by Manly P. Hall
1901-1990

From Lectures on Ancient Philosophy—An Introduction to
the Study and Application of Rational Procedure:
The Hall Publishing Company, Los Angeles, First Edition 1929, pp 397-417

FREEMASONRY is a fraternity within a fraternity—an outer organization concealing an inner brotherhood of the elect. Before it is possible to intelligently discuss the origin of the Craft, it is necessary, therefore, to establish the existence of these two separate yet interdependent orders, the one visible and the other invisible. The visible society is a splendid camaraderie of "free and accepted" men enjoined to devote themselves to ethical, educational, fraternal, patriotic, and humanitarian concerns. The invisible society is a secret and most august fraternity whose members are dedicated to the service of a mysterious arcanum arcanorum. Those Brethren who have essayed to write the history of their Craft have not included in their disquisitions the story of that truly secret inner society which is to the body Freemasonic what the heart is to the body human. In each generation only a few are accepted into the inner sanctuary of the Work, but these are veritable Princes of the Truth and their sainted names shall be remembered in future ages together with the seers and prophets of the elder world. Though the great initiate-philosophers of Freemasonry can be counted upon one's fingers, yet their power is not to be measured by the achievements of ordinary men. They are dwellers upon the Threshold of the Innermost, Masters of that secret doctrine which forms the invisible foundation of every great theological and rational institution.
The outer history of the Masonic order is one of noble endeavor, altruism, and splendid enterprise; the inner history, one of silent conquest, persecution, and heroic martyrdom. The body of Masonry rose from the guilds of workmen who wandered the face of medieval Europe, but the spirit of Masonry walked with God before the universe was spread out or the scroll of the heavens unrolled. The enthusiasm of the young Mason is the effervescence of a pardonable pride. Let him extol the merits of his Craft, reciting its steady growth, its fraternal spirit, and its worthy undertakings. Let him boast of splendid buildings and an ever-increasing sphere of influence. These are the tangible evidence of power and should rightly set a-flutter the heart of the Apprentice who does not fully comprehend as yet that great strength which abides in silence or that unutterable dignity to be sensed only by those who. have been ''raised'' into the contemplation of the Inner Mystery. [p 398]

Homosexuality

    Question: Regarding homosexuality, I understand that we are reborn twice during each zodiac phase of roughly 2,000 years, once as a female and once in a male body, to give a wide range of experience in each body type. Occasionally we might be born twice as a female so the next time we might be a very effeminate man, and vice versa. Does this have anything to do with why people are attracted to someone of their same sex? What is the esoteric reason behind homosexual relationships and practices, and what are these people doing to their soul growth and evolution?

    Answer: Max Heindel, the founder of the Rosicrucian Fellowship and author of many books on the Rosicrucian Teachings, made no explicit reference to homosexuality. We may, however, reasonably surmise his views on the practice by citing his response to the question, "What is meant by sinning against the Holy Ghost?" We remember that the Holy Spirit is the creative power of God and "a ray from that attribute of God...is used by men for perpetuation of the race. When that is abused, that is to say, whether it is used for sense gratification, whether in solitary or associated vice, with or without the legal marriage, that is the sin against the Holy Spirit. Humanity as a whole is now suffering for that sin. The debilitated bodies, the sickness that we see around us, has been caused by centuries of abuse, and until we learn to subdue our passions there can be no true health among the human race." (Rosicrucian Philosophy in Questions and Answers, Vol. 1, pp. 221-22).

   Since homosexual activity involves members of the same sex, it is by definition nonproductive, sterile; it exists at most to gratify the desires of the participants. The same, of course, may be said of heterosexual activity that deliberately avoids fertilization and is engaged in solely for selfish desires.

    The questioner’s assumption that several consecutive lives of the same gender (male or female) occasions the predominance of that gender’s traits when the ego is subsequently embodied as the opposite sex does not necessarily follow. The lessons and aptitudes learned during one or several recent lives are integrated into the totality of the ego’s experience gained while inhabiting all its earthly bodies, producing an overall balanced effect.

    The writer also suggests that an effeminate man or a masculine woman identifies the homosexual person. This is clearly not the case since, proportionally, at least as many heterosexual persons display these variant gender qualities as do homosexuals. It may be remarked in passing that as humanity approaches the Aquarian Age individual genders will increasingly show a wider range of personal expression and behaviors traditionally associated with the opposite sex.

    "Attraction" between persons of the same sex is universal and natural, being based on the innumerable features and qualities that make a person attractive, be they physical, moral, intellectual, or spiritual. If that attraction devolves to the sensual sphere and specifically seeks or responds to the gratification of aroused desire, then that attraction becomes what early Church fathers called concupiscence, and what Anglo-Saxons bluntly call lust.

    Same gender relationships are by no means synonymous with homosexuality (as that term is normally construed), since, in the vast majority of instances, sexual expression plays no part in them. In even intimate friendships, mutual appreciation and shared interests, rather than physicality per se, are the primary focus of attention or attraction.

    The erosion of moral discipline, occasioned by the increased secularization of society and the weakening of traditional religious authority, manifests generally in greatly increased sexual liberty and licentiousness, including homosexuality.

    As for the karma generated by untrammeled sexual activity, of whatever kind, Max Heindel makes clear that "Each person owns his or her body, and is responsible to the law of Consequence for any misuse resulting from the weak-willed abandonment of that body to another." (The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception p. 471).

    The additional factor bearing upon homosexual relationships is that they obviate the essential function of and reason for cohabitation and marriage--procreation. Again, quoting from the Cosmo, "it is both a duty and a privilege (to be exercised with thanks for the opportunity) for all persons who are healthy and of sound mind to provide vehicles for as many entities as is consistent with their health and ability to care for the same." (Ibid)

    While adoption of a child by a homosexual couple (in those states where it is permissible) is laudable if the motive is the selfless intention of providing the optimum milieu for its development, both the child and society are given a poor model to imitate because it is biologically barren, opposed to the perpetuation of the human race.

    Ours is an era in which the quest for spiritual freedom is confused with the liberty to do whatever one likes, while simultaneously demanding exemption from accountability for one’s actions. Ironically, many professing homosexuals are, by virtue of intelligence and material prosperity, especially qualified to care for advanced souls who have a more difficult time seeking the appropriate environment in which to be reborn.

    What at present appears to be a surge in the prevalence of homosexual activity may be seen as a transitional phase in a larger process. The dissolution of societal (family) and institutional (religious) structures and guidelines is creating cultural upheavals that manifest as identity crises, troubled experimentation, joyless pleasure-seeking, and insecurity masked as defiance. These symptoms of cultural and creedal change shall in time give way to reformation and reformulation of more inclusive relational structures founded on more altruistic, regenerate practices.

  

The Temple of the Rose Cross, Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens, 1618.

Būni Samuel MacGregor Mathers William Westcott Franz Bardon Jakob Böhme

v t e

Rosicrucianism is a generic term referring to studies or membership within a philosophical secret society said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe and the spiritual realm."^[1] Rosicrucianism is symbolized by the Rosy Cross.

Between 1607 and 1616, two anonymous manifestos were published, first in Germany and later throughout Europe.^[2] These were the Fama Fraternitatis RC (The Fame of the Brotherhood of RC) and the Confessio Fraternitatis (The Confession of the Brotherhood of RC). The influence of these documents, presenting a "most laudable Order" of mystic-philosopher-doctors and promoting a "Universal Reformation of Mankind", gave rise to an enthusiasm called by its historian Dame Frances Yates the "Rosicrucian Enlightenment".^[3]

Rosicrucianism was associated with Protestantism, Lutheranism in particular,^[4] and the manifestos opposed Roman Catholicism and its preference for dogma over empiricism. They traced their philosophy and science to the Moors, [Muslims in Morocco, European word for Muslims]  asserting that it had been kept secret for 120 years until the intellectual climate might receive it.

Early seventeenth century occult philosophers such as Michael Maier, Robert Fludd and Thomas Vaughan interested themselves in the Rosicrucian world view.^[5] According to historian David Stevenson it was also influential to Freemasonry as it was emerging in Scotland.^[4] In later centuries, many esoteric societies have claimed to derive their doctrines, in whole or in part, from the original Rosicrucians. Several modern societies have been formed for the study of Rosicrucianism and allied subjects.

Origins[edit]

The Fama Fraternitatis presented the legend of a German doctor and mystic philosopher referred to as "Frater C.R.C." (later identified in a third manifesto as Christian Rosenkreuz, or "Rose-cross"). The year 1378 is presented as being the birth year of "our Christian Father", and it is stated that he lived 106 years. After studying in the Middle East under various masters, possibly adhering to Sufism,^[6] he was unable to spread the knowledge he had acquired to any prominent European figures. Instead, he gathered a small circle of friends/disciples and founded the Rosicrucian Order (this can be deduced to have occurred around 1407).

"The pen is mightier than the sword" is a metonymic adage indicating that communication, or in some interpretations, administrative power, is a more effective tool than direct violence. Some modern day sources (see examples listed below) use irony to humorously invert the original intent of the observation, often by a character using the quote after a pen has been used as a physical weapon.

The sentence (if not the idea, which had been expressed in various earlier forms) was coined by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839 for his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy.^[1][2] The play was about Cardinal Richelieu, though in the author's words "license with dates and details... has been, though not unsparingly, indulged."^[1] The Cardinal's line in Act II, scene II, was more fully:^[3]

True, This! —
Beneath the rule of men entirely great
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanters wand! — itself is nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —
States can be saved without it!

The play opened at London's Covent Garden Theatre on 7 March 1839 with William Charles Macready in the lead role.^[4] Macready believed its opening night success was "unequivocal"; Queen Victoria attended a performance on 14 March.^[4]

In 1870, literary critic Edward Sherman Gould wrote that Bulwer "had the good fortune to do, what few men can hope to do: he wrote a line that is likely to live for ages."^[2] By 1888 another author, Charles Sharp, feared that repeating the phrase "might sound trite and commonplace".^[5] The Thomas Jefferson Buildingof the Library of Congress, which opened in 1897, has the adage decorating an interior wall.^[6][7] Though Bulwer's phrasing was novel, the idea of communication surpassing violence in efficacy had numerous predecessors.

Predecessors

Assyrian sage Ahiqar, who reputedly lived during the early 7th century BC, coined the first known version of this phrase. One copy of the Teachings of Ahiqar, dating to about 500 BC, states that "The word is mightier than the sword."^[8]

According to the website Trivia-Library.com,^[9] the book The People's Almanac by Irving Wallace and David Wallechinsky lists several supposed predecessors to Bulwer's phrasing.

Their first example comes from the Greek playwright Euripides, who died c. 406 BC. He is supposed to have written: "The tongue is mightier than the blade."^[9] If the People's Almanac is correct, it should be possible to source this to an extant work by Euripides; however, the quote does appear in the 1935 fictional work Claudius the God and his Wife Messalina by Robert Graves,^[10] and is thus possibly an anachronism.

Several possible precursors do appear in the Old and New Testaments,^[11] for example, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, whose authorship is uncertain, verse 4:12 has been translated as: "Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart."^[12]

The Islamic prophet Muhammad is quoted as saying "The ink of the scholar is holier than the blood of the martyr".^[13][14]