The Aesthetic Rose+Croix Order of the Temple and the Grail
L'Ordre de la Rose+Croix Esthétique du Temple et du Graal (the Aesthetic Rose+Croix Order of the Temple and the Grail), also known as the Aesthetic Rose+Croix (ARC), is an Order of Chivalry existing under the triple banner of the Rosicrucian Order, the Templars, and the Grail Mysteries.
Purpose
The purpose of the Order is:
- To advance art for the spiritual regeneration and healing of humanity.
- To promote the spiritual and moral ideals of mystic chivalry and the esoteric teachings of the Rose+Croix. To preserve traditional esoteric teachings concerning art and music.
- To create a class of artist-initiates who become knights and priests.
- To support works of art that convey themes and values consistent with the Rose+Croix tradition.
- To institute a form of idealist theatre that can become hieratic and Initiatory.
Studies and Emphasis
The underlying nature of our work is traditional Rosicrucianism. We study the Mysteries, Hermeticism, Gnosticism, Christian esotericism, alchemy, and Kabbalah. We are aligned philosophically and aesthetically to the Greek tradition and more specifically with the Orphic and the Eleusinian Mystery schools of thought.
The most fundamental writings of our tradition are the three Rosicrucian Manifestos dating from 1615/1616: Fama Fraternitatis, Confessio Fraternitatis, and Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz. We also study various lessons that come to us from our particular tradition.
Chivalry
Chivalry is a code of conduct associated with the medieval institution of Knighthood, which promotes spiritual, moral and social virtues, such as charity, nobility, fidelity, and uprightness. The ARC was consecrated as a Chivalric Order under the authority of the Gnostic Catholic Apostolic Church of North America, which is holder of the apostolic succession of Evodus, first Patriarch of Antioch. We are committed to an active practice of developing virtue in ourselves.
Theurgy
The requirement of belief in a Supreme Being is fundamental. We are working to be pious and to form a personal relationship with Deity. Individually and in our groups we participate in rituals in harmony with Nature to purify our souls through the elements.
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Historical Context
The modern Aesthetic Rose+Croix reconstitutes the Rose+Croix Catholique et Esthétique du Temple et du Graal of Joséphin Péladan (1858-1918). Péladan was born and grew up in Lyon, France. He received two Rose+Croix lineages from his older Brother Adrien, who was a Doctor with a strong interest in alchemy and other esoteric subjects. Adrien's first lineage came from a group of fellow Doctors centered in Toulouse, in Southern France, where he had received it from Firmin Boisson, who had received it from the Vicomte de Lapasse, who received it from the Sicilian Alchemist, prince Balbiani of Palermo. The second lineage is said to have come through l’Abbé Lacuria, who had received it from Éliphas Lévi, who had himself been initiated into a Rosicrucian Order in England by E.G. Bulwer-Lytton. In 1881, Joséphin Péladan moved to Paris and became an art critic and novelist, whose work attracted the attention of twenty-three year-old Stanislas de Guaita and sparked his interest in esoteric studies. Péladan and de Guaita were also among “Les Compagnons de la Heirophonie”, the inner circle of French occultists who joined with Dr. Gerard Encausse (a.k.a.”Papus”) to restore the western Mystery tradition. Péladan and de Guaita together created a project to rebuild and renovate the Order of the Rose+Croix, which was on the verge of extinction, and founded the Ordre Kabbalistique de la Rose+Croix (OKR+C) in 1888, in which they recruited Papus. By the 1890s, the collaboration between de Guaita, Péladan, and Papus became strained by disagreements, and Péladan left the OKR+C. He drew up the Rose+Croix Esthétique on May 1891’s Feast of the Ascension. Péladan published the foundation document of l’Ordre de la Rose-Croix Catholique et Esthétique du Temple et du Graal on August 23, 1891. |
Sar Péladan by Jean Delville.
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For Péladan's Order, Art has a divine mission. It is the experience of God through beauty. The purpose of Art is not to satisfy the mind, but to elevate the soul. Péladan wrote, “Artist, you are a priest: Art is the great mystery and, when your effort leads to a masterpiece, a ray of the divine shines down as on an altar... Artist, you are a magus. Art is the great miracle and proves our own immortality.”
Membership
The ARC and its Initiatic Orders are open to any man or woman over 21 years of age whose character exhibits the chivalric ideals of charity, nobility, fidelity, and uprightness, and who, through his or her talent and intellect, can support and advance the purpose of the Order.
The candidate must affirm a belief in God, a Divine Intelligence or a Supreme Power. The ARC is ecumenical, and does not restrict membership to a single Church or religion.
The ARC is in full communion with the French Gnostic Church and the Ordre Martiniste of North America. However, members are not required to affiliate with these organizations.
The ARC does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, political ideology, class, or social condition.
Each member is free to decide, at any time, whether he or she wishes to continue studies and may, with a simple written notice, defer studies, or resign altogether from the Order.
Initiations and studies are entirely free of charge.
Membership
The ARC and its Initiatic Orders are open to any man or woman over 21 years of age whose character exhibits the chivalric ideals of charity, nobility, fidelity, and uprightness, and who, through his or her talent and intellect, can support and advance the purpose of the Order.
The candidate must affirm a belief in God, a Divine Intelligence or a Supreme Power. The ARC is ecumenical, and does not restrict membership to a single Church or religion.
The ARC is in full communion with the French Gnostic Church and the Ordre Martiniste of North America. However, members are not required to affiliate with these organizations.
The ARC does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, political ideology, class, or social condition.
Each member is free to decide, at any time, whether he or she wishes to continue studies and may, with a simple written notice, defer studies, or resign altogether from the Order.
Initiations and studies are entirely free of charge.
