersis thatCecil Poole’s Fourth Degreecertificatecannotbe located.The misinformationis an exampleof the confusionthatexistsin theTM 0/U SA.

42 That is, thesignaturematchessignaturesof Poole’s on lettersin the

archivesof The Martinist InformationService.~ Of course,Lewis held the FourthDegreefrom Victor Blanchard.A

photocopyof his Fourth Degree certificate is in AMORC’s Martinist

4

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obvious—the letter is only a photocopyof an unsignedcarbon.Verification of the authenticity of the letter is very difficult, if notimpossible,and, therefore,the letter could easily be a forgery. Onthe one hand, it seemsimpossiblethat Ralph Lewis would allowPooleto serveon the Board of Directors of AMORC’s TMO withoutbeing a “Free Initiator”; but, on the other hand, Ralph Lewis didallow such thingsto happenin AMORC, especiallyin relationto hisTMO, in which he held very little interest. The bad news forStewart’sTMO is simply this: to date,no SiI documentfor Poolehasbeenfound, andthe letter which atteststo his Initiation is only aphotocopyof an unsignedcarbon copy. This is flimsy evidence,indeed,uponwhich to build aMartinist Order.

Is therealternateevidenceotherthana PooleSII documentthatmight supportStewart’s Martinist regularity?Unfortunately, theansweris—No. A letter from ChristianBernard,datedJune7, 1989,doesacknowledgePoole’s Initiation of Stewart(page1). Later in thesame letter (page 4), Christian Bernard includes the followingFiliation Line: “Chaboseau/Papus—>Teder—>Lagr~ze—>R.M.Lewis—>C.A. Poole—>G.L. Stewart—>C. Bernard.”44The sameLine also shows Papus Initiating V. Blanchard,who in turnInitiatedbothH.S. Lewis andR.M. Lewis. At the time of the letter,no doubt as to Stewart’s Fourth Degree “regularity” existed,especially since Christian Bernard’s own Line of Filiationdependedupon Stewart’s.Yet, Bernard’sletter cannotbe offered asgenuine “evidence,” becauseit could be argued that BernardacknowledgedStewart’sregularity simply becausehis (Bernard’s)own regularity dependedupon it. Opponentsto Stewart can stillpoint out that the uncertainlink in the chain is Cecil Poole, forwhom no SII documentexists.Photocopiesof Bernard’slettersareinthe archivesof The Martinist Information Service.The conclusionisn’t very comfortingfor Stewart’sTMO: thereis no doubt that PoolegaveStewarta “Fourth Degree,”but who, if anyone,gavePoole theFourthDegree?

Another problemis that no one in the AMORC/TMO seemsto

Documentsbook.~ Bernard’sLine of Filiation showsthat the TMO’s Line—if it, indeed,hasone—isfrom Papus,not Chaboseau,whois linked to Papusonlywith aslash.Obviously,no oneatthe timenoticedthisdetail,norhasit yetbeennoticed,forall along,theTMO hasbeenclaimingChaboseauasa direct source.Bernard’sassumptionis thatCecil Pooleheldthe FourthDegree.But, maybehe didn’t,since, as yet, no documenthasbeenproducedto prove the fact. Lately,Bernardhastakento claimingthatthe TMO wasfoundedby Saint-Martin,ifnot by MartinezdePasqually,himself.

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haveevenbeenawarethat aLine of Filiat ion andits Fourth DegreeRitual were required or even existed.It is true that now both theAMORC/TMO andthe TMO/USA haveaFourthDegree,but withouta Line of Filiation, possessinga Fourth Degreemeans nothing.Again, “Christopher,” SI, writes:

“It is my understanding,combining statementsandletters[madeandwritten] by bothGary StewartandCyrilEsty, successorto Olive Asher, that a Ritual was indeeddiscovered, worked, and later withdrawn. It wassupposedlyfoundandtranslatedby one ReneTully, who, Ibelieve,was a PastMasterof AMORC’s SunriseChapter,Long Island, NY. The Ritual itself was ostensiblywrittenby none other than Raymond Bernard, but lacked theproper words and signs necessaryto fulfill its function....Cy Esty did say, at a TMO Seminar,held in New Yorkin Septemberof 1989, that the ‘Consecration’Ritual hadbeen withdrawn because of the above-mentionedirregularities,but would return, corrected,‘in a yearor

An examinationof thisTMO FourthDegreesuggeststhat it wasStewarthimself who either wrote or revisedmost of the Degree.Photocopiesof the Degree are in the archives of The MartinistInformation Service. There is no question but that RaymondBernardhadwritten a “ConsecrationCeremony,”but how it cameaboutreadslike a comedyof errors.In a letter from Olive L. Asher,Grand Recorderof the AMORC/TMO to Ralph M. Lewis (datedMarch 11, 1985),AsherrecountsRaymondBernard’ssurprisewhen,in the 1950s, as he attemptedto introduce the AMORC/TMO intoFrance,he foundthat

“...there were other organizationsof ‘Martinism’ thatwere attempting to infringe on his authority.Apparently, theyhadestablishedsomesort of Ritual oftheir own and they made claim that this Ritual wasrequiredto makeabonified [sic] Initiator.”This letter shows that the existenceof an Initiator’s (Fourth)

Degreehadbeenforgottenor ignoredby RalphLewis so thateventheGrand Officers of the AMORC/TMO knew nothing about it. It isdifficult to believe that RaymondBernardwould nothavereceivedthe Fourth Degreeof Initiator from Lewis—butclearlyhehadnot,for Ashergoeson to write:

In order to offset this problemFrater Bernardwrote a

I ~‘.

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special ConsecrationCeremony,with your approval,which consecratedany ~ff1~ who would be involved inan Initiation Ceremony.

Thus, to counterthe chargesfrom the Ordre Martiniste of Paris,RaymondBernard simply wrote a “ceremony” to passon what hedid not have—the Martinist Fourth Degree of Initiator. Theimpossibility of theseproceedingsapparentlynever occurredtoanyone and casts seriousdoubt on Poole’s actually receiving aFourth Degree—forif Lewis later neglectedto make an SII ofSupremeLegateandTMO Grand MasterRaymondBernard, whywould he earlier bothermake an SIi of Cecil Poole?It is a vexingproblem.

Asher’s letter continues:“Unfortunately, I was not aware that this specialceremonyexistedexceptfrom questionsI had receivedfrom someof our members.It becameapparentto me thatit was important for our jurisdiction to have thisConsecrationavailable and with the approval of Mr.Piepenbrinkandyourself,we wrote to Fr. Bernardandrequesteda copy of the Ritual. He senta copy of it inFrenchand Soror Ren~ Tully translatedit to English.With your authorityI thenproceededto establisha teamof eligible members and we conducted the firstConsecrationin February, 1984, at which time Iparticipatedandwas Consecrated.”[emphasisadded]

Whatwe seehereis thatpersonswho did not hold theFourthDegreeor any Line of Filiation whateverused Bernard’s “Consecration,”believingthat the merepossessionof the Ceremonywas enoughtoestablishthe Line of Filiation and validate TMO initiations—which, of course,it wasnot, could not,anddid not.

Then Ashermakesan astonishingstatement:“You mayrecall that theplan was for you to serveas theInitiator to create a continuous line of ConsecratedInitiators in this jurisdiction. Unfortunately,you wereill on that day and you gave me the authority asConsecratorover the phone.We have since conductedthis Consecration for 18 additional members....Atpresentthis is consideredan Honorary Initiation.”

Had Ralph Lewis actuallybeenpresentto give the Consecration,thereis little doubt thatthe Line of Filiation would havebeencarriedon throughhim, no matter whatthe form of the “ceremony.”

However, that Lewis gaveAsher“authority as Consecratoroverthe phone” merely shows the actions of personswho had nounderstandingwhateverof Martinism insofar as to how Martinist

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Initiation is passedon. The SiI (which Ralph Lewis certainly anddemonstrablywas) cannot give “permission” over the phone to anon-initiateto confer the Sill Initiation, any morethanthe Popecan“authorize” a laymanby telephoneto consecratea Cardinal. OliveAsherwas not a Martinist Initiate becausesheheld no Filiation orvalid Martinist Initiation of any kind whatsoever, so her“Consecration”was as worthlessas the “permission” Lewis gaveher. Had Lewis only beenpresentandhadhe usedthe Consecrationceremony,AMORC’s TMO Filiation would have beenfirmly andincontestably established.Of course, Asher does say that theConsecrationwas considered“honorary,” suggesting that sherealizedthatwithout Ralph, it truly meantnothing. But, underthecircumstances,and if it was merely “honorary,” why give it at all?What illness could have preventedRalph from participatingfromsuch an all-important event, one that would have had vitallyimportant and far-reachingconsequences?

Despite Asher’s acknowledgementthat the ceremony wasnothing more than “honorary,” i.e., without substance,her letterconcludeswith a plan to begin conferring the Consecrationon“Heptad officers, past Masters, Grand Councilors, RegionalMonitors, andSeptemMasterswheneverandhoweverpossibleuntilsuch time as we have Consecratedenoughmembersin eachareawhereSeptemsandHeptadsarelocatedso thatit canbe handledinthe samemanneras it is handledin France....”Thus, the blind ledthe blind, andtheAMORC/TMO’s problemwas not solved.

Ironically, Asher’s letter refersto the OrdreMartiniste of Parisas a “clandestineorganization,”indicating that it was the OM thatwas being accusedof “infringing” upon Raymond Bernard’s“authority.” Asher—whothoughtshe was a Martinist—had neverevenheard of the Mother SupremeCouncil of mostof the world’sMartinist Orders! Truly, Asher’s letter is a remarkabledocument,one that showsthatthe AMORC/TMO hadutterly forgottenits rootsand, in the mannerof AMORC’s “siege mentality,” had becomecompletelyisolatedfrom the restof the Martinist world and evenfrom Saint-Martin himself.

What is the future of both the Bernardandthe StewartTMObodies?For both, the first order of businessshouldbe to become“regular” by obtainingan authenticLine of Filiation. In both cases,adrawbackis obvious—howto obtain the “Chaboseau”Line insteadof the “Papus” line so that some relation to Chaboseaucan beclaimed.For the AMORC/TMO, anothermajorproblemwill be howto distribute the Line of Filiation amongits officers andmembers—assumingit can obtain a Line of Filiation. Also for both, abody of

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authenticMartinist teachingwill haveto be foundor written,a taskwhich will require contactwith agenuineMartinist tradition. TheAMORC/TMO papersare derivedfrom early MOS papersandareso heavily editedto reflect AMORC’s world view that their drynessis universally acknowledged—evenby their own members.Further, many of the AMORCiTMO rituals lack beautyandpoeticform, especially, for example, the ceremonyfor introducingvisiting grand officers, and, sadly, the YeheshuaCeremonywhichis, as Hamlet complains,nothingbut “words, words, words.” Thatis—to quote oneAMORC/TMO member—”Themeetingsare reallydull!” However, despite whatever“dullness” from which it maysuffer and despite its lack of a provable Line of Filiation, theAMORC/TMO does have the bestchancefor survival betweenthetwo TMOs, simply becauseof AMORC’s own well-establishedorganization of Pronaoi, Chapters,and Lodges. Indeed, in therecent“English GrandLodge Bulletin” (datedFebruary1992 anddistributed with the AMORC monographs)Christian BernardencouragesAMORC membersto becomemembersof the TMO.

The new Imperatorhadan ideal opportunityto acknowledgetheerrorsof his TMO’s pastandto proceedfrom there. Bernardcouldeasily have said: (a) H. SpencerLewis and Ralph Lewis heldInitiation from Victor Blanchard,not Chaboseau;(b) Ralph laterobtaineda RegionalGrand Mastershipthrough GeorgesLagrezefrom Augustin Chaboseauand rebuilt the defunctTMO upon thatfoundation; (c) home “initiations” were an error; (d) the FourthDegreeandLine of Filiation were,through error, lost, but wouldberestored from an authentic Line and then properly distributedthrough Grand Masters, Regional Monitors, and TMO SeptemMasters;and (e) the TMO teachingswould be rewritten to reflectauthenticMartinist tradition. But, AMORC has always found itdifficult—if not impossible—toadmit error, and, unfortunately,itappearsthat ImperatorBernardhaschosennot to correctanyerrorsof the past, but, rather, has moved to compound them—his“Imperator’s Message”in the English Grand Lodge Bulletin ofFebruary1992 containsahopelesslygarbled“history” of AMORC’sTMO. The “Message”containsso many inaccuracies,all tossedoffwith suchutter self-confidence,that it seemsimpossibleto believethat Bernardwas consciouslylying. For example:

1. ‘The origin of the TraditionalMartinist Order lies within thework andteachingsof Martinez de Pasqually....”Fact: Strictly speaking,this is true,becausetheorigin of allMartinist Orders lies within Pasqually’swork with theElus-Cohens.However, the intent of the statementis to

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suggestthat the TMO camedirectly from the Elus-Cohens—which isn’t true;

2. “To study [Saint-Martin’s] teachings, groups known asFellowshipsof UnknownPhilosopherswereestablished.Fact: During Saint-Martin’s lifetime, he called his groups“Soci~te des Intim~s,” or “Society of CloseFriends.”

3. “Jean-BaptisteWillermoz undertookthe expansionof theT.M.O. by establishing groups and lodges whereMartinism...was studied.”Fact: Chaboseauestablishedthe TMO in 1934.Jean-BaptisteWillermoz never heard of the TMO, or even of Martinismper se.What Willermoz attemptedto carry on was the Elus.Cohens after the death of Pasqually, and he did so bygrafting the Elus-CohensontoBaronHund’s Masonicbody,the “Rite of Strict Observance,”a Knights TemplarMasonicassociation.

4. “In 1890 the variousbrancheswhich composedthe MartinistOrder gatheredtogether,and a SupremeCouncil, consistingof 21 membershaving authority over all lodges throughoutthe world, wascreated.”Fact: in 1890, there were no “various branches”of theMartinist Order, although therewere individual groupsandlodges scatteredthroughoutEurope. Papusand Chaboseaucreated their own Martinist Order in 1890-91, and theSupremeCouncil consistedof ten members.The TMO itselfwouldnot be foundedfor another44 years.

5. “Alas, this famous and brilliant mystic [Papus] disappearedduring World War II.”Fact: Papus died of a lung diseasein 1916, during WWI (notII), while in service to France. His death is welldocumented,and the Ordre Martiniste of Paris holds anannual pilgrimage to his tomb. Papus didn’t “disappear”during WWII, he was buried during WWI.

6. “Many of the leaders and members of the Martinist Order didnot survive the upheaval,andbecauseof this the MartinistOrder becameinactive in Europe.”Fact: WWI did not interfere with the operation of the OrdreMartiniste. Becauseof persecutionsduring WWII by theNazis, the French Ordre Martiniste ceasedoperations;however the Martinist Order and Synarchycontinuedtooperatein Switzerlandand in other countries.Martinismwas never “inactive” in Europe.

7. “Due to Augustin Chaboseau’sefforts—one of the three

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survivorsof the SupremeCouncil—the Order resumeditsactivitiesin 1931.”Fact: The Order hadbeenoperatingcontinuouslyin one oranotherof the Europeancountries.Chaboseau,eventhoughamemberof the original SupremeCouncil, did not begin hisown Martinist activity until 1934.

8. “In August 1934, Augustin Chaboseau,then Grand Master,conferredin Brussels,with the approval of the SupremeCouncil, the title of SovereignLegateof the Martinist Orderfor the United States of America upon Dr. H. SpencerLewis....”Fact: El. SpencerLewis was initiated by and receivedauthority from Victor Blanchardwho was GrandMaster ofthe Martinist Order andSynarchy.He receivedthe office ofProvincial Grand Master, not “Sovereign Legate,”and theauthority wasfor the Martinist OrderandSynarchy,not forthe ‘Martinist Order.” TheTMO office of ‘SovereignLegatefor America” was held by GeorgesLagreze, who wasappointedto the office by Chaboseau.H. SpencerLewis neverreceivedInitiation or authorityof any kind whatsoeverfromAugustin Chaboseauor from Lagreze.

9. “The charters and documents accompanyingthe title ofSovereign Legate grantedhim [H. SpencerLewis] theexclusive authority to revive the Traditional MartinistOrder,which was inactivein theUnitedStatesatthat time.”Fact: H. Spencer Lewis was never a member of theTraditional Martinist Order of Chaboseau,never wasinitiated by Chaboseau,and received no charters ordocumentsof anykind whateverto “revive” the TraditionalMartinist Order in the United Statesor anywhereelse.TheTMO was not “inactive” in the United Statesat the time,neverhaving been previously establishedin the USA. All ofLewis’s Initiations and authority came from the MOS ofBlanchard—andLewis did nothingto promote the MOS inthe UnitedStates.

10. ‘Thus,...the Martinist Light was able to shine and increasewithout interruption,underthe protectionof AMORC anditsleaders.”Fact: The history of AMORC’s treatmentof Martinism hasalreadybeengiven, andthat treatmentconstitutesthe sole“protection” the movement received at the hands ofAMORC’s leaders.

It may be that, as Bernard becomesaware of the errors and

misstatementsin his blundering “history,” he will want to correctany indiscretions.Whether or not he does,it is not lil~ely that hewill allow the TMO to blossom beyond the parent organization,AMORC. Thus, the probablefuture of the AMORC/TMO is to alwaysbe hidden underthe shadowof AMORC’s wing.

Stewart’s TMO lacks an authentic Martinist teaching anddoctrine (and aprovableFiliation), andit lacksthe activesupportofits SovereignGrand Master who merely sees it as a tool forrecruiting people who can help in the regaining of AMOROcontrol—surelya pipe dream if ever therewas one.The TMO/USAAmerican Grand Master is reportedly hard at work writing non-AMORC teachingpapersfor the American members.Given its lackof support from its SovereignGrand Master, its lack of Filiationand its lack of authenticteachings,the future of Stewart’sTMO isuncertain.

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