SPECIAL EDITION

The Secret Houses of the Rose-Croix

byRaymond Bernard

FRANCIS BACON LODGE

PUBLICATIONS

The Rosicrucian Order, AMORCKnown as “THE ANCIENT, MYSTICAL ORDER ROSAE CRUCIS” throughout the world

FRANCIS BACON LODGE

181A Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TE

The Secret Houses of the Rose-Croixby

Raymond BernardSupreme Legate for Europe

Past Grand Master for Francophone Countries

SPECIAL EDITION

WorldConvention

London23-26 July 1981

RC 3334

Translated and first published in Great Britain by Pensatia and Benefactor — 1970 2nd edition, Francis Bacon Lodge AMORC - 1978 3rd edition - a special limited issue - 1981

English translation copyright ® Francis Bacon Lodge 1981

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, whatsoever, w ithout the prior permission of the publisher.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not be re-sold, loaned or circulated in any manner with any different form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, w ithout the prior permission of the publisher. This condition shall apply to all subsequent purchasers or borrowers.

Printed in Great Britain by EPCS, Dingwall Road, Croydon

CONTENTS

Page

F o re w o rd ................................................................................................................ j

In tro d u c tio n ........................................................................................................... 1

1 — M a h a ................................................................................................................ 2

2 — Am sterdam ...................................................................................................... 4

3 — The Secret Seal................................................................................................. 13

4 — V ie n n a .............................................................................................................. 15

5 — Lisbon .............................................................................................................. 32

6 — M a d r id .............................................................................................................. 46

7 — In te rlude........................................................................................................... 58

8 — The Great Vigil at L isb on ............................................................................... 60

9 — Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 77

The cover depicts the castle in Krampelstein, Scharding, Upper Austria which had been the Order's secret centre for several centuries. It was from here that the Rosicrucian Ruprecht von Mosham (1493 — ?) endeavoured to establish religious unity in Europe on a mystical basis. He was persecuted by the Church and imprisoned in this castle where, at some unknown date, he died. Although the Church believed all his writings had been destroyed many had, in fact, been rescued and sequestered for posterity.

(by courtesy of the Rosicrucian Digest — June 1948)

FOREWORD

The thousands of copies of this manuscript sold till now, the quotations which have been made with great success in writings or heard in lectures, and above all the numerous letters received from my readers, have been for me very encouraging and moving evidence. However, some of my correspondents have been led to such erroneous conclusions that it seemed necessary for me to write a foreword to be included immediately in this work and in all those which treat of similar subjects, with the purpose o f preventing any further tendency to misleading interpretation or simply misunderstandings.

The fundamental purpose of this manuscript is to transmit certain knowledge of particular subjects of mystical tradition, which nowia-days, particularly in France, continue to exercise a strong attraction upon whoever is interested in great questions beyond the limits of a non-sensical item in the popular press. It is enough, to be convinced of this, to notice the considerable success met with from the general public, by books dealing with these subjects. Now, most o f these books are not built on any foundation. They do not have any basis OF TRUTH for meditation and reflection, and they lead their readers towards false and even dangerous conclusions.

It was also necessary to show the importance of the Rosicrucian Order AMORC in the world, and this manuscript is indeed to put it in its rightful place, that is first, regarding its objectives, its worldly activities and the number of its members. In spite of the great tolerance of our Order and its extreme liberalism, it has sometimes been necessary to show strict severity with regard to those who, deceived perhaps by their own errors, risk deceiving others and leading them into terrible ways which have no aspect of psychic equilibrium. To warn is a duty, especially if one such advertisement is directed to one who is on the sure and truthfu l path offered by the Rosicrucian Order AMORC. To stray from this path of certainty after assuming it, is incontestably to retrogress. My aim has been that my Rosicrucian readers may avoid committing this regrettable error of seeking elsewhere that which they will always find at the most opportune moment, the most efficacious for them, in the teachings of the Rosicrucian Order AMORC.

Such were the reasons which induced me to write this manuscript and some others. The manner chosen to eommunicate this knowledge is important. To understand certain subjects, it is not enough to read them, one must experience them, and that is why I adopted this form of writing. The result is that this manuscript is PARTIALLY ALLEGORICAL AND PARTIALLY ALSO IT RELATES FACTS. It is based on SYMBOLISM, for the SYMBOL is, in essence, a language, which each understands according to his development and which the Rosicrucian understands better than most. Thus, through ALLEGORY, through SYMBOL and through FACTS, subjects o f the highest interest are examined, and this examination will lead you to an understanding more vast, more useful and more true, o f the great questions which tradition, past and present, has applied itself in solving.

My dearest wish will always be that this lecture may be for you a source of inspiration, and a constant encouragement to carry on your efforts within the Rosicrucian Order AMORC towards greater light and Peace Profound.

RAYMOND BERNARD Domaine de la Rose-Croix, Friday 17th October, 1969

It is, in my estimation, the truth that a man has discovered, or the light that he has projected on to some obscure point, can one day strike another thinking being, to move him, to rejoice him or to console him: it is of him that we speak of similar spirits to ourselves who have consoled us in this desert of life.

Schopenhauer

INTRODUCTION

Well, so we meet again, my readers and me, for an excursion into those strange domains that the world ignores or completely forgets, being occupied by the problems of its ephemeral existance and the circumstances of its illusory present. Once more, I am confronted with the question of knowing whether my account should take the appearance of fiction or better be presented as an exact recital of precise events which definitely took place in time and space of daily life of the man in the street. In writing my "Strange Encounters" the problem was already there but it carried its own solution. The facts related were too serious, too heavy with consequences, near and far, for it to be told as a story opening the way to many speculations and the most sterile controversy. It was necessary to give AS MUCH AS WAS PERMITTED in the same form in which the events had taken place and not to leave any doubt as to the reality o f the experiences recounted, the reader, in the end remains the judge as far as he can understand and accept. That was done and has been subsequently approved in such a way that my conscience is satisfied and can feel the exaltation of a task accomplished.

But today? Yes today, how can I lead you to these new discoveries that exceptional circumstances have revealed to me to be shared with you? Certainly the task has been laid out and I may not ignore the instructions received. I KNOW that I have to tell you about the Secret Houses o f the Rose-Croix, I know what I am authorised to say to you, but I still debate with myself as to the manner of telling you. However, in a certain measure as my thoughts sketch out the manuscript that you will soon be reading, the deep emotion which I fe lt when I told you about my strange encounters fills my being and the living impressions, the secret exchanges and strange sights reincarnate again living images which form the matrix o f words. So, is it important! Maha said: "Truth will knock at the heart of him who waits fo r i t ! " May it reach those who can receive it and give it to the sublime quest of "Know thou thyself". The seeds fly in the wind of the sacred search for the kingdom within, and the prepared ground will bring it to abundant harvest.

So let us go over again an itinerary that I followed full of curiosity and always full of humility before the grandeur o f the tradition o f a thousand years, present in all ages and in all latitudes, in the service of humanity in general, but also at the disposition o f the sincere adept delivered from the chains of self contemplation and the mirages of egotism.

1 MAHA

I have met Maha again, and during our meetings in Amsterdam and in Vienna, I could not help, as I listened to him, thinking of the voluminous correspondence received from the readers of the "Strange Encounters". Maha had created an impression on them and I felt, in reading many of the letters, the certainty that if my description had even in some small way been able to convey the unforgettable impression which emanated from this extraordinary Being, this description alone was sufficient to communicate to others the emotions which I had felt myself. It seems that at the moment of reading it a subtle link had been established between the readers and Maha. For many it was not only true; it became THEIR TRUTH — that which is buried deepest within each being, and which suddenly under the unexpected stimulation o f the story rose up gloriously, before a dazzled consciousness. Truth is one under the many aspects manifested in the phenomenal world, and it is almost a platitude to say that it is within each one of us. So Beings such as Maha live on the plane of pure truth and this plane has a universal permanence which man ever carries w ithin himself. Also I was not at all surprised that some stated that they did not find Maha to be a stranger, but on the contrary, let us say, a known idea or memory, found with tremendous force and vigour in themselves, as if, suddenly the words, the phrases, the story made them conscious of a link which had never been broken. Moreover the planetary mission of the High Council o f A . . . concerns every man. It is no wonder that some were able for a brief moment, to communicate with such representatives and to put themselves in harmony with the highest among them . . .

I have met Maha again and with this very memory his image seems to be near me. I feel the unique impression of his presence and my being quivers with the usual emotion, never blunted by this exceptional contact.

I do not know if you have noticed, in the "Strange Encounters" that he seemed to me to be about forty years old in the portraits that I had seen at Copenhagen and Lisbon. When I saw him in preson for the first time, I supposed him to be about fifty , and this impression remained in Istanbul. However being uncertain I did not change my account.In Amsterdam he seemed to be younger, and in Vienna, older. I do not know how he will appear next at Lisbon, at Madrid and a little later in Athens. Perhaps when I reach the end of these new meetings, what I have to say will make this seem a wrong description. I can only give you my own subjective impression. If anyone asks me to describe Maha I should be tempted to reply: "He has eyes" and I cannot truly even now speak with more precision w ithout risking giving you a wrong impression. I believe that the eyes of Maha reflect a world, a universe. He can communicate by his look alone and in spite of the infinite goodness which emanates from him, his preoccupations give perhaps to the purity of his

clear eyes a different expression, in such a way that according to circumstances he appears either more or less aged. This, it seems to me is the explanation of the impression he gives as to his age. Moreover, how do such notions as physical aspect or exterior carriage apply to such beings! To them, would they require any other unalterable memory than to have been in their presence, in their magnetic vicinity, and to have heard their message . . . THE message!

I think it would be useful here to mention something which was implicit in the "Strange Encounters" . . . There was, round about the time of the last world war and afterwards until the year 1950, a bizarre person who called himself "Maha Choan". He was spoken of in the United States and in France, where the press devoted some ironical articles to him. This pseudo "King o f the W orld" claimed nothing less than to lay his hands upon authentic traditional organisations for reasons d ifficu lt to understand. He was quickly unmasked, and sent back to his futile imaginings, but strange though it may seem, he kept certain deluded disciples. Of him, in any case, we need say no more. There is naturally no kind of common communication between the pseudo Maha Choan and the true Maha. The "K ing of the W orld" certainly seeks no publicity and he would not expose himself before fools on a platform to the backing o f articles and communiques. Few people have met Maha knowing him to be Maha. The head of the High Council hides his identity and his true function. He does not advertise his holy office as that adventurer in the occult did pretending to magical powers and receiving from others as reward for his audacity nothing but reprobation — ridicule.

I have met Maha again . . . Maha alone and suddenly, I shall renew again the contact of Amsterdam, then that o f Vienna and await soon Lisbon, Madrid, Athens . . .

2 AMSTERDAM

Strange city where hovers the shadow of Rembrandt, where historic canals grow old w ithout ageing, where the obstinate sea pits itself against the equally obstinate humans, city o f tradition where one past Grand Master of the Rosicrucians, Gustav Meyrinck, travelled in his memories, never can the cosmopolitan flux of daily affairs efface the history which impregnates the ancient walls and old quarters, and even if one sad day, angry nature should engulf thee in the tortuous waves of the enemy, the wise would perpetuate thy memory in the holy sanctuaries of secret wisdom. Noble town, which is sad with those who are sad, happy with those who are happy, chain to the slave, or free to the free man, you take to your heart the aspiration o f your visitor, and you even know how to deceive him who wishes to be deceived! Oh how I would that the true adept, here and now, could scan the eternal presence of all those who have left within thee the imprint of highest wisdom, for thou dost not keep thy secrets for the lone clairvoyant, who with one look can efface the pervading modern to better see behind it. For me, you have already given riches in opening your coffers full of happy alchemists. Now you have yet more for me, because in future I shall associate Maha with .your memory.

The Hotel Carlton of Amsterdam is close to the centre of the town and it stands in a busy road with side arcades of which one asks the reason. On arrival, I learned that, contrary to the assurances o f my agent, no room had been reserved in my name. Owing to the importance o f the meeting arranged at this hotel I asked to be put through by telephone to my agent in Paris. I wished to speak to them . . . after an hour o f waiting and hardly had I finished than the receptionist hurried towards me to tell me that the reservation had been found and that a room would be at my disposal . . . tomorrow! My meeting was fixed for five o'clock, I said nothing and the concierge easily found me a room for the night at the Hotel Suisse in the Kalverstraat. I did not even wait to open my cases I was in so much of a hurry to return to the place o f the awaited meeting. The next day at midday I was installed in the Hotel Carlton and at 4.30 I was sitting in the little hall, eyes fixed on the door through which soon would come Maha.

He is here! I see him pass through the great glass d o o r. . . He is there, before me and I am before him, standing up, w ithout even remembering the effort of getting up. How moving it is to feel suddenly that one is somewhere yet w ithout being there, that a world surrounds us and we can perceive nothing more, nothing, except eyes of an extremely light colour in which all our being is lost not to forget, but to know . . . and LIVE! And that smile o f infinite kindness . . . an encouragement, a call fo r confidence, for humility and simplicity! In those few seconds there poured into my consciousness memories of the past: Lisbon, ISTANBUL, the shining crypt. All was one. How long did this state last? Some

seconds, perhaps less . . . yet I know and after all what does it matter? What signify such notions as time and space before the eternal symbolised by him who is here!

He made no movement and did not give the sign which I had noticed several times before. I concluded that our meeting was not to follow the same plan as previous meetings where certain explanations were given me on the work of the High Council of A . . . Therefore I hope for some new revelation. The domain is so vast that only an enlightened guide can define the contours. But I do not show any particular curiosity for the STATE transcends our miserable intellect.

"The place is not convenient for the object o f our meeting" said Maha after a few moments. "Come." Without a word I followed him. He walked to where, at the edge of the pavement, a car waited a few steps away, and hardly were we seated than it departed silently towards its destination. I recognised certain canals, then the Leidersplein; we passed the theatre on the rightand the imposing American Hotel, we crossed the bridge, bore to the left and . . . I knew nothing more than that I was completely lost. I know Amsterdam well, but very much less its suburbs. Anyway I remember the splendid house at which we arrived. Some dwellings are too rare to be forgotten. This one was not very big. It was situated at the heart of a green park to which coloured shrubs gave brightness and its structure OF CLEAR brick gave it a likeness to certain buildings on the outskirts of London. We walked several steps from the car to a small flight of steps leading to a large vestibule almost unfurnished. No pictures on the wall, in a corner a Chinese cabinet finely engraved, in the centre a low table and two elegant armchairs, nothing else which could particularly attract attention. On the left a large glass door and a tiny salon as bare as the vestibule. Maha led me in and we sat down face to face on each side o f the elegant rectangular table. Maha seemed to be waiting for me to speak. I was surprised but I made up my mind.

"A relatively short time has passed since you afforded me the inestimable privilege of permitting me to make your acquaintance and to learn of the existence of the High Council. According to your instructions I have given out a part o f the revelations which were given to me to those whom my own responsibilities give me the right. I have made no distinction between them, but have given to all the message received. I would even say that some were waiting for it and for others it was the awakening of an indefinable knowledge that they sensed within themselves. Of the reaction of some, very rare, you had warned me implicitly during the course of our meetings t h a t . . . "

Maha interrupted me with a smile; " I t is well that men should demand WHY? before certain phenomena and before events which do not f i t into their normal comprehension.A judicious WHY can open for him the way towards transcendent knowledge — that which

is beyond the limitations of his intellect which registers at the level of the permanence of the actual. But such a WHY even though expressed to another is really put to himself and the reply of another is never satisfying. Therefore this reply often must be avoided. As you well know the "W H Y" can be raised by egotism or favoured by a clever suggestion, of which the true motives are always very clear to one who knows how to analyse them. Everyone must therefore determine the real nature of his WHY before asking it. It will draw out a decisive knowledge o f self and of others."

I admire the absolute wisdom of my teacher. Every word of his struck my consciousness with piercing light. The most simple things become a lesson on the value of a word such as WHY, so harmless in appearance. Words are w ithout life until they are brought to life by the one who pronounces them. They are nothing in themselves, but spoken they are charged with the personality of him who speaks them. Does not that also apply to a phrase . . . A WORD, which can better reveal the inner self than all the analysis of a psychology w ithout depth?

Maha by his brief interruption had diverted my train of thought In all human conduct, in complex argument of daily facts, I was ever raised with him towards the simplicity o f new heights. Most Excellent Master, he had, at the most opportune moment, interrupted the subtle play of my mental associations and going straight to the core of my remarks, he had unravelled the tangled skein o f a reasoning too well constructed by a remark which carried in itself the solution of everything. I fe lt no more need to speak. Of what use? Someone capable in a few words of expressing a response which formed the solution to all questions raised directly or indirectly by a single curiosity, would he not know always the CAUSE or the motive for actions, or even the thoughts of a being occupied with human conditions and firstly with his own ego? Suddenly I realised again who Maha is and what he represents not only by his incomparable responsibilities but above all in HIMSELF and I felt ridiculous, almost ashamed at not having kept silent. Maha who was regarding me kindly, shared in my mute reflections. I gave myself up to privilege of his presence and immediately, I felt the immensity of his vibratory contact from which I had removed myself by my fault, by living on the limited plane of 'reason' alone. I saw by his look that he did not refuse me, and peace descended upon me, enveloped me and filled my being. All the time that he was speaking I was, as it were, out of myself. It was no longer Maha and myself, but simply a powerful vibratory flux, in which I shared, knowing all, w ithout distinguishing if this all had really been said in words which sprang up in myself as if they came from outside in the voice of Maha.

"Truths are relative in comparison with THE TRUTH of which the A . . . is a permanent expression and of which the dynamic power projects itself over the cycles by the Interpreter of the High Council, but even this TRUTH, when it is transmitted in the

fewest words, becomes to every man HIS truth. It covers the limitations of objective consciousness and the reactions of phenomena. It clothes life with the characteristic which comes from its ineffable, intangible and infinite source. It takes form in the individual who receives it and it clothes in like manner the aspects of a fragmentary comprehension. It remains itself w ithout being more than itself. Hence, of what importance is human interpretation? This from the beginning, is clothed in its own mantle which will give to the truth perceived its own colour and meaning. The Truth is for all, and all have access to it within the limits o f their comprehension, in such a way that the truth of each one is valuable, and THERE IS NO ERROR IN IT, the error consists only in the judgment or the evaluation of others. That is why a new revelation of the Truth should not be reserved only for those who are supposed to be able to understand it, because all will assimilate it according to their own standard. As to the High Council it works always according to the Truth. It does not formulate it in the principles which, by definition, would enclose it in the barriers of the material so well that it would become one expression of the Truth. The High Council applies the Truth. It stimulates humanity towards it and conducts it according to established stages in the manner that you have*understood in our previous meetings.

"Yes, the task o f the High Council is a hard one and in this transitional epoch, and it is no easy task to deal with the errors committed by collective humanity in supposing that the truth of one continent is more important that that of another. As I have said, there is no error that some people at some time will consider as their truth. It resides in the evaluation of the truth of others from a different truth considered as the only one of value. For many ages, men have foundered in the same error, an error which seems inherent in their nature but which is not so and which can be overcome by general adhesion to the great universal principles known to all, o f which the first is perhaps the respect fo r freedom of thought o f others. To control the errors and their tragic consequences w ithout too much intervening in the collective liberty o f the world and with the lessons which must be learned from erroneous actions requires an uninterrupted vigilence. My collaborators and I have insisted previously on liberty being left to man within the limits of established cycles and his ordained progression in those cycles. Thus, each period and these changes which actually affect humanity can be reasoned, peaceful and gradual, or may well be anarchistic and tortured by heartbreak and tears. That is the control o f man and this control is great. Nevertheless, the synthesis that the High Council is able to extract from this liberty is not always encouraging although there has been nothing yet to change our previous consclusions regarding the stage attained in the cyclic progression o f the earth.

"Henceforth humanity is at the level which it had to attain and you have already been told what the next stage must be, the new cycle when all competition would be

situated on the plane of world economy. Competition certainly fo r it signifies movement and progress is the function of movement. Competition is a universal principle on condition that the fundamental rules of justice and honesty are respected. In spite of recent events, the High Council, in its recent reunions have not come to a pessimistic conclusion and no major intervention has been decided upon, but it is recognised that the new cycle started badly in its first vicissitudes and the investigations of the kind of people you witnessed at Istanbul will be increased in the course of the months to come, for humanity has entered the actual cycle with its old notions of the intrinsic value of money. It is therefore in this domain that our action will in future be developed and humanity must not fail to perceive it. There must be in the new cycle a complete overturning of the scale of values and that implies before everything else a different comprehension o f social good. It is that to which the High Council will pay attention and you will assist in the consequences o f its enlightened pressure in this regard. The frontiers, more and more, will appear artificial and such is tru ly their nature. Beyond those arbitrary limits defined by the past history of humanity, it is now the influence of ideas which direct the world, and this influence will not cease to spread itself to the point where the ruling powers will be made to adjust themselves to this situation, and to devise different methods of government. Their role will consist above all, at some future date, to synthesise aspirations different only in appearance, to join the different truths into one social truth which will take in the adhesion of the greatest number.

"In a last e ffort, the world brings to birth its new structures. The multiplying conflicts prove that man has not yet cast o ff the worn out vestments o f his past conceptions and he is living mentally in a dead cycle, although the following cycle is already established. He must take a great risk in awakening the consciousness to the present situation. We are trying to avoid it but once again humanity has the privilege of making its own choice. If it cannot, in order to bring about the conclusions that we have envisaged, we shall have to envisage differently the way in which the new cycle will be established, fo r in all ways it must be because that is the law. But we know that to the collective state the value of awareness is great and the High Council will procure that it may be once more. The unanimous force o f good then is a dangerous obstacle to an understanding which opposes it. He is wrong who believes that nationalism lives still in the heart of men. The national idea is out of date among the majority in spite of appearances. Everyone, wherever he is, lives in the diapason of the world. Only individual or collective egotism always agitates humanity, but even this egotism operates now in comparison, on a plane outside nationality. With this fact as a basis the High Council displays on ALL the planes an extraordinary activity. Whoever can see beyond the old structures, which disintegrate, sees the new world which must rise up in the light of A . . . and nothing, I repeat, not even the dangerous vicissitudes which are the work of men can oppose the unfolding of the present cycle towards its goal which must in one way or another, be

attained in future. I think this answers the questions which have arisen in you before the events which recently have disturbed the world. By the light which you have seen already you will have been able to explain them more or less and put them in their right context. To such events we must resign ourselves and to that which they bring about, but remember that to understand you must go beyond appearances and the High Council is always working with all the more reason if the gravity o f the circumstances necessitates it ."

I let myself go to the grave intonations of this marvellous voice to the point when I could feel the thoughts which it conveyed and which w ithout doubt at the same moment resounded in the universe of Good and Truth. The words are studied, and now as I write them it seems to me that their meaning for the reader, the fire and the life o f the vocal expression, that my memory alone can pass them on anew. But I feel that the reader himself, in the thread of phrases, will hear more than he reads, and the text for him also will become the WORD. In any case it is not only that MAHA SAYS which has value, but it is also what he suggests at the same time. His words are aphorisms which reflexion causes to mature* into conclusions adaptable to the diversity of circumstances. The subject is seen from above, at his level, and he will deal with events in such a manner, that at the time or after the event, one can say "He has spoken of i t ! " In addition what is important is that such beings EXIST and that they are there in all circumstances, to aid the best and evade the worst and, personally, that is enough fo r me.

In fact, I did not know WHY Maha had brought about his new meeting. Indeed, I would have run to the ends of the earth at his call if only for the joy of HIS PRESENCE, but I knew there was no more to learn about the A . . . and its activities. All that had already been said and the part that I had transmitted was sufficient for a plain understanding of outside events that had taken place till now. Also, when I received the message, and that by perfectly normal ways, after the joy of the news, I had asked myself, WHY this meeting. It goes w ithout saying that at no time was I even touched by the thought that the rendez-vous would not be important. Maha is certainly too busy, and his responsibilities too heavy for the least of his personal interventions not to have a precise objective.

"You are right," he said, "There is a precise objective . . . " (I was not even surprised that he had followed the trend of my thoughts. Not for a moment had his regard left mine and what passed through me he would NATURALLY know as well as myself.) "In the new cycle, EDUCATION takes the place of first importance and you cannot have failed to notice that at several meetings, my colleagues and I have rendered homage to the organisation at the heart of which you fu lfill essential functions. The authentic and well known traditional movements are to us EDUCATIVE in the truest sense of the term as much as and perhaps more than merely profane. They are concerned with THE BEING AND ITS REGENERATION that is to say THE ESSENTIAL compared to the relative,

and the permanent as compared with the transitory. That is why, to the A . . . they have first place in the universal plan and an examination of this formed part o f the deliberations at our last periodic reunion. The moment has come, w ithout doubt, fo r you to know the reason for which you have been given the opportunity of the meetings with the A . . . The Supreme Head of your noble Order is the summit of the empire which constitutes your tradition. He is at the same time the HEAD AND THE HEART. Your entire Order lives and moves by his first impulsion. ON ALL PLANES your Imperator CONCENTRATES WITHIN HIMSELF, ON HIMSELF AND THROUGH HIMSELF the initiatic power. This forms itself in the ideas and conceptions within his mind and he then retransmits this knowledge, let us say AT THE HEART LEVEL. Nothing must interfere with this sublime task o f being THE TRANSMITTER OF WISDOM. But in all things there are correspondences and at your level you constitute a pole, a reflection of the sublime pole, polarising precisely the force transmitted and that whether you are conscious of it or not. Therefore, what you receive W ILL BE RECEIVED ipso facto at the supreme level without his having to submit it to external conditions of movement and contact which would still more complicate his enormous task. In other respects the head and the heart have need of "arms" and if these are "muscled" by more knowledge they again will transmit better the impulsion o f the head and the heart. Lastly, although its action concerns the whole world, the High Council sets the stage of its deliberations, particularly in Europe and that is well for its ramifications extend to the entire planet. There is also another important point: tradition, like Truth, is impersonal. Now that which is received by the Surpreme executive becomes tradition for the work that he embodies and what you have learned of our existence and our work is not opposed to but DIFFERENT to your tradition. More exactly to him it is strange. Thus what you have received and transmitted in your way cannot be w ithout error integrated by anyone'into the work of your Order. Let us say that it is a question of knowing implicitly a certain stage of your tradition at the risk of distorting the reason and EDUCATIVE aim in the most sacred sense of the term. The traditional and known organisations o f which yours is at the highest rung have received for some decades a particular impulsion. The esoteric structure o f ancient forms are breaking up everywhere and in the new cycle, their role in the reformed structure, will be different, and, by comparison with what was, incontestably diminished. It is for the traditional organisations to make the change and that explains why the High Council is so interested in them without intervening in their activities, their traditions or their own way of operating. Indeed our vigilance leads us to ward o ff from these organisations the danger caused by the perverted actions o f some people to satisfy the exigences of their ego fascinated by the false grandeur of apparent advantage when although each is different from the other on the traditional Path ALL ARE EQUAL with respect to that which they must attain. But that is the lim it o f our role, for the perpetuation of a tradition, the vigilance as to its purity and its impersonality is the sole business of those who, for a time, are invested with the responsibility of .this tradition. Now, there is, in the domain of

education, an acceleration which in the last analysis, is the business of the High Council, and which, in a general context, is designed to advance the understanding in such a way that it becomes an efficacious counterweight to the bad beginning of the new cycle previously mentioned. In a few months, on the plane of education, an important advance will have been realised. From the old basis o f evolution progress has been attained. IT MUST BE therefore, in what concerns the traditional Orders, the rest is our concern, that first and foremost, more LIGHT be given to those who are their leaders. It should not be a question of differentiating between the advancement of each The light must come to ALL. Those who can receive it will receive it and understand it and the least are, in the reality of their beings, more often than, not more advanced than those who have the illusion of being more advanced. Now, this light, you have possessed since your previous meetings with the High Council. It was given in that part o f our revelations that my colleague so rightly called it: the secret seal that he recommended you not to deal with under any pretext. The High Council has now decided otherwise. OPEN THE SECRET SEAL AT THE CHAPTER ON EDUCATION and transmit to those in your Order the light which concerns them. We work in other ways in such a manner that the light which applies to other valuable organisations be given to them . . . "

I was astonished. In writing the "Strange Encounters" I had proceeded with great care, vigilance constantly on the alert, to avoid including, even by passing allusion, certain revelations included in what was called, first in Athens, then at Lisbon, and lastly at Istanbul THE SECRET SEALS. And here I was now to open one of them without any restriction to be included in this account. Maha watched me smilingly, and as the thoughts flowed through my mind, the smile increased . . . I understood what it expressed. He who commands secrecy can l i f t the promise previously required. Besides, cannot the High Council determine with absolute perfection what must be done? The when and the how are its own decision. Is not the task o f the true adept summed up by OBEDIENCE? I was ashamed of the upsurge of my ego and already the plan o f my future showed itself with astonishing clarity. All this flashed very . . . too quickly and I was convinced that Maha was perfectly aware of my thoughts. So be it, I FELT it and when the time came I had only to DEVELOP it, to clothe it in words, this knowledge that Maha could call up LIVING AND COMPLETE to my consciousness . . . "So Mote It Be!"

But already Maha was concluding: "We shall have occasion to meet again, when your journey in the course o f the next months w ill cross mine during the four meetings of the final experiences you must undergo. However we shall have no more conversations of this nature unless circumstances require it in relation to the WORK, but do not wish for it, for that would signify that the situation is very grave to the point when it would be necessary to provide for a retreat from the world of sure values necessary for a new expression of the cycle. Never, however, should you suppose a cutting o ff, and "Absence” . The High Council of the A . . . is permanent! Go and open the seal!"

Maha, whose light coloured eyes took on at this moment a metallic tin t d ifficu lt to describe, slowly carried all the fingers of the right hand to his forehead . . . and I was filled with such emotion that my eyes closed and I was suddenly as if separated from myself, at first unconscious in an ocean of vibrations o f irridescent colours then at peace, in an extraordinary nothingness o f strange sounds and absolute silence a nothingness of space where all is filled and where no distinction exists between here and there. My eyes opened but the impression remained, and before me, in the tw ilight shadow, ah immense light where I KNEW Maha and where I saw nothing else. Gradually everything fell into place again and Maha came up to me. Instinctively I bent my left knee to the floor, I bowed my head and I fe lt once more than unforgettable influx of the benediction o f the Greatest of the Great.

How I returned to the Hotel Carlton, how I left Maha and the house which for some hours had sheltered me and my sublime teacher, I do not know . . . We are sometimes so wrapped up in ourselves that nothing else matters. Think of some great joy or profound sorrow you have experienced. This joy or this sorrow absorbs all your consciousness, to the detriment of all the rest. So then I was in joy and at the same time in pain. Of what importance time and place . . . I have been several times since to Amsterdam in the service of the Order. I have walked the length of the building which was the place o f my last meeting with Maha. The shutters are closed, the house seems empty, the park deserted.For me the place was dead. It had had no life except with Maha. It only had life within myself. However, such is HIS wish, which guides my pen along the line of my thought, and the plan, born o f an august presence develops itself in the finished work of the great news to those who, reading the words will be able to understand and communicate. In the name of the A . . . and on its order accompany me in a fascinating journey towards "The Secret Houses o f the Rose-Croix". With me, break the seal and thus allow the open book to pour out upon you the joys o f the eternal tradition to the rhythm of which, by your part in the Rosicrucian Order AMORC you travel towards your own reconciliation.

4 VIENNA

Like all large towns — and some smaller ones — Vienna, for the natives and the emigrants from the provinces, or the stranger is the daily bread. For the tourist, and even the hurried traveller, Vienna means the games of the Prater, and the nonchalance of Schoenbrunn. For everyone, natives, emigrants, tourists and travellers Vienna is the smiling capital of the music and cult of Strauss. I arrived in Vienna at the height o f the great musical festival o f June 1967. In the taxi which drove me from the aerodrome to my hotel the strains of a waltz charmed my road and hardly had I arrived when another waltz accompanied me from the mass o f trees which face the Hotel Continental. A fter a quick pause, time to fill in the formalities at the reception desk and be led to my room, a new waltz filled the universe, because the first act o f the porter was to turn on the radio. It was to music that I opened my bags and made the acquaintance with my temporary home. I had asked fo r a quiet room, and actually, I did not notice the noises of the town in the distance thus finding the place quite satisfactory. However, glancing out of the great bay window, I saw in the square right underneath, arranged in squares, several rows of seats with a ring in the centre. I thought — I wanted to think — that these were the empty places from a past sporting event, when later in the evening, returning to my room after a meal, a maddening clamour came from the window, and I became for some moments a clandestine spectator o f the contortions of a match o f . . . catch!! Such was the sight which upset my thoughts, THE THOUGHT of the experience which I was to await here. The day D, the hour H? Oh no! I know that it is a TOMORROW and that the meeting will take place at 9 o'clock in the morning. I know that I must wait in my room for the call of the concierge and that it is in front of his desk that the meeting will take place. On the surface, therefore, nothing had changed.

I woke up at 6.30 and I was surprised, fo r my physical constitution is such that, as I have said, I am not a "m orning" person, I often work at writing articles, meditations, till two or three o'clock in the morning w ithout being the least tired, but if in the morning I get up too early, my efficiency is considerably retarded. What a strange constitution is mine in this incarnation! No intense cold, no morning hours . . . One must know these exigencies and adapt oneself to them. It requires a kind of mastership to know oneself so well. Certain people at times tell me "How much you must regret not to know each day, the beauties of the morning when all nature awakes in explosions of jo y !" I can only reply " I t is a pity on your side you cannot know the splendours of the night when everyone is asleep around you and the talkative sky has only you to whom to tell its secrets!"

I was ready in a few minutes, I was: "In the beginning . . . " I was about to go to the window when the telephone rang . . . IT IS THE TIME, HE IS WAITING . . . I hurried

towards the lift, I was in the hall . . . then at the desk o f the concierge. HE IS THERE! I WOULD HAVE KNOWN HIM AMONG THOUSANDS! The height, the noble face, the overwhelming calm of the whole appearance, the brilliance of light grey eyes under the amazingly thick white eyebrows thrown at random on the forehead . . . the burning magnetism which emanates from his whole being to a point which seems as if he had touched one with his actual fingers, HE IS THERE, ROSE-CROIX, A ROSE-CROIX, A REALISATION. What could one do? What could one say? What would you have done? or said? . , I approached him and w ithout ostentation, lightly bowed my head in a sign of profound respect and intense devotion, I put the left hand on my heart and murmured "A t your service!" A smile answered me and w ithout a word being spoken I followed him to an immense black car marked with a diplomatic plaque and the chauffeur w ithout a word, stiff and serious, drove the car along a route known to him towards its destination. On the way I thew a glance at the crowded thoroughfare along which we were passing, then on the opera house, then . . . but a hand was laid affectionately on mine, as if to say "Please, patience, confidence!" and these three feelings, at the same moment I felt, I LIVED THEM. A little sooner, a little later, what did it matter! An experience such as the present one is it not in itself all mystical experience? I remembered that a wise man, met during a journey I had undertaken in search of the vestiges of an ancient intiation, had said to me: "Repeat the word God for five minutes, living it each instant as you speak. If you can do this you w ill be God yourself!" He wished in this way to show that the initiation had the effect o f being conscious of each instant, in making each moment a perpetual PRESENT.In truth I fe lt good at that moment as if the kind hand reseting on mine were assuring me that I was worthy o f the experience.

The journey proceeded to . . . I know not, it seemed o f little importance to mention it. I was not unaware of where we were, fo r curiosly, I had already come one day to this place, during a walk, but I may not give here any indications of precisely where it was as anyone will understand. This house o f the Rose-Croix, like the others which we would visit later is SECRET and this is for reasons bound up with the same idea of initiation and tradition. Besides, if I told in these pages: this house is in such a street, one gets there in such a way, how many in their mystical enthusiasm would come running to these doors, not to know more of what I am going to tell you, but to SEE more and perhaps to perceive for an instant the shadow of reality. So this would be the end, the breaking point, the collapse o f a world of tradition, for it is true that the most noble desire engenders the most dreadful catastrophies.

However, the house is isolated with, in the distance, the edge of a deep forest. High walls surround it and some distance away one can see the roof and the top storey. Perspective makes it appear that there is little distance between the house and the wall, but this is not so. In front and at the sides the space is not less than five metres and I was soon to learn that behind there was a magnificent garden of over an acre.

The great gates opened to a triple call from the klaxon of our car, and the limousine, silently entered w ithin, turned to the left and stopped in front of a stone porch covered with an elegant tiled roof. The house appeared to be vast. It appeared at first sight to have two floors and was little different from a country residence to which a man of affairs would like periodically to retire from the work and pomp of the world. I quickly found out the difference, precisely, elsewhere, inside the house, and all that happened therein.I observed there is not the slightest way of identifying this house or what it contained — no name plate — no indication to suggest the designation o f the place.

The chauffeur opened the door at my side. I was very embarrassed and hurried to the other door, to assist my companion, but he was already out and took hold o f my left arm, to lead me towards the house. Turning toward the chauffeur who waited w ithout speaking, he said in English: "You may go now and thank you my friend. This evening at eight o'clock w ill be time enough." A finely modelled hand in shining brass is ready for the signal from my host. He gave it three knocks, and the door opened wide . . . before us . . .

I was completely astonished, as if paralysed on the threshold, incapable of moving: there in fron t of me, there were TWELVE MEN, INCLUDING HIM WHO ACCOMPANIED ME AND HE WHO HAD OPENED THE DOOR, AND A LL THOSE INSIDE WERE CLAD IN A LONG WHITE FITTED ROBE BOUND ROUND THE WAIST WITH A BELT OF THE SAME COLOUR.

The perspective of this circular room of medium dimension with its floor o f black and white marble cut in regular triangles, of which the points were in the direction o f the entrance, the picture which met my eyes was indeed impressive. I do not know how, in the state I was in, it was possible for me to see anything. It is true that in critical or exceptional circumstances our entire being is alerted and we perceive more than our senses are aware o f and that, w ithin, our attention registers the whole scene and the detail.

A t the end of the room, behind and slightly to the right of those whom already I had recognised as 'T H E MEN IN W HITE", two columns, one white and the other black, rested on a rectangular platform of rose marble, reached on three sides by three steps. On the wall between the two columns, an emmense portrait of the Master Jesus, — so alive, so animated by a play of screened lighting that HIS presence seemed real. In the centre o f the platform, two stalls of sober lines surrounded a beautifully carved armchair that I could not see very well from where I was standing. To the right, perfectly fitted to the curve of the wall, there were six pews or stalls and to the left three, but the lack of symmetry was not apparent as if the arrangement was intended. A little later I saw just behind the men in white, a great candelabra, and I saw on both sides of the entrance two similar candelabra, then exactly in the centre o f the room, in the centre of the floor, a

great violet triangle, the apex of which faced the entrance and at each point of which was placed a candlestick of the same wood as the candelabras. A t the side of the black column a light smoke arose from an enormous incense burner. A table covered with a white cloth was next to the other column and on this table a large crystal bowl shining on its pedestal of silver. A soft light shone from the bowls fixed on the walls. I counted them later: there were TWELVE.

To enter the room after passing the doorway, one had to descend three steps, and this reminded me of another place, quite different, and other circumstances. A few minutes, perhaps only a few seconds had passed since I was on the threshold, for it takes longer to describe it than to LIVE it. My first companion entered first and tunned to the right towards a little door through which he passed. He who had opened the door took me in his turn by the left arm and led me towards the group facing the man in white who stood in the centre of the others. I noticed he wore a violet stole with, for sole ornamental symbol, a golden Rosy Cross, worked in the centre with red embroidery, on the left side.A skull cap of the same violet material as the stole, covered his head and part of his forehead. He was o f small stature and SEEMED aged without my being able to guess his age. His face, like that of the first one and the others, shone with ineffable sweetness in the aureole o f his long white hair. His grey eyes rested on me fixedly. Instinctively, I made the sign of Supplication and bowed while on my right he who had brought me before the group addressed in English the one who was facing me: "Father Rosencreutz, here is our visitor," and then THREE TIMES, he pronounced my name.

The response came, vibrant, in a strong voice which surprised me from a man of his stature, and, who knows, o f what age: "YOU ARE WELCOME, MY SON, TO THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIR IT!" Then he placed his hands on my shoulders, shut his eyes and concentrated within himself, then breathed THREE TIMES on my forehead. Immediately I fe lt an extraordinary feeling of lightness, an impression of TOTAL PURIFICATION and my eyes filled with tears, but already my conductor had pushed me towards the left and the same presentation was made to each of these august personages. However with them their ESOTERIC NAME was preceded with a title which I well knew — that o f FRATER. Meanwhile my first companion had returned clothed in the white robe, and I noted that he only, with the "Father Rosencreutz" wore a stole, but his was blue.His name I shall remember just as I remembered the names of the others. These names are MAGICAL and they have a meaning, when we know them. The "Father" now took his place in the Master's armchair. My first companion sat down on the fight, and my "conductor" on the left. The others occupied the stalls. A small footstool had been placed at the apex of the triangle, and the Father signed to me to be seated.

Not a word that I could understand was spoken. The Father followed by all the others stood up and I did the same. It seemed that the Father pronounced some words and that the others answered him but I HEARD NOTHING. I saw six of the men in white leave their seats, approach the burning incense, and light a small torch at the flame of a candle placed in a red globe that I had not hitherto noticed, then each one stepped, some before a candelabra others before a candlestick. Again the lips o f the Father moved in what was fo r me an IMPRESSIVE SILENCE. The lips of the others replied to him, and with perfect synchronisation, the six torchbearers lit the tapers and candles. A t this exact moment all the other lights were extinguished, and the enormous crystal bowl became brilliant, with a dazzling light which however, DID NOT GIVE ANY LIGHT TO THE REST OF THE ROOM. In fact the only light was produced by the candles. Oh! strange atmosphere of another world, fantasmagoric vision, and accentuated by the dancing flames, the giant shadows o f the immaculate men! WHO AM I? WHERE AM I? WHAT IS THIS SOUND NEVER BEFORE HEARD THAT SEEMS A BEWILDERING MIXTURE, calling the breathing to a slow rhythm, slower and slower. . . ! Is it OM, no. Is it AUM?No, not quite — a mixture o f the two perhaps . . . In me, first a TOTAL EMPTINESS.Then the sensation of "swinging" a whirl of unconsciousness and then nothing more — like a dream, like death! Later, returning to myself, I remembered the first phase. It was that practised by the members o f the Rosicrucian Order AMORC who have successfully passed the 7th Temple Degree . . . and the other, but it had been conducted, RAISED UP whilst I was outside. On the other hand I was not conscious of the other plane, the other state, as is the case in a successful projection. What did it mean?

I th ink I have the true explanation. I WAS SUBMITTED TO A PSYCHIC EXAMINATION. For that it was necessary to have my FULL CO-OPERATION and the only way was to come here and show my acceptance. Had it been asked of me naturally I would have given my agreement. In tru th, to such beings, I would have surrendered myself entirely and WITHOUT ANY FURTHER THOUGHT: their work is o f supreme goodness THE SUMMUM BONUM. For that which they are, I could not but reap the greatest profit for myself and above all FOR OTHERS. But all this happened so quickly! This is what in their mute language they would have said. The candles and tapers were extinguished, the crystal bowl rested lifeless on fts pedestal, the lights returned. The Father and his assistants retired through the little door to another room and I was left alone for a few moments.

Were they deliberating? Was it necessary to draw conclusions from their examination, to decide whether " fo r " or "against"? I do not think so. It is easy for them, in all circumstances and in all conditions, above all in a room already prepared, to analyse the aura o f a visitor. No ceremony is needed for them to do so. Besides, I AM THERE and if I have been accepted, that perhaps would not signify that I am worthy, but surely it

indicates that I am not UNWORTHY. Then there is no need to reach a decision concerning me. The decision had been made BEFORE my coming here. On the contrary I did not understand the REASON for this ceremony, but was it a matter of REASON? The SIMPLE explanation was given to me later on. It was a BAPTISM, more exactly a PURIFICATION according to the symbol of FIRE. How we are limited by our reasoning in living w ithout ceasing in the world and how we complicate THAT WHICH IS SIMPLICITY . . . "Because as little children . . . " Yes a child would have understood that coming from "outside" he must "enter in " to be delivered from the ashes of the earth and "raised" to another level o f vibration and comprehension. My astonishment at being introduced, immediately on arrival, in this COLLEGE OF THE SACRED SPIRIT and to see that this temple is situated w ithout apparent protection at what I supposed to be the entrance, that was also explained to me. The main entrance to the "House" is not here. Here is the entrance TO THE TEMPLE, but he who is admitted must have been already received into the temple. I saw that the departure is effected by the principal entrance and all this process is symbolic. One must ALWAYS pass through THE STRAIGHT GATE if one would one day open the GREAT DOOR OF THE KINGDOM which is not o f this world, which one may not reach save THROUGH HIMSELF . . .

And now writing these lines, and telling all that this story represents, I am today seized with doubt and bitterness. WHAT IS THE GOOD OF IT? In a few months, these words will reach their destination, and I have doubt certainly, that they will carry much light and comfort, but for some, what w ill that be? The life of the world especially in the West, kills the innocence which Emmanual Swedenborg calls the key of the kingdom.MAN NO LONGER QUALIFIES. He opposes the truth with the barrier o f his materialistic reasoning and his illusiory impressions. He accepts the worst sophisms. He builds up the most unbelievable abstract systems and when the truth of an experience passes beyond the frontiers of what he knows, however incomplete and limited, if he is carried away beyond his usual sensorial impressions, the postulants of his pseudo-science and the poor conclusions o f his objective thoughts, immediately he doubts everything else as he doubts himself, he denies the inward certitude which cries out " IT IS TRUE" and through his own fault he remains in the dark gulf o f purely phenomenal reflection, the slave of believing to have passed it. So today I wanted to destroy this manuscript, shield within the secret o f my memories the circumstances of an exceptional experience and content myself with reliving them in my heart and share them otherwise with others. I have also been tempted to relate the story in a manuscript which would not see the light of day till later, much later, when one named Raymond Bernard would be forgotten save as a servant of the Rosicrucian Order, and who some time ago held the title of Grand Master and would be chronologically placed in the history o f the Rose-Croix. So such a story would fu lfill its mission fo r all perhaps. But HAVE I THE RIGHT to allow myself to be driven by feelings born of too personal reactions? Have I the RIGHT to refuse to pass it on because

my moral comfort supposes that silence would be more profitable? In acting thus, was I not contaminated by the microbe of obscure rationalisation which seeks to impose itself on a world nevertheless blind to the mystery? I OUGHT to go on and if my human ego is to be appeased why should I not cry again what I have said, written and repeated on the subject o f unusual meetings:

Here are the events! Here are the facts! THESE EVENTS AND THESE FACTS CERTAINLY ARE THROUGH THE CHANNEL OF MY OWN SUBJECTIVE SINCE ALL WHICH IS OUTSIDE MAN IS NOT PERCEIVED AND INTERPRETED BY HIS CONSCIOUSNESS WITHOUT PASSING THROUGH HIMSELF AND THE RESULT THUS ACHIEVED BUILDS HIS HUMAN NATURE! But EVENTS ARE EVENTS AND FACTS ARE FACTS! STRIP THEM IF YOU WISH OF THE EMOTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF THEIR TELLING! MAKE AN ABSTRACTION OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY ARE RELATED, OF THE PERSONALITY AND STYLE OF THE AUTHOR, AND SEE, YOU ALONE FACED WITH THE FACTS AND THE EVENTS THUS DENUDED, THE CALL WHICH THEY HAVE TO YOU AND THE NEW LIGHT THEY CAN GIVE YOU ON YOUR JOURNEY. A FICTION TO YOU? WHAT DOES IT MATTER IF THE PARABLE IS RICH WITH PROMISE FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND YOUR "RECONCILIATION". FACTS AND EVENTS OF THIS NATURE ARE OUTSIDE A LL EVIDENCE. THEY BELONG TO ANOTHER PLANE AND THEY CANNOT ENTER INTO YOU SAVE BY ANOTHER PLANE IN YOURSELF. BELIEVE OR DO NOT BELIEVE, ADMIT OR DOUBT, IT IS YOUR PRIVILEGE AND I NEITHER CAN NOR WOULD TRY TO PERSUADE YOU TO BELIEVE OR DISBELIEVE. IT IS BECAUSE I MYSELF WAS A "ST. THOMAS" THAT I ACCEPT YOUR RIGHT OF SELF DETERMINATION. So then, read and understand what is GOOD FOR YOU OR REJECT THE WHOLE OF IT. NOTHING WOULD BE ABLE TO INSTILL ANY DOUBT IN ME: I HAVE LIVED THROUGH IT AND I HAVE SEEN, BUT I CANNOT ON MY SIDE ASK YOU TO ACCEPT MY TRUTH BECAUSE YOU ONLY HEAR IT. SO YOU ARE FREE AND YOU CAN ACCOMPANY ME WITHOUT RISK IN MY JOURNEY TO THE KINGDOM OF MY REALITY, YOURS PERHAPS, AS WELL AS MINE . . . Since my arrival at this first "Secret House" o f the Rose-Croix I had not received any instruction except the extraordinary ceremony at which I had participated as the subject. This ceremony, alone, symbolised certainly the whole objective of ALL my experiences and meditations as I would see later it was well thus. However, I was persuaded that above all at this time I must take it all in passively to be able to analyse and evaluate later on what I had been given. I waited then, w ithout curiosity and w ithout nervousness. The door opened, I did not move and a hand resting on my shoulder was the signal that the time had come for further discoveries. I arose from the footstool where I had been sitting whilst I waited. The TWELVE were no longer wearing their robes. They were dressed in modern dress.which did not surprise me. My

first companion was indistinguishable from others in public and is not a fundamental rule of the Rose-Croix written thus: "No one should be made to wear a special costume, but follow the habits of the country where he finds himself."? There is all the same, something which differentiates these venerable beings NO MATTER WHERE and that is THEIR LIKE NATURES. Certainly their white hair gives to some this apparent respectability to which the world is sensible, sometimes too much so, but two of them had the skull completely shaved and two others had abundant black hair. No one, not even the Father, wore a beard and I smiled to think of this characteristic which many in a childish way attributed to the Masters, as if the beard were a symbol of spirituality! Strangely THEY ALL RESEMBLED EACH OTHER. Their features seemed to have something in common, something indefinable, and this thing in "Common" naturally, is THE SAME STATE, the IDENTICAL DEGREE that all o f them had attained on the plane of BEING. This state "flow ed" around them and I would almost have said that these men "Shone". Around them one could imagine, sometimes one could see, a luminous mist which is without doubt what the Adepts recognise as "the glorious body". When these beings are there, it is d ifficu lt to pay attention to what is not themselves. A curious state of exaltation fills one's whole being. They are "d iffe rent" and the world, with them becomes "D IFFERENT".You are not separate, you are 'T H E M " and "THEIR WORD". This unique impression is impossible to describe.

We left the 'Temple of the Holy S p irit" by the little door through which my hosts had passed previously, crossed a small hall and entered by a door already open, a long room with large windows o f which the centre was occupied by a rectangular table surrounded with high backed armchairs all exactly alike, even the two at each end of the table. I counted quickly: FOURTEEN. But they are TWELVE. Symbolism? "Fourteen" has never been important enough to hold the attention of the wise ones. The Father took his place in the chair at the extreme end of the table with his back to one of the windows. My companion took his place in the one directly opposite and the others took their places.

I was invited to sit on the right hand of the Father Rosencreutz, and that had no particular meaning save as a measure o f the signal privilege which was being given to me . . . On the walls not one picture, not a sign, or a symbol. A low piece of furniture without doors occupied the length of the wall to the right o f the door. It was covered with books and papers which, at first sight, attracted no attention, but which in spite of that compelled one to KNOW, for nothing here was w ithout its use. It is better to have total sparceness and only the NECESSARY AND IMPORTANT things should furnish a room. Archives perhaps? Not so. The Rose-Croix have the Akashic records for their use. So? So we shall see . . .

It was the Father Rosencreutz who now began to speak. He was uninterrupted by any of the others and his extraordinary monlogue lasted for nearly fo rty minutes without my feeling the least fatigue, nor was my attention distracted for a single instant.He did not stop for any thought before his introduction and why should he when these beings are within themselves, meditation, spiritual life and sanctity? He spoke and his words seemed to come from within each of those who were there, myself included, as if they came from the ONE SELF in which we were all bathed and of which we suddenly became conscious.

"You are here in ONE of the Secret Houses o f the Rose-Croix. It is neither more nor less important than the others. All are the same degree since all the individuals they shelter have attained the SAME STATE by the SAME exterior initiatic way — that of the Rosicrucian tradition. There are TWELVE SECRET HOUSES OF THE ROSE-CROIX AND EACH ONE OF THESE HOUSES SHELTERS TWELVE MEMBERS, UNITED, THESE TWELVE HOUSES, BY THE 144 BEINGS WHO INHABIT THEM, CONSTITUTE THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OR, IF YOU PREFER, THE COLLEGIUM SANCTI SPIRITI, OR AGAIN, THE INVISIBLE COLLEGE OF THE FRATERNITY OF THE ROSE-CROIX. The room where you were received just now is a symbol o f what we represent. No ritual, as you have seen, took place outside the APPLICATION OF A COSMIC LAW brought into being by the symbol of Light and Fire. This room called the Temple of the Holy Spirit symbolises our "College". Within it is the tangible mark, the reflection as our body is the reflection of the UNIVERSE, and you will note the use of the word "re flect" different from "replica" so often wrongly used to describe the human microcosm. In effect man is not a universe in miniature in the true sense of the term; he is the OBJECTIVE APPEARANCE OF A STABLE AND PERMANENT REALITY. He is the MEASURE of what he can understand and experience of the Reality in which he moves. That is why he is not a Reality in himself but a reflection, often illusory, of the REAL.

"In our "College", we are brothers through our knowledge and the result of the work shared. We are not held by any oath, any statute or any rules for we are together all oaths, all statutes and all rules. Our only obligation is the HERMETIC DISCIPLINE that we observe voluntarily. We have no exterior sign of recognition. Of what use would it be to us, since we know one another at once?

"Each of the twelve "Secret Houses" have a peculiar and definite raison d'etre. Each is bound to a determined discipline of the Rosicrucian Order in itself, and this signifies that there are in this tradition TWELVE PATHS, or again that the postulant, in order to profit from the Rosicrucian technique must possess an interior "N o te" corresponding with TWELVE NOTES which form the keyboard of the Rosicrucian Order. This means also that

the Rosicrucian tradition has TWELVE PATHS OR CHARACTERISTICS WITHIN THE SAME OUTER VISIBLE ORGANISATION AND THAT THE RESULT OF THE SAME TEACHINGS, THE SAME TECHNIQUE OR METHOD TWELVE DIFFERENT RESULTS CAN BE ATTAINED WHICH A LL CORRESPOND IN THE LAST ANALYSIS TO THE FINAL STATE OF ROSE-CROIX. This explanation does not mean that there are twelve different outer organisations. It is in the same outer organisation that these twelve possibilities are united. To give a simple example, a postulant on the Great Path could be inclined, let us say, to a passive mysticism. The Rosicrucian technique will open out in this particular direction the personality of the aspirant. Another might have a fundamental attraction to a response to his philosophical questions and the same will aid him in this direction. This is not to say that each aspirant must be limited to a single note EXCLUSIVELY on which he will express himself. Whoever is ready for the Rosicrucian Way has, latent w ithin himself, the twelve notes or qualities but, according to the degree of evolution, IT IS BY ONE NOTE - HIS NOTE - THAT HE MUST FOLLOW HIS PATH. Moreover, the twelve notes are in such concord that progress on one note entails, so to speak, a harmonious progression to the eleven others, those which are not "awake” and the underlying unity shows itself when one finds advanced postulants manifesting the twelve Ways in one lifetime. You will have rightly judged that each of the twelve houses represents one note. It shelters those who have REALISED the state of ROSE-CROIX on the note which it represents. Moreover, in each house the twelve adepts each represent equally one note, or Path — the note or Path which has been his main characteristic in the final degree he has attained. So you see there is no separation between the houses, but on the contrary, a COMPLETE HARMONY and that here and now should show you the role of the "Secret Houses". This role, this raison d'etre, this aim you will learn from the revelations you will receive from OTHERS, in another "Temple of the Holy Spirit". But it is necessary first to have a general idea and it is here that you will be given a general outline.

"You have heard of the "names" which cover us. For us there is no more "personality". We must INCORPORATE our note and this we have done. Each of our names signifies our state, or if you wish, the particular quality of the Rose-Croix we manifest. Thus between us there is no difference! Each "characteristic" is equal to the others, for in all things, if you go to the extreme, you will recognise the UNITY and even the SIMILARITY. You can conclude from these fundamental explanations and also the fact THAT WE ARE THERE that IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE to attain the STATE OF ROSE-CROIX. It is true. The number of the Rose-Croix is not limited to 144. It is the secret houses and those who live in them which are confined to this number. Thus these houses are like the HEART of a much larger body of ROSE-CROIX. They are as it were the element which vivifies the body and which CONTROLS IT. No one can attain the state of Rose-Croix w ithout our being informed of it and w ithout our taking action, or, in other words, we should recognise that it is so and later you will learn HOW . . .

"The greater body of the Rose-Croix! . . . Great certainly compared to our small number. That "small number" which has made some people, less well informed, believe that the Rose-Croix does not exist, or that their number is even more minute! The "greatest number" 1 need not tell you, is composed of the "workers" dispersed over the world, by the lone individuals consecrated to their secret work, and who, by experience, have reached the High State. All are our brothers in work, deeds, and by discoveries of true science. To urge an analogy: the outer organisation is composed of a vast number of members dispersed over the world, and a reduced number of responsible ones meet at determined points. It is the same for those who recognise their oneness. They are on the whole world less numerous certainly, by comparison with the mass of aspirants, and some points known only to themselves, they have "their Houses", these houses of which the role however, GOES BEYOND the single body of the Rose-Croix and extends to the much vaster group of Rosicrucians. However, wherever they are found, whatever their occupations in the world and whether their responsibilities be great or small, THEY ARE TIED TO US, TO THE HOUSE WHICH CORRESPONDS TO THEIR "NO TE", BY 'T IE S " WHICH ARE MORE THAN PSYCHIC, FOR IN THEIR VERITABLE BEINGS THEY VIBRATE WITH THEIR EQUALS. They are the true Unknown Philosophers, unknown to the world, not recognised by it and ignored by all for they have "entered into the silence", they do not seek any recognition and they are men among men. However, they have the ability to come to their "house" if they feel a real need for a short period of retreat which will help them to surmount their trouble or the bitterness which arises from continual existence in the ocean of the vibrations of the perturbed masses. In fact, each may take every third year, a stay of three days in "his house" and every twelve a stay of twelve days.

"Thus, does it not seem clear to you that it IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE to reach the sublime state o f ROSE-CROIX since, if the Rose-Croix are limited in number, there are in reality more than one would suppose and that some ignorant writers have believed. You have enough to think about until the next revelations which you will receive at Lisbon, Madrid and Athens. I have not been able to touch on more than general points, theoretical and w ithout great portent, but if you will reflect on them, you will realise the amplitude of what is about to be revealed to you and your conclusions will be fru itfu l, in conjunction with the future truths which will be revealed to you, when the time comes. . . "

I could not stop myself from questioning the Sage: "Certainly I have understood perfectly what you have kindly told me. I have now an excellent idea o f the twelve houses, and what they represent and the ties which collectively and individually unite them. I have particularly noted the number of 144 and it has certainly opened for me new perspective in other domains of symbolism. I deeply respect and I shall always deeply respect the sublime stature which constitutes, in evolution, the state of Rose-Croix and I have an

inkling, w ithout being able to put it into words, of the ROLE which Masters such as you fu lfill. But what is not clear to me, are the activities which this role implies for you and also the manner in which you conduct them. I see well the influence which you could have, directly through your "houses" or indirectly by the helpers to whom you are attached; all the same I cannot quite see how this influence links up with that which is the responsibility o f those whom we call "COSMIC MASTERS". Perhaps my question should simply be "Who are you?" Giving to the word "W ho" a sense far beyond your personality or even your state and . . . "

Father Rosencreutz, his fine hands joined together, had listened with closed eyes and interrupting me he seemed to follow in a high voice a monologue from within:

"Evolution . . . the worst description which could be chosen to express the purpose of the human quest. Evolution . ... When it is simply a matter o f being CONSCIOUS, TO AWAKEN WITHIN, TO ENTER WITHIN HIMSELF AND LIVE THEREIN, TO MANIFEST THE ESSENCE WHICH, THROUGH OUR PERSONAL UNIVERSE WILL BECOME OUR SUBSTANCE OF THE MANIFEST WORLD! How can one express in WORDS a STATE which no words can express! The only language of the "knowing consciousness" is EXPERIENCE OF THIS KNOWLEDGE OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND ANYONE WHO HAS HAD this experience w ithout turning back recognises what has been learned w ithout any word having been spoken. The language of that man is no longer our language, the world o f the man is no longer our world. Colour is surpassed when Light is acquired even if the Light contains all colour in itself. Let us see . . . How can we suggest what is impossible to explain? Here then, we are the WHITE, not yet the RED and nevertheless THE WHITE AND THE RED are the two sides o f the same completion. So, because we are the WHITE, we have access to the RED but at our own choice, we refuse this possibility to continue our service on the level which is ours. Let us say that the RED, the BECOMING RED is the state o f those whom you call the "Cosmic Masters". The WHITE, our qualification, is the stage, or state of Rose-Croix. Thus is situated our "level" and in the "prism " o f the world, this level, this " lig h t" diffuses itself in twelve colours, seven fundamental and five complimentary o f which two are "shades" and three "d iffe rent" all included among the others. It is evidently that by this diffusion the student lifts himself by degrees to the WHITE light. . . These are the twelve notes of the keyboard of which I have already spoken, the twelve paths or characteristics o f the outer self all being synthesised and harmonised, each path must be of use, carry twelve rungs of degrees reverberating the seven, two and three "colours". Thus spread to infin ity the LAW OF SIMILARITIES, because what is above is like that which is below, but also because what is within is like that which is w ithout, where analogy and unity are the diversity of esotericism and exotericism. You understand better in this way how our influence is exerted: the WHITE composes all colours and all paths: that which emanates from the

WHITE that which diffuses, its reactions to the inner impulsions o f its "colours" all that constitutes the SAME FUNDAMENTAL of "states of consciousness" in individuals or if you prefer this word, EVOLUTION. That which happens on our stage o f thought that which forms the WORK which we perform, affects all the other degrees or lower STATES. That is why, from the SAME OPERATIVE ELEMENTS THE SAME CONSTANT FORMS FROM ONE RITUAL OR ONE OUTER IN ITIATION, FOR EXAMPLE, A GREATER AND MORE RAPID REALISATION CAN BE ACQUIRED IF THAT IS JUDGED NECESSARY TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE "UNIVERSAL PLAN" OF WHICH THE RED, THE LEVEL OF THE COSMIC MASTERS, IS THE REGULATOR FOR THAT WHICH TRACES, LET US SAY ONCE AGAIN, HUMAN EVOLUTION, OR IF YOU LIKE IT BETTER, TO ITS "REDEMPTION" . . . "

I was amazed at the horizons which opened out before me at these words of the Master. As he spoke "correspondences" came to me. I noticed the similarity of the numbers, the colours, the states with the technique of the Rosicrucian Order AMORC with its twelve degrees, o f which seven in effect, are fundamental, o f which two are shades, or transitions and of which three, the "highest" are quite different and include the essence o f all the preceding ones. I noticed the summit "twelve" which, as in our Order, is the keystone and I could not fail to make other observations which the members o f the twelfth degree will easily understand. Other revelations came to me inwardly and the outline of Maha with his companions came to mind, IN HIS PLACE, IN THE INFINITE building up of the Universe where I was now able to place the work of the Cosmic Masters.I experienced within myself the alchemy of creation — the red became evident to me as fire and sun, white, water and moon, and all sprang up in sparks of a world that is forged and where, in putrifying, the rind of the substance unrefined distills the silvered water of purification which must embrace the soul in a fire where SUDDENLY the Solar Gold will surge in the AWAKENING. To my consciousness appeared the wheel o f the Zodiac and the stages it represents, then came the great clock of the Templars and the many became ONE, the puzzle resolved itself and appeared SIMPLE, and y e t . . .

How long had I remained thus following the thread of glorious ideas? The Sages watched me tranquilly, Father Rosencreutz radiant with serenity and I asked myself if he and his companions had not followed in no small way the journey of my thoughts, and that they were borrowed from them. But here was I, fu lly conscious, if one could call consciousness the state in which I found myself in the presence of such beings. Father Rosencreutz laid his hand on mine and withdrew it immediately as if for a signal. In fact he stood up, and the others did the same. Was my visit finished? I did not expect to learn any thing more here, but I knew that I must not leave until told to do so by my hosts.

The Father turned to my nearest neighbour and said something I did not hear. He whom he had addressed turned to me: " I am to show you quickly over our 'house'/' he said. You now leave Father Rosencreutz and my brothers. Will you please follow me . . . "

I was confused. The past hours seemed to me to have lasted for ever. One does not appreciate the value of what one possesses until the moment of losing it and I felt within me an infinite emptiness, an abyssmal anguish. I looked around slowly, on those whom I was to leave in this room and my eyes rested on the Father. Is he the "W hite", are they the "Colours"? No, because all are equal . . . at least he carries the light and the others spread it, a unity under twelve aspects? What did it matter? I moved towards the Father and fell on my knees, hands in the mystic sign of supplication, head bowed eyes closed. My attitude implored a benediction. A hand lightly touched my head, a breath quickened suddenly within my being in all parts a swirl of harmony and peace. I felt the spiritual rapture of an OM come to birth and grow to unknown summits then slowly die lower and lower whilst my inner self joined itself in the magic of this sacred rhythm. A hand took mine, rested on my left shoulder and invited me to rise. All the Masters were in a circle around Father Rosencreutz and me, his vassal, kneeling before him. All had taken part in the benediction which had been given me. Once more the unity of the many. How everything is a lesson in the silence of the Sages. I must go now. I am with my guide and before closing the door I returned to the group and bowed in farewell. All smiled a smile of light and purity and I . . . I felt the tears on my face.

The visit, as I had already been told, was quick w ithout doubt because I was unable to notice anything exceptional. However I was enormously interested. Certainly what I saw, I knew from other visits less extraordinary, but here, there was the presence of the ROSE-CROIX and that was everywhere. Each room was very austere but w ithout being forbidding. Here was the refectory, simple, well lit, in which the table and chairs were laid out in the same fashion as in the room we had just left. Once again Isaw two chairs too many, w ithout however questioning my guide, silent in the silence of the place. Certainly one could not wait whilst I conjectured as to the why of what had not been explained to me. Initiation implies waiting. I waited: the veil would be lifted at the right moment, later,I had no doubt.

On the table, twelve metal plates, pewter perhaps, and twelve goblets o f the same metal - nothing else. I deduced that the rest o f the table would be laid just before the meal. A t the end to the right, close to the finely moulded chimney piece, a work desk bore a great closed book. I went up to it and a brief glance showed me, on the black cover, a splendid cross decorated with a rose on the stem. I dared not pursue my investigation further. In what other language than German or perhaps Latin would they write here!Now, I left o ff Latin away in the tw ilight of sixteen years of age, English remains my

second language, Spanish my present study and vague reminiscences of Polish from my twentieth year. German or Latin? No, I refused such culpable curiosity. In these circumstances every movement counts.

We passed over the threshold of a door opening at the left o f the chimney piece and I walked behind my conductor along a straight corridor to a staircase a little larger. Afterwards there was nothing to do but to arrive at a grand gallery well-lit by three windows o f polished glass. To the right, each identical with the others, several doors situated at regular intervals. I quickly counted fourteen, and this number once more, perplexed me. My guide opened one of the doors and he only opened the one. I understood that it was the room belonging to him. The room! What a common word to describe this cell, for it was a veritable cell. There was nothing repellant neither sad nor frightening. The bluish window panes of a great window tinted the place w ith a peaceful colour which bathed even the walls, which one guessed to be entirely white. On the ceiling a very simple lamp in tiny solitude, on the right an iron bedstead with a sheet turned over a brown coverlette and close to the window in fron t of the bed, an ordinary table covered with a white cloth, ornamented with two candles in their low metal candlesticks, some books on a set o f shelves beneath the table, a single chair, a modest wallcupboard and that was all. This cell held nothing beyond the most strictly necessary accessories for the one who would occupy it. However. . . however, we entered, my host closed the door, then he went to the table and lit the candles, then turned to me . . . Oh strange feeling of recovered memory, a memory which slowly grew and took its place in time and space! For half an hour this saintly being was beside me he had guided me through the place inhabited by these august personages and he was one of them. I had been through a House which would have been w ithout interest if it were not for the soul which lived there and my consciousness had been filled with nothing but curiosity, leading astray my soul from contact with the Soul, when it should have been sufficient to lose myself in "the soul" who who accompanied me to UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING AND TO "L IV E " EVERYTHING. I felt, I KNOW what the Master is going to say — a word — a single word o f two syllables — MY WORD! And he murmured it and I recognised it and 1 sink down, serene, joyous, in the nothingness of the A LL . . .

The visit, from then on, continued w ithout my curiosity being again awakened.Even the laboratory where they worked together did not appear to be more than the material manifestation of what I had known since I came into this House and which I had only just perceived and understood. There were in the laboratory, twelve tables of which one was in the centre, surrounded in a circle by the eleven others, spaced f if ty centimetres apart. The room was vast and it was the only one which had the walls covered with maps and diagrams of various kinds, some outlining the human body, and others, coloured ones, represented numerous plants, however some represented fundamental traditional symbols

disposed in such a manner to bring out harmony and unity. On each table I noticed a pyramid. The one on the central table was engraved with Hebraic letters and all the others carried different Egyptian symbols on each of them. I observed also that each pyramid was hollow and that the underneath was detachable, permitting one to see on the inside a pliant thread holding a little silver hook in the exact centre of the pyramid. I saw neither retort nor alambic nor athanor and I was not surprised. What would these accessories do here? What role could they fu lfill in manifestation? On the contrary I saw in a corner of the room a crystal bowl on its pedestal, similar to the one in the Temple. I saw also two enormous gaming dice, placed one on the other, the one underneath slightly one sided in relation to the other. It was evident what symbol the dice represented thus, the number twelve came instantly to mind. Assuredly a special work was done here. I was doubtful what it could be but I had already learned enough in this secret house that no further explanation would be given to me and I was not surprised at this.

My guide after the experience in his cell, had again relapsed into silence, and he remained so until the end. Now, the end was here . . . ALREADY! The night was again clothed in its mantle of moonlight, and I was on the threshold of the great door — that which opened for departure and on this strange world which in the illusions of its dreams moved, haggard, in an imagination that it thought real. Oh! How the experience that I had just been through in these last blessed hours would seem supernatural to the exclusive adepts of the 'sensible' world, too forgetful that they live themselves by their own wish, in the limited contemplation of "sub-natural" chimeras o f their own pretended "scientific" conceptions! In fact who am I accusing, for not long ago, in the course of my first stumbles on the Path, had I not also been so much attached to the supposed "visible" that my eyes failed to see the unit, where visible and invisible differ each in its own place as the two sides of the same thing?

I was here then on the threshold of the great door, the Master, the Rosicrucian, there before me and I was ready to receive the final heritage of the message that he gave me in perfect French. "You have learned, you will learn yet more, for the bushel has been removed and the light shines resplendent. Nothing will be hidden from you and each question will have its reply before this year is finished. The word . . . your word is but the SIGNAL of the colour and the note which is yours. Beyond the link that I am, other links, even more inward will recognise this word, this signal, this call! Do not therefore consider me as your only correspondence, for I am only one among many. A t the same time there are outside yourself links and the vibrations of their word ties them to yours and themselves are for others a link still more interior and so on to infin ity and this shows that A LL IS LINKED IN the sky as on the earth and even below the earth, that all acts and reacts in one sense and another in perpetual movement from which bursts forth life, thought, love and each feeling or sentiment. So go my son, go my brother . . . " and resting

his hands on my shoulders, his eyes fixed on mine, all my being one with him, he added . . . "and may Peace Profound be with you in your ascent o f the next triangle."

The car drove rapidly towards the town . . . the illuminating understanding which had filled me when the Father had discoursed caused me to suppose that the next foreseen visits to other places would no longer be necessary. It seemed to me only too easy to leave it at what I had seen and heard. But I told myself that to know and understand was not enough in such circumstances and that one must now test and EXPERIMENT. I measured up all that remained to clarify, to put in place, the smallest detail being of the greatest importance. Those rooms through which I'had passed, their disposition, the symbols that my eyes had skimmed over and my memory felt to be of great import certainly all had a reason, a role to fu lfill that I had not as yet perceived, but would be of value to others. Moreover the itinerary was fixed, and the way mapped out and the order given. One must OBEY but was not to obey to enjoy an immense privilege, unique? Silence descended upon me clad in its happiest form. Peace, harmony . . .

When the porter of the hotel opened the door o f the car, it was with a real effort that I regained full consciousness. I hurried quickly to my apartment and o f less importance this evening the soul o f Vienna vibrated to the tune of a waltz, which the crowd underneath my window bawled out to the sufferings of a wrestler. My heart was intoning the office of joy and dancing with hope. Lisbon, Madrid, Athens . . . other secret houses, in a few months . . . tomorrow!

I finished these first notes this evening, Friday 13th October 1967. It is 7 o'clock.In a month to be exact, the 13th November at 2.10 I would arrive at Lisbon and, in the same Ritz Hotel where before I had had the STRANGE ENCOUNTER, I would prepare myself for another visit. Oh Hallowed waiting for the spiritual wedding where the being communes with itself in an embrace o f light! Never may the time suspend its flight and quickly which marked the days on the clock of human experience until soft chimes would ring out the AWAKENING!

5 LISBON

Few know that Lisbon was once called Ulissipo, then w ithout doubt for simplification, Olisipo. Many do not know that it was a town of the roman Lusitania and in 375 it was already a Bishopric of which the Moors took possession in 711 and that it was not reconquered until 1147 by Alphonso 1st, Henry and the Crusaders to become in the thirteenth century the residence of the King of Portugal. Its fabulous prosperity acquired during the 15th Century disappeared with the Spanish conquest in 1580 and definitely annihilated by the destruction of the Indies, little remembered. One speaks even yet with anguish of the trembling of the earth in 1531 and with terror of the devastating earthquake of 1755 followed by gigantic fires and tidal waves which destroyed the major part of the town. It was the port and centre of commerce for the spices exported from the Indies to European Atlantic ports. It was the place of arrival for ships from Brazil . . . It languishes today on the beaches of the "Sea of Straw", dreaming of its past, surveying the future and its uncertain promises, caught up in the hopes of its people, smiling sadly, maintained by daily labour and century old perseverance . . .

As for me, on the terrace of my apartment at the Ritz, in the pleasant coolness of that 13th November, soon after my arrival, I thought I could see in the very far distance below, one of the most beautiful highways of the world, and I saluted the Tigris, that exile from Aragon, which grows in Castile and accompanied from Aranjuez by its sister Jarama, shining in the sun o f Toledo, Talavera and Alcantara before springing into Portugal to know the splendid gorge of the Portas de Rodas and charged with history to pursue its winding way through the calm of the plains and after many false tracks to come, after the majestic fall at Villa Franca, to play in the superb bay of Lisbon and to die exhausted in the Atlantic Ocean . . .

Lisbon with its rare ruins, its ancient churches, its tower of Belem, its monastery of Jeronimos . . . Lisbon and the Tigris, Lisbon and its Ritz and Lisbon and Mahal . . . Days have run into months and here old memories met again in the passing present. The same places, the same hope! For tomorrow, the same wait.

I went inside and sat down. With closed eyes I tried to calm the disordered flow of thoughts in which were mixed the nostalgia o f yesterday with present impatience. All would begain tomorrow; of what good is it to imagine now what it would be. The time is not far o ff when the facts will be written in the time which is prepared for them. The concierge gave me a brief message: "Someone will come tomorrow at 10 o'clock." How useless always are suppositions of "perhaps".

Nevertheless had not Maha told me in Vienna to hope for another meeting with him in the towns where I would find myself in the visits to which I was invited? Certainly who am I to hope that such a being or even one of his assistants would dream of including me in the immensity o f his task or even a few minutes of his precious time! Come now, I must not entertain such dangerous illusions, I am already confounded by the unique privilege to be granted me tomorrow . . . I must not prolong the thought of Maha. What took place with him here in this hotel, remind me constantly o f his image. Well! Let us suppose! So much for the uselessness of "perhaps"!

However, Maha is, or will be in the next few days in Lisbon, a little later in Madrid and I would be there also, and then later in Athens. Lisbon, Madrid, Athens . . . three places of authority, three countries which do not follow the rhythm of the world despite the aspirations of their people. I fo llow this political thought. After all things fo llow their natural course and nothing can change it. Nothing? I remembered what I had learned during the course of the previous meetings. After all, I KNOW that "the y" watch and evaluate the state of a nation in relation to general normal requirements and take into account the lessons to be learned and stages to be attained, and which are certainly known perfectly. Since I had access to this knowledge thanks to the light received from the most competent authorities in these matters. I have no problem. A little reflection allowed me to size up events, large and small, in their admirable universal context . . .

Maha could not therefore be in Lisbon for one of the periodic reunions. There are four which coincide, within one or two days, with the beginning o f a new season. In Vienna this had been the case, in Athens this would certainly be the reason for the presence of Maha next December, but in Lisbon nothing o f the sort. I remembered in spite of everything that my first meeting with Maha had taken place here in November also, and I never pretended to believe that he had made such a journey only to meet me. A "reunion" had taken place here. It had turned out to be an extraordinary reunion, but Maha, at the same time o f the year had come again to Lisbon. He would not have done this by chance.Is Lisbon o f first importance for the High Council? After the last meeting with Maha in this town, there had been considerable happenings in the world, but how could one find the direct relationship between the two facts, although . . . I refused to follow this supposition further. Did Maha live here? No! the answer jumped with such immediate certainly into my subconsciousness that I abandoned this idea. Then what was the answer? What if the situation required it, a special reunion was always held in Lisbon, but in this case why November? Events do not wa i t . . . unless NOVEMBER IS A CAPITAL MONTH EACH YEAR IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PERHAPS THAT OF THE BALANCE SHEET WHERE APPROACHING EVENTS ARE FORESEEN AND THE MANNER OF FACING THEM.

I began to understand. Maha had tru ly said that what had been revealed to me would become the KEY explaining A LL conditions. So the time of the meetings, their dates and their places ARE THEY NOT IN THEMSELVES A REVELATION?

The four annual reunions could be, if my reasoning is right, those of ACTION AND DECISIONS, the others, those of EVALUATION. As to Lisbon this could be the town of the ANNUAL STOCKTAKING before the GREAT REUNION of the winter. The other towns? Amsterdam? Vienna? I think I understood: Athens is close to Istanbul, less than an hour by aeroplane. So another town would be Istanbul, that of the last great reunion. The number is incomplete. I knew of A LL the reunions, general and particular, of Amsterdam, Vienna, Lisbon, Athens, Istanbul. I remembered Copenhagen where I was SURE a reunion had taken place. Of London, I was not so sure, except that members of the High Council certainly never travelled uselessly. SEVEN towns the total and not only was I ignorant of the eighth but it would only be conjecture to say where the important meetings took place and where the secondary ones met. Separately Istanbul and Vienna and perhaps Copenhagen . . . What did it matter after all! Was not the essential thing that such reunions took place? I reproached myself fo r my human curiosity. I got up and unpacked my luggage. This evening I will go to bed very early. Decidedly I have to admit that age counts: my old friend the aeroplane, it also tired me . . .

In the car which drives me this morning to a new "secret house of the Rose-Croix",I go over the events that have happened during the last hour, and the similarity to those which happened at Vienna strikes me. Firstly the messenger who brought me a few minutes before ten o'clock, when I was waiting by the telephone in my room for a ring from the concierge, a sealed envelope containing a minute card with only the words, in a beautiful slanting handwriting " I am here J.C." Afterwards my arrival in the immense hall with a look at the entrance which, previously, had held Maha, but his place was empty, mute, then someone coming towards me, tall, slim, splendidly upright in an old age which he carried with a youth which radiated from his grey eyes, in the luminous silver of his abundant hair. Pale? yes, but the pallor was due to the contrast o f his fine face with his extremely dark blue suit on which rested a white tie lost on a shirt of the same colour. "Come" and again confident with complete certainty, I am a stranger going to a new discovery. Perhaps I ought to say something about the car which awaited us, whose chauffeur w ithout a word, took the road which he knew well? It did not seem one ought to add anything to what has been said. There have been many cars and drivers in all my meetings without my knowing if one or the other had been in service of those whom they carried with me or whether they were " le n t" by some loyal unknown. Anyway of what good to think of this kind of problem. The anonymous role of these devoted helpers honours them in the perfection of their accomplished mission.

The car drove rapidly and I dared not break the silence. My companion seemed withdrawn in a profound meditation, I closed my eyes and forced myself to join his vibratory level, but quite quickly, I sensed that he was leading my meditation towards an indescribable state o f communion to which I abandoned myself entirely. When I became conscious again the car had left the sea on the left and following a wide road, was well towards a large building of which nothing hid the view, and which certainly neither natives nor tourists, following the road which we had taken, could fail to see. However, this building resembled a monastery and it ought certainly to intrigue the curious at least, as often, the idea that it was a convent that one could not visit put an end to all inclination to know more . . .

As we approached, it appeared massive, majestic and at the same time of rare elegance. Three archways rose from the centre front and behind there was a single story pierced by little windows which opened on to a terrace surrounded by a wide stone balcony.

My companion, having alighted, invited me to follow him. The white gravel crunched under our steps, and I hardly know why my heart contracted. I fe lt no fear, but today the unknown seems to oppress me, as if in these places the grandeurs of initiation were awaiting, where the being, before emerging into the light, must be filled with the ancient terror of the trials of purification. I followed this absurd idea. There is no longer any need to be tried at this stage, the terror o f the threshold has been passed, and I have no further need of It. These meetings were proposed and I accepted, OBEYED. Moreover, would such invitations have been given w ithout my being obedient, knowing nothing, to the necessary verification of an attentive inner evaluation? Even if I were but an intermediary, a messenger, had not prudence since the first time presided at the decision concerning me?To suppose the contrary would be to have a very poor knowledge of the most elementary occult laws. One must know in any case that I only speak by ORDER and that, in this case, neither fear o f refusing the one nor doubt o f the other would shake my determination to fu lfill the mission that has been confided in me . . .

We took some steps under the central archway. My guide w ithout any sign, entered by the great folding doors and preceded me inside. We found ourselves in a vast room paved in the same white marble as the entrance hall. Some feet from the door two immense columns of rose marble opened onto a large staircase in the centre o f which was hung a splendid dark coloured curtain. To right and left several doors lost themselves in the wood panelling which entirely covered the walls. A rigorous symmetry governed the disposition of the rare furniture in the room. This desk is the exact replica of that facing it. On each side o f the staircase the same table and three similar armchairs. Everything here made me think simply o f a rich residence, if I had not known it to be an exceptional place.

"Wait here a few minutes," said my companion and turned towards the staircase. I sat down in the armchair to the right of the entrance facing the centre of the room. After a few minutes I heard steps on the staircase. Someone was coming down, or more exactly, by the noise, several people, and suddenly, at the top of the stairs, I saw Maha followed by all the members of the High Council. I stood up quickly but remained where I was, transfixed by surprise. For a moment I could not understand. Then are we not here in a "Secret House of the Rose-Crox"? Is not this house a new place in the series of revelations to which I have been invited w ithout having the least in the world asked for it? I felt that no explanation would be given of the presence here of the High Council. From the experience I had gained during previous meetings I understood clearly that there could be no possible error. On the contrary, enlightenment was hound to come to me. I remembered that my first meeting with Maha had taken place at MY hotel and then the other members of the High Council, fo r preparatory contacts, had received me in "apartments" where the actual reunions had been held. So I had no doubt that in Lisbon the assembly of the High Council was being held IN THIS HOUSE where I found myself at present. My already immense interest, surpassed, at this idea, all limits. Certainly, I could not establish any relationship between the Rose-Croix and the High Council but I understood that the latter has responsibilities which are not superior but different, and can make use of, in its task, facilities offered by other authentic assemblies, formed of beings who have reached a determined stage of evolution. In any case I observe that the Rose-Croix not only knew of the existence of the High Council, but also of those who formed part of it, and that for me opened new horizons on the publication of an ancient manuscript and its reference to the "great reformation".

Maha, followed by his companions, came to me. I dared to hope as I waited, respectful and attentive, that they would not go out w ithout paying some attention to me, however profitless. But I forgot the simplicity of these great ones to suppose that they might ignore one, close to them in this place of spiritual majesty, however small and humble. They all stopped, Maha but a step from me and the others slightly behind. A t the same time they made the SIGN which, since our meetings, I had guarded in my memory, often asking myself as to its hidden meaning with no explanation which satisfied me. Maha approached me, and I am neither here nor there, I FORGET AND I REMEMBER, everything vibrates around me, within me, on me and my tears are mine and not mine. Strange consequence of a state whose repetition never becomes dull, and which like itself, upsets, soothes, excites, enraptures all existence in a sacred annihilation . . .and here I am alone, kneeling, coming back to the consciousness taken by surprise at my solitude in this imposing and empty hall where the expectation must return and I retake it, with an impression o f complete regeneration, in the same armchair which appears to me never to have been left, in spite of the sublime moments through which I have just consciously passed. Not a word has been spoken, some short minutes have flowed past and meanwhile

the atmosphere of a whole day — what can I say? Of an existence perhaps — has been trasnformed by the bringing in of unique vibrations adding themselves to others previously acquired and reinforcing them with the pressure of the "presence" What is it then that space and time wish to say? The all, is it nothingness, or rightly nothingness the all? Man who sees only in the phantasies of the emotions of his deceitful ego, preoccupied with his only self, above all if you pretend to interest yourself in others, in complaining, it is I who complain for I am thy brother in this humanity which follows its course, its collective dream . . . We are only vanity and nothingness and yet we are all after the awakening. See! Consider w ith me these sublime beings! We are proud, they are simplicity, we wish to be judges, they are mercy and pardon w ithout ever having offended anyone.

My meditation is so profound that I have not heard those approaching who are now before me looking at me and seeming to share my thoughts. I have always suffered from a certain tim id ity which I attribute to a profound fear of crowds or perhaps to an exclusive love of solitude which the present incarnation has refused me because of the requirements o f my mission. I am not ignorant that tim id ity occasionally hinders a first contact and that lack o f ease might well be misunderstood, judged cold, distant or even haughty even if its heart is overflowing with love, and if its soul from the moment of meeting, is in communion with others in an immediate clairvoyance. In truth, it was this terrible tim id ity, after several minutes or more, withdraws in some obscure alcove, ready to spring up, insidious, crawling, at the least inattention to replace its deceitful mask made of outward shows, the profound reality of a being . . . Assuredly, I know that the Grand Master does not suffer from any tim id ity. He is the "o ther", in me, but here I am Raymond Bernard, and here am I, tim id before the illustrious ones, fascinated by the immensity they represent, unsettled by the splendour of the Realised, and dazzled by their great light o f which mine is only an echo, a reflection which shines on the world but measures in these places the long road still to be trod in order to find a more intense power.

I arise and the conscious contact o f these looks pacify me tearing the veil at the moment for a communion w ithout age and w ithout frontiers. I could almost say that I recognised Father Fosencreutz. There was, between this one and the other, known in Vienna, an absolute resemblance, which had nothing to do with the physical appearance, but which emanated from him, as it were, to such an extent that if the two were placed side by side, immediately, in spite of their bodily differences, unity would be established, a soul strictly identical, by reason of the same height attained, and so powerful, so strong, that the purely material expression would pass into the background. Thus, to describe those whom I saw here would be a pure repetition o f what I saw in the surrounding atmosphere of light, words would not be sufficient to convey it to others. This nature is not subjective, it irradiates from the places of those who live there, and perhaps on these

occasions it is the EVE OF GOD, which scrutinises, evaluates, weighs by means of those consecrated eyes where it still vibrates in the refound. Peace Profound, the torment of the battles committed in the conquest of the sublime. THERE ARE TWELVE, but I was forestalled and among them my dumb companion from Lisbon. It is he who comes to me and says in a low voice, "Here is Father Rosencreutz,” showing me him whom I had guessed.

I take a step toward the Father and incline my head making the esoteric sign of supplication. Before each one I again make the ancient sign of allegiance and coming before the Master I humbly await his order: "Come" he said simply and I followed him surrounded by his equals, towards the staircase, which up there on the right, leads to the unknown . . . to the heart of the Sanctuary, for it is there, quite close to the vestibule, the CIRCULAR Temple and I recognise it, neither bigger nor less spacious than the first, that of the other secret houses, but its exact replica and the same vibratory power which far from overwhelming a visitor such as me, on the contrary soothes him with its peace and ITS LIFE . . .

In the Temple each one takes his place. However here, I do not have a stool, but a low chair w ithout arms, of the same wood as the stalls. What surprises me in the Temples which up till now I have been permitted to see, is the absence of any symbolic sign. It is evident that for the Rosy Cross, a prop in the Holy of Holies is no longer necessary. He himself is the prop of those who surround him. Force and vigour come from him, giving life to dead things and peopling the apparent void with a reality which penetrates all.

The ceremony unfolds and in writing the word "ceremony", I feel it is not the right word. I would like to substitute for it the term "technique" which appears to me more appropriate, but it would not help much more. In any case, what I still feel at this moment are the EFFECTS of what took place. That is to say,the indescribable state of TOTAL COMMUNION, this unforgettable FUSION of each in all and of all in the INFINITE. Oh, most certainly I have today taken part many more times, for, after the brief encounter with the Sages of the High Council, I again become conscious w ithout however breaking the contact with the sublime plan where I was then led. Strangely, I feel, I see, I breathe and I perceive myself "seeing, feeling and breathing". The me remains united to the " I " and meanwhile, it contemplates it, as in a unique life expressing itself consciously in TWO phases. There are diverse forms of dividing into two: that is one of them, and I estimate it the highest there is, since it is not knowledge but PARTICIPATION.

The enormous crystal ball gives its splendid light. I was speaking of symbolism. The several accessories which cover the nudity of this Temple are not they themselves symbols, but now what LIFE they must clothe for the august dwellers of these places.

The ceremony comes to a close when Father Rosencreutz, followed by two others of the Rosy Cross come to me . . . I am taken by the arm, conducted to the centre of the Temple, and understanding what is required of me, I stretch myself on the floor, face downwards, arms in the form of a cross. I feel that the Brothers are taking their places around me, and I hear the WORD which the Father delivers with a sonorous voice and which all repeat in a different tone . . . What now takes place I am not authorised to say fo r WHAT IS LOST MUST NOT BE REFOUND EXCEPT WITH LIFE, but, perhaps, those who can understand, would they have a glimmer of the GREAT TRUTH of this moment, if I say simply, w ithout breaking my promise, that TO LIVE AND DIE ARE FALSE PROBLEMS and that ONLY THE WORD PERMITS TO DIE AND TO LIVE. I cannot say more. On lifting the veil I found MYSELF again but the remembrance, henceforth, in certain circumstances, gives me the privilege of experiencing anew the immensity o f the "alchemical marriage".

Then, we have left these sacred places, consecrated by the sacred PRESENCE and we have, by means of the vestibule already known, reached, on the right, a little glass door which the Father has opened and where all have entered, leaving me on the threshold. I was not a b it surprised in saying that this hall, if larger than that at Vienna, is arranged in identical fashion. In particular, there are here, as there, two seats too many before the work table. The complete explanation would be given me sooner or later, I have no doubt of it and I know too well the law of the esoteric hierarchy: SI LENCE AND OBEDIENCE in order to avoid any questions. A REVELATION COMES IN ITS OWN TIME, AND THIS TIME IS THE MOMENT WHEN IT CAN BE RECEIVED AND UNDERSTOOD BY HIM WHO RECEIVES IT, AS INSTANT KNOWLEDGE, NOT REQUIRING ARGUMENT, EXPLANATION OR DISCUSSION. Otherwise it is a mental illusion, false certitude, error of judgment, vanity o f intellectual exercise and inanity of myself in which anyone who has strayed from the path takes pleasure, supposing it to be still there, Formidable illusion of Yesod! would it not be better, certainly, to wait in Malkuth and there find sufficient energy to leap to the beauty and li<Jht of Tipheret, w ithout dwelling in the illusory Yesod! But time presses and.purgatory is the road between earth and heaven . . . IT IS NECESSARY TO WANDER BEFORE RECEIVING THE "CROWN"! The lotus flourishes near to heaven, the rose at the centre of the cross. Lotus or Rose, Heaven or Cross, all is reunited and becomes enlightened, light is added to light.

The Sages are seated and the Father invites me to occupy ONE OF THE TWO EXTRA CHAIRS. It seems that this is a particular honour, contrary to what I would have believed, having been placed, in Vienna, at the right of the Master. All look at me, in effect, with such a great benevolence that I FEEL the privilege which is thus made to me. Then, the Father extends his left arm, palm upwards, whilst his right hand is lifted with the palm towards the assembly who bow their heads for a few moments in mute invocation and only raise them when the Father begins to speak.

"In this sad time which spreads over a world on its way to still more d ifficu lt problems, although different from those met in the course of the epoch now completed, the Rose-Croix must continue their mission as "Silent Watchers" and with all their strength in invisible conclave to contribute to the success of the Great Work . . . In the forge, in the crucible of this world, many will fall, the dregs which! will serve other structures by a different course, leading nevertheless later on, the time having arrived, to the same end, but what justifies your presence here is essentially the function of our assemblies in regard to the Rosicrucian work of which we represent the achieved realisation . . . What is accomplished by us, you know from your previous visit to another Temple; at least you have an inkling of i t . . . You have also an idea of the "poles" which we establish at respective places where we are united in conclaves of twelve, THESE PLACES, NATURALLY, ARE NOT CHOSEN BY HAZARD! THEY ARE CENTRES OF FORCE SITUATED IN PRECISE POINTS AND CONNECTED BETWEEN THEMSELVES IN A MANNER WHICH OCCULT KNOWLEDGE ALLOWS YOU TO UNDERSTAND. In the places where our "houses" are found, there is a conjunction of force between the HIGH AND THE LOW, between the power which emanates from the EARTH and that which is concentrated on it from the HIGHER UNIVERSE. In other words, as an example, there bursts forth from these places, the everlasting flash of energy which we employ in the accomplishment of our mission, in maintaining between our twelve centres the necessary vibratory level, on one hand, and on the other, in directing, in our collective work, those of our particular house, and also individually according to our own function, this energy on to the visible manifestation of the Rose-Croix, or to put it more correctly, on its exterior working leading to the invisible fraternity which forms the realities of the Rose-Croix. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT and you must by your reflection deduce from it the greatest conclusions with regard to the temporal Rosicrucian work. It adds to this energy through our intermediacy and it is in truth one of the most far reaching phases of our SERVICE.

"You will thus understand HOW we are able to work from the High Places where we dwell, high places by reason o f what they are in themselves and also by the choice of the determined point where they are found. I must now give you another point. Each one of us is given a title , let us say, corresponding to the function which he fu lfills or what may be clearer, to his kind of individual service. But, the " t it le " is not permanent. In other words, a rotation operates according to a three year cycle. I am actually the "FATHER ROSENCREUTZ". There was another before me and I shall have a successor. The past "FA TH E R " is always amongst us, he assumes the mission rendered vacant by the working of the rotation from the moment of my taking office. I shall do the same when the time comes. In effect, there is not at our level, a hierarchy. We are peers (equals). Only the kind of work to be carried out differentiates us. EACH IS IN HIS PLACE AND ANY ENCROACHING OF ONE MISSION ON ANOTHER IS IMPOSSIBLE. The "Father", as

far as his function is concerned is THE CENTRE. He is thus at the HEART OF THE SANCTUARY AND HE IS, IN A "HOUSE", THE FOCAL POINT OF THE MEETING OF THE HIGHER AND LOWER ENERGY. Thus, the conjunction which is operated above finds its first manifestation IN THE FATHER ROSENCREUTZ AND THROUGH HIM. None of the twelve would dream of interfering with his power of the mission of the Father when he does not hold this office. Realisation achieved, absolute comprehension acquired, such a temptation no longer exists. But all works towards infin ity from the highest as from the lowest and this situation is reflected on the plane of manifestation where the inescapable hierarchal law operates. In this temporal state the temptation still exists. It is insidious and takes many forms. Now, at all stages the same notion of force is found, being given that which represents this force, it is certainly useful that each one below, should be conscious of his own responsibility and his limits in relation to that of others in the recognised and accepted framework. The risk would be great if one or the other should go beyond his individual mission. Sooner or later one step too many would bring about a fatal reaction, irresistable and unescapable.. . This is an example showing that WHAT YOU LEARN IN THE COURSE OF THESE VISITS HAS ITS RIGOROUS CORRESPONDENCE ON ALL LEVELS IN ALL CONDITIONS, AND IN ALL SITUATIONS OF HUMAN PROGRESS, WHETHER OCCULT OR MYSTICAL, TOWARDS INITIATION AND PARTICULARLY ROSICRUCIAN INITIATION. THUS, THE CORRESPONDENCE IS VALID AT THE LEVEL OF THE INDIVIDUAL, OF THE FAMILY, AND OF THE GROUP, JUST AS IT IS AT THE LEVEL OF THE ADEPT, OF THE OCCULT OR MYSTICAL ASSEMBLY AND OF A CONSCIOUS ORDER RECOGNISED AND SUSTAINED FROM ON HIGH AND BY US AS IS THE CASE OF THAT WHICH YOU ARE A MEMBER.

"You must now know, that in certain critical circumstances — a change of cycle, an adjustment of the exterior initiatic quest to a more elevated degree, for example — the twelve who, at that time, hold the office of FATHER meet in a CENTRE which we would call SUPREME. This centre is the same to which, for centuries, the Rosicrucians have retired and from which they have inspired the Rosicrucian effort for a long period of time before resuming, the hour having arrived, their work in the high places of which I have told you how and why they were chosen. In this "supreme centre", NEVER in the orient, TWO SAGES live permanently, the two greatest which our world has produced. They have reached this absolute state through the human journeys which we have known and which you yourself and many others known. THEY ARE ROSICRUCIANS in the infinite sense of this qualification and all Rosicrucians, by the intermediary of their twelve HOUSES, are attached to them. They also consider us as their peers, BUT WE RECOGNISE THEM AS OUR SUPERIORS. These two MASTERS incarnate, or rather each is a vehicle of one POLARITY. That is very d ifficu lt to understand. Perhaps it will be easier for you if I explain further. I will say then that EACH ONE REFLECTS ALL UNITY MANIFESTING

IT UNDER A DOUBLE POLARITY, THIS DOUBLE POLARITY OPERATING AS FAR AS FORCE IS CONCERNED UNDER ONE OF ITS PHASES ONLY. Thus each Sage is complete in himself and at the same time, in occult action, the one is COMPLEMENTARY to the other. It is, if you wish, the androginous man in the most sacred sense of the term.As I have already indicated, these two Sages form the "Supreme Centre", the place where they are found, as much as they themselves, constitutes what we can call the SOUL OF THE EARTH, or again, the point where penetrates THE UNIVERSAL ENERGY WHICH GIVES LIFE TO THE EARTH AND ITS DIVERSE KINGDOMS, INCLUDING MAN. In this regard, it is there that the beginning and the end of the earth is found . . . but I cannot go further than that in these explanations w ithout risk of leading your thoughts in a wrong direction. I believe that this revelation, MADE FOR THE FIRST TIME, is sufficient in itself and it should not become an object of interpretation or of discussion. It is only from within that it can be perfectly understood and appreciated.

"A t the supreme centre, as I have already outlined, our "Houses" are bound together as they are bound together between themselves and as each of the twelve occupants of each house is bound to the two Sages, I ha«e spoken to you of the conjunction between the High and the Low in the places where our Houses are, and I have explained to you what happens. I shall repeat again simply that from the supreme centre, come THE SUPPORT AND THE LIFE which dynamises as it were, the energy received and employed, and you see, under this apparent complexity, THE UNITY OF ACTION, EVEN THE UNITY OF A LL THINGS — a unity which only diversifies itself the better to act and achieves its purpose. God has tru ly geometrised and the universal mechanism is PERFECT from the infinitely great to the infinitely small in all its phases of visibility and invisibility.

"There you have what was my mission to unveil to you here. Other revelations will be made to you in Madrid, for our Great Work must be known to ALL THOSE who are engaged on the Path, in order that they become fu lly conscious of the importance of their quest and their responsibility, for there is no longer time for the lukewarm or for those would be mystical seekers who only seek for the satisfaction of their own contemplation and who, daring to judge all, forget to judge themselves. Some say "love"! Listen to them, see them! Love is something quite different from their unconscious introversion or their false understanding of charity. Perhaps I seem to be severe but you will hear other words of severity before your visits are finished. Many are called, few are chosen and the chosen are not necessarily those who suppose themselves to be so. The number will still grow, but the choice, at each stage, will be more rigorous. Of a truth, nothing, in the path of initiation, will be lost, for to those who already have, more will be given. However, the burden will be HEAVIER for him who does not know how to go beyond nor see further than appearances, whether it is a matter of things or of beings. Nothing exists in an Order whatever it may be, no responsibility is assumed, no structure is permitted, no function fulfilled if it is not with

our consent and approval. Each is in his place, as we are ourselves, AND IT IS THE LAW — a law against which one is able to do nothing w ithout breaking and falling in a chimera of frustrated hopes, with all that implies of sorrow and, later, to Athens. As you see a precise plan has been established for you, and what each one of us must say to you is premeditated even to the smallest details. I have, as regards myself, finished, and while instructing you, I have prepared the way for your next visit. By reflecting on it, you will recognise in my exposition, the reason for your coming amongst us even before this reason has been explained to you at the right time. Beyond you, it is, in a certain measure to others whom we wish to address ourselves and which you will have to transmit, it is a MESSAGE AND A W ARNING."

Father Rosencreutz, in ending, places his hands on the table palm upwards, whilst his followers raise their hands in his direction their left hand being placed on the heart. I assist in a kind of FLUIDIC EXCHANGE of rare power for I am dazzled by the strange condensation of energy which is set up in the midst of them. They seem to be ONLY ONE BEING. How can I explain what I feel? I feel that I am going to glide towards this force as if pulled by an irresistable magnet. An intense heat comes to the nape of my neck and my sight is confused in a vertigo. This state is not painful. On the contrary it is an agreeable torpor which grows and grows. . . A hand on my left arm and suddenly it seems to me I AM STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HALL, FACING THE FATHER WHOM I PERCEIVE AS IF THROUGH A SLIGHT MIST WITH, AROUND THE TABLE, HIS COMPANIONS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE PLACES, The Father looks at me fixedly, suddenly I SEE WITH AN UNBELIEVABLE CLEARNESS SEATED ON THE CHAIR WHERE I WAS SITTING — where perhaps I am still sitting — and on that which was vacant - in short OCCUPYING THE TWO SUPPLEMENTARY CHAIRS - TWO BEINGS OF BLINDING LUMINOSITY THAT I SENSE TO BE A MAN AND A WOMAN. I would not know how to describe them, I see them PERFECTLY, I distinguish each detail of their white robes, I am overcome by the youth and unreal beauty of their countenances, BUT I FEEL THAT I MUST KEEP SILENT, AVOID ANY DESCRIPTION, AND NOT BLASPHEME WITH WORDS THEIR SUBLIME REALITY. Have I fallen on my knees? do tears of intense happiness fall down my cheeks? How would I know? Yes, I "ought" to be kneeling, I ought to be crying, at the very least that is what I ought to do, am I doing it? How can I tell you! I no longer know what I am myself. I only know that I am happy, that I am JOY, PEACE, RAPTURE . . . but here is what I heard . . . They speak, first one, then the other and what THEY say, what THEY teach, what THEY reveal, I AM NOT AUTHORISED TO COMMUNICATE . . . YET. Without doubt I will include it, in good time, in a kind of spiritual testament, which those who have attained the final degree in our Order will have access, those who will have been DEFINITELY ACCEPTED THERE, for, contrary to the regrettable error, I was going to write the pretentions, o f some who have strayed, ONE DOES NOT DEMAND to be received at the summit. One MUST BE

ADMITTED there and whoever would claim "to have refused" to agree to it would simply shoW that they had never been accepted. The Rosicrucian Manual is sufficiently clear on this subject. May God and our Masters enlighten whoever should make a mistake in this regard and may they pardon him. Even if unconsciously, amour-propre or other motives are the deep reason of this wrong attitude it is the sin of ignorance and the light which effaces every shadow and all misunderstandings will come sooner or later. We all pass through this stage . . .

I write these lines in my apartment of the Ritz in Lisbon. THE EVENT TOOK PLACE YESTERDAY 14th NOVEMBER and I cannot say more than has already been written . . . In "Strange Encounters", my story was given in part but it was possible to present a coherent whole, and being uninterrupted being able to be transmitted TO ALL AS THAT WAS WISHED and, such as it was in spite of the prudence of each word, I then recollect that it might be better if such an exceptional revelation did not see the light o f day until later, in some posthumous collection in order that the personality of the author may have had time to disappear, giving place, simply, to what he was and to what was his mission. To be AMONG the others impedes perhaps the communication of the great truths transmitted. Incarnation, restricts, limits, and the reality of a being often appears to us ONLY when he has left us . . . It is the rule, the LAW, and nothing can be done about it. Now, why not sow with a large gesture. The seeds do not belong to me, the order has been given, obedience is my promise. The sowing times only concern me, the earth is not mine and Another will take care of the harvest. From that time, why this human hesitation if NOW is recognised propitious by those greater than my feebleness?

My story, fo r "L isbon" will be incomplete. The responsiblity does not devolve on me. I would have liked, according to custom that the living experience should perpetuate itself, COMPLETE, in the infin ity o f the word . . . THAT CANNOT BE for my visit in this high place. What happened afterwards, what I had the privilege of seeing in going over this unforgettable house under the collective direction of benevolent guides, the sacred hours I knew and even the seconds which preceded my departure, all that must remain SECRET and I UNDERSTAND that it must be so. The Secret House of the Rose-Croix, in this country, is, among the high places of the world, one of those which the veil must cover with an impenetrable mystery. In giving to each word all its weight, to declare, that there is in this secret A GRAVE AND FUNDAMENTAL MOTIVE would still be incomplete. Let us only say this that my story, SUCH AS IT IS, IS SUFFICIENT IN WHAT IT REVEALS as well in what it suggests. In fact, THE READER KNOWS ALL WHICH CAN BE KNOWN AND IS THAT NOT A UNIQUE PRIVILEGE?

The night has come and it is necessary for me to go to bed and tomorrow, fly toward new discoveries . . . Am I worthy? Come! Don't begin again! Simplicity, humility, confidence! I verify my reservations: T. A. P. Vol 702, departure 11.30 arrival 12.30! My thoughts, already, are in Madrid . . .

6 MADRID

Lisbon proclaims her sadness in the lamentations of a fado. In order to forget her sorrow, Madrid calls it love and to make it sociable, the city skips, shakes from the clacking castanettes and stamping feet, stealthily at first then in the thunder of rhythmn without ceasing, more accelerated which, soon, will die in the langour of a deceptive victory. Fado or flamenco, two proud people, at the sound of a guitar, singing their unhappiness and their hope! The one bows the head and resigns itself, but it is under a false pride that the other dissembles its feebleness. See that dancer with the gorgeous dress, the woman? Perhaps and more surely the sorrow to surmount, the goodness to conquer. . . from the heel, the Spaniard will scan his desire in a voluptuous artifice to which the prey will only succumb in appearance. She and he, finally will stop in a tragic face to face. No surrender! It is tomorrow, presently, that the cycle will recommence, the path towards insatiable felicity!

I experience an exceptional predilection for Madrid, I feel myself at home there and my Madrid friends have always welcomed me as one of themselves, never as a stranger. There is much more besides, the surroundings respond to my profound nature. There is no need for me to go down there, to the other and the others do not have to come to me. We each make, by chance, the middle of the road, we meet and travel the path together. No effort is required. My soul joins itself at the very outset with the Spanish soul as if the harmony between this country and me was, let us say, pre-established. However, to describe Madrid would be for me an arduous task with p itifu l results. This city has nothing different, it is a city . . . but for little that the thought, of an expert brush, combines the colours and blends history, here it is that the picture comes to life and on the basis of blood, dignity stands erect, perhaps the pride, of the whole people. "To die for Madrid"? Why? It suffices to live there.

Joseph Kessel loves the night and delights in the slums of a town. It is there, says he, that he experiences the true contact with man and his profound nature. Joseph Kessel is certainly one o f our most perceptive writers and of authentic purity. When he underlines his taste of risk, I believe that he draws above all his love of life. But to live, to my way of thinking, is not to differentiate humanity into distinct compartments. HUMANITY IS ONE, ONLY HYPOCHRISY MAKES IT MANY. For me, a city, is not only the beautiful parts, some historic monuments, but also shady sectors, where the pretended "good th inker" takes offence in words whilst, with eyes closed, he dreams of going there to see. A city is a whole where each one shows forth his own nature. To content oneself by seeking out the low quarters is as great an error as wishing to ignore them. Might we not have lived there formerly, in some life? Will not our fanaticism establish for us the hard obligation to

have one day the experience, in some life, since to learn is to know and the unescapable law demands that we learn? In spite of all, it is always himself for whom man is seeking, where he finds himself, through others. A city in its diversity offers its experience. Joseph Kessel gathers it only in certain quarters; that is his right, as regards myself, I gather it everywhere. The rich as well as the poor, the saint and the sinner, the pure and the tarnished, all have something to give, an experience to share, advice to give, all have something to receive, some council to solicit, a smile to collect. That is humanity, it is THE CITY, and Madrid is a city and why shut our eyes on the world which is OUR world, a world of which we are the replica, the microcosm. Everywhere it is sufficient to be ONESELF, to instruct oneself, to share, to serve . . .

So, I shall not say anything of Madrid, but if, one day, your steps lead you there do not neglect certain straight and secret streets. They are filled with a rich history, for behind the misery, you will find the man, you will discover YOURSELVES. On a table weathered by the years, a horrible rusty iron box, from which sprouts a sparkling rose whose stem is lost in fetid water: what a simple picture, what a marvel of a picture.

I have never understood the reproaches that certain people have raised against the Hilton Hotels. What can there be in common between a hotel technique and the buildings where it operates? If the same hotel calls itself Durand or Dupont would it offer further attractions? Of course, in all the "H iltons" of the world, one discovers a monotonous uniform ity, but precisely, this uniform ity, is the certainty of a satisfying comfort, of an efficient service and a discrete tranquility. What can one wish for more? The hotel is a shelter after the fatigues o f a day of persevering labour or of urgent visits. Hilton, until now, has offered me its guarantee and I have never regretted it. This is why in Madrid, I reside at the Castillian Hilton.

I have arrived there at the appointed hour, and after a moment, I make acquaintance with my apartment. I also fnake acquaintance with the thoughts which assail me. Where can a secret house of the Rose-Croix be found in Spain? "Sancti Spiritus"? It is a city in Cuba but it is also one in Spain. Now it is in Madrid where I am waiting. After all,"Spiritus ubi vult spirat" as well as "Spiritus flat ubi vu lt" means the "spirit breathes where it wishes". Then? Madrid? or elsewhere.

The rendez vous is fixed for Saturday 18th November at an hour later than customary: 13 o'clock. It is true that in Spain, one gets up later, but I do not think that this may be the reason for the time chosen for this meeting. I have learned never again to ask any precise questions of myself in relation to these exceptional experiences to which I have been privilege to be invited. The replies which I might be able to imagine would have little chance o f being proved correct. I have better things to do. I must get ready. It is the

day after tomorrow when the new hour will strike. There remains to me this evening and a complete day. I decide on a relative fast, vegetables, fruits, no meats, no coffee but plenty of water. In short, a preparation for a high mystical experience. I add to it the "spiritual douche" known to advanced adepts. Further, I propose to communiate with the Celestial Sanctum every three hours during the day until midnight. I will go for one hour in the morning and in the evening to my little Madrid chapel always so forgotten and nevertheless so great in its vibratory note. Why a chapel? In Istanbul it was a mosque, elsewhere it was a temple, in other places a synagogue, sometimes a tree near a singing river. In Madrid, in the very Catholic Spain, is it not natural that it may be a chapel which welcomes me? I encounter my solitude while I commune with my soul. I shall rigorously observe this programme and during the time of waiting, myself, little by little, will free itself from the corporeal chains in order to live on " its " plane, taking with it, in order to annihilate in the sublime abandonment, all notion of time, every impression of space . . . The evening comes then the day and once again the n ig h t. . . The Sabbath approaches . . . my brother, here is the hour! A few moments more and the nothing which I am will unite its nothingness nothingness to the grandeur of all. This sacred Saturday sanctifies each action, each step towards what now awaits me and towards which I approach — at last — I in this pretentious hall which its presence effaces.

Same attitude, same state, same recognition of the Being by the being, no difference from previous encounters! Why should not the contact with a certain vibratory nature be the same here as it was elsewhere? It is the Rose-Croix, I am . . . what I am, and, in any case, a seeker. The morning which sees the rising of the sun, is it not, each day, similar to itself and, each day, the poet, does he not experience a like emotion? Habit never blunts the feeling of the soul and if, in this limousine which now, goes its own way, my conscience KNOWS that my companion of the path is "another" my heart experiences the CONTINUITY of the experience begun in Vienna, continued in Lisbon and prolonged here . . .

But how young he is. He, who is there, at my left, buried within himself and not paying attention to the task which we accomplish at the heart of this strange Madrid since it hides such personalities under its official intolerance. How young he is to have already conquered the rose across the abyss of the cross! His age? th irty five . . . forty perhaps.He has a virile beauty softened by a spell-binding glance, for his eyes show forth a violet reflection, a surprising colour which I note for the first time in a human being, extraordinarily black hair, cut short, enriching his manly face with a signal nobleness. All that in an extremely powerful aura, which one feels, w ithout seeing it, with meanwhile the curious impression, that an e ffort is necessary, in order to perceive, beyond the dazzling vibration, the being from which it emanates. But it would be wrong to believe that this considerable presence subjugates or frightens. On the contrary, it communicates an

ineffable well-being, a confidence w ithout limits, a profound joy "o f being there". It is that which I experience since the first words exchanged at my hotel.

Once again I admire the discretion o f the chauffeur, not willing to keep him waiting,1 had been ready for a long time when the concierge notified me that someone desired to see me, but that he had to wait several minutes to obtain the lif t and I had thus a short conversation with my visitor. Meanwhile, scarcely had we crossed the door, the coach was there and the Chauffeur ready for his task with a rare dignity. I asked myself "does he know". Without a doubt, does he suspect the stranger at the home of his master, fo r in his service there is an unusual devotion as if a superstitious fear is mixed with the affection of which one feels it penetrate for whom he drives. But I am not able to believe that he knows the truth . . . I have the conviction shortly that he does not know. We stop, indeed beforea sumptuous private residence and we get o u t . . .

We must take another carriage, my "guide" says to me, and while we are walking towards it, the gates of the dwelling are opened and the limousine which we have left enters the estate. Our new carriage is as spacious as the previous one although of another make, I have the impression that this chauffeur is better informed. I register these facts in an automatic manner w ithout attaching to them any great importance. All is so remarkably organised in these imperative outer appearances (that prudence and circumspection cannot be neglected by those responsible for a structure so studied. My companion has again retired into his silence, and I am suddenly aware that I am praying "that a ray may come forth from un ity", then, in me also it is silence, communion and oblivion of the world . . . The route is complicated. It requires more time than formerly to arrive at this secret house. Having returned to objective consciousness, I discreetly look at my watch. It is after2 o'clock and we had started at the predetermined time. On leaving Madrid we followed for some time a motor way, but we are now in open country . . . Ah, here are some houses, but we pass them and it will require a good ten minutes more to arrive at our destination. The place where we are awaited, where we arrive, is extraordinary and if I employ, once more, this qualification, it is that I have never seen anything more extreme to describe what is offered to my sight. I was prepared for the unusual and I received a sublime shock.

In a valley or rather a small hollow which would seem to have been dug out on purpose in the flat monotony of the terrain. Imagine a vast property surrounded by a low wall of apparently large stones, at the centre of which stood a rectangular building whose roof would consist o f little towers placed side by side, all merging into the grey mass of an imposing frontage. What is perhaps most surprising is that this building should be situated in such a place geographically. On the left, a village in the distance, appears placed there by chance, and some houses to the right, ornament the sky line as if to make it better to see. Yes, this countryside is imposing, calm, soothing! The period of fasting which I

have undertaken permits me to commune more intensely with the charms of a generous nature, and, happy, I give thanks to the God of the Universe for the magnificence of his work.

Our car slows down, then stops at the foot of a large flight of steps where my conduct precedes me. I glance at the immense park over which we have just come, but already, the door is opened, and we are welcomed into a large vestibule by another "Brother in White" whose smile is worth more than any word o f welcome. My companion retires by a little staircase and I am conducted to a salon whose small dimensions astonish after one had seen the imposing double door by which one enters there. Left alone, I sit down on a couch whose yellow colour interspersed with green harmonises well with the rest of the furnishings. But now the door is opened. The one who had accompanied me from my hotel there, reclothed in the white robe which all the Brethren of the Rose-Croix actually wear, since it is identical to the robe noticed previously, at Vienna, at Lisbon and on the smiling host who, later, has received me.

"Please come"! I am certainly awaited at the "Temple of the Sacred Spirit", at least; I suppose so. We cross the vestibule, go beyond a narrow gallery, my companion knocks three times on a heavy door and which is opened wide . . .

Facing me in the immense circular room, which certainly is not a Temple, THEY are seated in a semi-circle recently joined by my guide and the one who, responding to his knock, had just opened the door to us. I do not know what to do . . . in the semi­obscurity, the sight is impressive. These Brethren in White who all look at me intently seem unreal and if I were not fu lly aware that I am here in this place, I would not have any d ifficu lty in believing it to be a dream. Ah! One o f them signals to me with his hand. I cross the threshold, close the door (how can I think of that at this moment) and go forward, stopping within a few paces o f these august personages. Once more a sign from him who.is at the centre. I draw near slowly and soon, I am before HIM. I am on my knees, and I hear myself murmur; "Father Rosencreutz, bless m e!" and the immaculate hand is placed on my head. I would never have believed that one can actually cry with joy.

"Rise my son." Oh stirring voice, this place adds nothing to thy grandeur; the words, the simple order which they convey do not lessen their sacred vibrations. Hadst thou been silent thou wouldst have been the hoped for voice, for thy intonations generate the peace and solicitude of a veritable love. I seat myself in the midst of the sages on a stool which has been pushed towards me and my eyes lose themselves in the look of the Father, whilst from all sides, other eyes, which I "fee l" w ithout seeing them sustain me with their presence and their power. My soul, be silent, listen and commune . . . !

"Vahos + A Nostro + Noxis bai gloi + The invocation continues, powerful, TOTAL, pronounced once, each syllable adding its indescribable energy to the preceding ones to liberate, at last, the force, the POWER which suddenly, concentrates itself HERE so that all becomes one . . . A LL! The hall, the Rosicrucians, myself . . . and time ceases, space is infinite, communion is "one".

It is Father Rosencreutz, who clapping his hands once, brings our consciousness back to human activity and my passionate attention to what he proposes to teach me, to "show to me"; " I t is here, my son, the last secret house of the Rose-Croix which you will v is it. . . "

No! He is wrong; I had the audacity to interrupt him, regretting it instantly: " I must also visit that of Athens . . . "

He replies: " I t is here, the last secret house of the Rose-Croix which you will visit.You will not go to Athens. You will understand sooner than you suppose why this change has been decided upon. It is Lisbon to which you must return again and it will be necessary that your stay in that city takes place between 27th December and 2nd January. For FIVE DAYS, you will receive there a special preparation, and you will take part at the right time, in what we call amongst ourselves THE GREAT VIGIL. This indication must suffice for you. The privilege which is thus accorded to you will count amongst the greatest o f all those which, for several years, you have been the recipient. I have commenced with this news in order that you can better place your visit here today. It will be the last in the course of which oral information is given to you and that is why you have been immediately brought into this room without passing through our Temple of the Sacred Spirit. When I have finished you will not be authorised to go over our house. Besides, that would bring you nothing on the real or symbolical plane of things, since all the secret houses of the Rose-Croix resemble one another in their interior layout, the one, being nothing more in this respect, than the replica of the other, even if the dimensions are different, as they can be, also the decor.

"On the other hand, you have today every latitude to interrupt me if you want to see some precise point or if you wish some enlightenment on a question never yet dealt with during the course of our visits."

For a moment, several questions, in fact, inundate my thoughts and I appreciate that such an opportunity has been given me. I immediately ask him: "Father, I KNOW that all decisions taken by the Masters of Knowledge, such as you are, are judicious and true, but forgive my human frailty the question of which my mind cannot free itself. Certainly, I shall await the unique privilege of your revelations. However one of them has already been made: it is this; it was a pleasure for me to go to Athens, not for the place, for I know it

well, but to commune there, on this soil o f history and tradition with the sublime Masters o f a secret house, o f whose existence until recently I had been ignorant. Is it permitted to me to ask why this visit is cancelled?

The brow of the Sage wrinkles in intense preoccupation and it is with exceptional gravity that he replies: " I have told you that you would understand sooner than you supposed the reason fo r this change and it is not possible for me to add anything at all to that, except to insist on the fact that you will be told today what you would have been taught at Athens. Furthermore what you would have gleaned personally there, in this high place in Europe, will be given to you at the GREAT V IG IL and you will be authorised to SHARE IT WITH OTHERS, something which, in the beginning, was not foreseen. So, be satisfied and . . . patient, but in the course of the coming weeks, give your closest attention to that part o f the world. A change is taking place there and the High Council is there to carry out necessary adjustments to avoid, as far as possible, the worst, which explains why at Madrid, your path has not crossed that of "another". That is the only reply permitted to your question. But today it is necessary for us to complete your information and bring it to a conclusion.

"A ll our exterior symbolism has now been disclosed to you. You have seen the places to which our presence gives life, you know their disposition, their forms, even their despoiling in a way which has not been able to escape you. You are no longer ignorant of the reason for the two empty seats that you have observed elsewhere and which you now see here. The number of Secret Houses of the Rose-Croix and that of their hosts is not unknown to you. Your first visit, that o f Vienna, was fundamental since all the essential keys were then given to you. You know our place in the geometry of this world, the bonds which, unite us to the lower as well as to the higher and to that which, on a level equivalent to ours, fu lfills a mission harmonious but different. Today we are to devote ourselves to an overall investigation. In other words, my purpose is to underline certain phases of the higher activities which are our motive. Thus all that you should know will be told.

" I t is moving for us to survey extraordinary ingenuity which man shows to find again his original state. All was, is, and dwells eternally in God. Eternally man is in HIS breast. He was, ignorant o f himself, w ithout consciousness of being, inert as it were, and the "F ia t" corresponds to his first separation. That is to say, a gaining of consciousness and of a very precarious individuality which the Word enlarges into a greater and greater separation until an apparent independent manifestation existing by itself and multiplying itself in forgetfulness of its origins, a nostalgia for a state which i t believes lost. A t the same time, consciousness was developing and a sharper perception, although formed, of an unavoidable "re turn". The purpose was then presented. The supposed separation would

again become unity, but a "conscious" unity where the original state would be regained with THE KNOWLEDGE OF THIS STATE. That is the aim of incarnation, it is entirely laid out in these few words. Now, man, in reality, has never left the place he occupied within God. He has NEVER lost his original state. He is THAT WHICH HE WAS ETERNALLY, but on the injunction of the "F ia t", he sets o ff in a dream from which he will awaken with realisation, that is to say CONSCIOUS. "The circle will be completed, the work ended and the fusion perfect". That which is well named, "the way of awakening" clothed in many forms of infinite degree, from a simple individual hope to tne soaring communion with which the individual is nourished to expand his consciousness. EACH ONE PASSES THROUGH EACH STAGE UNTIL THE FINAL STAGE WHICH YOU KNOW HEREAFTER COMPRISES TWELVE PATHS. It would be too long to enter into detail with respect to those who, so rarely, in far o ff times, reached the summit. It is necessary however to render homage to their saintly merit, for they are those who having "recognised" the end, interrupt their final effort to turn their attention towards the plane where the vast human cohort was wandering in its quest. Then they gathered together to join in their efforts. They were the very first "SILENT WATCHERS" gathered in the first "HOUSE OF THE SACRED SPIRIT". And it is in them that the original Societies have their deepest roots from which emanated afterwards the mystery schools, the fraternities and the communities of all traditions. It is they who "inspire" them to avoid for man the trials o f the isolated formidable research which was theirs. They inspired the IDEA and ONLY THE IDEA, and man, on this idea built his system and his techniques, in such a way that I do not hesitate to praise his admirable ingenuity.

" I t is thus that, little by little, initiation was begun in the vanished continents, that a transmission was operated in other places and that methods were refined to constitute one day a valid whole, subject only in its details to the fluctuations of time and space. This is what those who hid their true presonality under the name of Christian Rosencreutz did, they set o ff in quest of multiple forms of the authentic initiation, each one following a precise path. Then the Christian Rosencreutzs returned, reassembled their discoveries and it resulted in the "Rosicrucian Technique" and the twelve paths of which mention has already been made in your visits. Thus, one could say that EVERY ANCIENT INITIATION WAS FROM THAT TIME REUNITED, SYNTHESISED, IF YOU WISH, IN THESE TWELVE WAYS. The symbolic history of "Christian Rosencreutz", that is to say the twelve personages who wear (as a cloak) this particular name is then of FIRST import in the initiatic search for it constitutes the point of departure of a NEW CYCLE. It is the beginning of a NEW TRIANGLE, having collected all the past, for a journey on a higher plane."

I do not resist a question, since I have permission to ask: "I must admit that this is the first time that the truth has been told me about the legendary Christian Rosencreutz

and it will be, w ithout doubt, the same for many among those with whom this knowledge will be shared. I was ignorant also that "Rosencreutz. ." marked a turning point in the evolution of initiation. I place, in consequence, this turning point in the fourteenth century. But does one know the names of those who concealed themselves under this patronym?"

The Master smiles and makes a sign. One of his peers rises, leaves the hall and after a moment, returns with an old parchment. (It will be permitted to me to take note of certain passages later.) He hands it to me and I read, under the title o f Liber T .1. Fra • I • A ■. )2. Fra. Ch .'. ) electione Fraternitatis caput

3. Fra • G ■ V • M . P. G.4. Fra • F ■ R * C ’ . Junior Moeres S. Spiritus5. Fra • F • R * M6. Fra • G ■ G ■ M Pi Cabal ista7. et 8 Fra . ’ . P . '. A . '. Successor Fra . '. I . '. 0 . '.

Mathematicus 9. et 10 Fra . '. A . '. Successor Fra P . \ D . ’ .11. et 12 Fra . '. R . '. C . *. Successor Patris C . ' . R . ' . C . ' .

cum Christo triumphatis

"Ex Deo nascimur, in Jesus morimus, per Spiritum Sanctum reviviscimus."

I am in the greatest perplexity for the initials mean nothing to me. My glance questions the Father who immediately proceeds:

"There is no necessity that you should know more. You have there a proof, if there was need of it, o f the Rosicrucian foundation such as I have defined for you just now. The complete names would add nothing to the key which has been shown you. This key alone can open vast horizons to your meditation. However if it interests you, I would say that each one was from A DIFFERENT COUNTRY, that the idea of the "sacred change", was suggested by the Fratres G . \ V I . \ A . \ and I . \ O that it was decided by C . ’ . R .*. C and the others agreed to join the work undertaken. I believe it useless to insist on this subject. You have in the Fama Fraternitatis precious accounts and if in certain ways different from Liber T the profound symbolism remains the same. From all accounts, these twelve formed the first "DOMUS SANCTI SPIRITI of this continent and EACH OF THEM AFTERWARDS BROUGHT INTO BEING, "PROJECTED", IF YOU PREFER, THE TWELVE CENTRES WHERE THE OTHER SECRET HOUSES WERE TO BE ESTABLISHED IN CONSEQUENCE. This is why the twelve "Founders" o f the new cycle are ever for us the first ROSICRUCIANS. Each "Secret House" carries

the name of one of them, and thus watches over his heritage on the PATH that he represents in his quest and which the original assembly attributed to him. All are, so to say, the HOLY FATHERS of the Rose-Croix and ALL THAT WHICH has been accomplished later has its source in them. The greatest one among them alone, after the sacred change, kept the title o f C . '. R . \ C . '. but all, at the outset were, I repeat "Christian Rosencreutz" . . . "

"What place then, do a Jacob Boehme, a Paracelsus occupy in this assembly . . . "The Father interrupts me.

"They and others, many others, more at least than is generally believed, were Rosicrucians among those of whom you have been told that they followed their mission in the world, submitting to its exigencies and respecting its every day laws. They were all charged with a parciular work by the "Secret House" to which they were attached and if their work could be known outside, it is the "Secret House" who hold the true key. That by the way is not a thing of the past. Even to our day it is the same. Perhaps you will pay further attention now, to certain . . . let us say "works". There are some events, some realisations or some acts which dazzle a man to such a point or which, this comes to the same thing, appear to him to be so integrated in the actual "fram ework" that he does not recognise them as exceptional or o f a higher value. However it is enough to open the eyes. AT THE BASE OF ALL, THERE IS AN UNKNOWN ELEMENT, BETWEEN EVERYTHING, THERE IS A LINK, A CONDUCTOR Wl RE. UNITY, INCLUDING THAT WHICH WE REPRESENT, OPERATES IN APPARENT DIVERSITY. The quest is simple, the end is near, but man slumbers and torments himself with the worst platitudes. See him, smug with admiration before pretended masters, who are themselves lured in the contemplation of imaginary powers! See him, baptise that one "Sage" and give himself up to a personal devotion for which his real blossoming will suffer until he awakes. See him, then, seeking his own fantasy and his own dream under the masque with which he clothes the knowledge to which he aspires! But he must traverse this stage . . . and the rhythm is ever equal to himself. No short cut exists. The path of initiation must be followed completely."

It seemed to me that the Father was going to lose his calm, but it was principally an infinite sadness that I heard in his last words. He kept silent for a few moments then with a moving smile continued: "Yes, you have never seen any of us manifest any peculiar powers, this does not signify that we do not possess them. But the state of Rose-Croix does not imply their constant use. To be a Rosicrucian, is to have acquired a manner of being, of thinking, and acting, where being, thinking and acting are one and the same faculty. Thought animates the being and it becomes action. That is the power, the genuine power, fo r it is embodied in the employment of the one energy in diverse conditions, and

this use is almost involuntary. It is the immediate consequence of the level to which we have attained. It is THIS STATE ITSELF, and this state is the ABSOLUTE OF KNOWLEDGE. You have simply felt, in various ways THE EFFECTS. So it comes about that whoever puts himself in real attunement with any degree of the path close to us is, FROM THIS VERY FACT, in attunement with us and, beyond us, with the sublime of which we have become the privileged receptacle. As a consequence, there are not, in any of the twelve ways, neophytes or advanced adepts. Such a distinction does not exist. There is either attunement or a break in attunement. Attunement maintained by sincere study signifies "contact" and leads to the awakening, because a CONNECTION is then established with our plane. The Rosicrucian student is, in this case, a true Rosicrucian "in potential". The breaking o f the attunement signifies an interruption of the contact and the opening out only of the intellectual self and its mirages. The rupture, of course, is due to the exaltation o f the self in insidious ways including that o f doubt. . . but what I wish to emphasise above all in these added remarks is the PERMANENT AND INDIVIDUAL TIE EXISTING BETWEEN US, ROSE-CROIX, AND EACH ROSICRUCIAN STUDENT, PROVIDED THAT HE SHOWS A TRUE SINCERITY AND A REAL ASPIRATION. He benefits, in this case, from our influence and HE IS NEVER ALONE."

"What is the place occupied by the illustrious Kut-Hu-Mi in this assembly of which I now have a comprehensible view, thanks to the kindness which has been shown to me?"

"Kut-H u-M i," replies the Father, "is one of the greatest among those whom you call the "Cosmic Masters", and you know who these are by attunement with us. Kut-Hu-Mi, however, is particularly concerned with the Rosicrucian way and HE is our HIEROPHANT. He is, if you wish, the intermediary between the plane of the Cosmic Masters and ours . . . He is o f the other plane, but he is at the intersection of the two planes. He is a "spokesman" in two senses, at the same time guide and guardian. In the ENTIRE Rosicrucian pyramid, He is the SUMMIT.

"B ut the moment has come for us to part. It must clearly appear to you that the ideas shared with you can illuminate the PATH in its entirety. In reflecting upon these ideas and "working with them", you will always have a satisfactory answer to every serious question to which your search will give rise. A t present prepare yourself for the GREAT V IG IL. That which has been received in many forms by your mind will now impregnate your consciousness to such a point that the power of the unity will be established in you. But, I repeat with insistence, prepare yourself."

I do not understand what the Father wished to say by "power of un ity". His last phrase is obscure. I now feel that no more questions will be answered and that my visit has come to an end.

Father Rosencreutz rises, all do the same, and in my turn standing, I prepare to take leave but suddenly I am seized anew by the REALITY in the heart o f which I find myself. Ah, how the mind betrays human nature! All the time the Master was speaking, I listened, with passion no doubt, BUT DID NOT ATTUNE. My thought has been active, I have received and I have not assimilated, integrated in my being, the wisdom given out. Words, words, these are the many things received by my mind. O Masters who have appeared, could it be that the disciple which I am was not ready? On your knees, bow your head, inconsiderate man that I believe myself to be who lures away my soul even in these sacred places.

The inner silence calms my disorder and, in a few moments, I KNOW that my revolt against myself is the last illusion of human substance, of its numberless feelings, of its false apparent diversity. For the soul, at such a moment, it is night and then it is dawn and then PEACE, but THE PEACE which THEY give me in this fraction of eternity, by their presence, by the song of their being and by the hand on my head which vibrates with light and power, I seek vainly to describe it today in words but they are illusive, as illusive as LIGHT, LIFE OR LOVE . . . " I give you my peace". It is in such moments that one "knows the w ord" and one no longer doubts "that it is amongst us".

I arrived at my hotel late at night and I consecrated Sunday 19th November to an unceasing meditation. I understood during the evening, that Madrid would bring me nothing more this time and, too full o f the eternal grandeur of yesterday, I was not able to bring myself to return to the limits of the present. During the day of Monday 20th November 1967,1 made by telephone, despite everything, two or three rapid but efficacious decisions, although w ithout the habitual preliminary discussions, settled the different questions with which I had to deal during my stay and returned to Paris by the night plane. Since then, naturally w ithout ceasing my usual activities and in taking up the tenor of my responsibilities I prepare myself for the GREAT V IG IL in Lisbon.

7 INTERLUDE

Today is the 2nd of December and not having reread my account until today, of my visit to the "Secret Houses of the Rose-Croix"' I feel that this account calls for some commentary. In fact, having chosen to write this manuscript as soon as possible after each of the events it describes, it becomes more or less a private diary to which I confide my thoughts as they occur. As a result this recital contains much of "m yself", perhaps too much. Another consequence is that if, fo r any reason whatever, an unforeseen accident happens or if there is a change in the proposed journey, the pages written carry in them a hope which the facts do not confirm. Now in Madrid, I learned precisely that the last phase of my journey towards the light was changed. Instead o f the Parthenon, it is the Tagus which, once again, will welcome me. My first inclination was to revise my texts, to adjust it to the course o f events and to render it thus more coherent. Then I decided to do nothing, for in attempting to make the recital uniform, I would have perhaps removed the life which the inspiration of the moment breathed into it, when unwinding in my memory, I was projecting the scene in words, how can I put it, THE STATE found again in the images flowing to my consciousness and in the emotions renewed by them.

I did not see Maha again at Madrid. Should I for that censure what He-Himself had given me to understand in Amsterdam? I cannot allow myself such a liberty. Besides was he tru ly absent? HE KNEW that I would be in Madrid and he knew the place where I was awaited and the moment of my v is it. . . "O ur routes will cross" he had assured me. A t bottom, that need not signify that there would be a meeting. He was already at Athens, but he might also have been in Madrid w ithout judging it necessary to see me. After all it is enough to see Maha once, never to forget him. Afterwards he is with you and you live with him. Now I have had the privilege of many meetings. I was not expecting them and my gratitude is in fin ite .for this signal goodness.

For the Great Vigil, well, I prepare myself. The great teachings of the Rosicrucian Order AMORC have opened to me the unique treasure of their profound wisdom and, curiously, it is the Neophyte Degrees which have appeared to me as the most appropriate, in the circumstances. It is true they conceal much, perhaps ALL, but one does not perceive it until the time comes after many years.

Here, in the domain of the Rose-Croix, (at Villeneuve) strange as this may seem to my readers, the silence is profound with regard to my visits to the "secret houses". It is necessary so that the written account record the happening before any question or commentary, and guard in its entirety the essence of the remembrances. My wife, discrete, active, always anxious to keep from me the daily worries, keeps silent, while I confide to

paper the "secret", I feel ocasionally, regarding me, the questioning look of Pernelle . . . she awaits as the Grand Secretary Serge Wahart waits, that silent, hard working, efficient and indispensable friend, whose comforting presence and affectionate attention, each day make me fear I have been a little egotistical when I chose him to be at my side . . . As to my son, in Sagittarius blended with Scorpion, he remains attached to legality and order and profoundly devoted to rule and formalism, bides his time patiently for the moment will come, he knows, to attempt, through the text, to get an inkling of what he calls my "other secrets".

Here is where we are in the story which, soon, will unfold itself . . . this morning, my air ticket has arrived; A ir France, flight 503 of 26th December, hour of departure 11.40 return T.A.P. 400 of 5th January, hour of departure 9.35. Between these two dates the GREAT V IG IL . . . Quickly! What will make the interlude shorter . . . I will have here, with my own, my family Christmas and down there I anticipate, a moment o f light when my soul will ring out the peal o f Christmas.

8 THE GREAT VIGIL AT LISBON

Since my visit o f last month, sadness, blood and tears have in a few hours, Saturday 25th November, in the night overrun the flooded city and tortured its courageous people Lisbon, the noble city has wept, still weeps, but in silence, like misery of an all embracing kind weeps. The poor have their absent ones and the rich have theirs, for the earth has retaken that which the water has yielded. The Tagus is less brilliant, the sea less captivating, yet how can one scorn them. My heart pines for them! I cannot hate them but I think of their dead and my joy of being here is darkened with sadness. I do not know yet what will be the promised awakening. I anticipate the sublime . . . then O God, may the work accomplished here break forth in a feast of peace, of comfort and consolation for the mourning city. May I p ro fit nothing from it, if it be not for all, like the forerunner o f a beatitude once given to the world of sufferers by HIM who, for us, yesterday, once again was born; Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.

My reservation had been made, as was customary, at the Hotel Ritz, but some days before my departure, a brief note recommended me to provide for nothing. Trustingly,I had asked the hotel to cancel my apartment. Meanwhile, as no precise indication had been sent me, my reason was forcing me to doubt. The picture was depressing. I saw myself arriving in Lisbon and wandering, miserably, in the airport, then in the city, my luggage in my hand, in search of the impossible and the unknown. The idea was nonsense and I was ashamed of it. Also it gave place, very quickly, to the certainty of an attentive preparation to the fast detail which the facts confirmed. "The guide" in fact was there, and the custom formalities ended, I hurried towards him for a warm embrace, in an irresistable movement coming from my inmost self and he received me with touching affection. Since our first meeting at the Hotel Ritz some time had passed, but even had it been ten years I would have recognised him in a thousand.

I was then taken to the same place of my reception in November, to the Rose-Croix installed in this country, that is to say to their "secret house", and it is there that I am at present. I have my cell here and I consider it a signal privilege to occupy the thirteenth, by reason of what it symbolises for this supreme hierarchy. Is it that the last must be first, the smallest appear as the greatest? The "w o rd " is manifested in all circumstances here.One must learn to observe the smallest details. For the Rose-Croix, each gesture conceals a particular meaning . . .

The thirteen cell . . . I think o f the thirteenth figure of the Tarot: DEATH, and I remember the interpretation given to this occult wisdom by Oswald Wirth . . . the dumb occultism of the images of the middle ages . . . The profane must die to be reborn in the

higher life which initiation confers. If he does not die to this state of imperfection, he prohibits all initiatic progress, so to know, in dying, he frees himself from that which is inferior, by raising himself through sublimation . . . The true sage constantly forces himself to die in order to live better. That does not imply on his part a practice of sterile aceticism, but if he wishes to overcome HIS intellectual self government, must he not break with the preconceived notions which are dear to him and thus die to his habitual way of thinking? In order to be born to a liberty of thought, one must get rid, in dying, of all which is opposed to strict impartiality o f judgement. Thirteenth cell, secret thirteen — Sacred Spirit o f the Gnostics and I am in a "House of the Sacred Spirit"!Secret thirteen, the comforting Paracfete which frees the spirit from the bondage o f matter. Liberation, spiritualisation, DEMATERIALISATION, perception of the reality, stripped of every tangible ornament, initiatic death, complete initiation.

Because They are twelve, my meditation also stops at the twelfth TAROT: THE HANGED MAN and because there are fourteen picture cards and fourteen cells and the fourteenth picture card is TEMPERANCE. Then understanding dawns, and all is clear to me. LIVING. I KNOW why I am here, I KNOW why, alone in this thirteenth cell. I am here for several days, face to face with myself in an introspection which only the communal meetings and the meals shared in common will break.

A chair, a table, a bed, a tiny cupboard and a wash basin, there, that is my cell. My heart furnishes it w ith the most precious riches, my waiting fills it with HOPE. I have FAITH and they grant me CHARITY. On my knees on the uneven floor, my head resting on the edge of the table, I fold my hands and I pray . . .

The great moments of my life - the good and those which are not so good — thoughts, words, acts, omissions, those which were just and those which were not, all that came to my lips in a Kyrie Eleison that occasionally my hand beat my breast to the rhythm of a torturing "mea culpa". In these moments, the good accomplished, even though others have judged it great, is swallowed up by .the enormous whirlwind of the error, perhaps serious or only slight, for which the conscience laments, until warned by the spiritual sadness and the "m orta l" regret-of the soul, the angel of pardon makes amends and touches with its dazzling wing, the heart which repents. Oh! intense purification, the SUM TOTAL of these blessed hours, thou leavest me dying of inward exhaustion, empty, naked, suddenly penetrated by an unknown force, irradiated. Thou art the time of the passion of the annunciation of the Heavenly Father. The golden dawn has followed the dark night, for if thou crucifiest, immediately thou risest again.

The Great VIG IL! I attended an exceptional evening meeting, within a few hours of the unique events of which I would be the marvelling witness and I had prepared myself to

the best o f my ability before my arrival, fo r that was the order received and accepted.Now my preparation had for its real motive, preparation for a yet greater one, a prelude to . . . something of which I MUST NOT THINK, having by an IMPERATIVE ORDER,TO CONCENTRATE MY ATTENTION ON THAT WHICH I DO EACH MOMENT, such as a meditation on the THREE words which had been communicated to me or an act, that of rising, sitting or eating for example. In the beginning, it was extraordinarily d ifficu lt, but perfection was not demanded. It sufficed to get as near to it as possible. THE EFFORT WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SUCCESS as Father Rosencreutz insistently repeated to me on conducting me, immediately I arrived, to my cell.

I now examine the seven page manuscript which has been sent to me. It refers to the fundamental laws ruling our world. There are FORTY EIGHT to "govern" the earth, while ninety six rule the moon. I have the impression o f having read that somewhere. If I did not know I have UNDERSTOOD, for understanding is a function of being and to assimilate such knowledge surely required a very much larger inward receptiveness. Forty eight laws! How far we are from the Absolute manifested since the beginning under the law o f the trin ity . As the manuscript affirms, our earth is situated in a very dark corner of the universe and only the inward man, the "seventh" can attune with the absolute! I would have plenty to think about during the next few days and this work of reflection, associated with the meditation on the three words would hold my thought, my "being" in a given direction and that is intentional.

No conclave is expected in the temple of the Sacred Spirit in this secret house before the last day, 31st December, which w ill be that o f the Great Vigil. The assembly, the time has been given me precisely, w ill begin at 6 p.m. It has not been indicated to me at what hour it w ill close.

There are two general meals per day — the one at midday and the other at 6 p.m. At nine in the morning, a little pewter pot, containing about a cup and a half of non-sweetened tea, is placed on the ground before the doors o f the cells. The midday meal is frugal/a salad, a hot dish w ithout meat and some fru it. In the evening some soup and cheese constitute the menu. One slice of bread and for drink, cold tea. I appreciate this extreme simplicity and I am certain that I shall miss it but one must return to the world. There is, down there, one's mission and those who, near or far, are dear to me.

The meetings are held in the main hall. This hall is immense, I would dare to say co/ossai. A monumental chimney occupies the far end and the dancing flames from the great logs give light which does not interfere with the discrete lighting round the room. The fourteen low chairs with high backs resemble Prie-Dieu and it is actually kneeling on them, face to the chimney, which is certainly placed in the East, that we take our place at the

fixed hours in the morning and evening. I notice that the fourteenth chair — the empty chair — is placed in such a manner that it faces us. As for me, I am all alone behind the others and some paces from them. Each group meditation lasts half an hour. It is impossible to describe what takes place. The stupendous cannot be described in words. I will simply point out that the Rose-Croix, one after another, starting from the left, begin a particular respiration and the intonation of an unknown word. That makes twelve respirations and twelve words. I believe that such exceptional circumstances alone permit me to resist the vibratory influx thus created. When my turn arrives, I have a phrase to pronounce. It is untranslatable and for that reason I would not be able to communicate it in its entirety.I know however it would not be a betrayal in just stating that what it achieves is expressed by these words: "And Jesus passing through the midst of them, went his way". Perhaps this simple quotation will permit an inference to be made of what has taken place at this moment of sacred work, but I would wish above all to describe that which happens towards the end, when all together, we chant a word of prayer, standing and swaying slightly from left to right, keeping up a slow rhythm. This stupendous thing is not capable of being put into words as I have just said. I can only repeat it again, though, for them, there is nothing extraordinary in it at all. A LAW IS APPLIED AND THIS SACRED ASSEMBLY DIRECTS THE EFFECTS TOWARDS A DESTINATION OF A DEFINITE END, and, in these moments, I think of all my Rosicrucian readers, for, certainly, they are included in this destination and this end. I thus see THE CONSTANT TIES which unite the high and the low the various levels from the hierarchy to the general membership. No, the Rosicrucian is NEVER alone. Wherever he may be, THEY watch over him.

Assuredly, the permanent hosts of the secret houses have, each one, their own activities. . . I suppose them multiple, but in harmony the one with the others. This house "functions" admirably like a machine perfect in all its parts. The current duties are assumed with efficiency w ithout my knowing quite how or of determining who does them. In my opinion EACH one here has his precise task to fu lfill and it is done discretely, HUMBLY. With regard to the superior responsibilities, I HAVE HAD EXPERIENCE OF THE UNIQUE, SUBLIME manner in which they are carried out.

Five days have flown past in this exceptional atmosphere. Each hour, if there had been any need, would have brought greater CERTAINTY, but time and again it has come to me ON ALL PLANES during this extraordinary period that to certainty has been added KNOWLEDGE and that, starting from now, no doubt is henceforth permitted.

This evening, 30th December, after the evening meal, Father Rosencreutz came to my cell. He brought me a white robe which fitted me perfectly. I must wear it tomorrow for the Great Vigil — not before. He also gave me a little phial enclosing a liquid of a peculiar rose colour, recommending me to take a thimbleful of it this evening, tomorrow

morning, on awakening and tomorrow evening immediately before the hour fixed for the anticipated event. Then he withdrew, saying he was satisfied. I was so overcome by emotion that I had d ifficu lty in reorganising the course of my thoughts. I succeeded in one o f the exercises which has been shown me and which, very quickly, I have been able to master during these last days. I experienced a little tiredness and I did not resist the desire to lie down on my bed for a moment. Immediately, my thought held to this point under restraint all the time, liberated itself from the chains and I gave it the merited recreation of surprising association o f ideas which, abruptly turn to the little phial and the liquid it contains . . . I push my conclusions far away: in the present life, we are at this point "conditioned" by the exterior world that we have come to espouse the opinions of others w ithout ceasing to pretend that this opinion is our own. In other words, daily papers, reviews, radio, television, conferences and even conversations infiltrate in us the ideas and arguments which come from people of repute — one sometimes asks why — from their academic knowledge and such. It is certainly frequent that ideas spread from one person to another, but one scarcely pays attention. The suggestion has attained its end. Before a fact, o f whatever nature, each one CAN, AND IT IS HIS DUTY, to use his faculties to analyse and arrive at his OWN CONCLUSION w ithout worrying if these conclusions are shared by others.

Now, what do we actually see, from one end of the earth to the other? A FACT and it is this: A YOUTH, radically different from his elders and free from numerous tabus and inhibitions is carried to what the older generation would have called excess. Some excesses have taken place in all ages, but never before have these been so considerable AN APPARENT break with the past. Now this rupture, THIS CHANGE is tolerated by the - elders when it is not admitted. THIS SITUATION IS DUE TO THE CHANGE OF EPOCH WHICH OCCURRED ON FEBRAURY 5th 1962. The new vibratory impact has had for its first consequence a state of different spirit established amongst the young, much more susceptible, by nature, to the cyclic changes. The older generation has undergone this same impact but it was produced on a ground built from habits and conceptions from the past. However, its effect has been such that there has not been in general COMPLETE OPPOSITION, in spite o f appearances, between the young and the older generation whatever it may be, the elders are forced to recognise the new situation, considered by the young as normal. If there has not been opposition, it is above all because the EXTERIOR evolution has not been gradual. It is in the beginning an EXAGGERATION in comparison with the past which has gone before, in this sense the EXTREMES have been committed and have permitted the LEAST to be tolerated, then, in principal, accepted. Thus the phenomenon o f the "beatniks" has contributed to the recognition of a new situation and this exaggeration has given the "hippies" a better consideration as it will allow other human phenomena to be more easily accepted. In reality, BY THE ERROR OF THE ELDERS ATTACHED TO OLD AND OFTEN OUT OF DATE PRINCIPLES, YOUTH

ITSELF MUST SEEK OUT ITS WAY AND FORCE ITSELF TO GIVE FORM TO THE IRRESISTABLE IMPULSION OF A NEW COSMIC CYCLE. So it is not youth which is responsible for these excesses, it is the preceeding generation which has not shown or wished to prepare itself for the new conditions. Now, youth is no longer satisfied with the religious tenets of its fathers. They do not correspond to the inward needs which it feels.It aspires to SOMETHING ELSE which would help it to understand the old principles and perhaps accept them thanks to a NEW UNDERSTANDING. It is there, precisely, that the traditional organisations and the Rosicrucian Order AMORC in the first rank, have their fundamental responsibility vis-a-vis the actual cycle. These organisations can no longer be "reserved". They must show to youth that they constitute for them THE ALTERNATIVE and that that for which they are seeking ALREADY EXISTS. That is so true that a greater and greater body o f youth press towards the portals of the Rosicrucian Order AMORC and all RECOGNISE that it is really there. THE WAY OF WHICH THEY HAD NEED AND WHICH THEY HAD SOUGHT UNCONSCIOUSLY. Very often, they had, in order to achieve this end, to break the CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE but, in that which concerns in particular the Rosicrucian Order AMORC, this new situation had been foreseen, and it is one of the reasons of their intensive propaganda. Each one of its members has, in this field, HIS OWN RESPONSIBILITY towards youth for whom the Rosicrucian Order AMORC can become the STABI USING ISSUE of the new cycle.

These thoughts arose in me at the moment when I thought of a little phial with the rose liquid and I go over again the exact association which has brought me to these particular remarks. Ah! I understand, the phial has led my thoughts to L.S.D., this drug with strange properties that certain young people, alas, use in search for some artificial paradise; and from there to the beatniks; then to the hippies covered with flowers and pacifists who turn their hopes towards the Orient and the wisdom which they believe accessible; to the former Beatles, deciding to get the experience through a curious Mahatma; to other famous singers and musicians, impassioned by the drug; to those extraordinary spectacles where some idol howls a song — an incantation perhaps — in an immense hall overwhelmed in the smoke of incense before hundreds and hundreds of youths abandoned to emotion w ithout rein and overflowing irrationally.

Drugs, incense, gestures, attitudes, all, though exaggerated, make apparent a PROFOUND INWARD NEED to be satisfied. It is obvious, from a distance it is true, (as is always the case in such confused "discoveries", unknowing and non-methodic6l in the domain of mysticism) that it is valid data that the permanent traditional principles are coming back to human evolution. In a word, youth is READY. It is at the pitch of a MORE ADVANCED cycle and it seeks, finding or refinding, principles which partially satisfy certain of its aspirations and not knowing the COMPLETE principles exist which could procure them all that they need to understand, to stabilise them inwardly and progress in a systematic fashion.

Drugs, in particular L.S.D., are a PERVERSION of the ancient SOMA, a potion so well studied that certain initiates were invited to take it on rare occasions, under guidance and attentive supervision to bring about definite results. The Soma is not a fundamental element. It was a part, a non-essential element of a vast technical assembly leading to an extremely precise sacred end and what was called Soma long ago takes a different name in our day in certain oriental mystical schools. There is naturally no comparison possible between the actual drugs o f the L.S.D. kind and the Soma of long ago or the sacred potion of the secret communities o f the East, any more than between the effects seen nowadays by an unconsidered use and a purely hallucinatory or sensorial end. I recall for a moment certain hymns to the Soma chanted by the Veda, hymns of which a few stanzas come back to my thoughts.

I have savoured as a connoiseur the fragrant elixir, the complaisant, the great liberator, that which all, Gods and mortals, seek, calling it honey.We have drunk the Soma, we have become immortal, arrived at the light, we have found the Gods.What can the impiety or malice o f the mortal do to us now 0 Immortal One?Inflame me as the fire which is born from friction.Illumine us.

Come! I am ready and the Sage orders it. The time has come, and I take the indicated dose o f the e l i x i r . . . I am surprised. The soma of long ago was thought to produce an immediate effect. I wait with curiosity, I watch my physical reactions, psychologically . . . NOTHING or yes for here, suddenly, AN EXTRAORDINARY STATE OF PHYSICAL WELL BEING, AN INEXPRESSIBLE INTERIOR PEACE. I keep an absolute lucidity and a complete mastery of my thoughts. Assuredly this is not a drug, but really an elixir of exceptional properties, for I repeat my lucidity is carried to the highest possible point for a human being. If a question is raised within me, it has its immediate answer, luminous, almost SPONTANEOUS. If I think "JO Y", my being lives joy, if I say "M ED ITATIO N ", the state is established. The different levels of being appear to be reunited in a harmonious and conscious whole. There is no longer a distinction between the physical or sensation and the subjective any more than between these two "kingdoms" and the "subconscious". It is the harmony of THE PLANES. And all seems normal to the point that I am able to believe at first that nothing different has happened. Besides, can I be sure that something different has happened? Such is not the case. All my being with its multiple vehicles finds itself "sim ply" at a level of unity and perception infinitely more vast BUT I AM NOT UNDER THE POWER OF AN HALLUCINATORY

STATE, I RETAIN ENTIRE RESPONSIBILITY AND ALL DIRECTION OF MYSELF. I affirm, certainly, that I can wish and create an hallucination BUT I KNOW that what is thus obtained is a creation of my own though t. . . however, I hesitate to affirm that this is always the case, for if I think "L IG H T " my darkened cell becomes light and I SEE IT as in daylight. Thus an element of power is added to the usual properties expected with this kind of elixir. I do not mean to say that the elixir GIVES this power in any way, but it AIDS the conscious and systematic employment of faculties ALREADY developed. Now a faculty particularly developed among Rosicrucians is VISUALISATION, that is to say, in its effects, MENTAL CREATION. In my opinion, on a non-member the elixir would not have any other effect than the TEMPORARY impression of a certain PHYSICAL well being. This is not its aim and the rose liquid w ithout doubt requires too much ALCHEMICAL distillation and too much time, for it to be wasted. It is not a loss of time to repeat that it is ONLY employed in extremely PRECISE cases as a PART OF A MUCH GRANDER SCHEME. It is, if one wishes, the particular formula of a very much greater technique TO WHICH IT IS ADDED AND WITHOUT WHICH IT IS NOTHING. In my case, taking into consideration the unique circumstances through which I am passing, I suppose that its object is to put me IN A CERTAIN MEASURE AND IN A TEMPORARY RESPECT at the level of the Rose-Croix to be in a position to take part worthily in a GRAND VIGIL. In other words, other conditions being fulfilled, it will help me to become FU LLY CONSCIOUS o f the purpose, to prepare me for the time of the sublime experience of this sojourn here, so that the harmony of the Sacred Night may not be upset by different vibrations and in order that the memory of the summit attained in FULL CONSCIOUSNESS, adds to my effort and to the efforts of those of whom I have charge in my function as Grand A/laster. Whoever has lived this certainly will ever remember it and this same certainty is transmitted to all those with whom inner attunement is established. Now, I have always had the conviction that whatever is accorded to me, in the light of experiences o f a capacity so universal as those of my encounters and exceptional visits, profits ALL WHO ARE IN HARMONY WITH MY OWN MYSTICAL ASPIRATIONS, that is to say, principally, to the sincere members of the Rosicrucian Order AMORC although they may not necessarily be at my level or at least conscious o f being so.

My sleep was profound and if a particular work has taken place during these hours of physical unconsciousness — WHICH I DO NOT DOUBT — I have no ijftpression of it at my awakening. Today will be a full one and I am determined to undertake scrupulously everything that has been ordered. I immediately take the quantity of elixir prescribed and, without proceeding to other " tests", w ithout experimenting, as J did yesterday before going to sleep, certain of keeping within myself the FORCE of the potion and its PROPERTIES for the Great Event of tonight, I proceed to activities which have become habitual — WITHOUT BEING A HABIT — since my arrival in these sacred places. Meditations, prayers, meals, employment of the three words of power, prayers,

meditations, contemplation, at last time passes to the rhythm of work. As the hour approaches an impression of quiet unknown exaltation penetrates me. My body seems to vibrate with an unknown frequency, my eyes appear to be that which they look at, are these my hands or are they an exterior object, my ears perceive in a very clear manner the sounds and the noises but, if I pay attention, I observe a peculiar humming like the sound from the depth which is not at all disagreeable and is strangely in accord with the state which I progressively assumed.

In adjusting the white robe to my figure, I realised the importance of this dress in this high place. Certainly, each time, in the exercise of my ritualistic functions I put on the white regalia, I immediately experience the feeling of sharp SEPARATION from the exterior world and its material requirements. I assume the STATE at the same time as the dress which symbolises it, and I take my place, in order to thus express myself, in the PLANE to which my initiation into the Grand Mastership has given me access, in such a way that I am no longer then an individual assuming a particular function, but the complement, the vehicle personalising for the time being THE IMPERSONALITY OF THE TRADITION. Here I assume THE UNKNOWN and, to better understand, I do not analyse. I allow the state to come, to descend upon me, to take possession of my being.In some way, I become SENSATION AND PASSIVITY, knowing that, later, memory will relive "these moments and that I would then have every chance to study them at the level of reason. But what I experience is indescribable. It is a state of consciousness of an incomparable nature. SUBLIME. I understand better still, IF NEED THERE WERE, the necessity o f an exterior element, even at this stage, at the very least for me who is admitted there as a privilege. A few minutes more and I drink the remaining liquid in the phial, and I lay aside all metal, ring and watch which I have about my person and put them on the table. IT IS THE HOUR, LET US GO TOWARDS THE SUBLIME! THE TIME FOR THE GREAT VIG IL IS HERE, THE VEIL IS TORN ASIDE, THE INCOMPARABLE LIGHT OF ETERNITY, IN A FEW MINUTES, WILL REND THE DARKNESS OF THE ELUSIVE ELEMENT.

The Masters are already in the large corridor, dimly lit. I place myself, alone, in the rear rank, at a few paces from my hosts. In absolute silence, two by two, Father Rosencreutz leading, supported by his assessor and holding on high a torch giving a violet light, THEY advance. I follow, the left hand over the heart, the right over the left, we descend some steps for a long while, slowly, very slowly, we go our way, at first through a monumental entrance then by two halls of imposing dimensions until our procession stops at last before a kind of rounded doorway flanked at its apex by two columns of the same marble observed elsewhere in this house that my soul, already, by some mental association, calls the "monastery” . Father Rosencreutz approaches the doorway; I see him bow with respect, then in a loud voice, he pronounces the three words, on which during these last

days I had had to work. With an almost imperceptible creaking noise the door opens wide, certainly by the push given by the Father, but the atmosphere is so extraordinary that I would have believed it if anyone had declared that the three words have manifested here the legendary power of an “ Open Sesame” . The procession continued its march and here in my turn I AM ON THE THRESHOLD. I understand suddenly WHY SUCH A SEVERE PREPARATION HAS BEEN IMPOSED UPON ME, for what I see would be UNBELIEVABLE in an ordinary state of consciousness, or rather it would be for the soul a tragic upset, due to the unforeseen consequences for the psychic equilibrium.

Here is the Temple of the Sacred Spirit o f this secret house but it appears to have taken gigantic proportions in order to contain so many people. It is naturally a subjective impression but it seized one at the first sight of this hall. I recognise the Father Rosencreutz of Vienna, also him of Madrid and I deduce that all are there. The "stalls” are in their place, unoccupied. The "visitors” are placed in several large semi-circles, the one within the other, facing the platform at the end with its three seats. I suppose that assistants other than the Fathers are these Rose-Croix of whom it has been told me who are living "in the world". All are clothed with the same white robe. But that which makes the assembly unique, that which makes the UNBELIEVABLE spectacle that is offered to my sight, is that these beings DO NOT APPEAR ONLY IN THEIR PHYSICAL ASPECT, AN IMMENSE AURA IN COMPARISON WITH THAT OF ORDINARY MEN SURROUNDS EACH OF THEM AND EACH AURA INTERMINGLES AT THIS POINT WITH THE OTHERS WHICH RESULTS IN ONE AURA-LIKE VIBRATORY MASS WHOSE INTENSE LUMINOSITY RENDERS INSIGNIFICANT THE LIGHT COMING FROM THE FEW LIGHTED CANDELABRAS. This aura has no particular colour but it would not be right to say it is white. It would be more correct to call it LIGHT although even this word is insufficient. It is nevertheless extraordinary to see this aura and also the whole hall so clearly. If it was "c loud" it would be w ithout doubt translucent and would permit perceiving like a shadow, the place where I am. I realise then that, in order to distinguish the aura, it is necessary, in some way, that my CONSCIOUSNESS (and not my sight) attunes itself to it. In other words, if I look WITH MY EYES, it is the hall that I see, but if my eyes "keep silent" (become inactive), it is the aura which appears to me, the hall being "fa in tly " seen in comparison. Now this faculty of accommodation is exercised IMMEDIATELY, almost SIMULTANEOUSLY, and I understand one of the effects of the elixir. It gives me the POSSIBILITY OF EXERCISING A LARGER VISION, INCLUDING THE NORMAL USE OF THE EYES AND THOSE OF THE PSYCHIC FACULTIES OF PERCEPTION. That of sight actually fu lfills its role: the others, a little later will be exercised in a like manner. . . I remark that the, let us say "collective" aura seems more dense in that part of the hall reserved on the stage and above the triangle placed on the ground at the centre formed by the company. I suppose that this "phenomena" is obtained voluntarily. The Rose-Croix assembled here actually concentrate their thoughts on these two points of the Temple. Why? I shall understand the wonderful reason a little later.

I have entered the hall and I have taken my place at the point which was reserved for me, to the right o f the platform, slightly behind the rear rank. It has been foreseen w ithout doubt — nothing is left to chance in such circumstances — that I would be placed at a point where it would be possible for me to attune with this sacred assembly without impeding in any way its works and in watching all which took place during the course of these exceptional hours. In fact, w ithout rising above the company, I can see the hall perfectly and those who occupy it all round the platform and the large unoccupied chairs.I am surprised to note that Father Rosencreutz and his usual "acolytes" are content with the stalls in the Temple. Normally, the Father would be found at HIS station on the platform.

Suddenly I become conscious of myself. I th ink of my own aura mixed with the aura of these incomparable beings and I realise that the PREPARATION TO WHICH I HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED, CERTAIN TESTS ENCOUNTERED IN THE DAYS WHICH PRECEDED MY COMING, THE TECHNIQUE OF NOCTURNAL MEDITATION TO WHICH I HAD TO CONFORM FOR SEVERAL WEEKS, THE MYSTICAL TIME PASSED IN MY CELL, HERE, A LL THE POTION TAKEN, ALL HAD BEEN FOR THE PURPOSE OF RENDERING MY PRESENCE POSSIBLE, ACCEPTABLE AT THE "GREAT V IG IL " WHICH COMMENCES. Thus, my aura is "in tune" in the midst of those who welcome it; it does not disturb, it is free from the dross of the world. Would it be too much to admit that I am TEMPORARILY ROSE-CROIX? Who knows? The Rosicrucian experience of "Cosmic Consciousness" endures for several seconds and its effects are PERMANENT on the level o f the real self. In these places, a state is, so to speak, READY (or made ready) fo r me, because it is the only means of KNOWING AND TRANSMITTING. Even if later I only have the memory of it, this memory will stimulate the will to refind the STATE, or since I could have lived it, of re-establishing it in my CONSCIOUSNESS. I believe to pro fit at this time from a powerful and definite privilege, of which perhaps I still do not measure the import enough and which invests me ABOVE A LL WITH THE DUTY and the joy of SERVING STILL further if possible. An idea springs up in my spirit at the moment when I compare these places which receive me, with what I am as a human being — that of the MERCY OF THE ROSE-CROIX AND OF ONE YET HIGHER. Yes, it is SUFFICIENT TO DO ONE'S BEST WITH CONFIDENCE AND GOOD W ILL, ALL THE REST IS GIVEN TO US IIM ADDITION. THE SACRED HIERARCHIES, THE "ELECT" HAVE MET US MORE THAN HALF WAY. MY PRESENCE HERE MUST BE FOR ALL A MESSAGE OF HOPE. Perfection is not what men suppose it to be and still less what fanatics of all kinds define it. It is even, in some respects THE INVERSE OF WHAT is imagined. It is asked of us to LIVE, TO EXPERIMENT AND TO UNDERSTAND, that is to say to wake up from this heavy sleep o f complacent sensibility and our visionary conception of a badly understood perfection.

Certainly I must adopt the psychic attitude of those present. I cast a quick but attentive glance at them. They do not have their eyes closed. ALL ARE CALMLY LOOKING TOWARDS THE PLATFORM but I have an intuition that what they are waiting for W ILL NOT BE PERCEIVED WITH THE PHYSJCAL EYES, THEIR LOOK DENOTES SIMPLY ATTENTION. I do the same and I abandon myself to a passive communion of waiting which is for me, contrary to the others, that of the UNKNOWN.

Strangely from this moment on, all my being seems to grow larger. This impression is indescribable. "Impression" is not the exact word. I should substitute for it that of "R E A LIT Y ". In any case, I feel I am A PART, A CELL of a much larger body which was formed of ALL THOSE who are united in this hall. My hand which is closed appears to be AT THE SAME TIME that of the others and to see with their eyes appears to me something simple, NORMAL. More precisely, I have a consciousness of being, in this Temple, EVERYWHERE AT THE SAME TIME, and this certainly lies, to my understanding, in the fact there is here but ONE SINGLE BODY, ONE SINGLE AURA AND PERHAPS ONE SOUL. This body, this aura, this soul WAIT . . . I am in a state which is not w ithout resemblance to being half asleep or even a total sleep from which CONSCIOUS knowledge is not excluded and this knowledge makes me SEE suddenly that I am no longer in a state of ordinary consciousness but at a DIFFERENT degree, outside physical limits, to a form of BOUNDED consciousness (to which bounds are set) and YET MORE VAST, implying the action of the superior faculties of the being. Now, EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE, NOTHING CAN SURPRISE, THAT WHICH IS GOING TO HAPPEN, THAT WHICH IS HAPPENING, IS NEITHER ABNORMAL NOR SUPERNATURAL. THE EVENT IS RENDERED "ACCEPTABLE" BY THE STAGE AT WHICH THOSE WHO ARE THERE LIVE INCLUDING MYSELF. The power of the thought conveyed by the UNITED aura of the assembly CREATES the necessary conditions for the RECEPTION AND MAINTENANCE of a projection of consciousness undertaken elsewhere. The conditions are established, "the disciple is ready", the Master can come . . . AND HE COMES.

At the centre of the stage, the aura appears to "take form ". In reality, it is the "atmosphere" created by the aura brought to the degree of vibratory power required to permit the "manifestation". I would even say that WHAT SUDDENLY "SEEMS TO APPEAR" ON THE STAGE WAS THERE ALREADY AND A LL THAT HAS BEEN DONE BY THE ASSEMBLY HAS CONSISTED ONLY OF ALLOWING IT TO BE PERCEIVED — some would think "materialised" which would be wrong.

After all, what does it matter! HE IS THERE, LIKE THE OTHERS, " I SEE HIM ", LIKE THE OTHERS, I "PROJECT" MYSELF INTO HIM, SO TO SPEAK, AND I "COMMUNE" IN AN INCOMPARABLE ATTUNEMENT OF "FUSION", OF TOTAL

ABANDONMENT NEVERTHELESS WITH COMPLETE CONSCIOUSNESS. Ah, how indescribable is the happiness of these moments. It is mixed with bitter regret for errors committed and at the same moment the appeasement of pardon obtained by a "reparation" which the power of this place effects elsewhere as if the soul gave a little o f itself to compensate for the fault. WHO IS HE? My soul appears to know. WHO IS HE? YES, I KNOW but my heart keeps silence and HIS name is sealed with the seal of a promise. It is the MASTER, THE SUMMIT, THE APOSTLE.. . certain philosophies would say ONE OF THE GREATEST IN THE SERVICE OF CHRIST. That is all I am allowed to reveal . . .

For how long does the communion prolong itself? I cannot be sure. THERE IS NO LONGER TIME HERE. Has he spoken? I am almost convinced of it, but I have discerned nothing and I feel NO CURIOSITY to know. What has been given me to share SURPASSES the sublime and I consider myself privileged to have received it. If they, the highest ones, have had the communication of a message — AND I BELIEVE THEIR PRESENCE IS IN "EXPECTATION" OF THIS — this message concerns them with regard to their state and to their MISSION. It is not for me to know and my being vibrates with gratitude for the GlFT which has been made to me. IT IS SUFFICIENT FOR ME. For them, without doubt, it would be little ; fo r me it is EVERYTHING.

Slowly the assembly comes back to its level of normal consciousness and this level, naturally, TRANSCENDS what we know in the material life. I am not surprised to come back, "from the mountain to the plain", to their rhythm. I am only here as a part o f them . . .

The Father Rosencreutz now rises and goes towards the stage with profound respect, almost reverence. He sits down and by gesture invites two of the other Fathers to occupy the armchairs near him. The GREAT V IG IL GOES ON. Back in my cell, I shall note that the sacred visit manifested itself at midnight and the conclave had then lasted THREE hours. The real work had begun at NINE o'clock. The symbolism is overflowing with light and my readers will find material there for fru itfu l meditations. The KEY which it constitutes will conduct them to dynamic individual conclusions impossible to share with others. Although, in effect, "keys" open the door of the "se lf" and the self of one is always different from the self o f others — whence it results that SYMBOLISM SUGGESTS AN AUTHENTIC KNOWLEDGE INCOMMUNICABLE FROM ONE TO ANOTHER BECAUSE IT IS A FUNCTION OF THE DEGREE OF UNDERSTANDING ATTAINED AND THIS DEGREE IS SPECIFIC TO EACH ONE.

So, the last three hours have been occupied with work which I do not hesitate to qualify as immense. It appears to me evidently as included in the "Rose-Croix" work — not the whole so diverse, so considerable in its innumerable aspects of which the

fundamentals have been revealed to me in the course of these meetings but a PART of this work and surely not the least. I have been able to take this partly into account in this story.

What I will call the series of reports begins with an invocation from Father Rosencreutz. Each remains in his place, seated. He himself does not rise, but he extends his arms before him, the hands towards the assembly. His neighbour on the left has the right hand placed on his left arm, and he on the right, the left hand placed on his right arm. At the moment of invocation, irresistably, one closes the eyes and a peculiar force seems to stir the air around giving an impression of tingling and warmth to the body.

Immediately, each Father rises, first those who are on the platform and then the others. I thus see that the TWELVE FATHERS are present and thinking of the cancellation of my visit to Athens, I conclude from that that the Great Vigil has had, this year, an exceptional importance since certain changes had been made almost at the last moment in the itinerary which was fixed for me. I suppose that the MESSAGE received by the Rose-Croix has been of capital importance. Some — but it is perhaps a false impression — now appear marked with some preoccupation that their noble countenances, always radiant, cannot dissimulate.

Each Father, in the reports given, treats of the great questions of "his house", questions referring to the work accomplished in the particular SERVICE that the secret houses must carry out. I thus learn what is done in certain countries where one would believe that mysticism was extinct. It is deeply interesting, encouraging, EXALTING. One admits too easily that materialism is the master o f the world. NOTHING IS MORE FALSE, THE WORK IS GOING AHEAD. TOMORROW IS RICH IN ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF YESTERDAY AND OF TODAY. I am particularly interested by the remarks of Father Rosencreutz of Vienna. He insists on the fact that it is important NEVER TO ENVISAGE ANY ACTION AGAINST INDIVIDUAL ENTERPRISES NOT HAVING ANY FOUNDATION IN THE PRIMORDIAL TRADITION . . . These enterprises must be considered as a necessary NEGATIVE POLARITY permitting CHOICE and serving as EXPERIENCE AND PURIFICATION to the disciple on his way towards the truth. They are the inevitable CONE OF SHADOW which could not exist w ithout light. "Appearing" to address himself to me, he added THAT AT THE HEART OF THE AUTHENTIC COMMUNITY, THIS SAME LAW APPLIES. It is from opposition and resistance that progress springs. This resistance, moreover, is maintained w ithin just limits, the Rose-Croix watches over its and, if its limits are surpassed the purifying REACTION INTERVENES BUT ANOTHER RESISTANCE is established immediately. ALL THAT IS MATERIAL REQUIRES THE DOUBLE POLARITY AND THE PATH IS NOT EXEMPT FROM IT.

I notice, during these reports, that the speaker now and then speaks w ithout my perceiving the words. That has already happened occasionally during my visits to the "Secret Houses of the Rose-Croix" and I am not in the least offended by it. It would be inconceivable that anyone, COMING FROM THE WORLD AND RETURNING TO THE WORLD, even if his mission is exceptional, should have access to the V ITAL elements of the supreme hierarchy. One easily understands the reasons and it is not only the question of a possible involuntary indiscretion. TOTAL POWER IS NOT A GIFT, IT MUST BE MERITED, EARNED. What I have heard, learned, is however PRODIGIOUS, but I cannot give account o f all in a manuscript reserved for the account o f these visits. I am authorised to do it IN ANOTHER WAY and I shall make known, at random, in later writings the considerable facts learned in these circumstances, WITHOUT MENTIONING THEIR ORIGIN, leaving the characteristic of HYPOTHESIS as to what is truth in order that the opinion of each one may be preserved by the possibility of REFUSAL OR ACCEPTANCE.

All have risen, one by one, each approving the words of the Father of "his house" or adding to them, at the most a few words. It is clear that the Great Vigil has been prepared for in each secret house and that the Father represents here his eleven companions as well as himself. Their short speeches were not a verbose assembly of platitudes. Each words carries, resounds in my soul. There is, in their voices, a rhythm of power which gives life to the phrases, which gives them a SOUL. It is IMPOSSIBLE TO represent by a picture this TRUTH which unrolls before me at this time. I think o f the messages left by the prophets of former days, by the sages of the past era, by HIM who came at the beginning of the time which is finished . . . The words of the Fathers have the same POWER. Is their account AN INTONATION RATHER than a disclosure in the profound sense of the term? I do not know, but why not? Certain sounds can put the mental cells in action and the energy thus awakened moulds words and phrases, a brief COMPREHENSION IN PROPORTION as each one understands them. In any case, for me, these are WORDS, it is a message and this message is grand. It would have required long hours for all the Masters gathered together here to speak. Less time will be necessary SINCE ONE WAS SPEAKING FOR TWELVE. Thus I have seen the Fathers of other secret houses which are unknown to me. However I have no regrets and still less bitterness. IT WOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO MEET ONLY ONE OF THOSE BEINGS AND TO LISTEN TO HIM IN ORDER TO HAVE MET AND LISTENED TO THEM ALL.

Even he who, at this moment, addresses the assembly and who does it in the name of the "outer" Rose-Croix is akin to the others and I understand that all is known at a single glance. How precious are the revelations of him who represents "those who have come among us" or who remain there. What a SECRET world is ours, and at heart, how we are "teleguided" when it is a question of the great stages of our evolution! Ah!

DECIDEDLY NOTHING REMAINS UNKNOWN TO THEM for they know, for example, down to the last detail of the preoccupations of an organisation so vast as the Rosicrucian Order AMORC! I draw anew from these moments the CONVICTION that each sincere and true mystic IS FOLLOWED STEP BY STEP, beyond the material forms, by the Rose- Croix, the Masters who have achieved the goal.

The Great Evening Vigil is about to end. For several moments there is silence. The prelude to a last communion. I could have wished that these hours could be more and more prolonged but WORK CALLS and my soul, for the benefits received, sings with joy . . .

I await the closure when an assessor of the Father rises. I am once more attentive, not wishing to lose anything of those closing minutes. B u t . . . HE COMES TO ME . . . my being is seized with an indescribable emotion, I had not foreseen that any particular interest would be accorded to me.

He takes me by the left arm and I am led before the triangle where, a little earlier in the evening, the collective aura had seemed so condensed. The three chandeliers are withdrawn and I am invited to kneel, with eyes closed. I am uplifted, within, with an extraordinary trembling w ithout my body moving one inch. I have the impression of being "outside myself" and o f SEEING just before me, slightly outside the symbolic triangle, TWO beings of light and I BELIEVE I recognise them. They have their hands stretched out towards me and I HEAR as if from far away, THE THREE WORDS so much meditated upon in my cell and, crowning the others, the WORD which I received at the heart of the Rosicrucian Order AMORC, at a definite stage of my studies. I HEAR MYSELF REPEAT IN AN AUDIBLE VOICE EACH OF THESE WORDS. Then it is an ABSOLUTE BLANK of which I could not say how long it has lasted . . . On opening my eyes I am overwhelmed with surprise; A LL THE ASSEMBLY IS STANDING and on my shoulders, I feel hands which I realise quickly are the hands of the Father, WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING?Have I been dreaming, have I been the plaything of an understandable illusion excited by the previously exceptional atmosphere in which I was immersed for several days and particularly this evening? How would I know? If "something" has been TRANSMITTED for me and FOR OTHERS, it is on the highest level of my being that the TRANSMUTATION has taken place and I do not forget that if it profits from it, the exterior being in its different components CANNOT UNDERSTAND OR ANALYSE what transcends it at this point. Meanwhile I feel myself in a state of rare quietude without any fatigue and, w ithout looking for the reason, I feel a joy w ithout comparison at the moment where the Father murmurs to me "REMEMBER"! These words contained a promise and once again impressed with the idea that a GREAT EVENT had just happened. I reply in a whisper "Thank you, thank you" putting into it all myself and without restraining my tears, offering them in my thoughts to ALL.

I do not know where they went those who came from OTHER PLACES or from outside. Myself, I took my place — the last — in the procession fed by Father Rosencreutz. In inverse order, we come back to the gallery of the cells and I am scarcely in mine in my white robe when I throw myself on the floor, face downwards, and I break down with humility before the Supreme Creator. Then I accept with gratitude the time of repose but before going to sleep, many many times, I repeat in silence, reliving the days passed here and elsewhere, of which this is the last, and the sublime hours of the night just passed for us, for me, "BLESSED BE THEY, BLESSED BE T H E Y !" and I see again their light, their reality, their faces — THE FACE OF THE ROSE-CROIX.

9 CONCLUSION

Today, 6th January 1968, the day of the Epiphany, "The Secret Houses of the Rose-Croix" is finished, the time has arrived for a necessary conclusion before which my pen, alas, is lazy. It knows however that NEVER AGAIN will such a tale be given to it to write. This is, perhaps, why it trails along slowly in the pursuit of words, reflecting the nostalgia which overshadows my soul at this moment. NEVER AGAIN! This final ending was foreseen, unavoidable. It crept, treacherous, on the sacred soil of the high places, where the unknown unveiled its mystery to my fascinated gaze. It was concealed behind the days which have passed, the days and then the hours and here it is, victorious, invested with its "NEVER AG AIN "!

Yes, the time o f similar discoveries is finished for me, but it has impregnated my being to the point that the memory can at any time relive and cry "ALW AYS"! A t will, the CLOUD OF KNOWLEDGE can recover again my interior heaven and shine with its sign — the Rose and the Cross.

Other accounts, certainly, will later see the light o f day just as I am inspired but they will be legendary, VISIONS and my readers will know it. They know it already by this conclusion. Nevertheless, TRUTH remains constant in that which concerns the MESSAGE, and if the imagination then works in the circumstances related, in the LAY OUT, the argument will be AUTHENTIC and the knowledge conveyed in this manner, real, permanent, coming at times from "other places", previous meetings or even more recent ones although less exceptional in appearance and only by comparison. We will thus have new discoveries to make together and, when the time comes, I will inform of it.

It is possible that "The Secret Houses of the Rose-Croix” themselves may be placed by some in the series o f these future stories where reality w ill be allied with legend. SUCH IS NOT THE CASE, but what does it matter! The result alone is what matters and this- manuscript, stripped o f its descriptive changes and the emotional reactions o f its author, retains nevertheless valuable evidence or, it one wishes, a thesis whose ideas can lead him who meditates on them to fru itfu l conclusions.

My role is finished, to write was "m y mission". Yours commences. "The Secret Houses of the Rose-Croix" no longer belong to me BUT TO YOU. I transmit them to you as a great truth which has been precious to me and which my memory will ever cherish. If this truth meets with YOURS, if it goes to the heart o f your inner self, it w ill then have attained its end and, who knows, rediscovered in you its dwelling place, its "secret house", from which spring the flux of "yo u r" universe, of "yo u r" world, of "yo u r" reality. In any

case, this trust which f have received, I now confide to you. It was for me a privilege, what w ill it be for you? It is for you to decide, although egotistically I dream, I hope, I would wish that your heart beats in harmony with mine on the PATH which together we travel w ith our invisible guides. Those who SO CLOSELY work for us in the SECRET HOUSES OF THE ROSE-CROIX.

Domain o f the Rose-Croix 94 VilJeneuve-Saint'George

Saturday 6th January 1968 Day of the Kings.

FRANCIS BACON LODGE PUBLICATIONS

The Francis Bacon Lodge (London) of the Rosicrucian Order (AMORC) contributes toward authoritative Rosicrucian literature by publishing certain, generally unavailable works of internationally acknowledged, modern Rosicrucian leaders. The publications listed below are not for casual reading but for serious study and, like the books sold by the Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC, are offered to members as additional material to their regular, official studies.

The publishers recommend that the works of each author be read in sequence, as listed.

Raymond Bernard

Supreme Legate for Europe and previously Grand Master for all Francophone Countries and author of "Messages From The Celestial Sanctum". By means of the following allegories he transmits special information for the purpose of showing the importance of the Rosicrucian Order and also for correcting certain misconceptions.

STRANGE ENCOUNTERS: with those who are responsible for guiding and ensuring the harmonious development of human society throughout history and into the future, in accordance w ith established cycles of 'evolutionary' development.

SECRET HOUSES OF THE ROSE-CROIX: elaborates upon the function of the inner, invisible College of the Fraternity of Rose-Croix Adepts and their especial state of consciousness. It also reveals their connection w ith the AMORC and their concern for each sincere Rosicrucian student.

A SECRET MEETING IN ROME: which divulges the modern mission of the Order of the Temple and its connection w ith Atlantis, Pharoah Akhnaton and the Rose-Croix as well as the esoteric relationship between Christianity and Islam and the quest for the Holy Grail.

THE INVISIBLE EMPIRE: relates that the mission of the Atlantean Sages has continued throughout history and is approaching its climax. This volume includes the first publically known account of the legendary Atlantis as described by Plato, reviews the evidence of Ignatius Donnelly and gives an account of visits to authentic West African initiatic societies.

Harvey Spencer Lewis

Late Imperator of the AMORC for North and South America, one of the directing triumvirate of Imperators of the federation of ancient, esoteric societies, the FUDOSI and prolific author of numerous monographs, articles and books.

THE DIVINITY OF M AN: a complication of nine articles from "The Rosicrucian Digest" based upon the dictum, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God" and first published to commemorate fifty years of activity of the Order in the jurisdiction inaugurated by Dr. Lewis.