Plerre S.

Freeman
R e v ie w s t h e B o o k s o f
H. S p e n c e r L e w is,
F o u n d e r / l s t Im p e r a t o r
of A M O R C
Tales of the

P uppet M aster
Tales of the

P l I PPET M A S T E R
Em peror (Imperator) Speaks

P ierre S. F reeman
Copyright © 2015 Pierre S. Freeman. All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced or retransmitted in any form or by any means without the
written permission of the publisher.

Published by Wheatmark®
1760 East River Road, Suite 145
Tucson, Arizona 85718 USA
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ISBN: 978-1 '62787-257-7

LCCN: 2015931616
 Contents

Introduction ix
My Book Review of M en tal P oison in g
The Mark ofthe Cobra 3
That OI' Black Magic That I Knoiv So Well 6
The Secret Motivation o f H. Spencer Leivis 9
Leiois's Motivation in Writing Mental Poisoning Unveileá 12
The Third Tendency: A Deadly Vulnerabilihj 14
Mind Control: Easy to Administer, Fatal to Underestimate 17
H. Spencer Leivis: Master o f Hypnosis 19
How Mental Poisoning Can Leverage a Culi ídentih/ 22

My Book Review of S elf-M astery an d F a te w ith the C ycles o / L i f e

H. Spencer Lewis: Maestro o f Business and the Cycle ofLife 27
H. Spencer Lewis Expounds on Free Will 29
The Vibrational Foundations o f Everything 31
The Periods ofEarlhly Cycles 33

My Book Review of M an sion s o f t h e Soul: A C osm ic C on ception

At the Outset, Hozo Seriously Should We Takc Leiois's Account? 37
Lewis Shows n Sensitivih/ to Deep, Personal Questions about Reality 40
Andent Theological, Sáentific, and Instinctive Beliefs about the Afterlife 42
The Quest: The Hidden Truth o f Reincarnation 44

My Book Review of R osicru cian P rin cip ies f o r the H om e an d

B u sin ess, 21st Centnry E d ition
The Truth about Afprmations: Leivis Criticizes a Simplistic Method of
Manifestation 50
The Cosmic and You: Leivis Critidzes a Simplistic Method of
Manifestation 53
The Wrong Way to Use Concentration in the Manifestation Process 56
Mental Alchemy: Leivis Clarifies the Process o f Manifestation 58
 Is Assumption Black Magic? 63
Commanding Cosmic Help 65
Securing Money: Does
It Matter How We Ask? 69
The Role o f Money in Manifestation 71

My Book Review of T he R osicru cian M an u al

Introduction 75
The Rosicrucian Manual: What the Manual Contains 77
Prelimitiary Instructions 79
AMORC and its Organization: The Only True Rosicrucian Order in
America 81
AMORC and Its Organization: Should YJe Daré Question the Existence
o f a Rosicrucian Enclave in Ephrata? 83
AMORC and Its Organization: The 108-Year Cycle o f Activity 86
AMORC and Its Organization: Authority and Connections 89
AMORC and Its Organization: Robert Vanloo's Investigations —The
Devil in the Details 91
AMORC and Its Organization: H. Spencer Lewis and the Great Beast 93
AMORC and Its Organization: Enter the Distinguished Mrs.
Banks-Stacey 96
AMORC and Its Organization: Mrs. Banks-Stacey and the Great Beast 100
AMORC and Its Organization: Mind Control and Money—Key
Reasons for Promoting the Exclusivity ofthe Order 103
AMORC and Its Organization: The Quest for Authenticity
Continúes—Toulouse or Too Loose? 107
AMORC and Its Organization: Toulouse or Too Loose? 109
AMORC and Its Organization: Related Ties to Authenticity—
Toulouse or Too Loose? 112
AMORC and Its Organization: FUDOSl—Lewis's Grand Tool for
Authenticity 114
AMORC and Its Organization: The Sinister Side o f Leiois's
Confederaron 116
AMORC and Its Organization: Pre-FUDOSI Open Letter from Lewis
to Freemasons and Rosicrucians 119
AMORC and Its Organization: More on Toulouse 121
AMORC and Its Organization: The Sinister Side ofLew is’s
Confederaron 124
Great American Manifestó Píate #2: A Modern Symbolical Drawing 128
Píate #2: Michael M aier—Was He a Rosicrucian or a Watinabe? 131
Píate #3: The Heroic Count o f Toulouse 134
Plates #4, 95, and #6 138
Claims: The Achilles' Heel ofM ind Control —The Manual as an Example
o f AMORC'S Platfomi for Claims 142
Research—Its Importance and Its Various Levels 144
Attaining Psychic Illumination: When the Student Is Ready 149
Attaining Psychic Illumination: Train the Brain 151
 Attaining Psychic Illumination: Psychic Development 153
Attaining Psychic Illumination: The Certainty ofKnowing 155
Attaining Psychic Illumination: Controlling Psychic Manifestation 157
Attaining Psychic Illumination: All the Help I Could Ever Want 159
Attaining Psychic Illumination: Divine Illumination and Blavatsky's
Masters 161
The Rosicrucian Code o f Life: Rituals and Common Sense 163
Rosicrucian Dictionary: Astral Plañe, Avatar, Black Magic, Dreaming,
Ego 165
Rosicrucian Dictionary: Elementáis, Fourth Dimensión, God,
Hypnotism 167
Rosicrucian Dictionary: Hypnosis Definition Continued, lUuminati,
Illumination, Kabala, Knowledge 169
Rosicrucian Dictionary: Life and Life Forcé 171
Rosicrucian Dictionary: Natural Lazo, Nous 173
Rosicrucian Dictionary: Objective Mind, Ontology 175
Rosicrucian Dictionary: Ontology, Personality, Prayer 177
Rosicrucian Dictionary: Projection, Psychic Plañe, Reiyicarnation,
Shekinah 179
My Open Letter to Christian Bernard, Current Imperator of AMORC
An Introduction to My Open Letter 183
An Open Letter to Christian Bernard, Venerated Imperator ofthe
Rosicrucian Order AMORC 185
 lntroduction

uring the last year or so, I ha ve undertaken to extensively re­

D view, chapter by chapter, some of what I consider to be the

modern classics of anticult literature by Margaret Singer, Ste-
ven Hassan, Janja Lalich, and Madeline Tobías.
As I proceeded down this path, analyzing their works from the
standpoint of a victim of a pernicious religious cult called AMORC
(Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis), in which I was trapped for
twenty-six long years, I suddenly realized that H. Spencer Lewis, the
founder of the cult and its first supreme leader (called the imperator,
which means emperor in Latin), was also a prolific author, with his
prodigious volumes of work probably never analyzed properly by
someone like myself. I realized that, in a way, my reviewing some
of his books might make a significant contribution to those who are
investigating the Order or who are members already and might be
bewitched by AMORC's exceptional methods of promoting their or­
ganization. It was with these methods that they managed to capture
a young engineering student from Haiti and put him in a spiritual
and intellectual prison for twenty-six years. AMORC saturated my
mind. body, and soul with very subtle and advanced indoctrination
techniques developed by Lewis, a self-proclaimed investigator of
hypnotic phenomena.
Having read many of his books over the years, I realized that
they were public works that often supplemented and perhaps pro-
vided additional authenticity and support to the monographs that
were the essential documents purveying the teachings of AMORC
to its adherents throughout the world. I now perceived that Lewis's
books were part of his master mind-control plan because, besides
being read by members, they acted as a kind of advanced ground
infantry in supporting his credentials as an expert in various occult
subjects and served as advanced recruiting tools to supplement his
excellent advertising.
As I pursued my research and study of some of Lewis's key
works, I began, for the first time, to understand the dimensions of
his efforts to create a fictional platform that would serve to support
an essentially hypnotic framework for heightening the suggestion
of AMORC's members. The goal of his efforts was to ultimately be
able to produce the kind of hallucinatory experiences and "m agical"
thinking that can transform his more committed members into ser-
vants of the philosophy of AMORC.
Prior to founding AMORC, Lewis founded the New York Insti-
tute for Psychic Research, which may very well account for his claims
in Mental Poisoning of having extensive experience with hypnosis. It
is clear from this book that Lewis was well versed in hypnotic tech-
niques and was quite able to intelligently infuse his knowledge into
the mind-control platform of AMORC.
Lewis knew that in order to attract the kind of membership he
wanted, he had to create a historical explanation for a secretive or­
der that had endured through the millennium with highly advanced
knowledge. Unlike, perhaps, many other charlatans and cult leaders
whose groups were rather evanescent, Lewis had the tenacity to trav-
el far and wide to create alliances and appropriately formúlate liter-
ary linkages to actual historical events and organizations. Although
these accounts were ultimately fictionalized and twisted to meet his
needs, the re was a seed of truth there that could be mined to his ad-
vantage. He selected and explained these connections very carefully
so that there would be little chance of superficial research uncovering
anything but the apparent truth of his assertions.
Fortunately, to help in my quest to uncover the truth about
AMORC I found various documents and even newspaper clippings
that supported the research I had done formerly when writing The
Prisoner o f San José, AM ORC Unmasked, my blog posts, and other
shorter books. I feel that I was lucky to find these resources, for they
provided the foundations for understanding more intimately how
all of Lewis's work was accomplished. Lewis, no doubt, created a
vast array of justifications for his assertions, but generally they fol-
low that "seed of truth" protocol that is very difficult for a superfi­
cial researcher to debunk—and many potential and newly connected
members do not do any research at all.
In my book, I give an explanation about how this might have
worked with the Pennsylvania spiritual organization that Lewis
claims was a Rosicrucian antecedent of AMORC; the alleged ini-
tiation in Toulouse with this ancient organization; the use of Mrs.
Banks-Stacey, the so-called cofounder of AMORC, who did not even
sign their official initial announcement of the Order; and the contro­
versia! anti-Judaic and anti-Masonic nature of FUDOSI, a group of
traditional spiritual organizations that were allegedly supportive of
AMORC's historical claims to authenticity and quite a bit more.
It is strange to realize that Lewis, who has so profoundly impact-
ed my life, died a considerable time before I became the prisoner of
his organization. While a member of AMORC, I thought of him con-
stantly as my leader, as my personal advisor, and as one of the wisest
and most beneficial influences in my life. It is hard to convey how
startling it was to realize that this man was not who I had thought
him to be. His entire work in literature and with AMORC was for the
purpose of entrapping people into thinking they had been brought
into a spiritual elite by the only organization authorized to present
the mysteries of the universe to the people of planet Earth.
My Book Review of Mental Poisoning
By Imperator H. Spencer Lewis

P r e s e n t e d by P i e r r e S. F r e e m a n ,
O c c u l t W h i s t l e b l o w e r
 The Mark of the Cobra

I
t is a small green book with a rendering of a complex, but per-
haps som ewhat lighthearted dragón imprinted on the cover. It
is called M ental Poisoning and was first copyrighted in 1937. It
was written by H. Spencer Lewis, the esteemed first im perator and
founder of AMORC.
On the surface, the book appears to be an explanation of the mys-
terious deaths following the excavation and study of King Tutankha-
men's tom b, which w as o p e n e d by H ow a rd Carter's team in 1922.
The first manifestation of the so-called Pharoah's Curse occurred
when a canary was killed by a king cobra that somehow intruded
into the canary's cage. The king cobra is the snake image so often
seen on the heads of the pharaohs and represents the power of the
royal house of ancient Egypt.
This death was followed by the death of Lord Carnarvon, the
rinancier behind the excavation. Another manifestation was Howard
Cárter seeing a pack of jackals—animals related to Anubis, guard­
ián of the dead—for the first time after decades of excavating in the
Egyptian desert, where jackals are native. Cárter himself died ten
years later after more than twenty suspicious deaths, many follow­
ing shortly or within a few years after entering the pharaoh's tomb.
There were deaths by suicide (by apparently jum ping from a seven-
story building), assassination, murder by a spouse, a fever shortly
after entering the tomb, arsenic poisoning, being smothered in sleep,
and so forth.
 The Pharaoh's Curse was a big news event. Fifteen years after
the time of excavation, when Lewis's book was published, the curse
was still well-known. Its spectacularly strange effects are still re-
membered today. Although the causes of the deaths were debated on
many different levels, Lewis, who seeks to purvey a kind of scientific,
psychological approach to interpreting the phenomenon, says, de­
spite all the varied theories he discusses:

The astonishing fact, which remains unexplained in such a

theory, is that the weird circle of mysterious deaths was the
precise fulfillment of a prophetic curse uttered and cut into
the wall of King Tut's tomb thirty-two centuries ago.

I am very happy to have read this book again because, while

it may not prove how the King Tutankhamun deaths happened
through "mental poisoning," it shows Lewis to be very well versed
in the phenomenon of hypnosis combined with certain techniques
of "friendly persuasión." In his writing, Lewis demonstrates a very
shrewd grasp of mind control long before it became a well-known
plaything of m odem intelligence services. Although Lewis applies
this theory to the King Tutankhamun phenomenon, it is absolute
proof that he knew enough about "friendly persuasión" and hyp­
nosis to present a cornucopia of hallucinogenic opportunities for the
victims of A M O RC—victims like me.
Lewis goes on to explain how scientific studies have proven that
when telling a hypnotized subject that a fountain pen is a red-hot
iron and touching the subject with it, the subject can produce a water
blister identical to one that resulted from real heat. Similarly, under
certain conditions, the subject will actually see the object as a hot
iron. In other words, right here Lewis is telling his audience that he
knows exactly how positive hallucinations can be created, which are
the key to some of AMORC's so-called psychic powers, the most ob-
vious being the perception of the human aura.
Of course, the object of this book is, in certain ways, to subtly
draw potential initiates deeper into the web of authority of H. Spen­
cer Lewis's Rosicrucian order by exposing the mysteries of "mental
poisoning," a practice he is a master of. When someone excessively
parades their goodness or honesty, it is always better to take a look at
their motives. As we shall see shortly, there is cause for worry when
Lewis starts to carry on about the goodness of the Cosmic and how
we are all safe from the bad intentions of so-called black magic prac-
titioners.
 That 01' Black M agic
That 1Know So Well

. Spencer Lewis brings into the book Mental Poisoning dis-

H claimers about the power of "black magic/' which I find

strangely euphemistic:

But to the mystic and to the student of Cosmic law and order
the belief in such a p ro cess of destructive power controlled
by any individual is inconsistent, impossible, and truly sac-
rilegious, and the true mystic and student of Cosmic law is
alone capable of rendering judgment in such a case in such
a manner. His knowledge and his experience with divine
Cosmic principies enables him to realize and to thoroughly
understand that no such process of transmission of destruc­
tive energy or power in any thought form between one indi­
vidual and another or between one individual and a group of
individuáis would be possible without the conscious approv-
al, aid, and dependable assistance of the universal conscious-
ness and divine spirit that pervades all space and acts as a
médium for the transmission of thought waves, light waves,
energy waves, or waves of any kind.

One way to define a certain category as black magic is the act of

an operator using psychic powers to compel a person to act against
his will or interest. While this might not necessarily involve the de-
struction of an individual, the fact that the operator is taking over
someone's own freedom of choice by a certain "spiritual energy" im-
plies a selfish and self-serving justification. This could lead to hurting
others just by the act of changing a potential employer's choice of a
candidate for a job, the choice of a particular product or service to
be acquired by potential buyers, or the winning of a certain prize. In
other words, forcing a person to choose the operator's preference over
another option can hurt the person who has lost the job, sale, or prize.
In AM ORC Unmasked, in m y analysis of Section 93, the "spiri-
tual" operation of Assumption is defined as follows:

The purpose of this mystical faculty is to assume momen-

tarily the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual State of
another person, so as to obtain this person's assistance or to
provide assistance to him or her.

Further it says that the operator, using Assumption, will

momentarily act on the personality of these individuáis and

influence their behavior toward us. In other words, we can
act in such a way that they will think, speak, and act in accor-
dance with our will, without even being aware of it.

I further say in AM ORC Unmasked:

Therefore, in the exercise, members will Iearn how to assume

a chosen subject's "physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual
state, thereby influencing positively their behavior or deci-
sions concerning us." In fact the subjects will then "act ac-
cording to our desires while having the feeling that they are
applying their own free will."

But then I say:

AMORC then points out that such "a faculty is ineffective if

used for negative, unjust, or dishonest ends." Despite the fact
 that the member is assumptively taking over som eon e's ac-
tion without his permission, it is clear that AMORC believes
this is cosmically all right.

I don't exactly feel like Frank Sinatra when I think about H. Spen­
cer Lewis and people like him, but if I did, wouíd I be singing this
song?

That oíd black magic has me in its spell

That oíd black magic that you weave so well
Those icy fingers up and down my spine
The same oíd witchcraft when y our ex/es meet mine.

Those icy fingers, baby, and nobody s even in the room?

 The Secret Motivation
of H. Spencer Lewis

he more I look at H. Spencer Lewis's revealing little book, the

T more I realize how he unashamedly takes a subject like the curse

of King Tutankhamun's tomb and converts it into a discussion
of mental poisoning, a process of creating subconscious suggestions
so powerful that they can destroy the human body. Sometimes this
is done intentionally as in the case of the Egyptian magicians who
formulated the curse written on the walls of the tomb. Sometimes it
is done accidentally. For example, a patient hears a doctor speculate
about her having a serious case of scarlet fever, and she replicates
very serious symptoms while in a quasi-eoma. Then a later special-
ist discovers her condition is psychologica! rather than physical. In
Lewis's story, the woman's life is saved right as she is hovering on
the brink of death, her illness caused by psychological conditioning.
Why Lewis is so determined to write a book on this subject is
puzzling to me. The sensationalistic side of it, coupled with his posi-
tion as a leader of an American occult movement, makes it possíbly a
kind of recruiting tool for his organization. In this book, he displays
a serious knowledge of the power of suggestion, hypnotism, and the
delicacy of the human mind. Therefore, one attraction of his Rosicru­
cian Order, which supposedly represents a higher type of conscious-
ness of reality, could be as a place to learn about such things and
escape the ravages of mental poisoning.
 But ín reading his book as a former mind-control victim of
AMORC, I see another subtle, stranger, and perhaps more alarming
reason. I believe Lewis is deliberately exposing his ability to control
other people's minds.
Let's see what he actually says.
Lewis begins his book by discussing two "strange" tendencies of
the human mind: "The first is that the human mind or consciousness
has a tendency, a very definite impulse, to believe and accept as truth
what it wants to believe or what it feels is a compliment to its ability
to reason and reach correct conclusions."
If one reads The Masterxf o f L ife—a brochure sent out to now hun-
dreds of thousands of people—it describes a spiritual elite to which
one can easily belong that provides one with specialized knowledge
to achieve a very special relationship to God (in the form of Cosmic
Consciousness) and special powers, both enjoyed over the centuries
by its members. When this was sent out, it was known that, for cer­
tain people, the description of such a group in that way would have
an extraordinary appeal.
Lewis describes the second tendency as "an ever-present inclina-
tion to accept as a belief, as a truth, as an unquestionable principie, an
idea or a conclusión that agrees with another idea or group of ideas
previously established in the mind or consciousness from personal
experience."
Whereas the first incJination describes an appeal, the second in-
clination is to fit an idea into another set or group of ideas established
in the mind. I think the emphasis that AMORC places on famous
members such as René Descartes, Benjamín Franklin, Isaac Newton,
and Francis Bacon suggests that the organization is somehow rec-
ognized by key figures in the Western intellectual tradition and also
that it has a long-established tradition of its own, known by people
of significant stature over centuries.
Lewis also speaks of a third tendency that gives to "the mind or
consciousness of an individual a sort of vainglorious satisfaction in
feeling that the individuaos previous reasoning and analysis of ideas
was better than that of others, or superior to that of others because it
has reached a uníque conclusión that is different by opinions held by
the mass mind."
 In other words, the individua! becomes vulnerable to ideas be-
cause, through them, he will stand o u t—such as belonging to an
elite group like other esteemed Rosicrucian m em bers—and the fact
of membership will valídate his alleged uniqueness and, perhaps,
genius. Like Sir Isaac Newton's famous quote regarding his success:
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
But these three tendencies seem critically related to tendencies a
mind-control expert like H. Spencer Lewis might exploit given the
right circumstances. Why would he disclose them to anyone?
The answer is in my next discussion, The Secret Motivation o f H.
Spencer Lewis, Part 2.
 Lewis's ÍN/Iotivation in Writing
M ental Poisoning Unveiled

R
eturning to the three powerful vulnerabilities of the human
mind discussed previously, the question is clear. Given my pre-
suppositions made clear in all my writings, why would Lewis
say all of this if he was actually running a "spiritual operation" that
had mental poisoning (or mind control) at its core?
I believe that people who run cults like this can generally be com ­
pared to psychopaths who share definable traits. One way of doing
this is to utilize the Haré Psychopathy Checklist, which was used
to identify people who commit crimes. Some of those traits include
such things as a sense of their own grandiosity, a smooth and glib
demeanor, an ability to shamelessly lie and the cunning and willing-
ness to manipúlate people with those lies, and a lack of empathy for
their victims or guilt for the abuses they inflict on others.
I think that H. Spencer Lewis demonstrates many of the above
traits. Although he may have professed to be M aster of the Occult, I
think he secretly saw himself as a kind of conniving genius at mar­
keting and promotion. Like a psychopath, he took no responsibil-
ity for the effects of enslaving people's minds for decades or luring
them into a lifetime program of self-deception enhanced by halluci-
nations, false spiritual elitism, and an ancient occult hijacked from
other sources. Become part of AMORC and turn from a poor spiritual
outsider—a pawn of flawed human history —to part of a glorious
spiritual elite. This is another tactic in the psychopath's inventory—
to utilize a person's self-esteem to the master manipulator s prívate
purpose.
No, I don't really think Lewis got his jolt of self-esteem and gran­
diosity from parading around in his imperator's robes. He was too
smart for that. Everything he did in AMORC was carefully designed
and executed. He knew exactly what all the rituals, monographs,
exercises, and meetings meant. He wouldn't have gotten much self-
gratification by ruling a bunch of brainwashed automatons he had
programmed himself. No, I think he got his jolt of grandiosity from
something else—that he had pulled it off, that he had fooled thou-
sands and thousands of people into parting with their hard-earned
dollars by deploying one of the great hoaxes of the century.
Psychopathic as this self-exaltation might have been, wouldn't it
seem even grander if, in the fever of his great joy at succeeding in this
massive con game, he actually put all his cards on the table with a
book like Mental Poisoning—w h ich explained exactly how he did it—
but the fools who read it and bought into his seeming wisdom were
the same fools who fell into his Rosicrucian mind trap? How could a
stage magician be more skilled than to tell his audience how he does
a trick and yet still have the audience be totally baffled by his perfor­
mance? How could a mind-control expert be more a proven genius
than to explain his actual formula for mind control to his subjects and
still exert complete control over them?
In other words, H. Spencer Lewis is not really getting gratifica-
tion for his role as imperator of AMORC, a role he knows to be a care­
fully orchestrated lie, but rather for his being an expert manipulator
of the masses with his subjects so completely under his control that
they don't even realize how his book applies to them.
My point is that H. Spencer Lewis is not really all that concerned
with being acknowledged as Superman, whose role it is to rescue
mankind from a primitive, unenlightened State of mind. Rather, he is
Lex Luthor, the great criminal genius, whose chief goal is to deceive,
rob, and cheat the poor fools who belong to the rabble of confused
humanity. That is what Lewis was probably chuckling about when
he went to bed every night.
 The Third Tendency:
A Deadlv Vulnerabilitv

n the surface, Mental Poisoning appears to be a discussion

O of the negative conditioning that affected victims of the so-

called Pharaoh's Curse, but it is also about people in business
and with health problems who are subjected to mental poisoning in
other wavs. It also reflects heavily on the poisoning deployed on peo­
ple like myself by his own organization, AMORC.
He speaks about three tendencies of the human mind that open
people up to mental poisoning. To recapitúlate:

1. "The human mind or consciousness has a tendency, a very

definite impulse, to believe and accept as truth what it w’ants
to believe, or what it feels is a compliment to its ability to
reason and reach correct conclusions." We could describe
this tendency as motivated by such factors as egotism, gull-
ibility, and vanity.

2. The second tendency "is an ever-present inclination to ac­

cept as a belief, as a truth, as an unquestionable principie, an
idea or a conclusión that agrees with another idea or group
of ideas previously established in the mind or consciousness
from personal experience." We could say this is due to cer­
tain ideas fitting into a familiar comfort zone. Acceptance
 of these ideas for that reason may be considered a kind of
mental laziness.

3. "This third tendency, which is really a weakness, is one that

seems to give to the mind or consciousness of an individual
a sort of vainglorious satisfaction in feeling that the indi-
vidual's previous reasoning and analysis of ideas was better
than that of others, or superior to that of others because it
has reached a unique conclusión that is different by opin-
ions held by the mass mind." The third represents a desire
to feel superior to other people.

In speaking of the third tendency, Lewis says something very,

very specific that directly reminds me of a kev factor in his Rosicru­
cian mind control. He says:

This same weakness tends to make the individual attribute

supernatural causes as the explanation of the most common
events of life rather than natural causes, solely because the
mass mind will look upon the matter differentlv and cast
aside all supernatural considerations___Such persons are
otherwise normal in all their casual thinking and acting, but
they love the mysterious because it is so easy to attribute puz-
zling situations and conditions to unknown, arcane, archaic
or supernatural laws and even to miracles.

When I was in AMORC, I did a ritual called a Day of Reintegra-

tion after I had lost a job. Part of the ritual involved walking through
an affluent neighborhood. There I met a former cook named José. I
had worked with him before, and he told me about a dishwashing
job at a new' restaurant in Coral Cables that would be a good fit for
me. This excerpt from AM ORC Unmasked conveys how I evaluated
my thinking back then:

Before AMORC, I would have been happy and grateful to

God for that serendipitous meeting, but, in my present State,
I took it as confirmation that AMORC's teaching was begin-
 ning to work. It was like the Day of Reintegration ritual, not
José, was responsible for my good fortune that day, one of
many, many "signs" I began to attribute, somewhat arbitrari-
ly, to AMORC and its Cosmic Masters. As I have mentioned
in my previous book, this is what M argaret Thayer Sínger
calis Mystical Manipulation from Above. Now, everything
good would start to flow from AMORC.

Believe me, AMORC encourages this type of thinking, and this is

just one more way in which AMORC begins to control every second
of your life, attributing practically all good fortune to your member-
ship and the grace of its egregor. All misfortune is attributed to bad
karma resulting from failing to follow the Rosicrucian teachings.
Spencer's book Mental Poisoning presents an entire prescription
for mind control as he applied it in AMORC.
 lVlind Control: Easy to Administer,
Fatal to Underestimate

aving discussed the three vulnerabilities of the human mind

H to mental poisoning, H. Spencer Lewis remarks in his book

on how so many people will choose exotic and superstitious
ideas because it will set their thinking apart from the crowd. In other
words, people often choose ideas to somehow assert their unique-
ness and superiority rather than putting the truth first. He continúes:

But these very weaknesses and tendencies on the part of the

human mind and consciousness constitute an open portal, an
open doorway to the influx and incoming of strange ideas,
and these fertilize the world of our consciousness and make
it highly susceptible to mental poisoning.

To be honest, I do not think this kind of desire to be different

from the mass of humanity by choosing a supernatural answer over
a run-of-the-mill answer is typical of the whole of humanity. I think,
rather, the mass of humanity makes a great many of its decisions
based on the kind of authority it tends to blindly accept—whether it
is parental or the authority of the State or church or another specific
individual or group.
No, I think Lewis is really talking about the kind of person who
would very likely be attracted to AMORC or even just to reading
this book. That is, a person who has a curiosity about this mysteri-
ous universe of ours, coupled with a low self-esteem and a desire to
be recognized for their uniqueness. This kind of person is especially
vulnerable to cult intrigues.
Lewis goes on further to say:

Unfortunately for the human race, the various kinds of mental

poisoning that can ruin and wreck a human life do not have
to be administered violently, ñor does the individual about to
be poisoned have to become hypnotized and placed in an in-
duced sleep ñor physically and mentally drugged or overcome
in order to have the mental poisoning enter the innermost re-
cesses of the consciousness and begin its destructive work.

I have spent a great deal of the last decade pointing out to the
public through books and blogs the subtlety of mind control as de-
veloped in AMORC. Yes, they do use a form of hypnosis, but it is not
the type where you stand in front of an alleged authority and they
drone a hypnotic script or use some kind of electronic device or mov-
ing object to hypnotize you. Rather, it is a subtle form of hypnosis
based on enhancing suggestibility by establishing authority, creat-
ing exercises that deeply relax the body and mind and lead to an
enhanced state of suggestibility, and, at one point, introducing visu-
alization and procedures that produce altered states of consciousness
and changes in personality.
What kind of a person would fall for this?
Probably someone who would pick out Mental Poisoning from a
bookshelf and read it eagerly from cover to cover but not notice, for
one minute, that he or she was the subject of the book—the perfect
victim of a mind-control system ready for the taking.
I hope you are not one of those persons.
I was.
But if you are and you now know what to look out for, I will be
happy at least that I have taken this time to wam you about the dan-
gers of books and men and institutions that are the foundations of
dangerous religious cults like AMORC.
 H. Spencer Lewis:
Master of Hypnosis

e use the term mind control a lot these days. It is prob-

W ably because some of the techniques employed by vari­

ous government intelligence agencies have filtered down
to the public through movies and books and various exposés avail-
able on YouTube. But in H. Spencer Lewis's day, the more common
term was hypnosis, and in his book Mental Poisoning, hypnosis and
concurrent suggestibility are the prime paradigm for his idea of men­
tal poisoning, the exact framework for mind control evident in the
monographs and rituals of AMORC.
Look at the language he uses to describe the origin of his knowl­
edge of hypnotic processes and the effect of suggestibility on the hu­
man body.

We have in this laboratory demonstration that has been

made thousands of times in psychological clinics in hos-
pitals in Europe and America, and witnessed hundreds of
times by the writer of this book, an excellent example of
how a mental idea, having no actual or physical basis for
its effects, can create within the human body a truly physi-
ological result. In other words, this demonstration proves
that an idea or a thought in the mind can transíate itself and
transform itself into something that is not merely mental but
 something as actual as any actuality that has ever affected
the human body.

In this paragraph, Lewis says he has witnessed these phenom-

ena hundreds of times! If this is true, he must have been truly moti-
vated to study the effect of hypnosis on the body. The core example
he gives, as explained previously, is a hypnotized subject being told
a coid fountain pen or lead pencil is a hot red iron and, after experi-
encing the pain of that encounter, the subject's body forming a water
blister on the skin. In his analysis of this phenomenon, Lewis states
that this phenomenon, starting with the suggestion of the actual im-
plement touching the person to the development of the w'ater blister,
is a process wherein the body, exposed to a phantom and danger,
thinks it is real and apes the process of nature. Lewis says:

The fact that if one hundred arms of one hundred various

types of individuáis are burned with the same hot piece of
metal in the same manner and for the same length of time, we
find similar scars on the tissue caused by the heat and similar
water blisters on each of the individuáis, show that nature
works very uniformly in these natural processes.

Lewis is highly aware of the strangeness, even the wonder, of

this phenomenon. He points out two things: the process takes place
because the subject believes in the integrity of the hypnotist, and he
therefore believes what the hypnotist is telling him about the nature
of the lead pencil or fountain pen —namely, that it is a hot iron. So, as
Lewis poignantly points out, the whole physiological drama is pro-
duced because the mind is deceived as to the difference between the
reality of the physical plañe and the seemingly irrational belief of the
subject's mind. He says:

The matter of accepting an idea and having that idea carry

out its natural process is one of the strange laws of our hu­
man brain and consciousness. Whatever ¡dea may be accept-
ed by our brain and our inner consciousness or psychological
processes of reasoning becomes a law unto us. But that law
 does not have to be consciously carried out by us through any
further conscious efforts that include thinking, analyzing, or
reasoning. Our inner consciousness or psychic consciousness
may do such reasoning and analyzing, but if so, it does it so
rapidly, so instantaneously, that we are unaware of it.

In other words, once the ¡dea is accepted by the mind, in or out

of a formal hypnotic state, it will be translated almost automatically,
if not instantaneously, into a perceivable reality by the subconscious.
I am saying all this to indícate that, at the time of his writing,
Lewis demonstrates a profound knowledge and understanding of
the human m ind—specifically, what the human mind could do if it
were programmed properly.
Believe me, once you understand the red-hot iron from a foun­
tain pen possibility, it is not too far to picture the kind of control a
master of mind control could have over other functions of the human
mind. Why, could he not help induce the ability to see auras and to
perceive positive hallucinations—audio or even visual—of a cosmic
adept talking to you? Could he not induce the visión of a cosmic
cloud appearing before a deeply hypnotized adept?
 How Mental Poisoning
Can Leverage a Cult ldentitv

he words that I write about H. Spencer Lewis are not academic.

T I spent twenty-six years undergoing a fu 11 transformation of my

personality under the mind-control platform set out, to some
extent, in Lewis's book Mental Poisoning. I experienced the magical
thinking, the hallucinations, and the blind acceptance of made-up oc­
cult traditions and the authority of the imperator and other leaders.
In other words, my normal personality was transformed into a cult
personality, one manipulated by the leaders of AMORC who over
decades created and perfected the mind-control platform of which I
am writing.
I am implying here that the writer of Mental Poisoning obviously
had a deep interest in and experience with hypnosis and a profound
understanding of what the mind could do to a person, even without
the formality of hypnosis.
H. Spencer Lewis was originally in the advertising business but
apparently was fascinated by the paranormal. As I related in AM ORC
Unmasked, he went to a great deal of trouble to help found the short-
lived FUDOSI, an organization of various initiatic organizations
claiming ancient origins, to give AMORC the "authenticity" it need-
ed to promote its ancient roots that continué to the present day. Just
his work to establish and become one of the imperators of FUDOSI
was a remarkable feat. Equally remarkable was his work almost one
hundred years ago to create the
foundations for his cash cow,
A M O RC an organization that
m u rara;
.............................. —« X u n b « * O m c

continúes to affect thousands "5o m ote te ”

of people today. □I n THISYEAR. OF 1915(-7)G
What I am trying to ex- THERE SHALl BE ESTABLISHEDO
IN THE VNITED STATES-AMERICA
plain here is that Lewis had THE FRATERNITY OF THEf — )
ANCIENT**»MYST1CALORDEROF
an intense desire and the UZURPS/c. C r v c i s c z z d
knowledge, experience, and INACCORDANCE WITH ANO
OFFICIAL MANIFESTOCIZZD
background to create a mind-
control platform, as partially
evidenced by his book Mental
Poisoning. If you read between
the lines, Lewis is kind enough
to reveal a lot of the psycholog-
ical underpinnings of the verv
techniques he used to create a form of conditioning largely based on
provoking his would-be disciples to believe in the authentic historv
and legitimacy of mind control.
Then all his efforts and power became focused on creating mind-
controlled subjects out of naíve seekers of higher reality, preying on
the weaknesses of the human mind that he so aptly describes in M en­
tal Poisoning. Once deeply hypnotized, subjects are happy to make a
monthly monetary gift or weekly unlimited voluntarv contributions
to a collection box for lodge members and perhaps leave a nice fat
legacy in their will.
The monographs, which are the main feeding trough for Lewis's
hypnotic pyrotechnics, magically transform the innocent seeker into
a person who can see auras, talk to cosmic visitors, travel to strange
places in a golden cloud, and receive prophetic visions. In reality,
the cult member has been transformed from a simple, logical, and
rational human being sitting in a lonely room at night and reading
the latest weekly installment of H. Spencer Lewis's flowing notes.
My Book Review of Self-Mastery
and Fate with the Cycles ofLife
by Imperator H. Spencer Lewis

P r e s e n t e d by P i e r r e S. F r e e m a n ,
O c c u l t W h i s t l e b l o w e r
 H. Spencer Lewis: Maestro of
Business and the Cvcle of Life

I
n the introduction to his 1929 book, Self-Mastery and Fate with the
Cycles ofL ife, the mysterious EVR, whose ñame I could not lócate
outside of those initials etched at the end of the introduction, pro-
claims the extraordinary and priceless jewel that the reader has be­
fore him or her. The book is written by the extraordinary founder and
imperator of the Rosicrucian Order. The noted author and adept is
also secretly the invisible partner of countless American businesses,
sharing with these companies his inexplicable mastery of business
based on certain secrets that he will, at long last, reveal to the average
person in this book.
Yes, H. Spencer Lewis was paid high commissions in cash and
stock by these large companies to act as a secret consultant on for-
mulating the correct response to key choices available to their busi­
nesses. Besides this, reveáis EVR, who was undoubtedly a very cióse
confidante of the great man, Lewis has often rendered his services for
free to those he felt needed it and would act judiciously on his highly
coveted advice. Now, in an explosive act of generosity, HSL has de-
cided to unleash his system of success to the waiting world.
In keeping with EVR's momentous announcement, Lewis opens
his treasure trove of success secrets, providing men with the neces-
sary key of wisdom to unlock the hidden Science behind the choices
offered to them in life and business. In this chapter, he implores peo-
pie not to be slaves to the torces of nature but to lay all fatalistic im­
pulses aside and choose to become masters of those forces by buying
into the wisdom offered on the pages of Lewis's masterpiece.
As for a former faithful student of AMORC who lived for more
than two decades according to the teachings of these cycles described
in the sacred monographs of the Order and in discussions in the lodg-
es, I can attest that the study of those cycles provided me only with
the ultímate experience in abject poverty and hom elessness—a pil-
grimage described in my books The Prisoner o f San José and AMORC
Unmasked. Now as an occult whistleblower and author of a number
of books and blogs, I thought it profitable to focus on the literature
of my esteemed imperator and examine the rhetoric and logic of his
presentation, which has served as such an important resource in his
Pandora's Box of mind-control tools. For to condition people to be­
lieve in the untrue, illusionary, and fraudulent universe created by
confident men posing as spiritual leaders, you must first have a plau­
sible framework. Members must be indoctrinated enough so that
they can add some powerful and continuous experience of positive
hallucinations to their so-called spiritual journey in AMORC.
 H. Spencer Lewis
Expounds or> Free Will

I
like Self Mastery's second chapter, called "M an: A Free Agent." It
propounds that man is a free agent to make choices. Lewis decries
the philosophic school that basically says that man's life is totally
predestined by a personal god and that he has no control whatsoever
over his future. I get that. Lewis does not like Calvinistic predestina-
tion.
But look at this sentence: "The wishes of God may truly be the
dictates of an omnipotent being, and man is unquestionably affected
by the will of God."
This is kind of a strange statement. On the one hand, Lewis talks
about how the wishes of God "may truly" be the dictates of an om­
nipotent being, a phrase implying a possibility but not an absolute.
God just might be an omnipotent being.
But then, in the same sentence, he says, "and man is unquestion­
ably affected by the will of God." Mmmmm. If God just might be an
omnipotent being, why is it absolutely (unquestionably) the case that
man is affected by His will?
This passage just might indícate the use of what Dr. Milton Erick-
son called the confusion technique, which he addresses in an artide
of the same ñame written in 1948.
For want of a better term, one of Lewis's special procedures may
also be termed the confusion technique. It has been employed ex-
tensively for the induction of specific phenomena as well as deep
trances. Usually, it is best employed with highly intelligent subjects
interested in the hypnotic process or with those consciously unwill-
ing to go into a trance despite an unconscious willingness. In essence,
it is no more than a presentation of a whole series of individual, con-
tradictory suggestions that are apparently all at variance with each
other and require a constant shift in orientation by the subject.
I believe that this is a typical technique deployed by AMORC in
its monographs, and I would not be surprised if it were utilized by
Lewis in his books as well. I believe that it is possible Lewis is try-
ing to inject confusion into his discussion about God and never actu-
ally trying to be clear about his real opinion. The upshot of all this
is that people will focus on the idea and benefits of understanding
the cycles in all events—which is the subject of the book—and only
vaguely perceive the metaphysics behind it.
The ultímate goal is to help readers understand that whether
they are businesspeople or housewives, they are always facing choic­
es, and this book can help point them in the right direction. And if
enhanced suggestibility helps them to buy the reality of these cycles,
then a little push in this direction might not hurt. This is how I see
it so far. That is what the confusion technique is for. And that is also
why, as I have discussed, the anonymous author of the preface is
so happy to point out what an absolute expert Spencer is in busi­
ness and how he has been an indispensable guide to many important
American corporations.
 The Vibrational
Foundations of Everythinq

ewis stays within the context of much occult theorization and

L literature when he claims that all substance in the known uni-

verse can be understood as One Source undergoing different
rates of vibration. He says these vibrations move in cycles, both static
and kinetic (i.e., unmoving and moving). Of course, these vibrations
exist in time or else they would not be measurable. Thus, the uni-
verse of events does conform to the marking of time in which there is
a certain definable order; whereas, he points out, psychic events, as
transpiring in dreams or visions, do not necessarily occur in time. In
fact, they may be altogether outside of time.
In one of his talks recorded in P. D. Ouspensky's In Search o f the
Miraculous, George Gurdjieff says:

One of the most central ideas of objective know ledge. . . is

the idea of the unity of everything, of unity in diversity. From
ancient times people who have understood the content and
meaning of this idea and have seen in it the basis of objective
knowledge have endeavored to find a way of transmitting
this idea in a form comprehensible to others.

This concept of One Source or Substance in the perceivable uni-

verse, vibrating at different rates to create diversity, is certainly not
confined to AMORC; indeed, it is resident in all occult traditions. But
in propounding this concept of unity in diversity, Gurdjieff speaks of
a tradition of alchemy, astrology, and magical symbolism, as well as
kabbalah, which can accurately explain this concept of unity and the
Iaws governing diversity. But he also says: "But in the hands of the
incompetent and the ignorant, however full of good intentions, the
same symbol becomes an 'instrument of delusion.'"
I have participated in all the greater and lesser initiations in
AMORC, and I do not believe that the Order has conveyed any pro-
found understanding of the universe as based on vibrations. It is
true that Self-Mastery does not pretend to convey real inner knowl­
edge—say ing that is reserved for the Rosicrucian teachings—but I
can say this: The information in this book is probably more of a key
to the actual practice of the Rosicrucian teachings as implemented
in AMORC's lodges than an esoteric cosmology developed in the
monographs and secret "initiations."
The reality is that the teachings of unity in diversity in a true
esoteric tradition are based on the correspondence between the con­
sciousness of God (or Cosmic Consciousness in AMORC's Rosicru­
cian framework) and the consciousness of man.
The key to a real esoteric tradition could be summarized by the
Greek aphorism "Know thyself," and the deep knowledge of diver­
sity could be summarized by the phrase from the Tablet of Hermes
Trismegistus: "As above, so below " or even in the Christian tradition:
"On earth as it is in heaven."
Without this focus on the development of consciousness and
character, any system claiming to reveal the true secrets of the uni­
verse generally follows its own secret but shallow agenda, spinning
out a story based on certain ideas, symbols, and "spiritual direction,"
but, at base, just creating a vast, powerful delusion for profit, atten-
tion, and perhaps a sense of power.
 The Periods of Earthlv Cycles

I
n this chapter, Lewis quotes a philosopher who states, “In the be-
ginning of all creation, God geometrized."

I think this is a significant statement because a careful study

of various structures described in the Bible, like the Tabernacle in
the Oíd Testament or the City of Revelation as described in the book
of Revelation, presents certain intriguing correspondences to actual
structures like the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hides of Glastonbury,
the stones of Stonehenge, and Gothic cathedrals, etc. Writers like John
Michell in City o f Revelations and The Dimensions o f Paradise and James
Morgan Pryse in The Apocalypse Unsealed and The Restored New Testa­
ment have described implications of the Greek gematria (a numerical
code of words and phrases in the New Testament) indicating a sacred
geometry, which has profound implications for the spiritual devel-
opment of man. The key here is that these symbols are, in a sense,
symbols of God, humankind, and the work that needs to be done to
bring the consciousness of man into the consciousness of the Divine
Presence. AMORC does virtually nothing with this type of symbol-
ism that some believe is the key to real spiritual evolution. AMORC
primarily treats Cosmic Consciousness as a way to achieve certain
specific psychic powers, like telepathy or seeing auras. In yoga, these
powers are called Siddhis, which many of these writers warn against
focusing on because this type of focus blocks true spiritual develop-
ment based on synchronization of the human will with the will of
God or the Super or Cosmic Consciousness.
 Another form of geometry, which has more of a bearing on Lew-
is's theme of cycles, is revealed in various works by Gurdjieff and
Ouspensky, such as In Search o f the Miraculous wherein Ouspensky
recounts Gurdjieff's lectures on how the world and events are struc-
tured according to octaves. As in Lewis's account, events are struc-
tured in a certain way, in this case represented by discrete tones of an
octave: do, re, me, fa, so, la, ti. In Ouspensky's narrative, at a certain
point man must make a certain kind of conscious effort to complete
the octave, which is a key to his success.
In this chapter, he says that all events can be divided into sections
and relates a metaphor of a ship going on a seven-day voyage. Some
days bring storms, some fair weather, some warm temperatures, and
some a strong headwind. His promise is that periodicity like this can
be understood and applied to activities in business and personal life.
He says that businesses can be divided into years and then further
divided into cycles that can be used effectively to chart a prosperous
journey and to elude the obstacles that need to be overcome in mov-
ing forward.
The question is this: Are the cycles that Lewis describes actually
correct and useful in guiding one's life?
W hether they are right or wrong, I can tell you that a great deal
of time is devoted to cycles, and they are used very frequently in the
lodges.
In my life, they did nothing whatsoever to help me and were sim-
ply more straws that I grasped from time to time. They were guide-
lines that weren't really guidelines, sort of like busywork that teach-
ers might give you in detention rooms after school.
They're not a great way to spend your time.
My Book Review of Mansions
ofthe Soul: A Cosmic Conception
by Imperator H. Spencer Lewis

P r e s e n t e d by P i e r r e S. F r e e m a n ,
OCCLLT W h ISTLEBLOWER
 At the Outset, How Seriously
Should We Take Lewis's Account?

I
n his introduction, Lewis comments that he believes most people
in the Western world have essentially misconstrued the doctrine
of reincamation and mentions how most writers on the subject,
mostly in small books and pamphlets, are speaking from the stand-
point of traditional Eastern religions and expressing themselves in
ways that are hard for the common reader with a Judeo-Christian
heritage to grasp.
Lewis published Mansions o f the Soul in 1930, long after Helena
Blavatsky had started the Theosophical Society in 1875 in New York
City. Her works, like Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine, which spoke
of reincamation, were hardly small books or pamphlets. This is how
her work is described on the website of the Blavatsky Study Center:

She gave out the truth in detail about the complex sevenfold
nature (spiritual and psychological) of a human being and
about life after death. She taught the twin doctrines of karma
and reincamation. Madame Blavatsky also set forth a clear
and comprehensive rationale for psychic and spiritualistic,
mystical and spiritual phenomena and experiences.

Another exponent of reincamation in America was Swami Vive-

kananda, who spoke to an American audience in 1893 at the World
Parliament of Religions. A disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda
kindled the flame of Vedanta, a form of Hinduism that was to take
root in America, quite some time before Lewis wrote his book.
But for many of Lewis's audience, they would not know very
much about the history of mystical strains of thinking in American
religious life ñor would they be aware of the American indigenous
peoples, who also believed in reincarnation.
In his first chapter, "I Go to Prepare a Place for You/' Lewis tries
to more or less create a fictional but lifelike portrait of early man
probing the reality of spiritual truth; Lewis focuses on man light-
ing the first fire in a wood-and-mud cabin. Although the images are
picturesque in a Reader's Digest kind of a way, they hardly seem like
a realistic picture of early man. It is far more likely that early man,
using fire, would have moved from a very prehistoric type of clan
into some kind of tribal organization before he would have started
building a hut with a hearthstone. In this brief carneo of early man,
a teacher seems to suddenly be interjected into the narrative, but in
the case of early man, the teacher would probably have been some
kind of a shaman. Lewis's portrait of early man seems rather middle
class and unlikely to me. Reincarnation is not just confined to East-
ern religions, but at the time of his writing, I would say the more
literate person would be more likely to have heard of reincarnation
through Blavatsky than through an American Indian medicine per-
son. Shamanism was very much a part of the communal life of Native
Americans, but the white, European culture knew very little about
that culture.
As Gary R. Varner says in an essay called "Reincarnation Beliefs
of Native American Tribes":

Many cultures around the world believe, or have believed,

in reincarnation—the return of the soul to the world to be
reborn. What is the basis for beliefs in reincarnation? Ac-
cording to Antonia Mills, a belief in reincarnation "fits into
the basic shamanic belief that typifies hunting and gather-
ing peoples wherever and whenever they are found and . . . it
was probably part of the most ancient human culture." Belief
 in reincamation is still prevalent in many parts of the vvorld
today, how ever—and not just in hunter/gatherer societies.

Based on my research, Lewis's chapter ("I Go to Prepare a Place

for You") does not seem historically realistic and paints a kind of
Pollyanna picture of reincarnation's beginnings. The chapter's title
appears to come from John 14:2: "In my Father's house are many
mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a
place for you," which is a quote from Jesús. It throws more light on
the ñame of the book (Mansions o f the Soul) than the chapter, which
does not mention this intriguing quote.
Given that I am writing about a book written by the esteemed
founder and imperator of AMORC, an organization that claims Ben-
jamin Franklin was a member, perhaps it is fitting that we end this
section with another quote. Here is an epitaph that Franklin wrote
for himself (regardless of his purported membership):

The body of B. Franklin,

Printer,
Like the Cover of an Oíd Book,
Its Contents Torn Out
And
Stripped of its Lettering and Gilding,
Lies Here,
Food tor Worms
But the Work shall not be Lost,
For it Will as He Believed
Appear Once More
In a New and more Elegant Edition
Revised and Corrected
By the Author
 Lewis Show s a Sensitivity to Deep,
Personal Questions about Reality

ewis understands how burning questions like, "W hy are we

L here?" often hold an extraordinary grip over people who are

eam estly searching for the truth.
Since Mansions o f the Soul is about reincamation, he notes how
people who come upon this doctrine—or other doctrines about im-
m ortality—often dismiss it easily without even bothering to try and
understand it. Often there appears to be more of an interest if the
doctrine is a popular one with other people, regardless of if there is
truth in it. Lewis rightly says that the truth of an idea should be our
first concern.
He also notes that people sometimes confuse a doctrine like rein-
carnation with a doctrine of transmigration, which states that human
beings can sometimes ha ve a past or fu tu re life as a dog or a cat or
other animal. These people only think they know what the doctrine of
reincamation is about, when it actually deais exclusively with people
emerging from or being transformed into another person in a past or
future lifetime. He also says not to dismiss the idea out of tum since
three-fourths of the world believes in reincamation. And it is rea-
sonable for people to wonder, with all they go through, why are we
here? Why do I have to suffer? What is the purpose of life?
I am very comfortable asking these questions, and I think, as I
have pointed out before, it is a very strong reason for my involvement
with AMORC. I wanted to answer these questions, and conventional
Catholicism, which I grew up with, and the many philosophic and
theological books I looked at did not answer my questions. Lewis
rightly says: "N ot only do we have the right to ask our religions these
questions but also Science." Both traditional religión and Science try
to define our place in the universe and describe it. Both religión and
Science should have some kind of clear answer, but, for people like
us, perhaps they don't. I agree with Lewis's premise that no matter
what we think of the doctrine, if we are truly interested in getting
some answers, we must at least look at the facts.
In today's world, we have some profound questions raised by
the work of the deceased writer and psychiatrist Dr. Ian Stevenson,
former chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the üniversity
of Virginia, and Dr. Jim Turner, his associate and later his successor.
They have been endowed at the üniversity for many years with a
grant for finding the truth about reincarnation.
One can get an interesting peek at their work and many other
people's stories about reincarnation on YouTube, where there are
some very riveting examples of people who have some quite interest­
ing stories to tell. One can look, for instance, at a case study discussed
in a Superm tum l Investigator video called "Evidence of Reincarna­
tion" wherein Jim Tucker and Walter Semkiw, both medical doctors,
and Tom Harpur, author of There is Life After Death, discuss Ian Ste-
venson's work. In fact, this video is also a good introduction to the
story of author Barbro Karlen, an account of reincarnation that might
be some real food for thought.
Information like this did not exist publicly when H. Spencer
Lewis wrote Mansions ofth e Soul. There are now, in fact, a great many
more accounts and scientific explorations about reincarnation than
were written in his time.
 Ancient Theological,
Scientific, and lnstinctive
Beliefs about the Afterlife

M
ansions o f the Soul was written in 1930, a long time after
Helena Blavatsky brought many Eastern concepts, includ-
ing reincamation, to the doorsteps of Western civilization
when she founded the Theosophical Society in New York in 1888.
As I have mentioned before, another purveyor of Eastern concepts
was Vivekananda, the most well-known disciple of Sri Ramakrishna,
an Indian guru. Vivekananda carne to the World Parliament of Reli-
gions in the United States in 1893. Although popular culture was still
somewhat untouched by these movements, the idea was in the air,
so to speak. One might say it really gripped popular culture in the
1950s when the book The Search fo r Bridey Murphy became a sensa-
tion. The story covered an amateur hypnotist who put an American
housewife into a trance in the early fifties, and the woman started to
speak about her life in Ireland in the nineteenth century. Her alleged
Irish ñame, Bridey Murphy, became famous for quite some time in
the West.
Undoubtedly, H. Spencer Lewis knew everything about the con­
cept of reincarnation's history in the West, including the emergence
of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a magical order that was
started in the late nineteenth century. First popular among the Eng-
lish intelligentsia, it later spread throughout many Western nations.
When Lewis wrote Mansions ofth e Soul, he was obviously aiming at a
popular but uneducated audience. He writes simply but profoundly,
touching on questions that are relevant for many people. This was part
of his gift, which included the copy writing that publicized AMORC in
newspaper and magazine ads that attracted me and so many others to
the portáis of the Rosicrucian Order.
This chapter begins by emphasizing the fact that man's nature,
almost to anyone, appears dual. Man has a mortal body that is ani-
mated throughout his lifetime, and he has what Lewis calis "an emo-
tional or spiritual body having a subjective self or consciousness."
Although there might be some argument over the terms of this dual-
ity, most people would agree that we have a Self and a body. And,
though it is obvious that the body dies, the fate of the Self or con­
sciousness hangs out there as a m ystery—a mystery that this book
intended to address.

In attempting to find an answer to the question "W hy are

we here?" man cannot subdue or cast out of his conscious­
ness the idea that if he could determine what he is, he would
know why he is. Therefore, along man's quest for knowledge
concerning the purpose of his existence in an earthly life is
the desire for knowledge concerning himself and his relation
to the u ni verse.

Even though I have escaped the clutches of Lewis's mind-con-

trol platform, I can feel inside me the appeal of those words. Yes, of
course, I, along with millions of others, want to know my purpose,
and yes, in this age of Science, we want to know exactly how we fit
into this great universe. Lewis writes about this basic yearning of
men in a very appealing way.
The core of the mystery and the root of the incredible chasm be-
tween Eastern and Western theology is where the soul goes when it
dies. Western theology tends to purport that the soul goes directly to
a heavenly abode; whereas, Eastern religious tendencies generally
indícate that the soul tarries for some time, perhaps a very long time,
on this planet through the agency of reincarnating in a new body
again and again.
 The Quest: The Hidden
Truth of Reincamation

I
n chapter 4 of Mansions o f the Soul, Lewis focuses on the simple
fact that without more information than that which everyone al-
ready has access to, we can safely say that human beings have
bodies that are transient and die, and a component of their being
experiences this plañe of existence with its concomitant suffering and
travails as well as its ecstasies and triumphs.
He rightly points out that certain theologians believe that it is
more than sufficient for a person to experience this lamentable life
on this plañe only once, and that there is no intrinsic, definable rea-
son for this suffering other than as a sort of one-way gauntlet after
which one can comfortably ascend to heaven. So basically, as he says,
they believe "it should not be necessary for the Soul to have earthly
experience or to require any process or system of earthly develop-
m ent." This is because they assume that the soul is intact and whole
in of itself and connected to the divine nature with which ¡t wholly
resonates.
But despite this contention that the soul is intact and perfected
and not needing to develop further, Lewis states that orthodox the-
ology does not deny that there is some reason for this earthly jour-
ney but does not really explain it. He contends that, in fact, for most
people it is unthinkable for there to be absolutely no purpose for our
being here. His goal, he says, is to explain why we have to be here
and that the concept of reincarnation, stripped of various personal
anomalies attached to it by individual philosophies and theories,
makes perfect sense and can be explained coherently.
Lewis explains that the interest in spiritualism —that is, a form
of spirituality that makes conscious contact with the dead the core of
believers' approach to life—would naturally be dwarfed by an un-
derstanding of reincarnation, which once existed in the West but was
suppressed by the early Christian Church. He claims that if this truth
and the fact that it had been a belief transmitted by Jesús to his dis-
ciples were known, then there would be no need for his book.
Without trying to be too cynical, because I am not trying to de-
tract from his argument, which has some truth to it, anyone reading
Mansions o f the Soul who has been entrenched in Western religión
and Western spiritualism, which is ambiguous on the subject, would
have some difficulty in finding an organization that could satisfy a
need for an answer that contained this truth that has been long sup­
pressed by the West.
If they sought an answer in Vedanta, they would find an essen-
tially Indianized religión, meaning a religión that was touched by
the ancient teachings of India and, although accepting all religions,
might have an alien feel for the typical American. They might also
find acceptance and even endorsement of celibacy and poverty in
that religión —two facets of experience also alien to American experi-
ence and aspirations.
If they sought an answer in Theosophy, they would find a spiri-
tual order that had just undergone a shocking provocation, a test of
íts intrinsic valué for any real seeker.
Indeed, Annie Besant, the leader of Theosophy at the time Lew­
is was writing, and her friend and accomplice, Charles Leadbeater,
claimed to have found the coming world leader in the form of a
child named [iddu Krishnamurti, and announced their finding to the
world. They then proceeded to more or less adopt him as their pro-
tégé and train him for his future mission.
But when he grew up, the universe seemed to defy Besant and
Leadbeater's goal when Krishnamurti, in the throes of early man-
hood, had a set of experiences that caused him to question his widely
prophesized position. This led to the following immensely challeng-
ing statement by Krishnamurti, a component of a iarger speech, pro-
claimed on August 3,1929, the year before Lewis published Mansions
o f the Soul:

I maintain that truth is a pathless land, and you cannot ap-

proach it by any path whatsoever, by any religión, by any
sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely
and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned,
unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be orga-
nized; ñor should any organization be formed to lead or co­
erce people along a particular path___This is no magnificent
deed, because I do not want followers, and I mean this. The
moment you follow someone you cease to follow Truth. I am
not concerned whether you pay attention to what I say or
not. I want to do a certain thing in the world and I am go-
ing to do it with unwavering concentration. I am concerning
myself with only one essential thing: to set man free. I desire
to free him from all cages, from all fears, and not to found
religions, new sects, ñor to establish new theories and new
philosophies.

The experiences that Krishnamurti had without drugs and with-

out any kind of preparation or training by his theosophical teachers
were similar to experiences recounted by Aldous Huxley, an English
writer who had pursued and written about Vedanta in his book The
Doors to Perception in the 1950s. I cite this book, which is based on
Huxley's experience with peyote, particularly because of its future
impact on the psychedelic movement, which centered on thousands
of Americans seeking an sw ers o u tsid e o f th em seív es by achieving
altered states of consciousness through drugs.
The experiences of Krishnamurti were graphic and life-altering
but had nothing to do with drugs. Anyone pursuing a spiritual path
who turned to Theosophy at this time would find, again, a form of
spirituality centered very much in India. An overly intellectualized
set of writings by Theosophy's founder, Helena Blavatsky, and a
scandal a few months later challenged the ability of the organization
to teach spiritual transformation.
 The door was wide open for an able organization to do so; it was
fully American and a powerfully secret organization, which invited
anyone to join for a moderate monthly price. Membership would be
the route to an ancient organization willing to release its prívate and
cherished doctrines and practices to those lucky few who heeded
the cali. The ñame of the organization was AMORC, and Lewis, the
founder, was its imperator, its emperor.
Such was the opportunitv that Lewis undoubtedly knew about
when he published Mansions o f the Soul in 1930. The book would be
a perfect conduit for those American seekers after truth who needed
guidance and a structured platform to launch their inquiries into
higher reality. It arrived at a time when there was á déficit in organi-
zations that could offer a secure path to this type of truth.
My Book Review of Rosicrucian
Principies for the Home and
Business, 21st Century Edition
by Imperator H. Spencer Lewis

P r e s e n t e d by P i e r r e S. F r e e m a n ,
OCCULT W H I ST L E B L O W E R
 The Truth about Affirmations:
Lewis Criticizes a Simplistic
Method of Manifestation

ack in 1929, like today, there was an abundance o í metaphysi-

B cal teachings, many centering on affirmations. The most fa-

mous of these affirmations, at the time, was one quoted by
Lewis and attributed to Emile Coué. It was "Every day, in every
way, I am getting better and better." His book Sdf-M asten/ through
Consdous Autosuggestion was published in 1922, seven years before
Lewis's treatise. In his book, Coué talks about the power of sugges-
tion, which is at the foundation of the practice of affirmations. He
says:

Suggestion, or rather Autosuggestion, is quite a new subject,

and yet at the same time it is as oíd as the world___By know-
ing how to practice it consdously it is possible in the first place
to avoid provoking in others bad autosuggestions that may
have d isastrou s co n s e quences, and secondly, c o n s d o u s ly to
provoke good ones instead, thus bringing physical health
to the sick, and moral health to the neurotic and the erring,
the unconscious victims of anterior autosuggestions, and to
guide into the right path those who had a tendency to take
the wrong one.
 According to recently deceased hypnotist Chaplain Paul Durbin,
who was a practical student of hypnosis and wrote numerous articles
on its masters, Coué's work received radically different responses in
different parts of the world. In fact, in one article, "Em ile Coué - The
Prophet of Autosuggestion (1857-1926)/' Durbin writes:

He had great success in Europe, but not in America. In

America he was criticized by the media and therefore putting
doubt in people's mind as to the effectiveness of his methods.
It is too bad that he did not get more support in America
because it resulted in America's loss. His words did not fall
completely on deaf ears because some modern day advocates
of Coué's "Positive Thinking" are Norman Vincent Peale,
Kobert Schuler, Cari Simón ton, Bernie Siegel and a host of
others. Emile Coué died in 1926.

in my position as an investigator and seeker of truth, I com-

monly divide human faculties into three com ponents: the subcon-
scious, the conscious, and the superconscious. By subconscious, I
mean that aspect of the Self that is reflected in dreams, underlying
motivations, and Creative activities but is only reflected indirectly
in the conscious mind. By conscious, I mean our waking, individual
consciousness. By superconscious, I mean a level of consciousness
that transcends isolated individuality, is connected to the core of
the universe, and that AMORC seems to indícate, at times, and cali
consciousness.
Coué only divided individuality into two components, the con­
scious and the unconscious. He was not explicitly concerned about
a level of consciousness that is above mere individuality. So, his af-
firmations are meant to effect, somewhat hypnotically, manifestation
in consciousness. In his dissertation on Rosicrucian principies, H.
Spencer Lewis questions the efficacy of this rather simple approach
to making things happen.
I wholeheartedly agree with Lewis in his disagreement with the
solé use of affirmations. It really does not take into account the com­
plete relationship between the conscious mind, the subconscious,
and the superconscious and the effect of certain practices utilizing
these faculties on the actual world of manifestation.
But does Lewis have a better answer? I will explore his point of
view and its valué in my review of his book, Rosicrucian Principies fo r
the Home and Business.
 The Cosmic and You: Lewis
Criticizes a Simplistic ÍN/Iethod of
_______ Manifestation

s one of H. Spencer Lewis's most severe detractors, I stand by

A my position that AMORC intentionally created a platform for

membership retention through the use of mind control, more
popularly categorized under the umbrella of the term hypnosis. This
was the language familiar to the masses in the 192Os when Lewis
wrote Rosicrucian Principies fo r the Home and Business. Still, I do want,
at some point, to give credit for any meaningful ideas or analysis I
may find in his writings. I am, to some extent, shocked by the valid
direction of some of his comments in the early chapters of this book.
A main point in this chapter ¡s Lewis's contention of the danger
of utilizing the potentially worthwhile ¡deas concerning the "bless-
ings of the Cosm ic" in the wrong way with the wrong methodology.
This is how Lewis defines these concepts:

One of the ideas is that each of us is "at one with God" or a

"child of God's perfect m anifestation." The other idea is that
"the abundant supply of the Cosmos is at our disposal," or
"the blessings of God are mine."
 It is in this chapter that Lewis's understanding of the core mean-
ing of the route to real manifestation makes an appearance. Despite
having been in his group for twenty-six years, some of the wisdom in
this chapter and others was never imparted to me by AMORC, but I
welcome seeing it in Lewis's writings, even if the thrust of his argu-
ments is somewhat shaped by the fact that this edition of the book
has been edited for a twenty-first century reader.
In my opinion, the universe does have abundance and true
wealth for those who seek it properly. Behind it all lays a vast con­
sciousness that creates, from moment to moment, the existence of all
things, íncluding all life on Earth and elsewhere inhabiting billions
and billions of planets and untold millions of galaxies. Still, this con­
sciousness—cali it God or the C osm ic—does have certain rules for
attracting cooperation and among these rules are an understanding
that mankind, as composed of creatures collectively framed in His
image (to use Biblical terminology), does have free agency. Men and
women don't have to cooperate with these rules and therefore may
fail in their most heartfelt efforts to manifest.
In my experience of AMORC, whatever rules they mentioned
that might have been utilized to produce true manifestation were
crowded out by a panoply of endless chanting, rituals, journaling,
reading, and breathing exercises, etc. AMORC talked about the Cos­
mic but mostly for the sake of gaining certain spiritual powers. They
talked somewhat about uniting with the Cosmic's spirit, but much
less than they focused on their program for acquiring "psychic pow­
ers." They certainly didn't provide any guidance in practical mysti-
cism as Lewis's book purports to do.
In this chapter, Lewis makes the claim that focusing on pain and
suffering is a simplistic way to attack manifestation of one's inner
intentions in the physical world. This focus on pain does not conform
to the reality of the universe or the true methodology for humanity to
manifest its desires. In other words, sim ply—or even com plexly—af-
firming that you want to get rid of a blister, a coid, a viral infection,
or some broken bones is not generally going to attract the attention of
the Universal Consciousness.
Lewis says:
 A practical mystic, trained in the Rosicrucian principies, is
aware of the fact that all disease and suffering have resulted
from the violation of natural laws or the failure to abide by
certain natural laws through a voluntary disobedience of that
authority.

So, if you have a toothache, which Lewis uses as an example,

imploring for a miraculous remission of that pain may not be a real
answer. Perhaps you may need to go see a dentist for that remission
and then stop drinking so much sugar-laden soda and eating donuts
during the day. What you might look for, instead of getting rid of the
pain itself, is the cause of the pain.
Lewis says there are laws and protocols regarding the removal of
pain or the acquisition of real wealth.
And, skeptic, though I am, I believe him. He is right about that
point.
And I am listening.
 The W rong Way to
Use Concentration in the
Manifestation Process

I
n its own simple way, Rosicrucian Principies is an extremely pro-
found book. Still, there is a deep disconnect between the contents
of this book and what I experienced in the AMORC mind-control
system, which was largely implemented through the innumerable ex-
ercises and monographs that I discussed in detail in The Prisoner o f
San fosé and AMORC Unmasked. In a word, I would say that Rosicru-
cian Principies discusses certain aspects of the process of manifesta­
tion, which are entirely true and important, that were fundamentally
neglected in my "training." Those elements in the monographs could
be categorized as magical thinking of a sort. This means that I was
encouraged to link in my mind the connection between the teachings
of AMORC and its egregor (or group consciousness), which created
certain benevolent effects in my life. So, if I made a synchronistic con­
nection, I would attribute that to being a part of a spiritually elite orga­
nization called AMORC and be very grateful for my inclusión in that
organization.
Lewis rightly does not talk about that connection in relationship to
his organization, presumably because the main purpose of his book is
to extend his influence outside of AMORC and to the general public.
Instead of mentioning AMORC, Lewis talks about the Cosmic in a way
that many of us would talk about God. And taking a long view of spiri-
tual literature outside of AMORC, the Cosmic refers to Cosmic Con­
sciousness, which, in effect, is God as many people might think of it.
By not linking success in certain manifestation processes discussed
in this book to the organization but to God Himself, Lewis makes a
big jump outside of magical thinking and into the heart of a legitimate
manifestation process.
But there is another kind of magical thinking addressed in Rosicru­
cian Principies. I consider it to be profoundly important even though I
admit certain skepticism of Lewis's attempt to use statistics to explain
it. His view is that simply concentrating on a desire, particularly a big
desire, will bring it into manifestation.
First of all, let me mention the statistics based on an outside ex­
ample that Lewis presents and I question.
He writes about a lecturer who uses a "simple formula" for mani­
festation. He doesn't exactly say what it is, but let me conjecture about
that type of formula.
It could be that you are asked to concéntrate on getting a well-
paying job as a plumber. So when you are seated and ready to work on
this, you might be asked to affirm, "I see myself having a wonderful
job as a plumber" over and over again. Further, while you are say-
ing it, you might visualize clearly working for a large plumbing firm,
maybe even a specific one that you know about, and seeing yourself
engaged in many different kinds of activities—fixing faucets, repair-
ing leaky in pipes, cleaning a toilet with a snaking device, etc.
According to Lewis, this lecturer, who used her own formula, said
65 percent of her clients were successful. Lewis laments that she failed
to capture success for the remaining 35 percent of her clients, which
she would have if she had used his formula. I personally doubt if any
such formula is that successful, and the fact that Lewis would take that
lecturer's word for her success ratio is troubling.
Second of all, it bothers me that Lewis suggests that adding his
modification to the practice could produce 100 percent success.
1 say this because Lewis's addition to the manifestation process is
important but probably, in itself, not complete.
However, his contribution to this process, as I will shortly describe,
is vitally important and something that might work—in the right con-
text, for the right person.
 Mental Alchemy: Lewis
Clarifies the Process of
Manifestation

hen I was a Rosicrucian, I was embroiled in a vast dai-

W ly pattern of exercises, reading, and journaling that I

thought would bring me the "blessings of the Cosm ic."
The amount of attention in these exercises devoted to practical
things was extremely small. When practicality was present, it was
often quite toxic, even though it favored my interest. For example,
one exercise involved attempting to influence someone by intruding
into their consciousness and assuming their thought patterns. Lewis
calis this process "assum ption." Here is a comment about its role in
AMORC's pantheon of exercises:

The purpose of this mystical faculty is to assume momen-

tarily the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual state of
another person, so as to obtain this person's assistance or to
provide assistance to him or her.

Some would cali that black magic despite Lewis's frequent dis-
claimers about AMORC's activities. So if you want a job, you might
jump right into the consciousness of a prospective employer. Of
course, you need to have the right intent—to take him over, that is—
and direct his thoughts to hiring you.
 On the other side of the manifestation scenario is Rosicrucian
Principies, which focuses on various positive and benign manifesta­
tion techniques. This book may not include the whole process and
there may be a great amount of ¡mportant stuff missing, but it still
records some of the right moves.
Here's one.
As I mentioned previously, Lewis derides the simple view that
focusing on what you want, the endgame, so to speak, is going to
bring home the prize—your most important dream —to your door-
step.
He does not deride this effort in itself but criticizes only focusing
on the big picture.
After I became a member of AMORC, I soon left Haiti. When I
was there, I had been a top engineering student and had a relative-
ly lucrative job with the Haitian government's mining department.
When I carne to America, thinking it was the land of opportunity
and continuing to follow the disciplines offered to me by AMORC,
I experienced poverty and homelessness, everything I was trying to
avoid.
This is not to say that America is not, even now, the land of op­
portunity but rather to say that my State of mind, as directed by
AMORC, did not lead me to the opportunities I wanted —precisely
because I did not follow the protocol suggested in Lewis's book, Rosi­
crucian Principies fo r the Home and Business. That was not what I was
taught as a member of AMORC.
In Lewis's book, he presents a portrait of a young lady whose
goal was to be an architect. She was, indeed, following a kind of sim-
plistic protocol as discussed previously. Lewis describes her as sit-
ting on a park bench, gazing across the park at a home that she wants
to live in, and visualizing herself living in and moving around in
■'her" house. Is that really going to get her the home? Is the universe
going to just drop it in her lap because of her visualizations while sit-
ting on the park bench?
No, Lewis says; if she wants to be an architect, she can't just vi-
sualize the end game.
When she begins an authentic process of manifestation, she
needs to be willing to do the necessary things to bring everything
into proper focus. This means that besides visualizing the end game,
she must be sensitive to the steps of the process of becoming an ar-
chitect, which involves, for sure, going to school, going through an
internship, and then seeking employment with an architectural firm.
It is understood that, initially, she might not understand the pro­
cess she is in volved w ith—that is, the steps she might need to take.
One step is going to school. In Lewis's example, she forgoes
her parents' offer to help her financially. Instead, she takes jobs that
bring her into some slight proximity to builders, drafting personnel,
and architects, but, because she does not take advantage of her con-
nections, her jobs don't bring her closer to her goal.
If she had been visualizing and focusing on learning about the
various architectural schools she could go to and praying for help
from the Cosmic for guidance, a set of events might have been set off
that would guide her in her journey.
When I left AMORC, I realized that in order to get a prosperous
career, I had to go to school. Instead of playing all these "cosm ic"
games with myself like visualization, chanting, and sleep postures
and so on, I began to focus on my life in the same way I did before
I got into engineering school in Haiti. I started to take action and
looked for a school and the kind of work that would actually, not
magically, support me.
Was there a magic in the things that happened to m e—finding
out that AMORC was a cult and deprogramming myself sufficiently
that I could leave it, and finding the appropriate kind of school, con-
necting with the kind of work that would use my mathematical tal-
ents? Yes, I think there was, but it was a simple protocol within m e—
seeking help from God and seeking within myself what I wanted,
step by step, before proceeding to my current work and lifestyle.
Lewis says that every step has to be dealt with in the process,
and I agree with him. But, depending on who you are, that is not all
there is to the process, I am quite sure.
In my discussion of Lewis's book Mental Poisoning, I quoted Lew­
is's claim about the impossibility of utilizing spiritual practices to
effect a change in another person or situation that is propelled by a
destructive or negative desire.
In fact, I will quote it again:
 But to the mystic and to the student of Cosmic law and order
the belief in such a process of destructive power controlled
by any individual is inconsistent, impossible, and truly sac-
rilegious, and the true mystic and student of Cosmic law is
alone capable of rendering judgment in such a case in such
a manner. His knowledge and his experience with divine Cosmic
principies enables him to realize and to thoroughhf understand that
no such process o f transmission o f destructive energi/ or power in
any thought form between one individual and another or between
one individual and a group o f individuáis would be possible without
the conscious approval, aid and dependable assistance o f the uni­
versal consciousness and divine spirit that pervades all space
and acts as a médium for the transmission of thought waves,
light waves, energy waves, or waves of any kind. [Emphasis
added.]

This is clearly restated in Rosicrucian Principies where Lewis talks

about "white m agicians" who create manifestations "free from evil
and free from any destructive nature." He also affirms that the power
they use is from "God Consciousness," a forcé that is incapable of
that which is evil or that which is destructive. He further says un-
equivocally:

We cannot mentally create or bring these things into mate-

rialization in the mystical manner by which good and con-
structive things will come into material form when created
by the cosmic power of the mind.

Further he states that evil things can only come about when:

We labor with the grossly material elements and bring them

into irrational, illogical, and unnatural relationship in order
to make them manifest in evil in the material form.

This means that black magic does not work by virtue of the pri­
mordial goodness that lies behind all things in the form of the Cos­
mic or God Consciousness.
 Although I am from Haití, I am not going to comment here on
the validity of his claim about the limitations of evil manifestation
except to say that if that is true, Lewis would put a lot of voodoo
practitioners, witches, warlocks, and military remóte viewers who
have a strong belief in the reality of such activities completely out of
business. I am not talking about the white magicians that, of course,
reeeive the full blessings of the Cosmic for their mental alchemy.
My question is not whether it is true or not but, why the mono­
graphs include such practices if they are impossible to put into ac-
tion?
 Is Assumption Black M agic?

reviously in this discussion, I described the purpose for using

P so-called "mystical faculty" of assumption as assuming "mo-

mentarily the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual state of
another person, so as to obtain this person's assistance or to provide
assistance to him or her."
Since this was a methodology for healing, I called it a kind of
"benign possession." But is it so benign? Look at a portion of the
instructions in the monograph that describes it:

Repeat this process several times, until you feel that you are
within this person's body, directing all the physical and psychic
functions. [Emphasis added.]

Is taking over someone's body and mind without their permis-

sion really so benign, and what if you do it to get a job? To recapitú­
late what 1 said in AM ORC Unmasked:

Black magic is defined by some as magic used for evil intent,

whereas white magic is defined as magic used for good pur-
poses. But what do you cali magic that has a good intent but
takes possession of a humans being's body—both physiology
and thoughts—for so-called beneficial purposes? And with­
out their permission? And suppose, as in some of the cases
enumerated by AMORC, that you, the Assumptionist, are the
 clear winner in the assumptive mission and gain the promo-
tion or job or reiationship you really want?
And what if that beneficial purpose is not directed by the
Cosmic but by the mistaken ego of the so-called benign agent
of some proposed magical operation? Does it then become
black magic? Where is the line when you do something like
this without someone's permission? Is that sufficient to war-
rant calling it something else than white magic? Does it really
matter whose advantage it is if you cross that line?

May I point out the importance of that last point?

The whole purpose of a spiritual journey is to find your Higher
Self and your true connection to Cosmic Consciousness. If you have
not realized this vital aspect of your being, you are doing spiritual
operations out of the lower mind. I think this thought, no matter
what your belief, is worth pondering.
 Commanding Cosmic Help

I
have spent endless hours writing my books and blog posts to try
and protect seekers after truth, like me, and help them to avoid
the pitfalls of what I have every reason to believe is a danger-
ous religious cult. In so doing, I have often suggested that AMORC,
like other cults and perhaps like many philosophies that resemble
the Masonic teachings, crudely departs from what might be actual
spiritual teachings derived from communion with an existing higher
power and in conformity with true metaphysical law. I say "suggest­
ed" because I, Pierre S. Freeman, do not consider myself an expert
in these kinds of teachings but rather someone who has investigated
them for the purpose of trying to delineate where AMORC and simi­
lar "occult" groups derive their teachings. I believe there is some evi-
dence that these teachings are distortions of a higher teaching, and I
have given you some idea what it is like. But I am not a member of
any group, and I do not pretend to have totally aligned myself with
any one set of ¡deas.
I am more of an expert in being a cult victim than an expert in
metaphysics. Nonetheless, I think that suggesting alternatives to
these teachings is important.
So far, I have dwelt on a matter that truly puzzles m e—the dif-
ferences in style, structure, and content in this edition of Rosicrucian
Principies from the teachings I experienced in twenty-six years of cult
activity. In AMORC I futilely performed countless exercises in chant-
ing, breathing, and symbolic physical ritual in conformity with cer-
tain so-called symbolic directions given to me by the so-called Cos­
mic Masters that govern the Order. Part of my reasoning was that, if I
did so, I would be rewarded by the Cosmic with real prosperity and
happiness and not a profound case of post-traumatic stress disorder
and severe depression.
Despite being puzzled by the disconnect of the book from the
teachings of the Order, I do acknowledge there is more wisdom and
more logic here than in anything else I have read so far. Yes, this wis­
dom and logic fit into a framework that is more congenial to me than
one I can actually say I know for sure. Let's say that if there were a
way to manifest your desires, Lewis's methodology seems closer to
the right path and resembles elements that led to the slow, step-by-
step progress that I made toward my education and my profession
after I left the cult.
In the chapter "Com manding Cosmic Help," I think I can do a
better job than Lewis does in explaining his terms when he says you
should command the Cosmos for help rather than demand it. For Lew­
is, perhaps because he was writing over eighty years ago or maybe
just because he was using his specific understanding of the word,
command means request and not "tell the cosmos what to do." De­
mand, on the other hand, means exactly that. In a general way, Lewis
says you can ask for help from the cosmos, but don't tell it what to do.
His reason boils down to this common expression, "God works
in mysterious ways," and this certainly is true. Sometimes when you
ask the universe for something, it may come to you in an unexpected
way.
According to Lewis, you must ask for, but not demand, specific
things that you believe you want or need, but do not hurt anyone
in the process. When you ask, you do not put the wish in terms of
money or what the object of your desire costs unless money is the
only thing that will bring what you want.
Let me give an example of his theory. This example is very simi­
lar to another example that I know about personally, so although it is
fictional, it really corresponds to the truth in many important ways.
A woman we'll cali Katie wants to buy organic produce, but she
knows how expensive it is. Katie is not one to pray very much, but
one night, frustrated, she asks God to help her. At the moment she
prays, she knows her wages are just too modest for her to go to a
health food store to buy what she needs. She feels her prayer is im-
possible for God to answer and for many reasons knows that she
cannot leave her job for a better one. So, she does not ask for money;
she asks for the produce itself. She feels a bit silly essentially asking
God to manifest an organic garden in a week or two in her very tiny
backyard.
She forgets her prayer and consigns herself to the nonorganic
produce in the grocery store.
One day, weeks after her prayer, Katie feels particularly ener-
getic, and she walks home from the bus stop via a longer, more scenic
route with the intention of stopping off at a grocery store, knowing
that she will be buying what she regards as second-rate produce.
As she is walking through a particularly colorful neighborhood
where every house has a splendid flower garden, Katie comes across
an older lady sitting outside her little yellow cottage with several
bushels of tomatoes and lettuce standing next to the table with a "For
Sale" sign on it. She is selling organic produce at one half of the price
that regular lettuce and tomatoes would sell for at a store. Why? It
turned out that this woman, Sheila, belongs to a home garden coop-
erative where a variety of families share their produce every Satur-
day and then sell their excess to the public at a small farmers' market
nearby. But this Saturday, Sheila overslept, and so, the very same
day Katie was walking home, Sheila decided to sell her produce out­
side her house, something she had never done before.
So, in a mysterious way, Katie got what she wanted only a few
weeks after her prayer. And when she found out where the co-op
was, she found a permanent way to get her organic vegetables cheap-
!y-
But even better, after going there a few times, Sheila and some
of her friends, who had an interest in the market itself, offered Katie
a part-time job on Saturdays where she could trade for her weekly
produce with labor instead of money.
Now certainly those events were mysteriously timed, were they
not?
We shall shortly look more at the magic of these events, which
I have in my other writings labeled "synchronicity." This indicates
events where totally unrelated actions come together in a meaningful
and often important way.
On another note, notice how Katie felt forced to ask God for the
produce and not for a raise at work or for a new job. According to
Lewis, she did something very right by asking in that way. Perhaps
it was an accident of choosing that kind of prayer, but her manner
of praying was exactíy according to Lewis's formula, which he de­
scribes in the next chapter called "Securing Money."
 Securing Money: Does
lt Matter How We Ask?

efore we go on, let us dwell a moment on the synchronicity

B we just discussed about our lover of organic produce, Katie,

who asked God for a simple thing and was rewarded in a very
mysterious way. Think of the details of the events that answered her
prayer.
Now, who arranged for Katie to take the route that she seldom
took to the supermarket that specific dav before she went home? No
one really, outside of Katie. She just felt energetic that day.
And why was Sheila outside her house selling exactly what Ka­
tie needed? It was unusual: a one-of-a-kind incident, a day Sheila
overslept and had all these extra vegetables. And why did all those
seem in g co in cid en ces lead to Katie getting her vegetables and fruits
for a small amount of work every Saturday —work that she actually
loved, because she knew that, like her, her customers were grateful
for being able to get organic produce at atto rd a ble prices.
Ih e fact is that if Katie had suddenly come into a bunch of mon­
ey, she probably would not be sure of the amazing source of her new
ability to get organic produce.
Perhaps this is what is behind what Lewis says when he suggests
that you should very seldom ask God for money. Instead, you ask Him
directly for what you need. When you receive exactfy what you ask for
in mysterious ways, it can point to the ultímate source of your good.
 Now when I was a Rosicrucian, I would ask for things too. And
if I ever got near to getting them, I would thank God for my being in
AMORC. That is, I would attribute every good thing that happened
to me as the result of belonging to the spiritual elite of this specific
organization. Now I see that I was doing what anticult literature
refers to as "refram ing," which means taking your experience and
twisting it to fit a certain paradigm. In Rosicrucian Principies, Lewis
does not claim that these beneficial events, initiated by "com m and­
ing" the Cosmic, necessarily come because you have a membership
card with his order. But when I was a member, that's exactly where
I thought good things carne from, and that was what I was encour-
aged to think.
I like Lewis's noncultish explanation of the process of manifesta­
tion in his book Rosicrucian Principies much better than what I learned
in AMORC.
 The Role of Monev in Manifestation

J l any writers about manifestation —that is the practice of

helping to fulfill your desires through consciousness—
I w I make a real point about our desires being strong and real.
In their view, a strong prayer is mightier than a weak prayer. God, or
the Cosmic as Lewis calis Him, according to these exponents, loves a
strong prayer. He wants to give you what you truly want.
It is not surprising then that Lewis makes a big point about not
focusing on money unless it is a direct need. For instance, if you have
to pay a traffic fine and you know you are guilty and believe you de-
serve the penalty but just don't have the funds to pay, then you might
ask the Cosmic for money for that specific purpose. You couldn't, for
instance, ask him for three chickens to pay the judge as you might
in a tribal culture. No, in our culture only money will do. In other
cultures, perhaps a bit more in touch with the Earth, maybe chickens
would be better. You don't have to go out and buy something and
waste time. Take the chickens home and stick them in a coop so they
can lay eggs for you or get the frying pan ready.
Now, if you needed some organic produce and you couldn't af-
ford it but other channels were open, you would not necessarily ask
God for the money directly. In Lewis's words, you would not de-
mand that God get you the money; you would ask for the produce. If
you think about lucky Katie, you can see that she really didn't want
money at all. She simply wanted to eat better.
Following my own former example, you can't eat money, but
you can eat chicken eggs. Money doesn't make your mouth water.
For some people, a delicious omelet certainly can have that effect.
But what Katie got from her manifestation was so much more
than chicken or eggs.
First, she would have seen that the event was a wonderful mani­
festation from a higher source, because the good fortune of her walk-
ing that specific day on that specific route and encountering Sheila
there was beyond any measurable odds. So, she could see the mi-
raculous or synchronistic aspect of the event more clearly. Katie may
not have a clear concept of this kind conscious intervention, but the
experience might point her in the direction of thinking about it.
According to Lewis, Katie's direct request for the object was pre-
ferred. Why should God give us something we don't really want?
Maybe you are asking for it because your parents want you to do
it, like going into a specific profession that you really don't want to
go into. Or perhaps you ask for something because it is socially ac-
ceptable and you think you need it, like being invited to a party with
upper class colleagues you feel pressured to socialize with. These
reasons are not good enough if God truly cares about "the real you"
and not "the socially or culturally programmed you."
I might point out here how, as I mentioned previously, when
good things happened to me while I was in AMORC, I reframed. I
pointed to the Order as the source instead of looking at these myste-
rious events as pointing to a non-AMORC source. Yes, miracles can
happen while you're in a cult, but the cult leaders would have you
give the cult credit for them. By encouraging us to reframe, the Or­
der was contradicting the point of view developed in this chapter on
"Securing Money."
My Book Review ofThe
Rosicrucian Manual
Prepared under Supervisión
of H. Spencer Lewis

P r e s e n t e d by P i e r r e S. F r e e m a n ,
O c c u l t W h i s t l e b l o w e r
 Introduction

fter twenty-six years in AMORC, I am honored to present to

A the world a review of one of the key products of H. Spencer

Lewis's oversight—the powerful tool of AMORC, The Rosi­
crucian Manual. I am honored because, as a whistleblower, discuss-
ing such a document may be a key to liberating more of my former
colleagues still embedded in AMORC's mind-control program and to
preventing some eager truth seekers, young or oíd, from making the
mistakes I have made.
The Rosicrucian Manual is thoughtfully dedicated to AMORC's
English-speaking members throughout the world with the "hope it
will become a silent though ever-present companion and guide to the
work of our honored organization." The work expressed here is the
daily work in the home sanctum, the shrine constructed by the mem­
bers and for the members in their own homes. As it says in the im-
perator's greeting, the Official Manual, which replaces the older, less
formal manuals, "should be a weekly guide to the monographs and
lessons for every member, and a help to every officer of our branches
throughout the North and South American Jurisdiction."
This objective is very important because it becomes another au-
thoritative and formal foundation for the reality of a sacred, peren-
nial, fraternal organization with an association of lodges throughout
the world and that perpetuates the best and most reliable connection
to the Cosmic.
In fact, I regard the Manual as one of the four institutional pillars
of mind control used in the Order. These pillars are 1) the Manual, 2)
the monographs, 3) the home sanctum, and 4) the lodge. These are
the essential tools of the Order and indelibly brand each member as
a Rosicrucian belonging to an ancient fraternal order with the bless-
ings of the emperor.
The Manual is part of one of the greatest platforms for mind con­
trol by a religious organization ever created in the twentieth century.
This is a platform that can work on its members without even using
the fourth pillar, the lodge. Owing to the continual work demanded
of the serious, responsible members who, like myself, give their all
to the order, it is ají ideal manufacturing resource for the creation of
an altem ative personality. It is a hypnotic device ideal for provid-
ing the authority that every mind-control system needs to establish.
Through love or fear or by the religious awe inspired by documents,
books, and rituals or through fabricated historical authenticity, the
cult leaders enslave their followers.
 The Rosicrucian Manual:
W hat the Manual Contains

J l y goal in discussing this manual is to set forth its superb

W \ m u and powerful function as a driver for the authority of the
I w I Order, a key to the conversión of robust and happy person­
alices into compliant members. To this end, the Manual must reek of
authenticity, which in my opinion, considering the educational and
spiritual level of its members, it does to a tremendous degree. If we
could give out Pulitzer Prizes, Emmys, Oscars, or some such award
for the creation of effective mind-control documents, this manual has
deserved a great, big prize every year since it was first copyrighted
back in 1918.
The Manual contains a good, comprehensive picture of the
lodges, the officers and their duties, and the regulations that govem
members. It has a lot of officious plates and diagrams that are to be
only glanced at by members who will find their in-depth explanation
in other monographs. Some of these illustrations are of the key sym-
bols utilized in the Order. These symbols are purported to be ancient
and to demónstrate a continuity of the Order throughout the centu-
ries, linking them to Famas Fraternitas and other key documents of
the Order.
It contains a glossary but explains that it is not complete because
words such as alchemy can be found in any standard dictionary. Of
course, that, to someone familiar with alchemy, could be a clue—for
alchemy has many levels of meaning for the astute student of spiri-
tual development. The metáis, zodiacal constellations, planets, and
mysterious compounds studied in alchemy can mean very diverse
things ranging from actual metáis to codes for certain energetic ex-
periences to vibrational labels for the work of the spiritual centers to
double or triple labeling for experiences that are both physical and
"spiritual." But the reason for this slight subterfuge is that the M an­
ual, like all of AMORC's documents, is really geared to a Reader's Di-
gest mentality. In such publications you read the pabulum of middle
America that eliminates the need for original research with original
sources. The current events and the "expert" advice given so abun-
dantly in the monthly publication is vital to the middle class in the
twenty-first century.
The more a candidate knows in the beginning before mind con­
trol sets in, the less likely he will proceed in the teaching. For the
semi-ignorant student of metaphysics, no matter what their formal
worldly education has brought them, this manual will head them
off at the pass and create great inner turmoil if, after suggestibility is
fully implanted in their psyches by mind control, they daré to ques-
tion the history of the Order or the reality and the power of their
exercises in bringing them closer to the Cosmic.
 Preliminary lnstructions

he "Prelim inary lnstructions" section of The Rosicrucian Manual

T is important because it outlines AMORC's organization. The

structure of an organization ideally imparts authority and or­
der to any organization whether government agency, business, or
religious or fraternal organization. There are, as such, three types of
membership in AMORC, all meticulously defined in this chapter.
Grand Lodge Sanctum Membership encompasses intemation-
al members in the Americas, Africa, France, Holland, Switzerland,
Sweden, and the British Commonwealth and is defined in the "Con-
stitutions and Statutes of the Grand Lodge," only parts of which are
contained in the Manual. Most of these members, at least at the time
of the 1971 edition, were members of the Grand Lodge. This 1971 edi-
tion is what I am now reviewing.
Sanctum Membership is defined in the Manual as membership
by correspondence, a category created in 1917 and developed for
people who could not attend the temple lodges. This was back at the
time when there were only about three degrees, each of which took
ten months to go through. (In theory, the number of degrees was
and is always a form of cover-up to entice the naive to believe there
is a time limit to their commitment to AMORC.) Now, there are, of
course, many more degrees, but the first degrees are still there at the
beginning of this exciting journey toward self-programming. They
contribute their duties to the Grand Lodge in San José.
Another important part of membership is membership in the
Pronaoi chapters and lodges, which depends on the sufficiency of
members in the area as defined by the constitution. Each of these
groups has different characteristics. Pranaos rituals are simpler than
the others and designed for small groups. Chapters are for smaller
groups, and iodges are for larger groups. Lodges are meant for con-
ducting full-scale initiations that are open to any sanctum members
who wish to attend, even those who are out of their area.
It is prestigious, in a way, to be a member of a lodge. For me, it
was not an altogether great experience because o f the p reju d ice di-
rected against me due to my background and poverty.
My self-esteem took a great dive after I left engineering school
to go to the United States and began to put AMORC first. In a sense,
you can say the home sanctum and the lodge experiences downgrad-
ed the reality of my life while significantly upgrading the fantasies I
had about myself. I now thought I was a member of an ancient and
powerful order, the very best connection to the Cosmic that existed
on Earth. That is what a factory for manufacturing cult personalities
does to you. It surrounds you with symbols and signs of belonging
to the elite, while inwardly your authentic Self knows it has been
trapped and disempowered by all this ritualistic and cosmic malar-
key.
 AMORC and Its Organization:
The Only True Rosicrucian
Order in America

he "AMORC and Its Organization" section of the Manual as-

T serts the need for every member to be familiar with its contents,
including "its secret or prívate system of operation." It makes a
point that it must distinguish itself from all the myriad movements in
the United States that cali themselves Rosicrucians, asserting that the
use of this Iabel, "Rosicrucian," is not so freely given in other coun-
tries. This is one of many attempts throughout AMORC literature to
markedly distinguish itself from virtually all other Rosicrucian Or-
ders, a necessary qualification if you want to be known as the only
true Rosicrucian Order in America.
This portion also makes false assertions about the Order's his-
tory, saying it was begun in Germany in the eighteenth century and
ended at that point. This misinformation is found in older editions
of a tremendous number of encyclopedias and dictionaries, includ­
ing Encyclopedia Britannica, Webster's Dictionary, Funk & Wagnalls and
many others, which are now in the process of being corrected. It is
not clear when this incorrect information was first stated because the
copyright runs from 1918 to 1971.
In terms of the current Encyclopedia Britannica, the article on Rosi­
crucians mentions both Max Heindel, who founded the Rosicrucian
fellow ship that spun off into several other groups, and H. Spencer
Lewis, who is credited with spreading his messages with "mail-order
lessons" and subsidizing "a highly acclaimed Egyptian Museum."
I put this here to show that at least this encyclopedia definitely de­
scribes a few of the other groups, although not all of them. There was
a bit more competitíon for H. Spencer Lewis than what is described
in the Britannica, but Heindel and Lewis were not all there at the time.
One of the other organizations was the Fratem itas Rosae Crucis,
founded about five years after AMORC by Reuben Swinburne Cly-
mer. Clymer claimed that he was the successor of Paschal Beverly
Randolph, who had founded the movement in 1856. It does not ap-
pear that he was really in the direct line of that lineage, "notwith-
standing the claims of representing the first American Rosicrucian
brethren"—one of the claims definitively made in the Manual. This
is what Milko Bogaard says in his study called "F.U.D.O.S.I. (1935­
1951)" about the friction between Lewis and Clymer:

Clymer devoted much efforts [sic\ and work to slander and

attack A.M.O.R.C. and its founder. They accused each other
mutually of teaching "sexual-m agick," but as far as FRC has
any relation to the teachings of Randolph, it is not totally un-
true that they have a sexual content in their teachings. The
Clymer-Lewis intrigues are awfully complex, and increased
to involve other groups such as the [RF]___"The whole case
culminated into several court triáis, which Clymer lost." A
biased and subjective account on this is given in some of Cly-
mer's books.

But there were others, like the Societas Rosicruciana Republicae

Americae, the Societas Rosicruciana in the United States of America,
the Builders of the Adytum, the Ordo Templi Orientis, and the Soci­
etas Rosicruciana in America, an offshoot of an English Order.
So, considering the competition that developed before and short­
ly after Lewis founded his Order in 1915, you can see the valué of
knocking off the competition and the importance of the pedigree, the
ancient lineage, as well as the lineage from the so-called first Ameri­
can Rosicrucian Order.
 AMORC and lts Organization:
Should We Daré Question
the Existence of a Rosicrucian
________ Enclave in Ephrata?

s indicated previously, the claim that Lewis's organization is

A somehow connected to a Rosicrucian enclave in America is

definitely made in the Manual. The Manual also makes the
claim that there are good records of Order members immigrating to
Philadelphia from Europe in 1694, according to the plan of Sir Fran-
cis Bacon, and then relocating to Ephrata, Pennsylvania.
This claim is also in dispute.
Here's one interesting assertion from the Hedge Masón blog re-
garding the founder of the Ephrata community.

The man I am referring to was a well-educated Germán Pi-

etist from what is now Switzerland. Actually, this man, most
commonly known today as Johannes Kelpius, was born in
Transylvania. He was a radical pietist. For those who wish
to make the claim that he was America's first Rosicrucian, in-
cluding AMORC, 1 am sorry to burst your bubble. Radical Pi-
etists were not Rosicrucians. They certainly influenced what
carne to be known as Rosicrucianism, but they were no more
 Rosicrucians than ancient Jews were Christians because the
Christian faith grew out of Judaism.

In an interesting discussion in Narkive, a newsgroup archive, a

contributor named Jadam says:

For what it is worth on the subject of the Ephrata group be-

ing the ancestors of AMORC, let me throw another log on the
fire. I think it was around 1968 the NYC Lodge of AMORC
ran a bus trip to Ephrata___Grand Master [RC] was on the
trip. There was a guide that was part of the Ephrata staff that
gave us a tour. He did not speak of the Rosicrucians even
once. I was part of the NYC Lodge group___A member of
our group ask[ed] Frater [RD] if he thought the present day
Rosicrucians were descendants of the Ephrata group. As I
recall he said they were in agreement on many principies
but he did not say the two groups were connected. Our tour
guide spoke of the religious convictions of the Ephrata group
but not a word or a hint of any occult connection.

There is a certain amount of scholarship in this area of interest

determining whether or not the enclave at Ephrata was really Rosi­
crucian at all. Here are a few excerpts from the work of Jan Stryz with
Michigan State University's Studies in American Esotericism pro-
gram called "The Alchemy of the Voice at Ephrata Cloister." From
his notes:

Whether the Philadelphian group Haller introduced Beissel

to also had ties to Rosicrucianism is open to question. Sachse
[The Germán Sectarians o f Pennsylvania, 2 vols., Philadelphia,
1899-1900, rpt. New York: AMS Press, 1971] and Enrst sup-
port the idea that Beissel was exposed to Rosicrucianism
in Germany. Jeffrey Bach, however, discusses the problems
with defining any texts, tenets, or specific groups of people
as Rosicrucian, and points out that no concepts or practices
identified as Rosicrucian were ever introduced to the Ephrata
community by Beissel. See Bach, "Voices of the Turtledoves:
 The Mystical Language of the Ephrata Cloister," diss. Duke
University, 1997. It is undeniable that certain practices asso-
ciated with Rosicrucianism, such as alchemy and astrology,
were introduced by others to the cloister.

And:

Bach argües that the "significant differences between [The

Chemical Wedding] and Beissel's sermón outweigh the like-
nesses. The dissimilarities argüe against any suggestion that
Beissel was writing an explicitly Rosicrucian allegory."

The Manual recites what I believe is the myth of the cyclical na­
ture of their O rder—108 years of public activity and then 108 years
of rest and waiting. So this period of activity ended in 1801,108 years
after the settlers left Europe, beginning a period of dormancy and
waiting for the public Order to begin again. It is a nice story—one
that I am very skeptical of. It is obvious to me that no such history ap-
plies to AMORC. This story begins in the mind of H. Spencer Lewis
and is translated into a variety of questionable documents, fictional
historical narratives, and a desperate attempt to back everything up
with signatures or at least some clear-cut assertion of approval by
respected members of the community. There are various nice com-
ponents to AMORC's story, and the idea that he regenerated the first
American Order would be very appealing to those who needed au-
thentic transmission to demónstrate the validity of his organization.
 AMORC and lts Organization:
The 108-Year Cycle of Activitv

hy did AMORC have such a draw for me and for many

others?
The fact is that there is a kind of character flaw that
Lewis appeals to, which I would cali it a "theological inconsistency":
when you are set on going after the truth about God and the uni-
verse, but you abandon some of your key assumptions and best prac-
tices along the way
Many people seek the truth about the meaning of life and for
that reason look to organizations that make august claims about that
type of connection. And often seekers after truth believe that their
wish for such a connection will be granted. Perhaps this is because
they have been ardent about their search and perhaps because they
have sought spiritual guidance. They think that God is on their side
because they are asking real questions.
The problem is that there are, in my opinion, two absolute condi-
tions for seeking a connection with God that presume, as most reli­
gions claim, that God's nature embodies both goodness and truth.
Now, I am not making any claims here about myself, but I am mak-
¡ng a claim about cult magnets for recruits and how they intrinsically
fail to meet that test, which is based on very traditional assumptions
about God's nature.
If a person seeking the truth about reality is not very, very careful
to use reason and experience to valídate his connection to a group,
especially if it makes elabórate claims about its history, its ability to
enhance consciousness, and the enlightenment of those attached to
the organization, then he can easily be dazzled and slip into a situa-
tion where actual hypnosis-like conditioning takes over.
Another vulnerable point can be found if a person fails to see,
through careful scrutiny, any kind of moral dilemma in the organiza-
tion's story.
The Manual says:

The story of how H. Spencer Lewis, the first Imperator for

the present cycle of activity, was chosen to bear the burden of
reorganization, has often been told, investigated, verified by
the highest Rosicrucian authorities of Europe and other lands.

Part of the Rosicrucian mythos is the need for the transmission

from one authorized organization to the other, and part of Lewis's
obsession was to create a very legitimate-sounding story, blessed
with a certain mysterious nuance. Al though absolute proof may be
lacking for some of these speculations as to AMORC's true origins,
there is no doubt that the reality of "the highest Rosicrucian authori­
ties of Europe and other lands" validating the organization was in
dispute at the very outset of Lewis's enterprise. Eventually, AMORC
instituted a National Membership Defense Committee to answer the
claims of its detractors.
Lewis's claim of authenticity is based on his assertions about cer­
tain organizations, such as FUDOSI (the Fédération Universelle des
Ordres et Sociétés Initiatiques), which no doubt existed in some form
for some time after its formation in 1934, twenty-six years after the
Manual was first printed. Some organizations could be considered
questionable. For example, the Rosicrucians in India, who suppos-
edly gave several sacred items to a woman named Mrs. Mary Banks-
Stacey, designated as cofounder and first grand matre of AMORC in
the United States, may or may not have existed. Mrs. Banks-Stacey,
however, certainly did exist. But did her life and contributions to
AMORC match up with the historical reality Lewis claimed?
The main point here is that it was H. Spencer Lewis and his fol-
lowers themselves who decided exactly who "the highest Rosicru­
cian authorities of Europe and other lands" were who had validated
the assertion that Lewis was officially designated to reorganize the
Rosicrucian Order after the nonpublic 108-year cycle was concluded.
I doubt if Lewis was authorized by legitímate representatives of
any such organizations, assuming there were any Rosicrucian orga­
niza tions that were genuinely promoting a truly positive and trans-
formative teaching at the time.
Instead, I s e e a m aster m an ip u lator at work.
But let me try to show you why.
 AMORC and Its Organization:
Authority and Connections

I
t is fascinating to examine the Order's claims of authenticity, and
I am afraid I have only touched the surface of it.

Why bother any way?

I bother because I want to cast some kind of shadow on the claim
of this organization that I believe was a mind-control platform for the
purpose of creating a stable, organized flowr of cash for the benefit of
H. Spencer Lewis and his cohorts. .
To do this, Lewis had to create a sense of authenticity, not only to
con people to join but also to incúlcate a sense of totalistic authority,
as thought reform expert Robert J. Lifton might put it. Authentic­
ity was a cornerstone of mind control as it was understood by those
involved in hypnotic procedures during Lewis's day. Lewis's exper-
tise in this area is amply recounted in my review of his book Mental
Poisoning. The book del iberately conveys the impression that Lewis
had been involved with countless experiments into hypnosis but,
of course, presents him as a heroic defender against this dangerous
practice.
After highlighting some of the organizations that gave AMORC
legitimacy, the writer of the Manual says, "Therefore, AMORC is
today the ONLY Rosicrucian movement in America having such
authority and connections." This is a key point of this part of the
Manual. It defines what is legitímate in such a way that most of your
potential or actual members, most of whom have no real background
in occult literature or history, will never do any fact-checking, espe-
cially after the mind-control protocols kick in as they did for me.
It is said that "history is written by the victors," but I think that
sometimes history is written by its nonparticipants, clever self-pro-
moters who create historical fiction to serve their political, religious,
or financial agendas. W hen the con artists of historical fiction go to
work, they try to be very detailed. You can see that in the historical
fiction that the Nazi propagandists deployed to those who listened.
The Germán disciples of Hitler accepted so much of these untruths
about members of the Jewish faith that they killed six million of them
after incarcerating many in slave labor camps. You can also see it in
the ironic proclamations of essentially pro-Hitler followers, revision-
ists who claim there never was a holocaust in the first place.
When you take revisionist history onto the political stage, you
wind up using that history to fabrícate events that hide the reality
that exists behind the stage. Claims of fabrication of this sort perme-
ate recent conspiracy theories about the fall of the Mossadegh regime
in Irán, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the Kennedy assassination, and
9/11 to ñame a few.
It is not my mission to valídate any of these misaligned historical
claims I just mentioned except to compare them to the possible un-
reality of Lewis's claims. In looking at author Robert Vanloo's arricie
"Is the AMORC an offshoot of the OTO or not?" and his discussions
on Google, I am aware of the extremely meticulous efforts needed to
fully expose a historical fraud as complex as this one. So, I can say,
without question, there are many other examples of historical fic­
tion being created for specific reasons. Conspiracy theories are not
theories if there is proof that the situations and events being evalu-
ated are actual conspiracies. In the case of AMORC, I do believe that
there was a conspiracy largely aimed at financial acquisition and also
somewhat caught up in the glamour and power of the deception.
Maybe Lewis liked wearing the imperator's robes as much as he
liked counting the membership fees at the end of the month.
Who knows?
 AMORC and Its Organization:
Robert Vanloo's lnvestigations— The
Devil in the Details

iecing together the elements of a conspiracy that happened

P ninety-nine years ago could be difficult, and, when it comes to

AMORC, a few persons have tried. I cannot vouch for their spe-
cific conclusions, but I do think that some of them are worth consid-
ering for anyone who wants to research the authenticity of AMORC's
claims.
One of them is Robert Vanloo. According to Vanloo, author of Les
Rose-Croix du Nouveau M onde (Rosicrucians of the New World) and
the scholarly article entitled "Is the AMORC an offshoot of the OTO
or not?," there are some very concrete clues as to how Lewis put
things together.
I intend to summarize some of Vanloo's methods and conclu­
sions, but I hope the serious readers will refer to his article them-
selves. Furthermore, if they know French, they might avail them-
selves of Vanloo's book as well.
The gist of Vanloo's question is based on whether or not, in truth,
AMORC is really the offspring of the Ordo Templi Orienti (OTO). A
description about the OTO and some of the other Rosicrucian groups
I mention here can be found on the Alchemy Website, a great source
of information about traditional and m odem alchemical works and
organizations. Like any person who delves seriously into this kind
of subject, the creator of the website, Adam McLean, has his own
take on this material but provides ampie opportunity for the serious
researcher to make up his own mind by providing amazing samples
of original imagery and documents.
After several other occultists founded the OTO, Albert Karl The-
odor Reuss Willsson (1823-1923) became its chief; he was a man who
successfully spread his organization world wide. After his death, the
very controversial Aleister Crowley took over as chief. Let us take a
quick look at the OTO, as described on Adam McLean's website, and
its historical relevance to AMORC.

In fact, Reuss explained the «Rosicrucian roots of OTO» in

one of his letters (1921) to H. S. Lewis. Lewis was also admit-
ted into the OTO by Reuss personally, but distanced himself
a time after Crowley took over as head of the order. Lewis
seems to have disregarded Crowley, even though the latter
had tried to get him into the A.A., and also wanted hím to
join forces against their mutual enemy Clymer. After several
incidents of failured [sic] communication, Crowley became
hostile towards Lewis, and even wanted to coupe AMORC.

The substance of Vanloo's article is that there is a very suspicious

document that purports to be the original document presented at the
initial meeting of AMORC, the purpose of which was to officiate the
founding of the Order. It is suspicious because, although it exists and
was signed, AMORC has dismissed it as a forgery. Further, the time-
line during and following that initial meeting provides circumstan-
tial evidence that casts a shadow over the authenticity of AMORC's
eventual credentials.
History is rewritten partially because it is relatively easy to cover
one's tracks if one is careful enough and because people often believe
what they want to believe, whether it is about the Holocaust or the
Kennedy assassination. So, if you present your historical case to the
right choir, they will sing along and never look twice at the signa-
tures on the score sheet.
 AMORC and Its Organization:
H. Spencer Lewis and
the Great Beast

obert Vanloo has done a lot to investígate the truth of AMORC's

R origin. Part of his findings are disclosed in his detailed article

"Is the A.M.O.R.C. an offshoot of the O.T.O. or not?"
Vanloo's central argument questioning H. Spencer Lewis's story
about the founding of AMORC hinges on a document found in a
large folio in the New York Public Library. This document, entitled
"American Pronunziamento Number One," states that AMORC was
established "in accordance with an official manifestó," followed by
the letters OTO. This means that back in 1913-14 when Lewis was
ñrst starting, there was an indication that AMORC was linked to the
Ordo Templi Orienti (OTO), as mentioned previously. It seems to
have happened later in 1921, when Lewis was given a charter by The-
odor Reuss, OTO's leader, but did it happen before 1915, the original
origin year claimed by AMORC? AMORC officially denied this origi­
nal connection between AMORC and the OTO at that time, claiming
that the specific document in the library was a forgery.
If it were claimed to be a forgery but was not, what is it about
the OTO connection that is so troubling to AMORC? Could it be that
when Lewis first tried to get signatories on his documents to get the
ball rolling and found that no one would sign, it was because the po­
tential signers found the connection with OTO too unsavory?
 It is not clear to me what the reputation of the OTO was at that
time, particularly to those whom Lewis was recruiting. Suffice to say,
it could have been linked, rightly or wrongly, to dark sex magic of
various sorts, and the fact that Aleister Crowley eventually took it
over might indícate something of that nature. Nonetheless, Lewis
would eventually formally link up with the OTO some years after
he officially formed AMORC, but the foundational story of the ori-
gin of AMORC would be quite different. As mentioned, Lewis did
later distance himself from OTO's new chief, Crowley, whose title
was customarily the Great Beast, a title associated with the book of
Revelation. (It was a slight on Crowley's character, however much
he liked the designation.) According to Vanloo's speculation, which I
will describe later, Crowley might have had a very important part in
Lewis's early attempts to create AMORC.
I cannot do much more than quote from Vanloo's article and per­
haps discuss some of his argument. I suggest, if there is interest, that
reading the whole article will shed more light on this issue than my
discussion here. My point is that there are a number of reasons to
doubt Lewis's story of AMORC's credentials beyond the reason that
I usually describe—that is, that AMORC is not an esoteric order, per
se, but a platform for cult mind control and, of course, a business that
has historically done quite well.
Still, for me, "Is the AMORC an offshoot of the OTO or not?"
sheds a great deal of light on what may have happened when Lewis
founded his organization. It is not altogether easy to pulí together
some of the facts that Vanloo has and definitively say that Lewis
put things together in a particular way. Some of Vanloo's analysis is
based on a form of forensic handwriting analysis, and the samples he
analyzes are rather slight with much hanging on "O TO " and a spe-
cific signature found in "American Pronunziamento Number O ne."
I believe his deductions from this evidence are very interesting and
perhaps true but also inconclusive because they are based on so little
handwriting. Although I do not go into all the details of Vanloo's ar­
gument, here is what he says about the initials of OTO, which seem
to be added to the original manuscript of first Pronunziamento.

At the bottom of the Pronunziamento there is a signature by

 «Thor Kiimalehto, Sec'y», the writing being thinner and more
animated than Lewis's writing. On the document itself—after
the sentence where it is said that A.M.O.R.C. shall be estab-
lished «in accordance with an official manifestó»—a manuscript
annotation «O.T.O.» has been added with a writing similar to
Kiimalehto's signature beneath. [Emphasis in the original.]

Thor Kiimalehto, KRC, Lewis's secretary general, was one of the

first members Lewis conscripted for his organization. Kiimalehto
was the printer who assisted him during these early days of develop-
ing his Order.
The significance of this document is that, if it were true and was
shown at the preliminary meeting, the "O TO " inscription may have
killed the deal because no one out of the twenty people invited from
the New York Institute for Psychic Research would sign the organi-
zational deal papers. Who knows? Maybe those kinds of researchers
have some problems associating with an essentially magical order. A
year or so later, on February 8, 1915, Lewis was successful, perhaps
because he had found the more convincing story to tell along with
the necessary persuasive documents.
And, therein, lays an interesting tale.
 AMORC and Its Organization: Enter
the Distinquished Mrs. Banks-Stacey

short biography of H. Spencer Lewis in the Manual claims

A that after many years of research into various types of Sci­

ence, including psychic research, Lewis found and inspected
copies of "the first American Rosicrucians, who established their
headquarters near Philadelphia in 1694." This is a claim discussed
previously with the suspicion that, although there was a spiritual or­
der in Philadelphia that might have dealt with imagery related to
Rosicrucian ideology, it was probably not a Rosicrucian Order. This
is a tactic that Lewis seems to use to misdirect curious, but fairly su­
perficial, researchers.
Part of the new story, which foliowed the first aborted attempt
to legitimize AMORC with some signatures at their first official stab
at a launch, was allegedly facilitated by the appearance of a new key
associate, a Mrs. Mary Banks-Stacey, whose ancestor supposedly had
sponsored the original expedition of American Rosicrucians emigrat-
ing from the English branch.
Some of her adventures were described in Cromaat: A Monthly
Monograph fo r the Members o f A.M.O.R.C. Allegedly the esteemed
Mrs. Banks-Stacey, who is titled in the Manual as the "Co-Founder
and First Grand Matre in the USA" and who, it is stated, was a de-
scendant of Oliver Cromwell and the D'Arcys of France, "placed in
[Lewis's] hands such papers as had been officially transmitted to her
by the last of the first American Rosicrucians, with the Jewel and the
Key of authority received by her from the Grand Master of the Order
in India, while an officer of the work in that country."
Here is her statement, supposedly put in the archives of the Su-
preme Grand Lodge.

I further state that the said Jewels and incomplete instruc-

tions were delivered into my hands by the R. C. Masters of
India, representing the Supreme Council of the World, and
that I was there made an initiate of the Order and a Legate
of the Order for America. I also state that the said Jewels and
papers were represented to me as coming direct from Egypt
and France, and that they were given to me to be formally
handed to that man who should present certain papers,
documents, jewels and "key" in America. Such a person hav-
ing matured and being Brother H. S. Lewis, I did the duty
expected of me, fulfilled my commission and with pleasure
express the joy at seeing the work so well under way in ac-
cordance with the prophecy made in India to me in person.
The history of the Jewels and papers are, to my knowledge,
exactly as stated herein and as described by Mr. Lewis, our
Imperator, in the History of the Order as published in the
Official Magazine.

As we will see, this involvement of Mrs. Banks-Stacey may have

been the final piece needed for H. Spencer Lewis's scheme, but the
question of her actual involvement versus what Lewis purported is
another fascinating controversy surrounding Lewis's attempt to find
the authority he needed to be able to attract a massive number of
members to his little occult mind-control correspondence course.
Vanloo cites an arricie by David T. Rocks in a magazine called
Theosophical History. In this article, Rocks questions Lewis's conten-
tions that Mary Banks-Stacey traveled to India. He said, speaking of
her son, Cromwell:

M ost important, Cromwell's military service reports made it

possible to accurately document his mother's places of resi-
 dence. Therefore, this information combined with the knowl-
edge of her financial circumstances would seem to preclude
the notion that Mary Stacey served as an officer of the Rosi­
crucian Order in India. In fact, existing records support the
contention that her personal and financial circumstances
made it all but impossible for her to travel anywhere other
than from relative to relative.

Of course, if she couldn't travel, Lewis's claims are altogether

eviscerated. If she did, did she really meet with an official Rosicru­
cian group in India that gave her some of the goods to deliver to
Lewis?
Interesting question.
Continuing to quote from the article by David T. Rocks, we find
his research has, indeed, made him come to some unpleasant conclu-
sions.

1. Although some of Mary Stacey's relatives were wealthy,

her immediate family lived modestly. And, in spite of hard-
ships, Mary Stacey was always completely devoted to her
family. When she died she was living with her daughter in
Evanston, Illinois, and her youngest son Cromwell was sta-
tioned at nearby Fort Sheridan. It seems unlikely that she
would have forsaken her children to embark upon an ar-
duous and expensive journey to India. Consequently, evi-
dence of Stacey's service as an officer of the Rosicrucian Or­
der in India remains to be discovered. Likewise, it is unclear
how Mary Stacey could have been a member of the English
branch, which sponsored the first [Rosicrucian] movement
in America.

2. Finally, Lewis benefitted from their relationship in ways that

were obvious. In contrast, one can only speculate concerning
the benefits to Mary Stacey's involvement with his organiza­
tion must remain questionable. And, since that is the case, it
would appear that Lewis's claims of Rosicrucian authenticity
were just as incredulous as the claims of his rivals.
 To add to these questions about her relationship with AMORC,
Mrs. Banks-Stacey, the so-called cofounder of AMORC, never signed
the original charter.
But even if her connection to Lewis seems a bit fishy, her person
and reputation did function to get Lewis a new start.
But what if the original document wasn't a forgery? How could
Lewis be connected to the OTO when he failed to get signatures at
his first meeting? According to Vanloo's best knowledge and the
claims of AMORC, there is no evidence that Lewis knew Reuss back
then, so how could Lewis be connected to the OTO? If he was and
the document was real, that might throw a damp cloth over Lewis's
eventual tale of how AMORC carne into existence.
According to Vanloo's discussion, Aleister Crowley or some oth­
er otticer of the OTO may have been in touch with H. Spencer Lewis
before he became the head of the OTO and could possibly have been
the source of the connection:

The corollary question is: did Lewis produce an official rec-

ognition of O.T.O. during these preliminary meetings, or is it
just that he hoped to get one in the near future and showed
only at this stage a bunch of documents in relationship with
O.T.O.? But where did these documents come from if one ex-
cludes the possibility of a contact between Lewis and Reuss
prior to 1920, as A.M.O.R.C. states? Did Lewis receive them
from another chief of the O.T.O., namely Aleister Crowley, or
other officers in the organization? And then: why did Lewis
never refer to or reproduce the American Pronunziamento
Number One again in his further publications, presenting
only the constitutive charter of April lst?

Then there is the very strange timing of Crowley's arrival in New

York and the emergence of the Grand Matre in Lewis's life.
 AMORC and Its Organization: Mrs.
Banks-Stacey and the Great Beast

pparently Mrs. Banks-Stacey showed up in Lewis's life about

A the same time that Crowley carne to New York. Was this just
a coincidence, or was Lewis using Mrs. Banks-Stacey as a
kind of visual intermediary?
In fact, Vanloo does not hesitate to speculate:

One might then question if there is no link between the trans-

mission of "papers" and "instructions" from so-called masters
in Egypt and Orient, and the presence at a similar date on
the American soil of Aleister Crowley, who claimed a similar
"oriental" and "egi/ptian" filiation. Was not in fact Mrs. Sta-
cey a sort of straw woman who arrived just at the favourable
m om ent—remember that the first Lewis's attempt to launch
AMORC in winter 1913-1914 had been a failure—to justify
an Oriental and Egyptian origin for AMORC, Lewis having
rather in mind a sort of partnership with the heads of OTO?
Unless this is just puré coincidence.

This question may never be answered, but it is true that Crowley

did not seem to have overwhelming respect for Lewis; in fact, he
seems to have been very clearly gossiping about him and the fasci-
nating Mrs. Banks-Stacey. Crowley wrote about an anonymous party
at the time who seems to indícate that Lewis was involved with Mrs.
Banks-Stacey:

His claims were grotesquely absurd. For instance, he said that

I don't know how many knights of England and France—the
most improbable people—were Rosicrucians. He said the
Order was founded by one of the early Egyptian kings and
professed to have documentary evidence of an unbroken
hierarchy of initiates since then. He called the Order Rosae
Crucis and translated it Rosy Cross. He said that in Toulouse
the Order possessed a vast temple with fabulous magnificent
appointments, an assertion disprovable merely by Consulting
Baedeker. He said that Rockefeller had given him nine hun-
dred thousand dollars and at the same time sent round the
hat with an eloquent plea for the smallest contributions. He
professed to be a learned Egyptologist and classical scholar
on terms of intimacy with the most exalted personages. Yet,
as in the case of Peter, his speech betrayed him. He was a
good chap at heart, a genuine lover of truth, by no means
altogether ignorant of Magick, and a great fool to put up all
this bluff instead of relying on his really good qualities.

Lewis is fascinating, for the efforts he made authenticating his

Order were truly prodigious, even if they may be classified as sleight
of hand. With a powerful ambition fed by a hunger for power, he
very clearly made every effort to quash the competition and make
his Order attain a kind of purity and uniqueness in the eyes of his
followers, unfettered by any competition.
In 1917, Lewis, when criticized for his authoritarian methods, re-
signed as supreme grand master and appointed another to succeed
him but retained his position as imperator. At that time, he made the
following proclamation, published in The American Rosae Crucis in
November of 1917.

It is nearly time for us to retire from publicity and become the

hidden organization which the Order has become in foreign
lands. Gradually the real and full ñame of our Order will pass
 from the minds of the curious and be hidden from the gaze
of the vulgar and profane. With the passing of the ñame into
seeming oblivion will go into silence all but discreet word
of mouth propaganda. This is as it should be— As 1918
enters into our consciousness we find the Order making its
first move toward profound silence. We are about to retire to
oblivion, as we predicted we would, and carry on our work
in a greater way than has been possible before— Member­
ship into our Order will be far more difficult to acquire after
January, 1918, than membership into any other secret orga­
nization, and all Secretaries and Masters in our Order will be
notified of the new requirements for membership after that
date.

Whatever Lewis's intentions at the time, according to Robert

Vanloo, they "did not last for long and he soon started to advertise
again bombastically for A.M .O.R.C."
Bombastic, deceptive, and as charismatic in his own way as R T.
Barnum, H. Spencer Lewis embedded himself in the colorful folklore
of early twentieth-century America as an emperor enthroned in the
land of the free, leaving behind a trail of imperators to deceive, bam-
boozle, and enslave the minds of anyone who was naive enough to
throw down a few dollars and work within the bounds of the mono-
graph long enough to lose their unique purpose, their mental and
emotional freedom, and their commitment to the truth that started
them on their journey in the first place.
 AMORC and Its Organization:
M ind Control and Money—
Key Reasons for Promoting the
______ Exclusivitv of the Order

I
f one were to wonder about the reason that H. Spencer Lewis
spent so much time and effort cooking up his historical justifica-
tion of AMORC's supremacy over other American Orders, there
are probably two reasons.
The first reason is sim ple—money. Undoubtedly, Lewis surmised
that since other Rosicrucian groups existed in the United States, there
was a demand for the Rosicrucian message. If everything was devel-
oped correctly, his claim for exclusive authenticity could siphon off
some of the other groups' existing and potential membership. Be-
yond that, he could utilize the same sense of exclusive authority to
harvest the untapped water of the general public, for he would ex-
periment with public advertising on as grand a scale as anyone else
in the history of occult movements. I will say that over the past few
decades, groups like Scientology and the Unification Church have
outdistanced even Lewis's wildest, most megalomaniac dreams.
The second reason for taking so much time to create an "authen­
ticity story" is the absolute and unquestionable valué of authority as
the mainstay of conventional hypnosis and mind control. Remember,
the majority of AMORC members are recruited by advertising and
often never attend lodges, so there is no human who can stand as an
authoritative hypnotic conduit to an altered State of consciousness.
With in-person hypnosis and in a kind of parallel development of
psychoanalysis, the transference of authority to the hypnotist is criti-
cal. In his development of a mind-control platform, Lewis needed
high-level authority, and that is the purpose of the "AMORC and its
Organization" section of the Manual. It provides the day-to-day min-
ions of the Order, to whom the Manual was an indispensable guide
to the bona fides of the Order, a further testimony to the sterling his-
tory of Lewis's efforts to resurrect the American Order after 108 years
of intentional dormancy.
When I joined the Order after AMORC had spread a round the
world, I suppose the claims it made about the International Order
with its branches in India and France had been downplayed, al­
though it still appears in the Manual. To me, it seemed clear that
AMORC was, indeed, the supreme organization in the world, dwarf-
ing all claims by Templar or Masonic organizations, such groups as
the Catholic Church or the Church of Latter-Day Saints, who claimed
supreme authority over the original teachings of Christianity, and all
other so-called Rosicrucian Orders. In fact, with its egregor embody-
ing the group consciousness of the Order, it represented the highest
and most secure connection to Cosmic Consciousness and the true
Order of ascended masters.
As we have seen, Lewis's first attempt to get signatures to valí­
date the reality of his Order was a total failure, possibly because the
organization appeared to be validated by the OTO, a controversial
organization eventually connected to Aleister Crowley and so-called
"sex magic."
Lewis then tried again. This time, as I have begun to describe, he
brought along a lot of bells and w histles—all kinds of tales with the
appropriate insignias, descriptions, and documents that would bring
reality to the Order.
I spoke of the need for authority as the foundation of a mind-con-
trol cult. What is truly wonderful, from the standpoint of a cult lead­
er, is all the fancy marketing and branding paraphernalia that you
can bring to a group rooted in alchemical, astrological, occult, and
magical traditions—all of these elements wrapped around a story.
Here are some of the elements of the story broadcast by Lewis:

1. He had been given special information about the original

organization of America by descendants of the Order, and
he now had the "burden of reorganization." I have already
examined the claim and found that, although there was a
kind of mystical organization in Pennsylvania, it is not clear
at all that it was Rosicrucian. Rather, it was more likely part
of a pietist movement.

2. If Mrs. Mary Banks-Stacey, the so-called cofounder and first

grand matre in the United States, was one of those contribu-
tors, there seems to be some doubt as to her true relationship
to Lewis. If the former claim about the American Order is
not true, namely that it is not Rosicrucian, then there would
be nothing for Mrs. Banks-Stacev to pass over to Lewis.

3. it is claimed that Lewis was in contact with an internation-

al order that had branches in France and India. The exis-
tence of these branches of Rosicrucians is referenced in Mrs.
Banks-Stacey's story, but is there any real evidence there was
such an international order? According to the Manual, two
officials from the International Council of the Order carne
to America and approved it, making "AMORC a part of the
AMORC of the world." AMORC now has branches all over
the world. Did it replace the International Order? Research
reveáis a lot of murkiness to the simple, emphatic historical
claims made in the Manual.

4. Possiblv related to this claim about an international order is

the claim that Lewis was initiated into a Rosicrucian order
in 1909.

5. Another interesting claim of authenticity described in the

Manual was a meeting in 1934 in Brussels of fourteen so-
called mystical organizations to create a kind of pólice orga­
nization that would help separate authentic traditions from
 Being more and more pressed by members concerning his
authenticity and rosicrucian [sz'c] authority, Lewis then pro-
duced at the spring of 1916 the story of his alleged initiation
in Toulouse, which seems nevertheless to have raised some
skepticism among his members because the Imperator says
that his «American Council» asked him to produce «a regu-
larly executed paper o f sponsorship o f the American Order signed
by the Supreme Council ofth e World» on behalf of the «Supreme
Grand Lodge o f France» which, he claimed, had initiated him
in 1909. So the founder of A.M.O.R.C. carne with a document
intitled [sic] Pronunziamento R. F. R. C., N° 987,432 that was
submitted to his American Council during October 1915 and
which he gave a complete description of in his magazine. It
seems that this document did not convince the members ei-
ther about the Imperator's authority upon A.M.O.R.C. as the
Order was near to collapse by the end of 1917.

It is truly amazing how H. Spencer Lewis could find the drive

inside himself to continué when faced with the great problems of
carrying out his scheme. But determination is not just a quality of
heroes. Successful dictators, corporate crimináis, and common bank
robbers often have this quality to aid in their wrongdoing.
 AMORC and lts Organization:
Toulouse or Too Loose?

he initiation at Toulouse is, indeed, a remarkable example of

T the extreme confusion generated by Lewis's claims about the

initiation of 1909.
Speaking of a 1909 initiation of H. Spencer Lewis after comment-
ing on the initiation of his son, Ralph M. Lewis, at a 1936 FUDOSI
convention, Milko Bogaard says this in "FUDOSI (1935-1951)":

Ralph M. Lewis also "received his Rosicrucian Degrees" ac­

cording to Fr. Fudicius from Argentina. If this is true, he prob­
ably refers to the 13th. Degree of the "O rdre Universitaire
de la Rose-Croix" of Émile Dantinne (Sar Hieronymus). The
13th. degree was titled the "Im perator's Degree." Lewis was
indeed initiated into this degree by Dantinne. Some sources
state that his father, Harvy [sic] Spencer Lewis was also initi­
ated into this degree by Dantinne but this is probably untrue,
because Lewis Sénior was already initiated into the Order as
an Imperator in Toulouse, back in 1909.

Imperator of what? I ask since this was before AMORC and FU-
DOSI were founded. (Lewis was one of three imperators in FUDOSI.)
And what is this Supreme Council of the World that Vanloo men-
tions?
 Bogaard adds to the confusion by saying, "M any prominent
F.U.D.O.S.I. members did not believe that Harvey Spencer Lewis was
initiated in (or near by) Toulouse in 1909." He then quotes directly
from a letter by Jean Mallinger to August Reichel, dated in July of
1935, which says: "But I can tell you this, no serious initiate will ac­
cept the American methods, and no serious initiate will believe the
'Toulouse-adventure' of Spencer Lew is.”
Bogaard claims that there was a document in the files of the for-
mer FUDOSI where Lewis clearly admitted that there had not been a
"Toulouse-adventure." But to us this is hearsay.
On June 19, 1918, an article appeared in The Sun whose head-
line read, "GRAND IMPERATOR, GRIEVED AT ARREST, SPENT
NIGHT IN A CELL" and whose substance reports a spectacular raid
on the American Headquarters of AMORC. Lewis escaped from any
kind of real consequence of this event, but look at what the article
says in relationship to Toulouse and what Lewis says at a time when
he does not want his organization to be associated with a foreign
power.

From his home in Flushing last night Lewis told a repórter

for The Sun that at no time had his organization —the An­
cient and Mystical Order of Rosae Crucis—ever claimed to
be operating as a branch of the Rosae Crucis organization in
France. "We have never claimed to hold any warrant, charter,
patent or authority from any foreign country," he said over
the telephone.

The article continúes:

Among the papers seized in Lewis's desk on Monday night

is a piece of parchment headed Pronuziamento R.F.R.C. No.
987,601. The document is adorned with a number of crude
seáis, dated Toulouse, France, September 20,1916, and signed
by one Jean Jordain. After the signature follow a series of hi-
eroglyphics. In the body of the document addressed to Le
Secrétaire Général, Thos. Kiimalehto, appears the announce-
 ment that a separate jurisdiction of the Rosae Crucis has been
etablished in America.

Of course the date doesn't fit, but the claim that Lewis's organi­
zation is distinct from other countries doesn't hold much water.
Who knows if something really happened in 1909? Furthermore,
who cares or who should care? To be clear, just because one can be
initiated into an Order founded by human beings does not mean that
the Order has true and ancient connections with a continuous tradi-
tion from the past or that it holds the golden key to a very special
connection to the Cosmic.
 AMORC and Its Organization:
Related Ties to Authenticity—
_ Toulouse or Too Loose?

"■ k ■ onetheless, just like all of Lewis's other claims, there was
1 ^ 1 probably some historical valué in his identification of Tou-
■ yM louse as a place for initiation, for there was, indeed, some
Rosicrucian activity in Toulouse. One of those practitioners was the
Marquis Stanislas de Guaita, who was nicknamed "The Prince of
Rosicrucians" by ardent subscribers to his philosophy. In the 1880s,
he joined forces with Joséphin Péladan and his brother, the latter be-
longing to a Rosicrucian group headed by Firmin Boissin. At some
point, Péladan and Stanislas founded L'Oráre Kabbalistique de la Rose
Croix, which included, according to a paper on the Order by V. H.
Fratres, Dr. Gérard Encausse (known to the occult world as Papus),
and H. Spencer Lewis.
One of Péladan's successors was a man named Émile Dantinne.
Dantinne became arguably the leading forcé behind the formation of
FUDOSI. During that period and before, however, he attempted to
promote an aggregation of various orders to promote his versión of
occultism to the world. Dantinne was a royalist, an anti-Semite, and
a fascist. Did his effort, however motivated and whatever the time-
table, contribute to the concept of an International Order of Rosicru­
cians that Lewis was referring to and was trying to project? Did these
various efforts really have the bona fides that fit Lewis's descriptions
of an international order of Rosicrucians with branches all around
the world as suggested in the Manual?
I would say not. It's probably smoke and mirrors again. Dantinne
and his colleagues, as you can see partially from the composition of
FUDOSI, loved to start myriad organizations with various purposes
and goals. According to Adam McLean's Alchemy website:

Ordo Aureae & Rosae Crucis (Antique Arcanae Ordinis Rosae

Rubeae et Aureae Crucis)(OARC) was headed by the Belgian
successor of Péladan, Emille [sic] Dantinne (Sar Hierony-
mous) [1884-1969] as he became its new Imperator. Dantinne
was in volved with esoteric group work at a very early age,
and his involvement in CRC was not the only Rosicrucian
group he affiliated. The CRC under Dantinne was reorga-
nized in accordance with the original tradition of the order
and was divided into three separate sections; 'Rose-Croix
Universitaire' (9 degrees), 'Rose-Croix Universelle' (9 de-
grees) and 'Rose-Croix Interioure' (the inner order) (3 de­
grees + 1). The outer heading applied its original ñame "Ordo
Aureae & Rosae Crucis."

According to McLean, "Both Harvey and Ralph Lewis of AMORC

received their Rosicrucian Imperator's Initiation (the 13th degree of
illuminati, slightly analogous to the I.L. of Martinism) from Dantinne
in Europe."
So, whatever the timetable, this could mean that Lewis was as-
sociated with the group that originated in Toulouse and there was an
initiation, but what did it really mean?
 AMORC and Its Organization:
FUDOSI— Lewis's Grand
_______ Tool for Authenticity

ccording to Milko Bogaard, in his forum contribution titled

A "FUDOSI (1935-1951),"

[FUDOSI] was formed in 1934 "to protect the sacred lit-

urgies, rites and doctrines of the traditional initiatory Orders
from being appropriated and profaned by clandestine orga-
nizations" (FUDOSI journal, Nov. 1946). The FUDOSI was
not an Order, but an Universal Federation of esoteric and au-
tonomous O rders an d Societies.

FUDOSI had both within it and without it very controversial

qualities and actually bred another organization called FUD OFSI—
the Federation of Orders and Fraternities of Initiates. Its purpose
was to protect the world community against the impact of FUDOSI,
which would take some rather startling positions that attempted to
undermine some long-established understandings of authenticity of
various esoteric and Masonic orders.
But before we get into these positions, here is the line-up of orga-
nizations that belonged to FUDOSI.
 O RDRE DE I.A ROSE+CROIX
UNIVERSlvl.LE
O RDRE DE LA ROSE+CROIX
U N IVERSITAIRE
ORDRE K A BB ALIST IQ U E DE LA
ROSE+CROIX
C O N IR E R IE DES 1RERES
ILLUMJNES DE LA ROSE+CROIX
A.M.O.R.C.. USA
M ILITIA CRUCIFERA
EV AN G ELICA
ORDRE ANCIEN ET MYSTIQUE
DE LA ROSE+CROIX AMORC-
Suii/erland
SOCIETF. AI.CHIM IQUE DE
KRANCE
ORDRE DES S A M A R IT A IN S
INCONNUS
ORDRE IIERM ETISTE
TF.TRAMF.GISTF. F.T MYSTIOUF.
orORDRF. PYTHAGORICIF.N
ORDRE MARTIN1STE ET
SYNARCHIQ U E
FRATERNITE DES POLAIRES
ORDRE M ACONNIQUE
O RIENTAL DE MEMPHIS-
M IZ R A IM STRICTE
OBSERVAN CE
CO-M ASON IC O RDER OF
M EM PH IS-M IZ R A IM
SAR H IE R O N Y M U S - EM1I.E DANTINNF.
SAR H IER O N Y M U S - EM ILE DANTINNF.
SAR ELG RIM - JEAN M A LLIN G ER
SAR Y ESIR REPRESENTING LUCIEN
M AUCHEL
SAR A M ERT IS
SAR AI.DF.N - HARVF.Y SPENCER LEW IS
SAR E M M A N U E L - M A N Y CIHl.AR (ALSO
REPRESENTING A.M.O.R.C. AUSTRIA (NOT
REPRESENTED MERE AS A MAJOR GROUP)
SAR IOHANNF.S
SAR AI.DF.N - H AR VEY SPF.NCF.R LF.WIS
SAR AM ERT IS REPRESENTING SAR
AL.KMAION
SAR A M ERT IS - AUGUST RF.ICHEI.
SAR AM ERT IS - AUGUST REIC’HEL
SAR SUCCUS - FRANCOIS SOETEW EY
SAR HELIOS - M ARC I.ANVAL
SAR Y ESIR - VICTOR B L A N C IIA R D
SAR YESIR - VICTOR Bl.ANCHARD
SAR IOHANNES - IIA N D GRUETF.R
SAR LU DO VICll - KOI.ONF.L LUIS FITAU
SAR LAYA. SAR FIJLGUR)

There are fourteen orders here, but perhaps that is somewhat de-
ceptive. For instance, Sar Hieronymous's Ordre De La Rose+Croix
Universelle and Rose+Croix Universitaire are divisions of the same
Order, with the latter only open to university students. There are two
AMORC Orders, but there are also other orders of different ñames
represented by the same person, like the two represented by Sar Ye-
si r.
 AMORC and Its Organization:
The Sinister Side of Lewis's
Confederaron

UDOSI was founded in 1934 when the fascists in Italy and Ger-

F many were gaining ascendency.

An interesting quotation was found in some of the offi-

cial documents of FUDOSI, written in 1941 by Emile Dantinne (also
known as Sar Hieronymous), one of the founders and perhaps the
true initiator of the Order:

Contrary to the Church, the Initiatic Orders of Europe for-

mally exelude the Jews and their organizations from their
centres. Any collaborations with the Jews results in the fol-
lowing serious consequences: Intellectuel anarchy, indisci­
pline, schizm and discord, egoism, negligance of national
interests etc.

Further:

The genuine Initiatory Orders are only open to the Aryan

community and do not admit anyone belonging to the Jew-
ish race.

But prior to this document, the institution of Freemasonry was

also excluded on the basis of it being an "atheistic organization." The
fact that FUDOSI had temporarily looked at the Rite of Memphis-
Misraim, a Masonic rite, had proved to be a "m istake." In fact, accord­
ing to Milko Bogaard, "It proved that the Judaic and material character is
inseparable from any masonic rite, that all reformation ofM asonry is utopic,
and us a consequence, no collaboration is possible between the F.U.D.O.S.L
and any masonic rite or order." Members were further asked to break
all ties with Masonic orders or risk being excluded from the Order,
with the exception of one member. Bogaard continúes, referring to
the anti-Jewish documents:

The Documents are written in 1941, the european countries

were ¡nvaded by the Germán troops of Adolf Hitler. We
know' that Dantinne was no Nazi, and certain members of
the F.U.D.O.S.I. would play a role in the resistance, but nev-
ertheless the Jewish race were openly discriminated by the
F.U.D.O.S.I. through the official documents of their Impera-
tor.

So it is clear from these documents that Lewis was involved with

a very anti-Jewish, anti-Masonic organization.
One of the quite interesting things that Bogaard says is that the
initiatic orders he was writing about were persecuted by the Nazis.

The Nazis prohibited all Order-activities, especially Masonry

and other Initiatic Orders, Societies, and Brotherhoods. (Even
the THULE- GESELLSCHAFT, a pro Nazi-Brotherhood, was
prohibited by the Gestapo in 1942). All gatherings, publica-
tions etc. were forbidden by the Nazis. The archives of the
Orders were confiscated and often destroyed. There was a
special branch within the S.S. called "AHNENERBE," the
"Ancestral Heritage Society," lead by Heinrich Himmler him-
self, who were reponsible for this. Many members of Occult,
Secret and Mystical Societies and Orders were arrested and
put into the concentration camps or shot by a firing squad.

But wasn't there a very strong pro-fascist clique in these orders,

and weren't they anti-Jewish? One idea I have had after reading
these various documents and learning about the Nazis' murder of
one Order leader—although maybe not a leader of the antifascist and
anti-Jewish ilk —is that, in general, maybe the Nazis regarded the an-
tidemocratic, anti-Jewish, anti-Masonic Orders as rivals. In this way
their ideological pro-fascist tendencies worked against them.
Who really knows?
 AMORC and Its Organization:
Pre-FUDOSl Open Letter from Lewis
to Freemasons and Rosicrucians

n November 3, 1926, Lewis published a letter addressed to

O Freemasons and Rosicrucians claiming that a new organiza­

tion had been founded by former members of AMORC in
Tampa and had levied charges against him. The group apparently
had been seeking the "M asonic endorsem ent" of local orders of Free­
masons. Its national leader was named Khei and his organization
had been in the United States for a number of years and had been
chartered by a group in England.
Although the tone of Lewis's letter is very respectful to the Ma-
sonic community, it is interesting to remember that in eight short
years Lewis would join an organization that rejected the Masons, ac-
cused them of atheism, and took umbrage at the Masonry's Judaic
bymboiism. Through his description of the founding of the parent
societv in England by Robert Wentworth Little and Kenneth R. H.
MacKenzie, it is clear that he is referring to the Societas Rosicruciana
in Anglia. Note this small piece of chronology from "A Detailed His-
tory of the Golden Daw n":

1865-66: Robert Wentworth Little found some oíd Rosicru­

cian Papers and founded the S.R.I.A. Westcott implies he col-
laborated with Kenneth R. H. M acKenzie___
 1867: S.R.I.A., Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, founded by
Robert Wentworth Little (1840-78). Westcott later claimed
that Kenneth MacKenzie provided Little with permission
from Count Apponyí in Austria, from whom MacKenzie is
supposed to have received "Rosicrucian Initiation."
1870: Kenneth MacKenzie joins a conventional English
Masonic Lodge, Oak Lodge, No. 190
1872: Kenneth M acKenzie is made an Honorary member
of S.R.I.A.

In his letter, without mentioning the SRIA, Lewis brings up vari-

ous points questioning why Rosicrucian rituals were found in the
hall of the Freemasons and why they were characterized as being
"rescued." Were they dangerous? And how did MacKenzie get the
authority to found his Masonic Rosicrucian Society from an Austrian
Rosicrucian group? He also questions the form of the group, which
he compares to a "literary society" rather than a ritual-based esoteric
order, and questions its description as an organization chiefly de-
voted to banquets with an aftermath of a iiterary and philosophical
nature. Where were the degrees that would characterize a genuine
Order?
Lewis is also concerned that the original society was confined to
Freemasons of the Thirty-Second Degree and that it did not admit
women. His conclusión was that this group did not have any real
Rosicrucian authority. Again, Lewis is on the hunt to prove legiti-
macy for AMORC by some presumed historical lineage.
 AMORC and lts Organization:
More on Toulouse

I
n discussing the English origins of the new supposed Rosicrucian
Order in Tampa, Lewis addressed one of the claims in AMORC's
official quarterly that Rosicrucianism is the parent source of Ma-
sonry. In 1926, its constitution required that all members of the Or­
der be Master Masons, a claim that Lewis states emphatically could
never be made by a true Rosicrucian Order. He is offended by the
statement made in their official textbook that "since Masonry, the off-
spring, fails us in our search for the true exegesis, we must turn to
Rosicrucianism, the parent." He also claims that this group in Tampa
is indulging in sex teachings. Right there, for that reason, he argües
that the Florida group is to be discredited.
Lewis says in the "first propaganda book issued by AMORC"
sent by mail throughout the United States:

When we say that the Order (AMORC) has absolutely no

connection with any branch of the Theosophical Society, the
New Thought M ovement or Freemasonry, we do not mean
to say such a connection would be displeasing or detrimen-
tal; but it is unnecessary—and im possible!. . . In respect to
all these movements we have only the kindest thoughts and
good wishes.
 I would say that good wishes were not felt eight years later when
Lewis joined the anti-Masonic FUDOSI. He also affirms that:

The first newspaper articles—some covering a whole page,

such as that in the New York World Magazine Section for
March, 26th, 1916—announcing the establishment of the Or­
der in America, distinctly state that the AMORC was being
sponsored solely by Rosicrucian bodies or authorities of Eu-
r o p e an d m en tion s n o con n ection with an y o th e r society.

Yet, may I remind you of the quotation I took from The Sun story,
published on June 19,1918, two years after this early propaganda blitz?

From his home in Flushing last night Lewis told a repórter

for The Sun that at no time had his organization —the An-
cient and Mystical Order of Rosae C rucis—ever claimed to
be operating as a branch of the Rosae Crucis organization in
France. "We have never claimed to hold any warrant, charter,
patent or authority from any foreign country," he said over
the telephone.

Lewis then says in his "Open Letter":

No Rosicrucianism has absolutely no connection with Free-

masonry today, and has not had for hundreds of years, even
though they may have cooperated in many ways in years
gone by in England, and even though many Freemasons in
Europe today are also Rosicrucians, and some of their con­
claves are held in the same cities in the same vacation pe-
riod of the summer. In America, at any rate, the two bod­
ies have NEVER been associated or affiliated, despite any of
the claims and great insinuations of this "literary" society of
Rosicrucians.

My guess is that eight years later when he joined FUDOSI, Lewis

wasn't about to share any vacations with any Masons. A nice finale
to the claims in this "Open Letter" is this statement:
 The AMORC in America today is the only Rosicrucian orga-
nization affiliated with the international bodies of Rosicru-
cians throughout the world. It is the only Rosicrucian body in
America having received authority, power, rights and assis-
tance from a competent body of Rosicrucians of the ancient
lineage and through the See of Toulouse, the recognized
and traditional International seat of true Rosicrucianism for
many centuries.

Another fascinating claim about Toulouse. How many ways can

1 describe AMORC's origin? Let me count the ways.
 AMORC and lts Organization:
The Sinister Side of Lewis's
Confederation

here is no question that H. Spencer Lewis visited Mussolini and

T praised his governmental finesse in the 1930s for the "absence

of beggars in the streets, the impressive architecture, etc." On
one of his return visits to Italy, a 2007 article in Mandag tells us:

Together with 120 American members, HSL was received by

Mussolini at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome where a reception
was held in honor of the American Rosicrucians. To this oc-
casion, Mussolini gives a speech "in which he promises a ra-
diant future for AM ORC." [205] It is even claimed that Mus­
solini was going to open a universaty [sz'c] "in which hermeti-
cism and occult ideas supporting the elite would be taught."
It seems that Lewis was going to figure prominently in this
educational venture. The Italian newspaper "II M essagero"
published a frontpage [sic] article on the event, complete
with pictures [dated March 6, 1937]. In addition, H. Spencer
Lewis was presented a special gift from Mussolini; a statue
of the Román Emperor Julius Caesar. The life-size statue was
placed in Rosicrucian Park [on a side note, there was a rumor
among oíd members of the Order that the statue of Caesar
 represented Harvey Spencer Lewis. The Imperator was said
to be an incarnation of Julius Caesar].

So where did Lewis's loyalties really lay? Was this just a jaunt
during a time when various democratic partisans did not necessar-
ily look askance at the productivity of Mussolini prior to his alliance
with Hitler in World War II? Or is there something more to it?
Of course, nothing with Lewis in the public records seems alto-
gether straightforward, and this issue is no exception.
In August of 1937, Lewis published an article in the Rosicrucian
Forum, where he responds to a member who wishes him to counter-
act the "American idea" that Jews are being persecuted in Germany.
He then says, as quoted from the complete letter included on the
website Axis History Forum:

In the first place, those of us who were touring as representa-

tives of the highest section of our Order deliberately went to
parts of Germany where we could find the facts. We went to
Cologne on the banks of the Rhine. We went to Berlin, one of
the headquarters of Hitler, and his form of government. We
went through other Germán cities and sections until we ar-
rived at Munich, which is the other, or second, headquarters
of Mr. Hitler and his form of Government.
In all of the larger cities and the smaller cities we found
stores and various forms of businesses of all kinds and classi-
fications being openly conducted and generously patronized
by Jewish people, with Jewish ñames and every outward in-
dication of being members of and adherents to the Jewish
faith and Jewish synagogues. We talked with a great many
of these shopkeepers, storekeepers and business men with­
out asking them pointedly the questions that others might
ask, but we found that they were orthodox Jews and openly
acknowledged it right in the presence of scores of Germans,
natives who were not Jews, and even on some occasions in
the presence of officials of the Germán government.
We found Jewish synagogues in an excellent state of pres-
 ervation in all of these cities, and even some new ones being
built, an d n on e in an y form o f destruction. We fou n d that on
Saturdays these synagogues were being attended in the usual
manner and without any attempt on the part of the Jews to
evade being seen going into or coming out of the synagogues.
We noted that in some cities the leading business houses were
conducted by Jews, and as well patronized as those that were
conducted by Christians or those of no religious faith. In sev-
eral cities I talked with the rabbis or other leaders connected
with the Jewish synagogues and found them to be much sur-
prised and much annoyed by the propaganda in America that
intimated that all Jews were being persecuted and that the
Jewish religión was being interfered with. In each instance
they told me that the membership of their church has not di-
minished but either held its own or has increased. Not one of
them could recall a single instance where the regular services
or activities of his synagogue or the practice of his faith had
been interfered with by government decree, by local officers,
or by any of Mr. Hitler's rulings.

The only trouble with this defense was the grim reality brought
to bear by another participant in the forum concerning two terrible
waves of persecution against Jews. The first wave occurred in 1933-
34 and involved limiting the participation of Jews in Germán public
life. This included banning them from holding civil service jobs and
later restricted the number of Jewish students in schools and univer-
sities and Jewish doctors in public health insurance. Berlín forbade
Jewish lawyers and notaries from working on legal matters and kept
Jewish doctors from working with non-Jewish patients and imple-
mented many other restrictions. In 1935, the new wave of anti-Jewish
laws was highlighted by the Nuremberg Laws that defined Jews ge-
netically and took away their Reich citizenship and prohibited them
from marrying non-Jews. So now, even nonpracticing Jews were tar-
geted for Nazi persecution.
With all his clear, bombastic defense of Hitler and his long jour-
neys into Germany to find out the truth or untruth of Nazi persecu­
tion, is it really possible that H. Spencer Lewis did not find out that
although Jews still could go to synagogues, they were under heavy
persecución?
Rather impossible, I would think.
Gary Stewart, a former imperator of A M O RC left the organiza­
tion during a time of great dispute. As the founder of a new organiza­
tion called the Confraternity of the Rose Cross, he desíred to put on
the record his views of AMORC's claim of authenticity, specifically
discussing his opinion about FUDOSI. Stewart wamed against orga-
nizations like FUDOSI that are established to promote authenticity in
other organizations without validating their own authenticity. Sec-
ondly, he believed such organizations would become closed, basi-
cally closing out nonmembers from recognition based on self-serving
criteria. He said:

Needless to say, AMORC and H. Spencer Lewis was [sic] part

of the founding structure of the FUDOSI and it is arguably
the case that AMORC was the motivator behind its formation
for the purposes of:

• Establishing a dominance in North America and else-

where for the Rosicrucian work and,

• An attempt to resolve the Clymer dispute and the

many other lawsuits that AMORC was involved in
from 1918 until 1939.

I would say that whatever it was, FUDOSI did not meet the mor­
ar or spiritual valúes required in an organization that would monitor
other spiritual orders. It was like everything else H. Spencer Lewis
d id —a smoke and mirrors operation disguising some very upsetting
practices and objectives.
 Great American Manifestó Píate #1:
A Modern Symbolical Drawinq

rior to the Manual page containing the so-called "Great Ameri­

P can Manifestó/' there is a set of pictures, the first of which is

titled, "Sir Francis Bacon, Imperator of the Rosicrucians of the
Seventeenth Century" and subtitled "M odern Symbolical Drawing."
This picture has a scepter leaning against a wall containing the por-
trait of Bacon. Underneath the scepter is a document titled "Pronun-
ziamento." It is the official document that announces the commence-
ment of the Order. It includes other symbols and signs, including an
emblematic sign underneath the portrait that reads, "Hon. Francis
Bacon Imperal AMORC . . . 1626," inscribed beneath the symbol and
title of "Rosa Crvcis." At least the Manual is honest enough to say,
"Modern Drawing."
Was Bacon's membership in the Rosicrucians a fact?
In 1915, the same year that Lewis officially began AMORC, James
Phinney Baster published a book called The Greatest o f Literary Prob­
lems, the Authorship ofth e Shakespeare Works; an Exposition o fA ll Points
at Issue, From Their Inception to the Present Moment. Baxter writes:

Much has been said of Bacon's connection with that influential

Society which flourished in England in the reigns of Elizabeth
and James, known as "Rosicrucian," whose very existence was
so carefully concealed that few outside of its fellowship knew
 of its existence. At what date in the world's history it originated
we will hardly venture to inquire; it is sufficient to our purpose
that the public announcement of its existence occurred in 1614,
when was published in Cassel the "Allegemeine and General-
Reformation der ganzen weiten Welt." This work declares that
it was first formed "by four persons only, and by them was
made the magical language and writing, with a large diction­
ary, which we yet daily use to God's praise and glory."

So, it is possible that some scholarship has provided a passion-

ate researcher with the understanding that Francés Bacon may have,
indeed, been a Rosicrucian.
We might also note that a quote from Albert Mackey, a Masonic
historian, also validates a conceivable connection between Masonry
and Rosicrucianism.
Says Mackey:

Many writers have sought to discover a cióse connection be­

tween the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons, and some, in­
deed, have advanced the theory that the latter are only the
successors of the former. Whether this opinion be correct or
not, there are sufficient coincidences of character between the
two to render the history of Rosicrucianism highly interest­
ing to the Masonic student. (Albert G. Mackey, An Enciclope­
dia o f Freemasonry, vol. II p.639. New York, 1912.)

It is interesting that the picture in the Manual, executed in mod-

ern times, does explicitly presentSir Francés as imperator of AMORC.
The inclusión of Bacon in the book gives more power to the ability
of Lewis to grab a hold of historical realities and twist them into the
history of the omnipresent AMORC in every place, in every time. The
Masonic and Rosicrucian link is, as we have seen, somewhat similar
in content, but the link is not clear. This gives Lewis the chance to
separate the two any way he likes. Even if Bacon was a Rosicrucian, is
there any proof that he belonged to a society that was within a direct
lineage to AMORC?
Symbols, insignias, emblems, and official garments like robes
with repeating patterns of geometric shapes or colors or belts of gold
braid—all of these can serve the purpose of creating the illusion of
authority and tradition. Even a set of photos with some historical
contentions but no real proof can serve such a purpose.
The spider spins the web with whatever silk he has. Spider silk
is approximately equal to steel in strength but is six times denser.
Lewis used his own type of silk, which for some of us is stronger than
that of the poor spider's.
 Píate #2: Michael Maier— Was He
Really a Rosicrucian or a Wannabe?

here is little doubt that Michael Maier was a figure in the oc-

T cultism of the seventeenth century, and the Latin inscription

beneath the píate in the Manual has some very distinguished
looking calligraphy beneath the picture. The reality is that Maier
wrote many works of a spiritual and alchemical nature, but there is
definitely a controversy, which is explained in depth by Arthur Ed-
ward Waite in his book The Real Histori/ o fth e Rosicrucians published
in 1887. Waite was one of the greatest scholars of hi¡> time and was
said to be the first to attempt to create a systematic study of occult-
ism.
Maier was certainly an occultist, but, according to Waite, there
is a question as to whether or not he was actually a member of the
Rosicrucians. As usual with H. Spencer Lewis's account of AMORC
and all its glorious components, superficial research into Waite's ac­
count of Michael Maier, however brief, might awaken uncertainty in
the savvy researcher. First of all, Waite says:

Michael Maier is one of the most important and interesting

persons connected with the Rosicrucian controversy. He was
the first to transplant it into England, "and as he firmly be-
lieved in the existence of such a sect, he sought to introduce
himself to its notice; but finding this im possible," says Buhle,
 "he set himself to establish such an order by his own efforts;
and in his future writings he spoke of it as already existing—
going so far even as to publish its laws."

According to Waite, who speaks carefully, the fact that Maier was
interested in the Rosicrucians and wrote about them does not mean
he was a card-carrying member, that is to say, a true initiate.
Although he wrote about alchemy and spirituality, Maier's dis-
cussions of Rosicrucians does not begin until 1917. Waite elaborates:

The Silentium Post Clamores published at Francfurt in 1617,

professes to account not only for the speech in season ut-
tered by the Fraternity in its priceless manifestoes, but for
the silence which followed when it declined even to reply
to the pamphlets and epistles of persons seeking initiation.
The author asserts that from very ancient times philosophi-
cal colleges have existed among various nations for the study
of medicine and of natural secrets, and that the discoveries
which they made were perpetuated from generation to gen-
eration by the initiation of new members, whence the ex­
istence of a similar association at that present time was no
subject for astonishment___Afterwards he argües that if the
Germán Fraternity had existed, as it declares, for so many
years, it was better that it should reveal itself, than be con-
cealed for ever [s/c] under the veil of silence, and that it could
not manifest itself otherwise than in the "Fam a" and "Con-
fessio Fraternitatis," which contain nothing contrary to rea-
son, nature, experience, or the possibility of things.

According to his actual writings, it is not clear whether or not

Maier was ever a member of the Order. Here are two claims made
by the same person in posthumous tracts, according to Waite. Waite
says:

A posthumous tract of M ichael Maier was published in 1624

by one of his personal friends, who explicitly states that he
is ignorant whether the departed alchemist, who so warmly
 and gratuitously defended the cause of the Rosicrucians, was
ever received into their number, but that it is certain he was
a Brother of the Christian Religión, or a Brother of the King-
dom of Christ. This statement may simply mean that he was
a Christian and a man of God, or, on the other hand, it may
signify that he was a member of the Christian Fraternity of
Andreas.

But another tract, attributed to Benedict Hilarión but supposedly

written by the same friend who had the published the previously
mentioned tract, is said to have referred:

in a kindly manner to the propagandist labors of Michael

Maier, and assures the anonymous but illustrious Tyroso-
phus that his Rosicrucian apologies were not written in vain,
and hints broadly that he was at length admitted into their
Order, which still holds out the promise of initiation to others
when the proper time shall have arrived.

One piece by the same friend asserts M aier's ignorance, the oth­
er, allegedly written under a pseudonym, broadly hints, but that does
not imply uncertainty either. And further, the pseudonym chosen is
Benedict Hilarión. Does Hilarión imply the term hilarious? Inquiring
minds wish to know.
 Píate #3: The Heroic
Count of Toulouse

o far, I have shown that the positions of Sir Francis Bacon

S
at best.
and Fra. M ichael M aier in the pantheon of Rosicrucians re-
lated to AMORC as part of a continuing tradition is troubled

In the case of Lord Raymond VI, the Count of Toulouse, who

graces the third consecutive píate in the Manual, we need to be care-
ful in examining AMORC's transcription below the píate, which is
actually a photograph of a sculpture of the Count and, I believe, a
supernatural figure, possibly holding a shield, hovering above him.
Here is what the inscription says:

Lord Raymond VI who, as Count of Toulouse, refused to

prosecute the mystics who laid the foundation for Rosicru­
cian philosophy in Southern France in the Thirteenth Centu-
ry. As a mystic martyr, his body was refused burial in "Holy
Ground" but was preserved for 600 years in the Knights Tem­
plar Building, built by his forefathers.

If you read carefully—of course noting the magic term "Tou­

louse," key to Lewis's initiation to come in the far distant future when
Toulouse became a center of the Rosicrucian w ord—you will realize
that Lord Raymond is not being credited for being a Rosicrucian but
for laying "the foundation for Rosicrucian philosophy in Southern
France in the Thirteenth Century."
Who were the "m ystics" that Lewis is talking about?
They were undoubtedly the Cathars, and, indeed, Raymond VI
spent a great deal of time defending them and was excommunicated
twice for this. No doubt he tried very hard to protect these members
of his community from one of the most deplorable acts in history —
genocide. William Henry, occult historian and investigad ve mythol-
ogist, describes the act as being orchestrated by the Catholic Church
between 1208 and 1244 "with a viciousness and detestable arrogance
paralleled only by the Nazi atrocities during WW II---- The reason
the Church resorted to the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of
Cathars most certainly had to do with their alternative views about
Jesús."
If you look at various claims about the views of the Cathars, the
conventional view is that they were dualists, believing in a god of
good, represented by Jesús, an icón of human perfection, and a god
of puré evil. Their views on reincarnadon clearly challenged the
prevailing concept of Pauline salvatíon, meaning one life and either
heaven or hell, depending on one's acceptance of Jesús as God as
dictated by the fourth-century Council of Nicaea.
It is quite possible that the Cathars were not simple dualists. Their
infatuation with the works of St. John the Divine, alleged author of
the book of Reveladon, indícate a more mystical, non-Trinitarían
view associated with the transformation from an ordinary human
into an illuminated spiritual being. To this end, the great religious
historian Mircea Eliade writes of a shamanistic culture that existed in
far northern tribes, tribes that may have been composed of refugees
trom Languedoc. He describes the culmination of a series of initia-
tions called the anga-ak-oq-, an Eskimo term very similar in sound to
Languedoc (L'ang-ak-oq):

A mysterious light [appears] which the shaman suddenly

feels in his body, inside his head, within his brain, an inex­
plicable searchlight, a luminous fire which enables him to see
with both eyes, both literally and metaphorically speaking,
for he can now, even with closed eyes, see through darkness
 and perceive things and coming events which are hidden
from others.

So you have a píate in the Manual, right next to Sir Francis Bacon
and Michael Maier, representing a heroic figure who was not identi-
fied with the Rosicrucians but with a very celebrated and persecuted
group of people. It is likely this group was mystically oriented and
undoubtedly believed in reincarnation.
If Ramond wasn't a Rosicrucian, why choose him as a model for
the Manual? To find an explanation, we may have to put aside our
rational doubts for a moment and look at its placement as just a small
embellishment of Lewis's story in light of the manipulative efforts at
historical revisionism Lewis seems to deploy as a master of hypno-
tism and mind control.
The Count was true nobility and very much infused with royal
blood. On his mother's side, his grandfather was Louis VI of France
and his únele was Louis VII. Raymond was a peacemaker, and, upon
succeeding his father as the Count of Toulouse, made peace with two
enemies, Alfonso II of Aragón, also called The Troubadour, and a no­
ble family in Languedoc known as the Trencavel. Languedoc was to
be the site of Lord Raymond VI's most heroic gestures.
Raymond got in trouble with the Church because he tolerated
the Cathars, a sect of Christianity that believed in reincarnation and
has sometimes been described as mystical. Raymond tried to negoti-
ate with the Church but failed and was excommunicated because of
the assassination of one of the Pope's representatives, allegedly by
the hands of Raymond's followers. He later was forgiven by the Pope
but then erred on the side of good again and was excommunicated
once more.
Béziers was a center of Catharism in Languedoc, and, after the
murder of his legate, the Pope decided to unleash the Albigensian
Crusade, one of the most brutal episodes of its time. Prior to the first
assault on the city of Béziers, Arnaud Amaury, an abbot who was
both the legate of the Pope and the commander of the expedition,
was asked how to distinguish the Cathars from the Catholics. He
said in a phrase immortalized for its extreme violence, "Kill them
all. The Lord will recognize his own." Twenty thousand people were
killed, and the city of Béziers was burned to ashes.
This was just the beginning. Casualty estimates of the crusade
run up to one million. After the Albigensian Crusade, the remain-
ing Cathars were hunted down and burned at the stake unless they
repented.
To say that the Count of Toulouse's defense of the Cathars paved
the way for Rosicrucian philosophy in Southern France in the thir-
teenth century, would require a more complete linkage than is pro-
vided in the inscription. One might think, without reading carefully,
that the Count was a Rosicrucian, but implied linkage of this sort is
often a central effort of AMORC pretensions to authenticity.
Although this is a light form of mind control, creating associa-
tions in the mind of the victim that do not necessarily mean what
they appear to mean is a way to take advantage of high suggestibility
and the low amount of research and investigation usually conduct-
ed by a cult victim, particularly after they have been involved for a
while and the mind control has taken root in their subconscious.
If the Rosicrucian Society did eventually exist in France, how did
the actions of the Count pave the way for its foundations there? Was
it because some of the Cathars went underground, and they were
recruited by the Rosicrucians? Was it because some people remem-
bered who the Cathars were, even though their brothers and sisters
were mostly murdered and their sacred documents destroyed? Had
they told a few people before and after they joined a secret society,
assuming they could find it? It is really difficult to find out what any
of this banter about the Count means.
But it all sounds very good.
 Plates #4. #5. and #6

he next two plates present H. Spencer Lewis and Mrs. Mary

T Banks-Stacey side by side. However logical they may seem,

these two controversial members depicted in the plates in
the Manual represent the epitome of the earthly manifestation of
AMORC and are endowed by the Manual with an aura of sublime re-
spectability. According to various sources on the Internet, it is stated
that Banks-Stacey was in the inner circle of Theosophy. Was she actu-
ally responsible for the next píate, a portrait of one of the most iconic
masters of Theosophy, Master Kuthumi, whom H. Spencer Lewis ad-
opted for his own organization?
Below the píate featuring Kuthumi, the caption says "T h e Ilus-
trious' D. G. M. of Tibet (Bod-Yul) Beloved Hierophant of the R. C."
Kuthumi and Master Morya were allegedly the master teachers who
contacted Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott and assisted them
in founding the Theosophical Society in 1875. After that the contact
was supposed to have continued with Alice Bailey. There was also a
connection with Guy Ballard's "I AM " movement, including Geraldine
Innocente, who was also associated with Mark Prophet, a channeler
who was eventually married to another channeler known as Elizabeth
Claire Prophet of the Summit Lighthouse. If you go on the Internet,
you can find lots of pictures and lots of channelers for this entity.
AMORC describes Kuthumi or the M aster KHM as the "Deputy
Grand Master of the Great White Brotherhood." It says he once was
Thutmose III of Egypt and the illuminator of the Zoroastrian work,
the Zend-Avesta. Most recently, he was in a secret Asian monastery.
According to AMORC, "The Pharaoh Thutmose III is credited with
having established the first 'Secret Brotherhood' during the time of
his reign, between 1500 and 1447 BC."
The fact is that the existence of Kuthumi was challenged in the
nineteenth century, when he first appeared in Theosophical circles
along with M aster Morya. According to an article by Patrick Mar-
solek in the Atlantis Rising Magazine called "The Mahatmas and
Their Letters":

Madam Blavatsky said she first met the mahatmas Morya

and Koot Hoomi, also known as Kuthumi or K.H., during her
travels throughout Asia seeking wisdom and ancient knowl-
edge in the mid-1800s. In a letter to a friend, Blavatsky wrote:
"N ow Morya lives generally with Koot Hoomi who has his
house in the direction of the Kara Korum Mountains, beyond
Ladak, which is in Little Tibet and belongs now to Kashmir.
It is a large wooden building in the Chínese fashion, pagoda-
like, between a lake and a beautiful mountain." Blavatsky
felt she had known Morya since she was a little girl and had
been receiving teachings from him by clairvoyant means her
whole life. When she met him in the flesh for the first time,
she fell into an ecstatic rapture.

The fact that their existence was challenged does not necessar­
ily discredit their existence, but it is not impossible that Lewis took
Kuthumi on for the same reason he took other components of his
history on. A little research reveáis at least the metaphysical claims
about these figures, and it would be quite possible that someone who
accepted Blavatsky's claims could easily accept Lewis's system.
The next two plates present H. Spencer Lewis and Mrs. Mary
Banks-Stacey. Was Banks-Stacey supportive of this introduction of
Kuthumi into AMORC? Yes, there are various references to her be­
ing a member of the "inner circle" of Theosophy. But in her case, I
have not really been able to track that information down. But even
if she was, was she responsible for Lewis's choice of a theosophical
platform for his Cosmic Masters? I doubt if that could be determined
at all.
Why would Lewis so blatantly deviate from a more Rosicrucian
set of personages for his pantheon? Why Kuthumi?
I tend to think it was easier because by using Theosophy, regard-
less of its literary deviation from Rosicrucian writings, it gave him
the opportunity to assimilate a whole lot of ready-made "truths"
that were extensively chronicled in Blavatsky's works and by vari­
ous followers and, perhaps, imitators. Those truths would, therefore,
include theosophical terms like "The Great White Brotherhood" or
"The Great White Lodge." A wealth of concepts and exotic person­
ages were now at H. Spencer Lewis's fingertips if he accepted these
entities and these concepts.
It is perhaps interesting to see how the Manual distinguishes
between "The Great White Lodge" and "The Great White Brother­
hood."
According to the Manual, the Cosmic Masters live periodically
on both the Cosmic Plañe and on the Earth Plañe. When they are on
the Cosmic Plañe, they carry on the Great Work while waiting to be
reborn on Earth. They also help prepare some of the masters for their
next incarnation on Earth. Those reborn will either assist or become
the imperators, magi, and hierophants of various Great White Broth­
erhood organizations. All of these, collectively, become the Holy As-
sembly of the Great White Lodge.
The Great White Brotherhood, on the other hand, is a school or
fraternity of the Great White Lodge. Admission to the Great White
Lodge is cultivated by its various members as they progress through
the teachings. The Great White Brotherhood does not ever host an
assembly of members, and, therefore, any organization claiming to
do just that is basically a hoax, according to the Manual.
It is worth considering how this master is related to the member-
ship practices described in the Manual.
Is it expected that some Cosmic Master will make an appearance
in the life of a student of AMORC?
Most certainly.
In the section of the Manual called "Attaining Psychic Illumina-
tion," it says quite clearly in defining what is called "Cosm ic Initia-
tion" into the Great White Brotherhood that:

herein the M aster will appear to the student who is ready, to

take him under personal instruction, and lead him (or her)
on to higher development, where, some day, Mastership in
the Great White Brotherhood is certain, and assignment to
service as Imperator, Magus or Hierophant in some phase of
the work on earth will then bring affiliation with the Great
White Lodge.

1 never saw one of these "M asters" no matter how high I climbed
in the degrees. Ñor did I ever hear of any encounters like that from
members I personally knew.
Maybe I was just unlucky, along with everyone else I knew.
 Claims: The Achille's Heel of lVlind
Control— The Manual as an Example
of AM O RC'S Platform for Claims

s we have proceeded through the beginning of the Manual,

A I think it is time to review the reasons I am going through

all this and what it means to you, the reader, as someone
who may be trapped in AMORC or a similar cult, have loved ones
trapped in a cult, or are investigating AMORC or another organiza-
tion to see if it is a cult. Or perhaps you are just a curious person,
anxious about knowing what a cult organization is so that you, your
family, and friends won't be trapped—a kind of preventative main-
tenance, if you will. Or you could be a journalist or an author look-
ing for more information about cults.
An exit counselor was not the primary reason I got out of
AMORC. (Although after I left, I had a few pricey sessions that were
well worth it.) For the most part I was on my own, and it was par-
tially literature on the Internet and partially books from the anticult
perspective that helped me understand what had happened to me.
I have already written a book called Darirtg to Speak o f Darkness Part
I that discusses some of the great books about exiting from cult in-
fluences. In the book, I talk about such wonderfuJ writers and exit
counselors as Steven Hassan, Margaret Singer, and Robert Jay Lifton.
Ultimately, my reading led me to writing books, which also involved
some research. That writing was therapeutic to me, but my research,
often based on hints I got from the anticult writers I read, gave me
direction.
So my work in "deprogram m ing" myself involved reading, re-
searching, and writing. (Deprogramming is now considered a some-
what archaic word like brainwashing, but to me, these words are still
useful.)
But what is all this studying and researching all about?
It is about studying the claims an organization makes and then
analyzing and dissecting th ese claim s. Ticket to Heaven is an older but
highly interesting feature film about escaping from a cult in the days
when deprogramming involved a kind of "kidnapping" and isola-
tion of the family member or friend trapped in a cult. In viewing the
film, you will see in a dramatic way how discrediting the cult's claims
can work. Released in 1981, the movie features a scene in which the
cult victim meets a "deprogram m er" who attacks the victim's asser-
tions about the cult, bringing up fact after fact that deflates the claims
of the cult leader.
When cult members encounter well-researched and verifiable
facts about their cult, they can begin to see things more clearly. Facts
have a way of ripping through a cult member's consciousness and
reaching into the hidden parts of the mind. It is through this process
of discovering the truth about their own deception and assimiliting
this new information that can help members alter their deep subcon-
scious fear-based reactions and face their fears of leaving the cult.
For instance, in my case, when I realized that I was being sub-
jected to a form of hypnotic mind control and was creating positive
hallucinations for myself, I began to realize that the leadership of
AMORC was doing the exact opposite of bringing me closer to the
Cosmic and to God. I began to lose respect for them and even felt a
great deal of fear when I contemplated inquiring further. At some
point, I realized that I needed to do things for others in that sphere
of influence and began to research and write to help others as well
as myself.
 Research— lts lmportance
and lts Various Levels

I
want to point out some things about research now.
There are many levels of research, and ¡t is to a cult member's
advantage to understand those levels.
Human beings are not necessarily omniscient, and understand-
ing this point may make the cult victim wary of trying to grab too
much certainty to valídate leaving the cult.
The fact is you do not have to valídate the falsity of every claim in
the organization to recognize the organization as a cult. You simply
need to understand that the claims made by the cult leadership are
not necessarily evidential. For that reason, if they are making those
types of supra-authoritarian claims, then you have the right to dis-
miss them as a reason for staying on in the cult.
Look at it this w ay—in American law, a man is innocent until he
is proven guilty. So, we can assume that you do not get sentenced un-
less someone can prove your guilt with persuasive evidence.
In this light, an organization, even one claiming to be a supreme
authority, could be given the honor of suspensión of judgment by a
member who is freshly evaluating the organization. After all, per-
haps you feel a loyalty to the organization, as many do, even though
filled with doubt.
So I say, don't torture yourself with blame for condemning your
organizador» without any real proof. Go ahead, seek the truth, and
give them a pass at innocence.
With your conscience clear, now objectively but ruthlessly look
at their claims of authority with the understanding that they are in-
nocent at holding this claim of absolutist authority until you find that
their claims cannot be verified in an absolute way.
And if your finding leaves you looking at historical, scientific, or
philosophic quicksand and the leadership cannot absolutely prove
their right to absolutism, then you can, with complete integrity, back
away and leave the organization you had at one time given a blank
slate.
Although there is hope for the lucky member of a cult who hap-
pens to doubt enough to do research, there are also a lot of difficul-
ties involved in the process. In the case of AMORC, there are not the
kinds of problems as in a cuJt where you live with other people and
have no privacy or where your time is scheduled out ad infinitum
and you are always in a state of extreme fatigue. Even if you are in a
cult where you have some time to yourself and do not have to hang
out with cult leaders or work like a dog all the time, there is a greater
obstacle—you rself.
I have spoken many times about the fact that a mind-control cult
is a factory for creating compliant cult personalities. This personality
is one that cancels out the authentic self—or Protean self, as Lifton
talks about in his w riting—and replaces it with a personality that on
the one hand is motivated by its being a member of an elite group
and on the other hand is riddled with fear of losing all sense of worth,
community, and perhaps the grace of God by leaving the group.
In the very earliest stages of recovery, when one admits one may
have a problem, the cult personality may still domínate. In my case,
I started and stopped my inquines at different times. I even left and
then carne back to the group when the magical thinking indoctri-
nated into me by AMORC made me think that a bit of bad luck was
due to my leaving the group so I ran back for the comfort of the
egregor—the group consciousness of AMORC that binds you into
the good graces of the Cosmic.
For those in that position who are reading this, they need to be
aware of the tug and pulí of the lower consciousness and try to not
be overwhelmed by programming masking itself as boredom or fear
or evasiveness in regard to thoroughly investigating the institution
they belong to.
Besides the inner turmoil they may experience, a researcher may
also encounter divergent opinions by so-called experts in the field,
difficulty in accessing information, deliberate misinformation, lack
of original sources, too much information to handle easily, or nega-
tive criticism from colleagues doing similar research.
All of these are big problems for any researcher, but think of
what it's like for an investigator who is also a cult member. First of all,
there is the emotional ambivalence that I spoke of. Secondly, there is
the criticism of colleagues. Some of them might also be cult members
who have deep phobias about challenging the cult and the potential
consequences, which could mean being expelled from the commu-
nity and losing famíly and friends or being physically punished or
humiliated in front of a group if you are caught. Third, a researcher
may not be in a situation where he can easily access information be-
cause Computer or library access may be restricted.
As problematic as those things might be, the fact is that certain
groups will spend thousands, if not millions, of dollars to dump false
messages over the Internet and in the print press as well. Much of
that information could be described as deliberately misleading about
the cult practices. Sometimes the real information is very much bur-
ied and difficult to find. Even if you find it and publish it, you may
get very discouraging flak from people you know or people who
are already involved in cult research and could disagree with you.
(Remember, a lot of information, yours or theirs, could be largely
fictional.)
Research has its limitations and is not the final answer, but it
does have its rewards if carefully done.
Let me point out that there are many levels of research, and even
if you believe your sources are honest, they can make mistakes too.
Research into truth is clouded by the reality that there are many
forces out there that love to disseminate information, and perhaps
the two greatest offenders are governments and cults. In cults, some-
times the motives are political, sometimes financial, and sometimes
driven by race or ethnic hatred.
I believe that H. Spencer Lewis had a variety of motives, but it
is hard to put them together. Various people, ranging from Crowley
to members of FUDOSI in AMORC's early stages to alleged financial
victims of AMORC to New York law enforcement officials who ac-
cused Lewis of fraud, thought he was perpetuating a scam for com-
mercial reasons. In my experience, the financial aspect was definitely
a major motivator. As Milko Bogaard says in his discussion of FU-
DOSI:

In the beginning of the twentieth century the Traditional Or-

ders still gathered in Lodges where the members received the
instructíons directly from the teacher, and this newly created
system of A.M.O.R.C. was looked upon as a "blasphemy."
The A.M.O.R.C. system of teaching combined with the adver-
tising-campaigns proved to be successful because it attracted
a lot of new (paying) members. This way, A.M.O.R.C. became
one of the leading Initiatic Orders of the thirties with Grand
Lodges all over the world. Also, this kind of "m anagem ent"
proved to be a financial success___Financially, A.M.O.R.C.
was, and still is, the richest mystical Order on the planet.

In a brief discussion of Lewis's claim that he had the authority of

"the French Rosicrucian O rder" and Massanda Khan, Bogaard says—
to cut a long story short—AMORC was looked upon as "a business
and a fraud! Especially by the members o f ...t h e FUDOFSI" —the
FUDOFSI being an organization developed by other esoteric organi-
zations who objected to the sanctimonious claims of FUDOSI.
As you can see, the financial motive is questioned here, but there
is aiso what you might cali a political m otive—a motive to attack
the Masonic organizations and the entire Judaic culture during a
time when the Nazis were discriminating against, harassing, and
exterminating millions of Jews. As you have seen, Lewis, in a letter
in 1937, when the Jewish persecution had begun openly and vigor-
ously, denied that any such persecution was happening. And, during
the 1930s, he visited and spoke encouragingly about Mussolini, who
allied his country with the Nazis during World War II. Here, you
can see the political motive entwined with what appears to be a dis-
guised hatred for Masons and Jews.
In researching all these elements discussed so far, there is no
question that there are some large questions that would need to be
answered if everything could be addressed in a perfect world.
But I ask you this. If what I said here, supplemented, of course,
by your own research, casts a real shadow of doubt over the orga­
nizaron you are affiliated with, isn't it time to say sayonara to that
organization? If the organization is so powerful, why does it seem
to bury itself in so much secrecy that it can't convey its reality to its
chosen disciples? And why do so many of its characteristics seem so
like the cults described in anticult literature?
Maybe it's time to take a stand and leave!
 he question of readiness is raised in the Manual in conjunction

T with the following question: "W hat is the ultímate goal of Rosi-
crucian study and preparation?" The initial, although perhaps
provisional, answer is to meet a Cosmic Master. It is in relationship to
this discussion that the Manual specifically refers to Helena Blavatsky
as a personal student of Kuthumi, who I have spoken about, thereby
tying Lewis's Rosicrucian tradition to Theosophy.
We have already discussed the Great White Lodge and the Great
White Brotherhood—both theosophically derived terms. After these
descriptions, the Manual then explains how the student is prepared
for "Cosm ic Initiation," when a Master will appear to the student to
guide him on the next phase of his journey.
The Manual says, "The real preparation of which we are speak-
ing is for the purpose of ultimately being admitted, by Cosmic Initia­
tion, into the Great White Brotherhood."
The teaching itself will proceed through moments, sometimes for
as much as weeks, of Cosmic lllumination, with or without the pres-
ence of a teacher. Often these experiences will occur in the evening
or durirvg periods of rest and can result in extraordinary invigoration
and even healing of the physical body.
The Manual then relates how Cosmic Consciousness, appearing
first somewhat like the awakening of intuition encountered by its
members before, appears and relates events occurring in the pres-
en t—apparently outside of the member's perception—and in the
near future. The Manual mentions that these experiences may be
with or without the sense of the presence of an ethereal teacher. It
also makes very clear that when a member reaches the highest de-
grees, it is important he continúes to relate to the physical organiza-
tions represented by AMORC around the world as he prepares to
become a member of the Great White Brotherhood.
I think it is interesting how the various phases of this spiritual
journey, including the descriptions of Cosmic Consciousness, seem at-
tuned to various degrees, levels of membership, and contact with en-
lightened individuáis. To me, the mystical spiritual message is more
attuned to seeking a certain state of consciousness, often referred to
as the Presence of God or the Shekinah in Hebrew and referred to as
the Kingdom of God in the New Testament. Somehow, it seems that
Cosmic Consciousness in AMORC is more defined by its attributes in
regard to certain psychic gifts than in regard to what might be called
a form of communion with a specific state of consciousness.
When Jesús spoke of the Kingdom of God, he said, "Seek ye
first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and all else will be
granted unto you." Granted, there are many fundamentalists who
will take this literally, but, as I said, I take it as a state of mind identi-
fied with the Presence of God and the idea of Cosmic Consciousness.
This is an idea that preceded the birth of the Order and was probably
first publicized in Richard Maurice Bucke's book, also called Cosmic
Consciousness, in 1901.
Seeking an organization and its ascended masters, even on other
planes; acquiring psychic powers, however well directed; or taking
journeys out of the body and on other planes are not the same as
seeking communion with the Divine Presence, an entirely beautiful
and profound experience and one that perhaps truly contains the se-
crets of manifestation.
Do such a state and an organization to support it really exist?
I am not sure of the answer. Even if an organization supports
the existence of that level of awareness, I am quite sure the existence
of the organization would never be able to trump the fact of divine
communion with knowledge of that vast power and reality.
I
n the Manual, AMORC makes a big point out of the two things
that their monographs offer—training the brain to comprehend
certain "fundamental laws and principies leading up to a com-
prehension of higher laws" and utilizing certain exercises to increase
psychic powers.
The Manual warns its readers that if the exercises are not per-
formed regularly, "there will be very little psychic development" and
"no real progress will be m ade." In fact, the Manual says the process
will really be like studying books on philosophy and metaphysics.
In my experience in AMORC, there are, indeed, many members
who do not really pay much attention to the exercises. These mem­
bers have a perspective, a kind of innocence, that I no longer share.
Because I wanted to taste of the fruit of alignment with the Cosmic
and the egregor, I pushed myself mightily in the direction of the ex­
ercises. In fact, my life was consumed with special kinds of breath-
ing, sleep postures, chanting, a special morning exercise, visualiza-
tions, and the like.
The way I look at it now, these exercises have little or nothing to
do with true spiritual development but are a royal road to experi-
encing radical changes in perception, heightened suggestibility, and
personality that make the member a candidate for perpetual mem-
bership in fu 11 compliance with the wishes of the Order, whose fun­
damental goal is member retention. Real progress is in the direction
of losing touch with your real self and becoming a robotic personal-
ity with an inflated idea of your significance in the universe.
I don't want anyone to think there aren't any phenomena in-
volved, because there most definitely are. If you are a master of hyp-
nosis like H. Spencer Lewis was, you understand that hypnotic sug-
gestions can be made without the presence of a human hypnotist.
Nowadays, this is often done with tapes or even audio-visual presen-
tations, but it also can be done by repetitive reading in conjunction
with certain "m editative" or consciousness-altering exercises.
Hallucinatory phenomena can be easily mistaken for auras or
visitations of one thing or another. With the power of hypnosis, cata-
tonic states, positive hallucinations, posthypnotic suggestions, and
even physical symptoms like blisters after touching an entirely cool
wooden pencil can be induced. Students are warned about the time
it might take to produce psychic phenomena, but it is a fact that this
kind of indoctrination through literature and exercises takes time as
well.
As far as I am concerned, those members who have blissfully
ignored the exercises often have an innocence and unassessed lean-
ing toward gullibility. They are easily susceptible to the writings
that keep them in the Order without the more aggressive bondage
of mind control. When I was in the Order, I pitied these members'
inexperienced, unquestioning academic relationship to AMORC.
Now, I envy them, for they always have a way out of the Order
without the psychological trauma of becoming a dual-minded cult
personality like I was. Unlike me, they won't need to fight for years
for every inch of personal liberation.
 Attaining Psychic lllumination:
________Psychic Development

S
tudents are advised that the lessons are in a specific sequence
and revolve around awakening certain psychic centers. So a
certain monograph may be followed by a sequence of mono-
graphs meant to accomplish the same thing. It is stated that "we
come into each incam ation at a point in psychic development where
we left off in the process at the time of transition in a previous in-
carnation." Still—and this is constantly stated in different ways—it
takes time to manifest these abilities, and it would be better if the
student didn't worry about psychic development and simply did the
reading and the exercises.
Although I was fascinated by some of the concepts of spiritual
evolution, mv main concern was attuning myself to the will of the
Cosmic and being able to manifest the kind of prosperity I needed to
survive and be able to support my family.
Now, after years of futilely waiting for this prosperity to manifest
in the Order, I find myself surprised by how difficult it is to manifest
prosperity in the real world but how easy it is to do these exercises
blindly while always hoping for the next level of manifestation. Be-
sides despairing that I could ever reach the point of success 1 had
while still in engineering school, I found my personality charged
with irrational fears, spasmodic anger outbursts, and even blackouts.
I had not really studied much before I carne into the Order, but
the Manual implies that even people who had studied and experi-
enced various psychic phenomena might suddenly find that their
progress seems to have stopped. In a way this happened to me in
regard to an experiment I did with astral projection, for this ability
seemed to stop as well.
One of the ways that this "stoppage" is explained is to tell new
members that formerly they were on a path of belief, but now they
are on a path of knowledge and real manifestation. And toward this
effort, they need to be disciplined and have control over what they
wish to experience. I have to admit that I never experienced any-
thing, even a simple aura, that I could manifest or develop further. I
believe that heightened suggestibility and magical thinking was the
key to my long imprisonment in AMORC.
Now I believe the whole concept of centers utilized by AMORC,
however delineated, is not really the route of a true esoteric quest.
The centers, described for instance as the branches or Seforim of the
Otz Chiim (the Tree of Life) in Judaic mysticism, represent faculties of
man falling into a kind of geometric or harmonic disharmony with
the Shekinah or Divine Presence. The enlightened route to under-
standing the role of these centers (or chakras, meaning wheels, in San-
skrit) is to return them to their proper focus, direction, and balance
so that the human personality can blend into its original state of har-
mony with the Divine. We are talking about the dissolution of the
ego, that part of our individuality that separates us from the Divine
Presence.
I think that focus on the chakras as the foci of psychic power
invokes more separation from the Divine Presence and strengthens
the ego rather than dissolving it. We should be interested primarily
in spiritual, not psychic, development.
 hen I think of the passages in the Manual that refer to the

W extent of AMORC's global outreach, I am again awed at

the power of Lewis's visión. As he speaks of AMORC's
international presence in "The Americas, British Commonwealth,
France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden and Africa/' I am
reminded of the story of AMORC's origins and how Lewis was origi-
nally permitted to open up a branch of the International Order of
Rosicrucians in America. By the time he joined FUDOSI, the extent
of AMORC was already international. Was AMORC itself quietly as-
suming the role of the International Order he had allegedly joined?
By the time I entered the fold, AMORC had become in my mind the
single highest-level organization on Earth representing the Cosmic
hierarchy.
The other day I heard a program with E. Bernard Jordán and
Carlton Pearson, both somewhat controversial ministers in the world
of evangelical Christianity. They were talking about transiting from
different spiritual paradigms, from a paradigm based on faith to a
paradigm based on knowing. Jordán emphasized his belief in ques-
tioning everything one believed every day and trying to penetrate
to the reason for each and every belief. Pearson told a riveting story
about his horror at seeing the wife of a renowned minister in a pant-
suit in the 1950s and even greater horror and disappointment seeing
his own mother garbed in that way. After facing his tearful disgust
and disillusionment, Pearson had to ultimately believe that it was his
attachment to a false belief about the inappropriateness of a woman
wearing a pantsuit that was the cause of his nightmare and not the
ethical or spiritual reality of the precept that had been so solidly con-
ditioned his mind.
AMORC's methodology of instilling belief in its members is now
something that I have questioned and criticized for years. One of the
key tools of my liberation from AMORC was my unyielding commit-
ment to examining and pulling apart every claim of AMORC that I
had accepted. AMORC talks about demonstrations and "know ing,"
but I protest. Most of what I have come to see as "know ing" is really
accepting things in the monographs and the Manual because of the
grand place of authority AMORC declared for itself in the world.
These beliefs are enhanced by mind control, the hypnotic condition-
ing buried in its exercises, and in the reading matter provided—as
well as the trappings of ritual and grandeur found in the lodge.
When I entered AMORC, I thought my beliefs were turned into
knowing; by the time I ended my stay, I saw all this knowing turned
right back into blind belief.
To paraphrase Hitler: the bigger the lie, the wider its acceptance.
And H. Spencer Lewis never did anything in a teeny, tiny way. When
he first spoke, it was as the imperator of America. By the time he
died, he was the imperator of the entire world.
 Attaining Psychic lllumination:
Controlling Psychic Manifestation

he Manual states that AMORC's path leads to bringing psychic

T manifestations under one's control and direction. The instruc-

tions bring those faculties "to a more perfect state of function-
ing." They say that sometimes the kind of manifestations that hap-
pened to a member before he joined the Order may stop owing to
the intervention of nature. Later on, under the proper Rosicrucian
tutelage, all of this will manifest again but in a proper way.
I can safely say that in more than two decades of membership in
the Order, I only saw sporadic things like auras, strange coincidenc-
es, mystical-seeming dreams, or a few bits of lucky events coming
my way. They could remotely be called psychic manifestations but
nothing like the more hardcore psi experiences reported throughout
the world like clairvoyance, telekinesis, and precognitions.
Why did I stay in the Order, then? I stayed because I believed
the Order would put me in harmony with the Cosmic and therefore
bring prosperity into my financially starved existence. Some of it was
based on a few, somewhat strange events from time to time, which
were blown up by "magical thinking."
What is "magical thinking"? In a cult, it is a kind of "spiritual-
izing" of your thinking so that you reduce many things to fit into a
certain formula that "proves" the cult or cult leadership is somehow
behind events in your life. I believe that when I was a student, be-
fore I became "program m ed," I did not think this way. In fact, the
way I earned money, the way I got the grades that led me to a very
prestigious school, and the way I gained connections that led me to
a government job involved an eminently practical way of thinking.
I was, at the time, a very shrewd judge of character and a master
of acting in such a way as to fit into a society that was very class-
conscious and would normally reject someone coming from the level
of poverty I was brought up in. All of this thinking was basically
shredded by AMORC's programming, and I became embroiled in a
very strange dichotomy, thinking I was both a part of a spiritual elite
that ruled the world and a worthless, quasi-homeless urchin without
any sense of direction or purpose.
Once I got out, I recognized that my attachment to the cult was
based on a very large dose of unreality and that claims of being able
to control psychic manifestations were baseless in my experience.
Such skills were certainly not transmitted to me by most of the mem­
bers I knew in AMORC.
When you do not have any real demonstrable psychic manifes­
tations outside of reasonably clear hypnotically induced hallucina-
tions, you can hardly say that you have controlled the sporadic mani­
festations that carne into your life befo re. In fact, you are controlling
nothing.
 Attaining Psychic lllumination:
All the Help 1 Could Ever Want

ccording to Merriam-Webster, a daymare is "a nightmarish

A fantasy experienced while awake." That is exactly the kind

of experience I began to have regularly during the end of
my association with AMORC. I took my experience to the correspon-
dence división of AMORC, lauded by the Manual as a citadel of car-
ing and careful attention to the many challenges faced by members.

The interests of our members are our interests; their personal

problems are our problems wherever it lies within our power
to help them.

But what if the problems are fostered by AMORC's exercises and

their constant programming through their monographs and lodge
events?
Another type of programming is developed in the "Losing Psy­
chic Contact" section, where it says in regard to members:

He may suspend his studies for a time because of traveling,

but such circumstances make the average member realize the
need for cióse contact with the Order, and he never permits
his membership in the Order to lapse for an hour.
 It also says that unlike other organizations that might say, "Once
a member, always a member," in AMORC, "Membership means CON-
TACT, active affiliation." Although it is true that a person can stop
working at his lessons and still have the secret passwords, grips, and
signs and so forth, members must remain active. This is not just an
observation or a recommendation; it is a threat.

No member ever really knows the loss he will sustain in a

sudden emergency in his own affairs or those of his family,
if he severs his contact or affiliation with the Order. This loss
is a result of not having at such a time, the influence or the
power, which the Organization could and would give, were
he actively associated with him.

As I mentioned in my book The Prisoner o f San José,

Basically, in general, AMORC claims time does not exist for

a Rosicrucian. Except, of course, when your membership is
due. In fact, time becomes so real at this point, you become
very aware that if your membership commitments aren't met
on time, you will be automatically cut from the Egregor.
Severing one's connection to the Egregor, the sacred pat-
tern of the Order on other planes, may not sound so severe
to an outsider, but, to a Rosicrucian, now dependent on the
organization, this is a powerful threat for a Rosicrucian who
believes his fundamental connection to God is linked to his
association with the Egregor of AMORC.

The threat is definitely there in the Manual, but it has much more
serious implications for someone who is a card-carrying member.
 Attaining Psychic lllumination:
Divine lllumination
_____ and Blavatskv's lVlasters

he concept of a Cosmic Consciousness or Divine lllumination

T has been written about in hundreds of books. The Manual refers

to it as "Sublim e Joy," and members are constantly enjoined to
seek the experience. The manual also makes the point that although
AMORC may represent the Great White Brotherhood on Earth, the
Great White Brotherhood and the Great White Lodge do not exist as
organizations per se, and, although the Rosicrucian Order is visible,
these other entities are invisible as a body.
In the section called "The Work of the Great M asters," we hear
something explicitly about Helena Blavatsky and the claim that
AMORC is working with those same masters that she worked with.
Still, very little is written about how AMORC carne in touch with
these masters in the first place. You'd think that would be an interest-
ing story.
During the early days of Theosophy, a great deal was written
by Blavatsky and others about these masters. Yet, in AMORC, prac-
tically nothing is written about them, even in the monographs. In
the Manual, it says that Blavatsky was given permission by one of
her masters to introduce him to the world. Reporting about her con-
nection in her magazine, Lucifer, in May of 1891, she makes light of
her claim that the telepathic dictation she received was something
strange or unnatural.

Every word of [esoteric] information found in this work [/sis

Unveiled] or in my later writings, comes from the teachings of
our Eastern Masters; and . . . many a passage in these works
has been written by me under their dictation. In saying this
no supernatural claim is urged, for no miracle is performed
by such a dictation___Space and distance do not exist for
thought; and if two persons are in perfect mutual psycho-
magnetic rapport, and of these two, one is a great Adept in
Occult Sciences, then thought-transference and dictation of
whole pages, become as easy and as comprehensible at the
distance of ten thousand miles as the transference of two
words across a room.

The Manual says:

We, who have contacted her Master and others, who are
working under their direction, know what marvelous things
are done by and through them daily, although we are often
directed in strange ways and unknown methods to carry out
their plans, the end of which we know not until they are com-
pleted.

An official short biography of H. Spencer Lewis by Christian

Rebisse titled "H. Spencer Lewis, Restorer of Rosicrucianism " goes
into the history of the Order, but never mentions Blavatsky.
You'd think this would be quite an epic part of Lewis's tale, but it
seems strangely buried.
 The Rosicrucian Code of Life:
Rituals and Common Sense

ne of the most common attributes of a cult is the way it con-

O stantly absorbs your time and energy. The Rosicrucian Code

of Life does not appear to do exactly that but, if you see it in
light of the monographs, which flesh out some of its points, it cer-
tainly does.
There are rituals in the morning and in the evening, which are
indicated but not clearly spelled out in the Manual. The goal of the
morning ritual mentioned in the Manual requires a prayer of thank-
fulness while facing the East and inhaling fresh air with seven deep
breaths with the objective of spreading this energy to awaken the
psychic centers. Actually the real exercise was even more elabórate.
In the evening, it speaks about finishing up the work with the ex-
periments and asking the Cosmic Hosts to use your psychic services
when you sleep. But it fails to mention the sleep postures it recom-
mends. To convey my skepticism of one of their memory-improving
exercises, let me take a comment in my book AM ORC Unmasked.

When I think of this exercise, I don't think about improving

memory. I think of the many years I went to sleep in a certain
posture, supposedly conducive to sleep, and found just an-
other obstacle in the way of retaining my inner freedom and
my ability to rest. Now, I had to wake up in the morning and
 start my day with another exercise— I think I would feel
differently if some of these exercises actually worked, but
unfortunately I have not the slightest clue as to whether they
work or not. Except in the area of blocking the rest I needed.

The problem with the Code is that it only details a little bit of the
overarching demands that AMORC makes on its members. Just the
chanting and the breathing exercise are sufficient, if faithfully done,
to intersect much of your day. Add to this all kinds of visualization
exercises, extensive reading of the monographs, and additional late-
night rituals, and you can see how your life is consumed.
In the Code, they give special prayers for food; receiving bless-
ings from the material world, however acquired; and blessings for
receiving any special honors. As in a variety of religions, your life is
ritualized through prayer.
Now, who can argüe with kind tolerance of others' belief sys-
tems, not attempting to reform other people's lives, sharing with oth­
ers, being modest about one's achievements, respecting women, and
honoring your mother and father? All these ideas are straight out of
the religious teachings of all major religions.
Of course, it is mentioned that you should make sure to honor
the people who depend on you after your transition, and also re-
member to make "a deposition of some of your worldly blessings to
the superior body of your Rosicrucian O rder—that it may be helped
in the work it is doing for others." In layman's terms, AMORC is ask-
ing to be included in your will.
I believe that this last little part of the Code represents one of the
most important legacies of AMORC and is a financial benefit not to
be underestimated.
 Rosicrucian Dictionary: Astral Plañe,
Avatar. Black TVIagic. Dreaminq. Ego

I
think the "Rosicrucian Dictionary" in the Manual has some inter-
esting implications for an understanding of AMORC. I cannot go
through all the definitions, but I will analyze some of them.
Perhaps we could begin with the term Astral Plañe, which is de-
fined as the "Cosm ic, ethereal, Divine plañe." The Manual claims
that Rosicrucians only really refer to two planes: the material plañe
and that which is beyond —the Astral, Psychic, or Divine plañe. It
is interesting that Theosophy, from which AMORC has assimilated
some of its masters, categorically looks at seven planes that corre-
spond to seven principies. The principies are known as Atma, Bud-
dhi, Manas, Kamarupa, Prana, Linga Sharira, and Sthula Sharira.
In alchemy, planes are often linked up with the elements and
identified as physical, etheric, astral, mental, or causal. More than
two planes are found in most occult systems. The number usually
ranges from four to seven, sometimes as many as twelve.
In defining the word avatar, AMORC describes an advanced soul-
personality who has passed through many cycles of incarnation. He
can only be known for his "spiritual in sigh t. . . compassion, his hu­
man understanding, mastery of life and unselfish service."
Black magic is described as a form of magic depending on satanic
or demoniacal forces to do the bidding of the magician. Since these
forces are illusionary, black magic does not exist and can only harm
those who are hypnotized to believe in its reality.
I would say that AMORC's definítion of black magic does not
necessarily conform to other views and definitions of black magic,
which exelude the demonic. These definitions could involve manipu-
lation of a person's psyche against their will or knowledge, some-
times to solely serve one's own needs. If you are open to this defini-
tion, then you can clearly see how certain of AMORC's exercises are
attempts to influence people in such a way and manipúlate them un-
knowingly through the use of psychic powers—which some would
cali black magic.
The dictionary's definition of dreaming refers to the borderline
(or hypnogogic) state between sleeping and waking. The AMORC
dictionary does not mention anything about lucid dreaming, wak­
ing dreams, or out-of-body states. I experimented with some of this
prior to AMORC, and I would say that, whether or not it's important
to Rosicrucians, lucid dreaming is definitely important to many who
are on a spiritual path.
The term ego is defined as the subconscious self as opposed to
the objective self, which is not really defined in the Manual. It says
the ego is not used much in Rosicrucian teachings. Ego means "I"
in Latin. In Freudian terminology, it means the waking self. In com­
mon parlance, it often means that combination of self-interested and
selfish attitudes that keep one from being kind and objective toward
others. I do not think that defining ego as the subconscious self is a
very common way of defining this term.
 Rosicrucian Dictionary: Elementáis,
Fourth Dimensión. God. Hvpnotism

I
n defining elementáis, AMORC talks about salamanders and oth-
er nature spirits who preside over the various elements of fire,
earth, air, and water, and dismisses these beliefs and their poten-
tial manifestations as superstitious. It does not, however, completely
cióse down their reality in some other undisclosed, perhaps symbol-
ic, state. Elementáis figure in alchemical and other occult symbolism,
but AMORC does not discuss that.
The fourth dimensión is defined as nothing more than the rate of
electronic vibration. Of course, scientifically, the fourth dimensión is
generally defined as time.
In defining God, AMORC quotes an allegedly ancient ritual that
includes this pledge: "M an is God and Son of God, and there is no
other God but M an." They then say this has a mystical meaning and
is not to be taken literally. It is hard, therefore, to know what this re-
ally means.
It might pay to look carefully at the definition of hypnotism. It
talks of two methods of creating hypnosis: one by drugs and one by
"mental processes." It clearly states that sleep does not have to be a
result of the process.
Then it states categorically that "w hether hypnosis is produced
by drug or by any mental (or mind) process there must be certain
cooperation on part of the subject."
 This is a very interesting claim.
For one thing, suppose the subject is tricked into thinking that
a specific exercise, perhaps one using guided imagery, is meant to
sharpen one's ability to see auras, even though the purpose of the
exercise is to basically enable the subject to create positive hallucina-
tions in the form of auras. Does that count as cooperation? Would it
work if the operator said, "Hey, I know you want to see auras, so we
are going to do an exercise that will help you see auras"?
But then the subject, who might have been reading some of my
books, says, "Is this going to enable me to actually see auras, an ac­
tual colored vibrational emanation from a person's body, or is it go­
ing to help me manufacture an aura, which I am not really seeing
physically but am creating in my mind?"
AMORC also makes the claim that a "strong" mind is the best
subject and certain classes of mind cannot easily yield to hypnosis,
such as "the infant mind, the unsound mind, and the drugged and
intoxicated." A "weak m ind" does not have the power to concéntrate
well enough to be able to yield to the hypnotic state.
 Rosicrucian Dictionary: Hypnosis
Definition Continued, Uluminati,
lllumination. Kabala. Knowledqe

ne of the bolder statements made in the hypnotism definition

O is that "no one was ever placed in the state against his or her
will and cooperation (except through drugs)." I consider this
to be untrue. This often happens—that mind control is imposed on
an unwary subject—because the cult operator is deceiving the sub-
ject about what he is actually doing, thereby getting cooperation in
some manner. Later on, after the state is deepened, cooperation is
even easier. There are all kinds of ways to deepen the state.
Uluminati is defined as "the enlightened," another ñame for the
Rosicrucians in Toulouse in Southern France as well as in Germany
in the latter part of the eighteenth century. It does separate the no-
torious Illuminati organization of Adam Weishaupt from having a
stake in its real definition. Naturally, mentioning Toulouse deepens
the story of Lewis's alleged initiation there.
I like AMORC's definition of illumination, which refers to a form
of enlightenment of the mind, meaning essentially a "noetic expe-
rien ce. . . a kind of intuitive knowledge imparted to the individual
directly from transcendental sources such as the Cosmic." Now, I like
this definition, but I do not believe that it truly applies to most of the
people who are considered leaders in AMORC. I do not think the
fruits of AMORC are any type of noetic experience or true enlighten-
ment.
After examining AMORC carefully over a number of years, I
think the organization and its teachings are nothing but a compen-
dium of beliefs. Its affirmations about history, Science, religión, and
consciousness are without real anchorage in facts or experience but
instead are transmitted though the authority of belief as developed
by the imperator and its leadership. Not knowledge, not noetic expe­
rience. Puré faith.
 Rosicrucian Dictionary:
Life and Life Forcé

I
think this so-called Rosicrucian Dictionary says more about
AMORC than it does about the meaning of words. Sometimes I
like what it says, but I question where the authors have derived
their definitions from. Is AMORC a true Rosicrucian Order, or is it
really a fake Rosicrucian organization with a fabricated history that
rests a lot of its weight on the platform of Theosophy, which in my
opinion is not a Rosicrucian organization?
AMORC tries its best to present itself as a highly rational orga-
mzation that seeks to reconcile its mystical direction with that of Sci­
ence. It is not surprising, then, that it defines Life and Life Forcé as "the
mystery of all ages," for which a reductionist chemical or spiritual
explanation would never do. Cosmic forces must coexist with physi-
cal, scientifically describable forces.
AMORC discuss the term master but do not refer to its use in
lodges or as directors of degrees in the Order. They state that there
are both visible and invisible masters. Those who live in the Earth
plañe can project their psychic bodies in such a way that they can be-
come visible "under certain conditions." They can also project their
thoughts and impressions. Invisible masters have left the Earth and
onlv can project themselves in what AMORC calis the psychic plañe.
To experience these masters, the student must attune himself to the
psychic plañe.
 Mysticism is defined as "intím ate and direct awareness of God
or the Cosmic through self. That is through the domain o f the subcon-
scious." Then the definition says, "The ideal of mysticism is the ultí­
mate attainment of conscious unión with the absolute."
I have the same problem with this definition as 1 do with all of
AMORC's discussions of faculty psychology, which appears more
primitive than other systems and fundamentally confused. In some
systems, one speaks of the subconscious, the conscious, and the su-
perconscious. The subconscious refers to the underground stream
of thoughts and images that might surface in dreams but are below
the realm of consciousness. The conscious is the waking state. And
the superconscious is where Cosmic Consciousness functions as the
awareness of the Creator. Man, being a spark of the Creator, can unite
in consciousness with the Creator, thereby allowing some kind of
interface between the conscious and the superconscious. But how
can AMORC describe the connection between God and humanity as
conscious unión if mysticism occurs through the domain o f the subcon­
scious? The reality of it all is confusing enough, but AMORC's defini­
tion of mysticism only adds to the confusion.
 Rosicrucian Dictionary:
Matura] Law. Nous

I
n defining natural law, AMORC keeps to its consistent claim of
being a "cosm ic" organization that does not repudiate Science.
In this definition, AMORC denies the existence of "supernatural
law," saying it is "not only a m isnom er" but "m isleading." Miracles
are, according to AMORC, events that are perfectly consistent with
natural law. "M iracles as such are so only to those who do not under-
stand what is meant by natural law."
It is worth considering AMORC's definition of nervous system
owing to the fact that it describes the role of the nervous system in
spiritual perception. It describes the sympathetic nervous system as
a kind of liaison between the physical body and the soul, which per-
mits a human being to function psychically because its vibrations are
more subtle than the spinal nervous system's.
Nous, commonly translated as mind in Greek, is defined by
AMORC as "that energy, power and forcé emanating from the Source
of all Life" and is said to possess positive and negative polarity that
manifests at various speeds to establish the "world of form, be that
form visible or invisible." It is the "the Divine Substance, out of
which all things are made, yet is amenable to natural law." According
to this definition, nous vibrates and operates "through a system of
harmonics by means of a Cosmic Keyboard of 80 octaves." It further
says that nous could be said to be "a combination of Vital Life Forcé
and Cosmic Consciousness that helps form all forms of creation due
to the vibratory rate of each Nous wave."
In Pauline McDermott's book Beyond Reason: Evolving Conscious­
ness, she speaks about the Sanskrit term Akasha, which is defined as
either the fundamental etheric substance in the universe or all-per-
vasive space. Another view of the Akasha in theosophical terms is
stated in a discussion group commenting on Blavatsky's writings:

Esoteric Science teaches that the entire cosmos is pervaded

by Akasha, primordial substance, or rather the noumenon
the non-sensuous reality—beyond substance. In the Theo­
sophical Glossary, Akasha (from a Sanskrit word meaning
"brilliant" or "lum inous" is described as "the subtle, su-
persensuous spiritual essence, which pervades all space."
This primordial substance differentiates into all the forms of
matter, those of the invisible as of the visible regions of the
universe. Henee the definition of Akasha as "the Universal
Soul" . . . from which all that exists is born by separation or
differentiation. It is the cause of existence; it filis all the infi­
nite Space.

Theosophy defines nous more traditionally as the spirit or divine

mind. It is, in a sense, more directly related to the idea of Cosmic
Consciousness than what AMORC is defining as the underlying sub­
stance whose differentiating vibrations cause the different forms of
matter. If AMORC's masters are from Theosophy, why does their
metaphysical discussion differ so much from Theosophy? Why do
they use the term nous instead of the term Akasha?
 Rosicruciar» Dictionary:
Objective IVIind, Ontology

he definition of objective mind appears to be rather subjective to

T me. It is defined as "the Mundane M ind," which exists in the

physical body and operates in a selfish way, mainly to preserve
the physical body. It says that the objective mind should be construc-
tively selfish to serve the preservation of the body for its purpose
here on Earth, but generally it is not. It often seeks benefits for itself
as opposed to supporting others as well. According to the definition,
the objective mind can give orders to the subconscious mind to help
in its journey. The objective mind should be selfishly constructive,
but it is often selfishly destructive. So where is the objectivity with
two very opposite motivations confounding its stated purpose?
In discussing the term omnijjotent, defined as "having illimitable
power," AMORC points out that this power is constrained by the
cosmic laws established in the Beginning. So, the adherence to this
restriction of cosmic law gives true power to the Creator.
A great deal of effort goes into the definition of ontology, which
the Rosicrucian dictionary defines as "the study of the ultímate na-
ture of reality." Also, "It is the TRUE science of ALL being." Within
this definition, AMORC makes the point that its teachings truly con-
form to this definition and "can help humanity solve every problem
that is universal in character and application." The goal is not to
make "goodie-goodies" out of humanity but to make it N ORM AL."
In traditional philosophy, ontologi/ comes from the Greek words
óvtoc (pronounced ontos), which means "being; that which is," and
Aoyúx (pronounced logia), which means "to study." So, traditionally
ontology means the Science of being. Two classics on the subject were
written by two modern existentialists, Jean Paul Sartre, who wrote
Being and Nothingness, and Martin Heidegger, who wrote Being and
Time. Traditional philosophy doesn't have the practical pretensions
of AMORC, whose definition of ontology contains claims I funda-
mentally disagree with.
According to AMORC, its laws and principies "bring happiness,
success and ecstasy. When they are ignored, intentionally, or through
ignorance, they allow unhappiness, failure and despair to manifest."
It also claims that this course of study, which is based on the science
of vibrations, can give us the solutions to "solve economical, social,
ethical and religious problems."
First of all, I do not believe that AMORC renders any kind of re-
alistic information about "the science of vibrations" except in a thor-
oughly untestable and highly theoretical way. I do not think the ex-
ercises, given in the monographs, are really oriented to utilizing this
knowledge to help harmonize the human psyche with the manifold
vibrational structure of the Divine Presence, also called the Shekinah
or, if you like, Cosmic Consciousness.
Second of all, this misdirection —which occurs when a teaching
attempts to fulfill its stated goals by offering all kinds of alternative
theories and practices than what it pretends to b e —can produce cat-
astrophic results in the disappointed and disenfranchised member
who, instead of getting a taste of true cosmic awareness, becomes
imprisoned in a strange, dualistic mind-control system.
 Rosicrucian Dictionary:
Ontoloqy, Personalitv. Praver

he qjefinition of ontology does not stop there. It goes on to say

T that "by learning how to use natural, universal laws ¡n trans-

muting material, physical conditions and things, mankind
can leam how to transmute unfavorable conditions of whatever
kind." Further, these laws can be used to "spiritualize the pure-
ly m undane" and raise it "to the higher plañe of manifestation."
I say categorically this is not the case, at least in the instance of
AMORC.
In defining personality and individuality—l propose that AMORC
has the meanings reversed. It defines personality as the divinely
unique personality traits inherent in the soul, whereas individuality
is the collection of transient characteristics inherent in the "mortal
objective side of m an."
1 believe personality implies the traits of a person involved with
this life, and individuality or true individuality would be something
more cosmic and more connected to the soul.
In regard to the pineal and pituitary glands, AMORC makes
the same claim you can find in any occult literature; that is, they are
guardians of psychic perceptions capable of man if their functional-
ity is lifted, through special exercises, onto another level. In this dis­
cussion, AMORC does not distinguish between the functions of these
glands on a higher level, and I have no proof whatsoever of their
functioning on a higher level during all the years of my membership.
AMORC defines prayer as "a petition, a supplication or entreaty,
addressed usually to the Creator, for the granting of some special
request." I would like to say that this definition is of a prayer of peti­
tion as opposed to a prayer of communion, which expresses a desire
to commune with the Creator as a form of mystical unión.
In discussing prayer, AMORC talks about infallible laws that
must be followed in order to have prayers fulfilled. If these laws
didn't exist, then God could answer all prayers with chaos as a result.
Therefore, when a "m ystic" prays, he needs to not only ask for
the prayer to be granted but also that he be given all the information
and wisdom he needs to obey the laws that will allow for his prayer
to be answered. He also must be sure that his prayer is more than
50 percent altruistic. The best kind of prayer asks for characteristics
that make it possible to serve others better. Once so executed, the
petitioner then has eam ed a certain level of confidence in receiving
a positive outcome. I suppose that AMORC believes this knowledge
gives a kind of "prayer insurance" to the sincere member.
In my experience, AMORC's very amorphous and misdirected
system of controlling behavior makes prayers less answerable. My
prayers for good relationships, a decent education, a professional
career, and success in my mission to aid people trapped in mind-
control cults began to be answered almost immediately once I quit
AMORC.
 Rosicrucian Dictionary:
Projection, Psychic Plañe,
Reincarnation. Shekinah

MORC dives more deeply into occultism when it defines pro­

A jection as "the act of releasing at will, on the psychic plañe, the

psychic body of man with all its consciousness, powers and
functions" and as the act of freeing the psychic body from space and
time restrictions and other confining conditions. It also states that the
purpose of projections is to help people we wish to help or to get as-
sistance from those who can help us.
Again, returning to AMORC's definition of personality as traits
of the immortal soul (including the reincarnated soul), the projected
entity will bear these characteristics and therefore be recognizable by
the recipients. Projection can often be done in sleep, but, in the more
advanced soul, it can be done for a specific purpose at any appropri-
ate time.
According to AMORC, the psychic plañe is "the meeting place
and field of action for the psychic bodies of the dwellers of the Cos­
m ic." The Cosmic is where individuáis free of their physical bod­
ies now exist. It is also the place where loved ones, no longer in the
physical body, can be contacted. This is the place where members
can work to uplift the entire State of mankind.
AMORC makes an effort to describe the Rosicrucian concept of
reincarnation as unique but more universal than other modalities of
thought concerning life after death. It claims, as stated befare, that
the personality is immortal —as is the soul essence, which defines
bodily death. It claims that the soul essence grants a portion of itself
to the reincarnated, while a part of its substance remains on the cos­
mic plañe. The Rosicrucian concept of reincarnation does not aílow
for a retrograde incarnation in a lower species.
Perhaps one of the most important concepts in mysticism is the
kabbalistic concept of the Shekinah, which in Hebrew connotes the
Divine Presence. In the definition of Shekinah in the Rosicrucian Dic-
tionary, much is made of the physical presence of a "plain white tri­
angular altar" and its specific dimensions. The problem I have with
AMORC's exhaustive description of the Shekinah as an altar is that
it physicalizes what is meant to be a mystical quest of a postulant to
the Divine Presence.
My Open Letter to Christian Bemard,
Current Imperator of AMORC

B y P i e r r e S. F r e e m a n ,
O c c u l t W h i s t l e b l o w e r
 An lntroduction to lVlv Open Letter

I
think it rather interesting that the following open letter to Chris-
tian Bernard, the current imperator of AMORC, has never been
answered. Yes, there have been a couple of interesting efforts to
suppress a press release and a book, but, as far as any response to
this highly direct but entirely truthful letter based on actual claims
made in the monographs, AMORC has altogether demurred. Much
of the information referred to in the following questions comes from
the monographs and could be rath er distu rbin g to s o m e o n e a b o u t to
enter or having just entered into the Order.
As I have pointed out numerous times in my writing, AMORC is
basically a mind-control system with various degrees of depth. This
is mostly applicable to those who receive their lessons and practice
the exercises and read what they have been given, particularly in
conjunction with work in the home sanctum. As the work proceeds,
the mind control deepens, and by the time some of the claims in this
letter are reached, the members involved become more or less recep-
tive to all such things—even, as you can see, when a moral bypass
is accomplished. Look, for instance, at the various questions that ad-
dress assumption, the practice of momentarily assuming "the physi­
cal, mental and emotional State of another person." This is a practice
that involves circumventing someone's conscious will to "help" them
without their permission. Or it is done for personal gain or even tak-
ing over the consciousness of world leaders?
No, this isn't described in The Mastery o f Life, a pamphlet used to
recruit people like me, neither do the claims about its healing prac-
tice include the scientific validation of those practices.
Another question would be: Is AMORC trying to bring people
into communion with Cosmic Consciousness (or God), or is its goal
really just to entice people to retain their membership by promising
the awakening of certain "occult" powers?
An Open Letter to Christian Bernard,
Venerated lmperator of the
Rosicrucian Order A1VIORC

steemed and Venerated lmperator,

E As you may have heard, I, Pierre S. Freeman, the author of

Tl-ie Prisoner o/San José and AMORC Unmasked, have taken grave
exception to the practices and agenda of your organization, Ancient
Mystical Order of Rosae Crucis, known to the world as AMORC. For
this reason, I extend to you the opportnnity to answer personally
some of the questions that have troubled me and to defend your or­
ganization from the charges I have seen fit to make against it.
Do A M O RC m em bers use occult powers to assume victim s'
consciousnesses against their w ills?

Does not AMORC introduce in the Initiate Section Degree 9 Num-

ber 24 the occult faculty of assumption, which it defines as the ability
"to assume momentarily the physical, mental, emotional, and spiri-
tual State of another person, so as to obtain this person's assistance
or to provide assistance to him or h er"? Disregarding the caveat that
this is oniy possible if one's intentions are puré and the affirmation
that this concept must be in alignment with Cosmic Consciousness,
isn't the bottom line that this is an example of one living human be-
ing taking complete possession over the consciousness o f another human
being without their permission or knowledge?

Are A M O RC m em bers encouraged to take over victim s'

consciousnesses for personal gain?

Further in Initiate Section Degree 9 Number 24, does it not clar-

ify that assumption is used for the purpose of advantaging oneself?
Does it not say that in life the member has often needed to approach
people "to seek their approval, consent, authorization, or support for
something concerning your family, social, or professional life"? Fur-
ther, does it not go on to say that the cases when a member might use
assumption include seeking employment or to "pass an oral exami­
n aron " or needing "special authorization to undertake an important
project, etc."? In order to provoke positive responses from such peo­
ple, does not AMORC say clearly that "in applying assumption, it is
possible to momentarily act on the personality of these individuáis
and influence their behavior toward us"? In other words, we can act
in such a way that they will think, speak, and act in accordance with
our will, without even being aware of it. Is not manipulating another
person against their will for personal gain very obviously a form of
black magic? Is not taking over another person's consciousness in
order to manipúlate his thoughts and emotions an extreme violation
of his rights to privacy and personal freedom?
Does A M O RC use black magic to control world leaders?

In Celestial Ascent Number 1 Experiment 93, the member is

asked to "choose a head of state or government, either in your own
country or some other country." The member is then asked "to stim-
ulate [his] psychic consciousness," take positive breaths, and then
visualize the leader he has chosen sitting in the center of a pyramid of
light. He then repeats the sound om while continuing to breathe until
he feels that he is within this person's body, being part of his or her
whole consciousness. Is this process of assuming control of another
person's consciousness, which you cali assumption, a form of black
magic?

_____

OUTERC

Is A M O RC encouraging m embers to practice m edicine without

licenses?

In Neophyte Section A triu m 2N u m ber9, you state, "Rosicrucians

have always distinguished two great categories of illnesses: those ac~
companied by fever and those not causing fever." This is the basis
for your diagnoses and the basis for recommending certain breathing
and energy transmíssion techniques involving placing the fingers on
certain areas of the body adjacent to certain nerve centers. Is AMORC
encouraging members to diagnose and treat disease without a medi­
cal license or certifícation of any recognized kind whatsoever? Is it
true that in your monographs you teach your members how to heal
"scientifically" by utilizing a combination of visualizaron, position-
íng the hands on the subject's physical body, and breathing but with­
out atfording them any proof or evidence that such procedures work
and without any medical or health certifícation whatsoever?

Does A M O RC falsely assert the scientific validation of its

m ethodology of healing?

íake what it says in Initiate Section Degree 6 Number 19. You

have the member doing the healing and explain "that the whole pro-
cedure has nothing to do with any magical or occult practices, but
that it involves a therapeutic practice that is entirely in keeping with
the physiological laws functioning in the human body." In Initiate
Section Degree 6 Number 15, you present a list that shows a certain
"knowledge concerning the sympathetic división of the autonomic
nervous system and the procedures that offer the possibility of cur-
ing most diseases." You further assert that "their efficacy has been
put to the test and confirmed by scientists who are Rosicrucians."
This is all very well, but why, after twenty-four years of study, have I
never come across any evidence of such proof or confirmation of the
validity of these practices? Don't you think it is dangerous to offer
totally unverified techniques for healing a wide variety of conditions
to members who might use them on themselves or others without
visiting a qualified health practitioner?

Does A M O RC distort true mystical unión by placing occult

powers above real spiritual aw akening?

Degree 9 Number 29 talks about how clairvoyance is produced

by attuning with Cosmic Consciousness. Can you explain to me ex-
actly what you consider this state of consciousness you cali Cosmic
Consciousness to be? How is it connected to teaching your members
how to attain various occult powers including telepathy, the ability
to heal, the capacity to step into another's consciousness and ma­
nipúlate their actions, the ability to contact the dead, the ability to use
a crystal ball to see into the fu tu re, and so forth?

Do A M O RC m em bers really gain these powers in any kind of

dem onstrable and perm anent way?

Whv haven't I, as a member of AMORC for twenty-four years

and one who has passed through its higher initiations, seen any kind
of reasonable, demonstrable evidence that members can heal, con­
trol telepathic contact, communicate with the dead, oí use other so-
called powers? I would particularly like to have been able to master
invisibility as described in Degree 9 Number 20. Tell me, Venerated
Imperator, have you seen many people become invisible recently?
Does A M O RC encourage unwarranted veneration of its
imperator?

I know, through my blog and my many conversations with your

Rosicrucian members over the years, that many think that your or­
ganizaron is somewhat liberal in its approach to life and to the up-
holding of democratic institutions, but I still cannot help wondering
if you can explain why your title in your organization is imperator,
a Latin term that translates to emperor in English. What is the dif-
ference between the veneration that the people of Japan had toward
their emperor before and during World War II and the devotion of
the members of AMORC ha ve to you, Christian Bernard, as their
venerated imperator?

Is AM O RC a dictatorship perpetuating a fraud to entrap and

retain its m embers?

Do you not hold power at the pleasure of a board of directors?

But is this board of directors not entirely subservient to you? Isn't
your election by them rather just a meaningless routine because your
continuance in your position is somewhat of a given, like the so-
called elections of dictators like Fidel Castro? Is not an organization
that falsely claims authority but still demands obedience and money
from its members practicing a kind of fraud? Is not the use of fraud
to assert spiritual authority over others for the personal desires of a
group's leadership a general characteristic of a cult?

W hat are the consequences for A M O RC if it is classified as a

religious cult?

Do you fear that the tax-free status you enjoy in various countries
could be jeopardized if more governments classify you as a cult in
the same manner that the French government did in 1999?
D oesn't A M O RC's "First Breath" doctrine defining life provide a
justification for abortion?

In many of your monographs, you insist that life only begins

with the first breath. And prior to that, the fetus is simply a vestigial
part of the mother's body, not an independent living consciousness.
How do you know that? Do you have any scientific proof correlat-
ing individual consciousness with the first breath outside the body?
Does not that position linking life exclusively to the first breath lead
to a definitive position on the moral viability of abortion?

Does A M O RC really belong to an unbroken spiritual tradition?

In various monographs in the Mandamus sequence and else-

where throughout other monographs, AMORC stresses the impor-
tance of the continuity of the Rosicrucian tradition. It says that there
are cycles where the Order is public and cycles where it is not. Is it
not the case that, despite the claims that your order has a continuitv
extending from the time of the Egyptian mystery schools, there is not
a shred of evidence you can or are willing to show to the public that
can verify the truth of this continuity? Can you explain how someone
like me, who has gone through all the relevant monographs open to
its membership but hidden from the world, has never seen or experi-
enced anv competent proof of this secret history ñor has anv member
shown me anything that serves as proof?

Does A M O RC use fraud to gain authority over its m embers?

Is it not the case that if AMORC's historical tradition cannot be

proven, even to its own members, like me, who have achieved the
highest level initiations, then AMORC lacks the right to promote it-
self as a true Rosicrucian organization? Why have you never validat-
ed to me, a member who has gone through the higher initiations, this
claim of historical continuity by showing me and others like me some
actual, verifiable documents indicating this continuity? Why do I still
lack any real evidence that Sir Isaac Newton, Benjamín Franklin, or
Francis Bacon belonged to your order?
Does AM O RC have the right to teach Cosm ic Consciousness?

Is it not the case that AMORC and you, lmperator, hold this cos­
mic and historically validated authority as one of the main justifica-
tions for being able to teach members the ability to attain Cosmic
Consciousness? In fact, with all this emphasis on occult powers, are
you really teaching anything real about Cosmic Consciousness at all?
Is your organization really sanctified by a true connection to the Di­
vine Presence as it claims?

Does A M O RC ignore the warnings about seeking occult power

for its own sake?

Many religious and spiritual teachings warn against the acqui-

sition of occult or psychic power for its own sake. Do you feel that
AMORC regards those warnings as justified?
Does A M O RC really have the spiritual authority it claim s?

In fact, isn't AMORC's claim that it holds a unique authority in

the realm of fraternal organizations the real foundation for its abil­
ity to convey universal and practieal truths to its membership? Do
you not agree that, for an organization to elicit authority from its
members, it needs to justify that authority with some kind of tangible
proof? These questions, in one form or another, can be used by jour-
nalists if they are lucky enough to be able to lócate Christian Bernard
in a setting conducive to asking questions. Generally speaking, the
pattern is to avoid reporters at all costs, and, if cornered, to change
any kind of hard-hitting question into a philosophical discussion.
Does A M O RC disguise mind control as spirituality?

As you probably know from my books, my biggest complaint

against AMORC is its use of mind control. In this context, mind con­
trol implies the use of hypnotic techniques to increase suggestibility,
condition behavior, and alter personality. This is possible because
there is a thin line between meditation and hypnosis, and it is my
belief that your monographs and the use of the home sanctum —a
prívate place in the home for reading monographs and performing
Rosicrucian exercises—develop a hypnotic platform for mind con­
trol.

Do you believe A M O RC's use of mind control is intentional or

accidental?

There is no question in my mind that AMORC uses mind con­

trol to trap and retain its members. Is not the creation of a sense of
authority or power of the interrogator, hypnotist, or cult leader the
key to creating a mind-control platform? Are not the monographs the
primary tools for instilling in your members a sense of the absolute
uniqueness and power of your organization for attuning its members
to God's will and purposes?
Does not A M O RC use cult techniques to gain control over its
m embers?

One of the main ways cults gain control over their members is
by exhausting them as quickly as possible, usually by giving them
an overwhelming amount of physical work to be accomplished over
long hours. Doesn't the failure of the monographs, due to their essen-
tial untruth about being able to "program " good things to happen,
cause serious members to blame their inability to acquire occult pow-
ers on their own lack of understanding and diligence? Do they not, as
dedicated members, undertake to review the monographs over and
over again and perform extensive exercises to create the conditions
for their success? In addition to this repetition, isn't it true that the
exercises themselves begin to domínate your members' every mo-
ment, teaching them to sleep in an unnatural position, to constantly
perform breathing exercises, and to write in a diary? Is not the Rosi-
crucian work, despite the initial contradiction with the claims of the
opening monographs, meant to domínate and control every second
of a member's life?
Is AM ORC using hypnosis to create hallucinatory experiences
instead of to develop occult powers?

Is ¡t not true, given the evidence, that AMORC is creating a hyp-

notic platform for its members, that many m embers'experiences, like
seeing an aura or having a visión of a spiritual master or having a
montage of images appear in their consciousness regarding the dis-
tant past or imminent future, are hallucinatory and deceptive as a
result of deep hypnotic conditioning? For instance, when you repeat
the nanie of a color frequently, wishing intently for it to appear—an
exercise described in the m onographs—is this not just as likely to be
a hallucination as it is to be the creation of a different color through
some kind of psychic manipulation of the electromagnetic spectrum?

Does A M O RC use phobic tactics to retain m em bers?

Every member of AMORC understands that the egregor is a kind

of divine energy pattern that contains the seed of AMORC's power
to help manifest members' connection to the divine. Has not the con-
cept of the egregor been raised to the level of a uniquely necessary
connection to the Divine Presence so that without it members will
lose their connection to God? Does not the egregor function to instill
in members a fear of leaving the Order? Is not leaving AMORC sim i­
lar to being excommunicated and losing the keys to a happy afterlife?

Does AM O RC use mind control to alter p ersonalices?

Is not the fundamental object of every cult to create out of its

members a new personality, called in mind-control literature a "cult
personality"? This new personality is the result of members "buy-
ing in" to certain claims made by the cult leadership, which makes
them highly programmable, compliant with the wishes of the cult's
leaders, and capable of acting fanatically in the interests of the cult.
Is this not the reason that persons who are liberated from cults often
have symptoms related to the post-traumatic stress syndrome, rang-
mg from erratic behavior, irrational nightmares and daymares, and
even blackouts of consciousness, as I did? How aware are you, Ven-
erated imperator, of the psychological dangers of your teachings in
the monographs for your most faithful and attentive members?
Is A M O RC postulating a spiritual hierarchy that doesn't exist?

Isn't it true that the spiritual masters that AMORC speaks of

with the greatest depth are actually the spiritual masters described
in theosophical literature? Isn't it true that most of the other masters,
including the Master Nodin, alleged author of the "im portant" No-
din Manuscript, are barely described in detail or their history is not
revealed? Isn't it true that supposed masters include famous adepts
such as Benjamín Franklin or Sir Isaac Newton? Is this cosmic hier­
archy really constituted as you claim, or is this nothing more than a
myth perpetuated by the founder, H. Spencer Lewis, to augment the
"divine authority" of the organization?
 The published works o f H. Spencer Lewis, founder o f the Rosi-
crucian cult A M O R C , have been read by millions over the past hun-
dred years. Many who believed that his writings contained the se-
crets o f the universe soon found themselves controlled and brain-
washed by an organization they hoped would bring enlightenment.
For twenty-six years author Pierre S. Freeman was one o f these vic-
tims. Now he is speaking out to help prevent others from falling into
the same trap. In Tales o f the Puppet Master: Emperor (Imperator)
Speaks, Freeman examines five o f H. Spencer Lewis’s well-known
publications. The truths exposed include how Lewis:

• was able to gain the public’s trust and boost his intellectual
and scientific platform by posing as a public watchdog for sub-
liminal messages, all the while seeking to administer his own
mind control program

• used questionable cosmology and Science to shape himself into

the image o f God

• explained his doctrine o f reincarnation through a lame, fic-

tional story of early man

• had connections to Nazi Germany, Mussolini, and other

anti-Semitic movements

This compelling exploration examines the dangers o f brainwash-

ing and how one individual has been able to exude power over odiers
through his writings and methodologies.
Never before has anyone challenged A M O R C and its founder’s
works so directly.
ISBN TTñ-l-baVflT-aS?-?
90000

wheat/mark
9 781627 872577