AMORC - The Triangle September 1923

O F F IC IA L

MONOGRAPH

ANCIENT MYSTICAL ORDER ROSAE CRUCIS SEPTEMBER 1 9 2 3

PR IC E 1 5 C

ents

Vol. II. No. 2

SEPTEMBER 1923

Price 15 Cents

THE RECENT CHANGES Our M embers A re U rged to B ecom e A cquainted W ith Them N the co rrespo n dence th at has com e to H ea d q u arters d urin g the past few w eeks w e notice th at m ost of o u r m em bers have noted the m an y chang es a n n o u n ced in o u r last issue, while quite a few do not seem to u n d ersta n d their exact n a tu re or im portance. O n e of th e m ost pleasing signs w as the alm ost universal ch ang e from the word degree to grade in reference to the various divisions of the w ork of the O rd e r; and all seem to ap p rec ia te the distinction an d the value of it. It m akes for uniform ity in reference to o u r w ork th ro u g h o u t the world. T h e m ost m ysterious elem ent, however, is th at p e r­ taining to recent affiliations. Som e have w ritten that they firmly believed th at we haVe becom e affiliated (n o t u nited) with the C hristian Science C h u rc h or som e phase of its w ork, while o th ers believe th at we have affiliated in some w ay with the T heosophical Society. W hile only a few have held this th ought, it indicates th at we should p erm it no o ne to m is­ und erstan d in this regard. So, let us say th at w e are not affiliated with either one of these institutions or m ovem ents. T h e h u n d red s of T heosophists an d T h e o ­ sophical students in o ur O rd e r often express the de­ sire that such affiliation with their Society should result, an d offer m any suggestions and often open m an y avenues leading to such affiliation; b u t no definite step has ever been taken. T h e h un dred s of C hristian Science C h u rc h m em bers in o ur O rd er, on the o th er hand, know th at affiliation with th eir C h u rc h is im possible; not because of any difference of opinion or any criticism of th eir C h u rc h on o u r part, but b e­ cause the w ork of the two m ovem ents is not alike to an y extent to w a rra n t affiliation; and this w ould apply equally as well to every o th er C h u rc h in A m erica. T h e time is coming, how ever, an d is very close, w hen all the large b ro th erh o o d and uplift organizations in A m erica will be affiliated. For several y ears th ere has been a com m ittee, headed by a m an well know n to all fraternal and b ro th erh o o d bodies an d a high officer in som e of them , w hose business has been the investigation of the v arious mystical, b ro th erh o o d bodies and the com pilation of facts ab o ut them , look­ ing to a general affiliation of the m ost im p o rtant ones. T h e diplom atic co rrespo n dence em anating from and passing into th at com m ittee’s h an ds has sm oothed aw ay m an y problem s and has b ro u g h t ab o u t a g reater friendship betw een m any of the bodies that w ere fo r­ m erly considered unacq uain ted. Some of the c o rre s ­ p o n den ce has passed th ro u g h o ur h an ds and we note with pleasure th at a rra n g e m e n ts are being m ade for a general convention of delegates from all the possible co n tractin g parties in th e wear future. O ne thing m ust be k ep t in m ind; the R osicrucian b ro th erh o o d is very old. O nly one or two o th er fraternities in the w orld can point to a ca re er as long, as im portant, and as u nb ro k en . T h e A M O R C of todav represen ts the culm ination of all the endeavors of all the R osicrucian bodies in the various parts of the world to system atize and com bine their activities

and affiliations; for, it m ust be rem em bered, the Rosicrucians w ere alw ays so fundam ental in their teachings, so to lerant in their consideration of o th er schools of th o ug ht an d so broad in their w ork w ithout political or religious bias, th at they very naturally included from tim e to tim e m an y o th er m ovem ents and o rg an i­ zations. T o d ay the A M O R C has n u m ero u s affiliations. This does n ot m ean th at it controls a great m an y o th er bodies, for this is tru e to a small degree, but it is associated with an d officially related to a great n u m ­ b er th ro u g h its relation to T h e G reat W hite Lodge. P erh a p s a w ord or two reg ard in g T h e G reat W hite Lodge m ay n ot be amiss right here. A s this is being w ritten the w riter is sitting n ear a w indow with his typing m achine. T h e w indow faces on M arket Street of San Francisco, in the tw o-block area k now n as the Civic C en tre; for o u r H e a d q u a rte rs are located in a building n ea r the great City Hall, the w onderful Civic A ud itoriu m w h e re the greatest of conventions a re held, the larg e public library, p a rk and State Building. R ight across the street from this window is an o th e r building with v arious lodge room s for rent for social an d public m eetings. O n Sundays a n u m ­ ber of m eetings are held in th e halls or lodge rooms, several of them being spiritualistic m eetings of the general kind. A m o n g the signs displayed at the door o r h u n g on cords in the vestibule of the building each Sunday is one large card bo ard b earin g the display line, am o n g others, ‘’G reat W h ite Lodge.’’ You m ay w on d er at this sign, as do m any. T he sign an n o u n ces a public religious meeting, sem i-spirit­ ualistic or m etaphysical, attended regularly by from tw enty to fifty persons an d presided over by a v en er­ able p rea ch er of occult an d uplift th o u g h t know n in this district for over twenty-five years. A nd the claim is m ade th at his little organization, his w ork and his teachings are sponsored by or are a p art of T h e G reat W hite Lodge. Despite the m a n ’s sincerity and good w ork, he is m istaken in regard to such association and T h e G reat W hite Lodge is not located, in p a rt o r wholly, on M ark et Street of San F rancisco; n o r would its n am e be printed u p o n a sign to hane; at the doo r across the street an y m o re than it w ould be flaunted by us on a sign at o u r T em ple door. W e read so m uch, h ea r so m uch, ab o u t T h e G reat W h ite Lodge that it would seem to be a very indefinite and open-to-all sort of organization, p erm itting any group, an y leader, to assum e its n am e and claim its sponsorship. Such is not the case, of course. T hat its nam e carries such w eight with seekers, m eans so m u ch to som e self-appointed ex p ou n ders of law, and covers so m u ch territory, indicates that th ere is an alm ost universal T eco sm itio n of th e fact th at th ere is a great assem bly of M asters constituting a high b