Book D, also verified everything by cable. As we have said before, such is an out-

standing Badge of Fraud clearly indicating the fraudulent nature of his scheme.
770
PaeoeeCinlvis OF Rie C: AUTHORITY REVIEWED
said authentic Rose Cross Order had been established many years prior to 1915 by Dr. P. B. Randolph, whom Lewis reluctantly admitted’ had been a Grand Master of the French Order and “one of the foremost men of the Order who ever lived in this country.”’ However, since he was organizing a spurious Order, he pursued the only course open to him, namely, to ignore and question the right and the existence of the real Order.
In this entirely new and different story of the organization of his fabrication it was started by calling together forty-eight other Rosicrucian students and workers selected from many branches of activities covered by the AMORC plan to arrange a mass meeting. This was a unique and most unusual method of organizing a Grand Lodge of a fraternity, if it happened that way. Anyway, so he says, a mass meeting of over three hundred well-known scientists, occult- ists, metaphysicians and students of Rosicrucian work—not Rosi- crucians—was held. After verifying and deliberating, a committee of sixty was appointed to secure further verification of the plans and to call another meeting. This may sound well and seem plausi- ble to the uninformed and no doubt induced many to part with their money and ideals and to join his fraudulent Order, but they were overreached and misled. There is not a trace of truth in the entire statement—IT IS A FLAGRANT MISREPRESENTATION OF FACTS.
Ais Fake Supreme Council of the World Had Its Inception in New York, April 1, 1915
The next alleged meeting is described as follows:
“The High Council Meeting
(73) “On April 1, 1915, such special meeting was called and constituted the first High Council meeting of the AMORC in the new epoch in America. Fifty-two? of the sixty committee members were present, and those absent sent communications of regret.
1See his statement in quotation (9).
?The about thirty active workers who constituted themselves the Supreme Coun- cil in quotation (30) and the thirty selected from over 100 in quotation (63) here became fifty-two of the committee of sixty. It is difficult to determine how many constituted this spurious Council in the beginning. Moreover, if he called his first meeting in the spring and a mass meeting a few weeks later, and another within
Th:
AN ANSWER TO°LEWIS” WHITE Gy BUCO 8
Further telegrams and letters were read by a number of the com- mittee, and there appeared in person a delegate of the Fraternity from India with certified and sealed documents, ‘jewels’ and creden- tials to be delivered to the chief officers® to be elected at this momen- tous occasion.
“Supreme Council Elects Officers
“After preliminary remarks and a voluntary acceptance on the part of those present of the Oath of Allegiance as Officers, the committee was duly organized as the Supreme Council of the AMORC. Then followed the election of the chief executive officers, and by unanimous vote Harve Spencer Lewis, F. R. C., Ph.D., was elected Grand Master General. After the election of other officers, a Charter for the organization of AMORC in its present form was drawn up and signed by the Committee of Charter Members* pres- ent. That document, highly illuminated and bearing the signatures of the Charter Members, is one of the most valuable documents in the possession and history of the AMORC.” (Jd., p. 9. The italics
are ours.)
Aside from the fact that this revised version of the formation of his Supreme Council of the AMORC does not agree with his pre- vious statements of the organization on April 1, 1915, of the Su- preme Council of AMORC for America and the execution by it of “the American Charter,” which, of course, raises a serious ques- tion of veracity that may be passed for the moment, his changing and varying story of the formation of his Council on All Fools’ Day, 1915, whether it was the Council for AMORC of America alone or for the AMORC of the World, becomes very interesting.
This new story reveals the expansion of his imagination and his determination to create for himself and his spurious R. C. Order a ‘Supreme Council of the World.” He first conceived of a spurious Order and fabricated it for America only, with its authority com-
sixty days, it was hardly likely that he organized his Council on April 1, 1915. This is noted to call attention to his careless statements. None are accurate. All are contradictory.
3 In his previous statement in quotation (26), Mrs. May Banks-Stacey—the grand old lady of royal descent—delivered these papers and trinkets to him in the fall of 1914.
*#In his previous statement in quotation (25) he prepared the “illuminated Char- ter” to be signed by the selected councilors. The Charter was drawn up and signed by the Committee of Charter Members.
Ti2
PATSEP CLAIMS OF R:-wC. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
ing from International or World R. C. Councils. Since these did not exist in fact and he had experienced much difficulty in convinc- ing his thoughtful, alert and inquiring members of the existence of such councils, he decided, as aforesaid, to fabricate and create a Supreme Council of the World and an international or world-wide AMORC just as he had fabricated and created his spurious AMORC for North America.
This, then, is the story of his first conception of and attempt to fabricate and create a Supreme Council of the World and to estab- lish his spurious R. C. Order—called AMORC—throughout the world and in all the principal cities and nations thereof. To carry out his fraudulent scheme and design he declared himself Impera- tor-Rex of the AMORC—throughout the world and changed his American Council of about thirty self-constituted Councilors, or- ganized on April 1, 1915, into the Supreme Council of the World. He accomplished this by increasing the number from about thirty to sixty members and then, as we have seen in quotation (70), by having his Supreme Council of America become “‘so large and of such an international nature’ that it became known—by the mar- velous magic of his imagination—IT BECAME KNOWN AS THE ‘‘Su- PREME COUNCIL OF THE WORLD.”
Therefore, in addition to having another of the many examples of the flagrant, changing and contradictory claims of this fraternal racketeer, we have from his own pen the story of his first unsuccess- ful attempt to create a World Council for his fabrication. In Chap- ter IV we reviewed his other and latest unsuccessful attempts to fabricate a world and international council and to hold interna- tional congresses as devices for the promotion and perpetuation of his fraternal swindle.
The Tallest Story Ever Told Told as if True—Yet Has No Equal in Fiction
Doubtless you thought the story of Imperator-Rex’s revival of the Rosicrucian Fraternity, its re-establishment throughout the world and his Supreme Council of the World a rather tall story, but that story is a mere infant in fiction as compared to the tallest of tall stories which he relates as if it were true and based upon facts in his propaganda and promotional booklet entitled: Ligut
TS
AN ANSWER “TOREEWIS) W-EAT Ee (ey BOO kaa
oF EcypT, issued January, 1927.
After relating his own faulty and misleading conception of ‘“The Strange Story of the Rosicrucians,”’ he tells a stranger story of his own Quixotic travels and marvelous accomplishments, all of which took place and were created within the air castles erected in his own whimsical imagination, as follows:
(74) “As the significant, symbolical year of 1918 approached, a great convention of Rosicrucian mystics was decreed to be held in New York City under the patronage of the Supreme Council of the ancient headquarters in Toulouse® and with authority from the Fra- ternity temples in Egypt and India.® Preliminary to that Conven- tion the foundation for the Great Revelation was laid in every sec- tion of the North American Continent. Secret conclaves had been held, delegates appointed and a Supreme Master and Imperator elected.
“Then, early in the year 1918, the three hundred and fourteenth year since the Revelation in Germany, the official Legate of the Fra- ternity, H. Spencer Lewis, Fellow of the Rose Cross in France,’ began his journey to the Vault and Tomb as had his predecessors in 1604 and 1290. Dr. Lewis had been initiated into the Fraternity in the Supreme Temple in the old district of Tolosa (Toulouse) in 1909, from which Friar Bacon began his journey to the Vault in Egypt.
“Empowered by the highest living authorities of the Fraternity, Dr. Lewis was to be the next potentate to unveil the work to the newer generations and carry the responsibility of the periodic revival throughout the world.* Proceeding from New York with jewels,
° We have seen that the “Supreme Council” of Toulouse is a myth, created by Lewis as a device to promote his fraudulent R. C. Order.
® Here again he attempts to associate his fabrication with alleged Rosicrucian Orders in Egypt and India. All of this is the “build-up” for his “strange” story that follows.
‘It is strange—very strange, indeed—that in 1918 he should merely designate himself. as the “ofhcial Legate of the Fraternity” and “Fellow of the Rose Cross Order in France’; whereas, in July, 1916, at a “High Lateran Council,” the “Supreme Council of the World” had created for him the largest jurisdiction in the world and had made him and his councilors the most important members of the council with the most votes. It would seem under such circumstances, if they had been true, he should have proceeded under his own power and not a mere Fellow or Legate.
‘The “highest living authorities” who empowered Dr. Lewis to be the next poten- tate to “unveil the work” and to “carry the responsibility’ for the revival of the Rosicrucian Fraternity throughout the world was “Dr.” Lewis. He appointed him- self ‘““Potentate” of his world-wide and international fabrication to reveal the dis- torted, ridiculous and wholly false story which we are now considering, in the
774
Poe bm Alvis; OF KitwC. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
keys, formulas and a very old map,°® and with nine years’ study of the secret instructions that he had received in Europe, he went to the Pacific Coast, where the Revelation was to be made. His jour- ney was to the West because of the activities of the Fraternity under the direction of his predecessors: in the seventeenth century, when the last great Revelation had been made.” (Light of Egypt, 1927, pp. 6, 7 and 8. The italics are ours.)
It Did Not Happen
We have seen that in the latter part of 1917 Mr. Lewis’ fabri- cation was in a strained financial condition, that the early part of 1918 was given over to the strenuous work of relieving those trou- blesome financial troubles and in the financing of the purchase of a Temple through the sale of a bond issue which resulted in his arrest in June of that year.
In Cromaat F, published in January, 1919, in which his lamenta- tions reveal the serious condition of his organization and the close personal attention he was required to give to it in New York City in the troublesome year of 1918, he says in conclusion that the writing of his personal message in said Cromaat occupied a consid- erable part of his vacation time in Tampa, Florida.
In Cromaat G, published early in 1919, he says:
(75) “During the past twelve months the only recreation time afforded the Imperator has been during his overnight trips to Lodges, a few days during and right after the National Convention? and
same manner and upon the same authority under which he declared himself to be the “Imperator-King of the AMORC throughout the World.”
® Perhaps he is referring to the map shown in our Reproduction Number 70.
1 By implication he makes himself the sole successor of the Fathers of the Rosi- crucian Fraternity who first revealed its existence in Germany about 1614. This, of course, contradicts other claims which he has made and is still making. But what does that matter? The brazen boldness and unlimited audacity of the racketeer- ing “Imperator-King” of fraternal fraud are astounding!
* This refers to a small convention held in New York City in 1918 of a few local members and members from nearby cities. There is no mention here or in his statement in Cromaat F set forth in quotation (52) of a great international con- vention of Rosicrucians or a “Great American Conclave held in New York City” in the summer of 1918. Therefore, it must be concluded that said “Great American Conclave” was an after-thought, devised and invented in Florida years later for the sole purpose of his strange and unique story which we are about to review.
775
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS WHITE GI) = book 2.
during a short trip to Tampa, Florida,® just before the holidays on official duties. Time for material pleasures are not desired, but time for relaxation from duties easily assumed and performed by others in his absence is what is absolutely necessary in the future.” (Cro- maat G, p. 11. The italics are ours.)
Although there are several former members of AMORC still residing in New York City who were closely associated with Mr. Lewis in 1918 who know that he was not away from New York for any period of time except as stated by himself and that at no time during the year was he absent for a period sufficient to make a trip to the Pacific coast, judging from his own statements and the knowledge and indisputable facts and circumstances of his situation and troubles during said year, it must be concluded that he did not go to California or the Pacific coast in the year, 1918 tomanmom! Rosicrucian cave to open a tomb or vault and bring “to light the well-preserved ‘body’ of C. R. C. again”, a as he related in 1927 in the Light of Egypt, as follows:
“The First Rosicrucians in the Occident —
(76) “Toward the close of the seventeenth century a group of Rosicrucian Masters had proceeded to America and laid the founda- tion of the Fraternity on the eastern shores of the United States,* as explained in a later part of this story. But, many years before this, when the earliest European explorers were wending their way to the Pacific’ Coast, hunting for the ‘land of gold’ as depicted in ancient manuscripts, the Rosicrucian Fraternity sent seven of its highest initiates to the West on a secret mission. They accompanied one of the early Spanish exploration expeditions and carried with them many caskets of rare devices, papers, jewels, and a sealed sar- cophagus. These things finally found a resting and hiding place on a small peninsula jutting into the Pacific, which is a mountainous part of the ancient continent of Lemuria, where temples and shrines of a forgotten mystic race have left ineffaceable evidence.
“In this quiet and peaceful place on the Pacific shore a crude
3Jf a short trip to Florida afforded him recreation, a long trip to the Pacific Coast would have been worthy of mention, but he mentions no such trip in his current statements made at that time.
*This is a reference to the same movement mentioned by him in his statements in quotations (67), (68) and (69) and our discussion in connection therewith. Here he introduces a new story which contradicts his earlier stories of “the first Rosicru- cians in America.”
776
PALSESCLAIMS OF RoC. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
temple’ was built of adobe, adjoining a cave described on the maps they possessed. In the cave the sarcophagus, jewels and documents were placed, and the entrance closed to form a tomb and vault. In the crude temple services were held for many years by the seven mystics who lived there, awaiting the arrival of a boat to take them back to Spain and France.
“It was to this cave and the ruined temple that Dr. Lewis jour- neyed in 1918, performed the rituals and rites, followed the formu- las and brought to light the well-preserved ‘body of C. R. C. again. Thousands in Europe, hundreds in America, and many in many lands awaited anxiously the announcement that would be made in secret channels when the Great Light was revealed [!] again to the world.” (Light of Egypt, p. 8. The italics are ours.)
5Among his first books was Lemuria, The Lost Continent of the Pacific, in which he located this temple on or near Mount Shasta in California. He has been selling this book $2.00 a copy and commercializing this myth for a number of years. He has found it necessary to make many explanations concerning the same. In recent years another pretender seizing upon the Lewis myth as set forth in his said book, set up an opposition organization with headquarters on Mount Shasta, and began to draw some of Lewis’ victims and prospective victims from AMORC. This was too much for Lewis. It was enough to have opposition in his specialized field of fraternal rack- eteering, but to have another use his “thunder” and one of his fraudulent devices to oppose him was adding insult to injury. Therefore, to warn his followers and pros- pects against this other pretender who was using his Mount Shasta hoax, he wrote a long article, entitled The “Great Master” Hoax, and published it in The Rostcrucian Digest, July, 1936, beginning at page 232. After stating that at least once a year he found it necessary to warn his new members against certain forms of mystical litera- ture, referring to his rival who had set up a highly competitive business on Mount Shasta and who was using Lewis’ device as the basis of his claims. Continuing, Mr. Lewis said: “At the risk of once more being accused of intolerance, fear of rival claims, and jealousy of other organizations that are attempting to establish them- selves, I say again that the claims and pretensions of some of the so-called mythical, spiritual, metaphysical, occult and ‘secret’ societies of North America particularly are the most preposterous and insane, as well as the most fraudulent and insidiously destructive, that have ever been circulated since the dawn of religious and philo- sophical racketeering.” (Our italics.)
Now, bear in mind that he was speaking of his principal pretender-racketeer com- petitor who was using his own myth or device and Mount Shasta as a base of operation. Continuing, he said: “We regret to say that ever since we ventured to reveal some of the facts relating to the antiquity and traditions surrounding the Mount Shasta district in the stories we published about Lemuria, the ‘mystical rac- Reteers’ ever seeking some new angle and ever anxious to seize upon a plausible excuse, have been commercializing the Mount Shasta district to a degree that aston- ishes thinking individuals and is becoming a pitiful situation.’ (Our italics.) -This statement of an indignant fraternal racketeer, who revels in his own self-righteous- hess, to another who is misusing his “thunder” and encroaching upon his racket is very interesting. It is the way racketeers reveal themselves. It takes a racketeer to catch a racketeer. We regret that we do not have the space for the entire article. Investigators should read it carefully.
777
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS’ WHITE (?) BOOK ‘‘D”
This fictitious story, used as a fraudulent device, is based upon certain mystical ideas and allegories contained in the original Fama Fraternitatis® issued by Johann Valentine Andreae about 1614 an- nouncing the existence of the original Rosicrucian Fraternity in Germany and other authentic Rosicrucian publications.”
However, that he “brought to light the well-preserved body of the C. R. C. again” and secured the “jewels and documents”’ placed in said alleged tomb or vault or that he was in California in 1918 does not seem at all probable, but let us continue with his strange story and unique artifice, as follows:.
“Great American Conclave
(77) “Dr. Lewis quietly returned to New York and prepared the translation of the documents® he brought back with him, and in other ways arranged for the celebration of the Revelation at the Great Convention which was held in New York in the summer of 1918.
“Several high representatives from Europe, delegates from the Supreme Council of France, India, England and Egypt came to New York and verified the jewels, seals and ancient cartouche of Amenhotep IV ,° now in the possession of Dr. Lewis; and the Con- vention revealed to the world again that, in accordance with the decree issued in Egypt in the twelfth century, B. C., the ‘Light of Egypt’ had passed to ‘the land where the Eagle spreads its wings.’
“It will be recalled that when the tomb and vault were opened in Germany in 1604 the Revelation was announced to the world—
® See The Rosicrucians—Their Teachings, p. 129 (1923 edition).
“Jn the authentic literature of the Fraternity, hidden temples are described so as to indicate their location to the initiated or as myths to convey certain messages to the Brothers. In the spurious literature, fantastic temples and fraudulent artifices, such as in this case, have been described by pretenders and charlatans.
’’There were no such documents. Neither the originals nor the alleged transla- tions thereof as prepared by Mr. Lewis can be produced. They did not exist, except in his imagination and as used by him as devices of fraud.
® Here again we have his usual device of having his “jewels, seals” and what- nots verified. This time he has several high official representatives of his Supreme Councils for three continents come to New York City to verify the trinkets which he says he found in a California cave. This taxes the credulity severely. Here he says that he found his “ancient cartouche” seal in a cave in California. In quotation (58) he says that he received a cartouche-seal in France, when he was “initiated.” He probably purchased it at an antique shop in New York. The cartouche-seal, unknown to real Rosicrucians, seems to have been one of his important “devices.” See, also, quotation (49).
778
PvP OUAIVIS: OF Ror C. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
and especially to the thousands who were awaiting the facts— through the issuance of a private’ pamphlet entitled ‘Fama Frater- nitatis. And when the vault and tomb were opened by Roger Bacon in 1290 the Revelation was followed by the issuance of a similar document bearing the same title.
“So in 1918 Dr. Lewis issued in America a private document to the venerables in America and Europe, entitled ‘Fama Fraternitatis.’ It was read by the highest officers of the Fraternity in various lands, signed by each, and amended by a long personal statement on the part of each officer of the Fraternity who sponsored or represented some jurisdiction or branch of the International organization. That document, dated in the year 1918 A. D. and 3271 R. C., is one of the most important papers of the Fraternity throughout the civilized
‘ world today.” (Jd., pp. 8 and 9. The italics are ours.)
The Great American Hoax
This colorful story, conceived for the first time in Florida in 1926 on an overnight journey from New York to California in 1918 and used in his 1927 booklet as propaganda to promote his fraudulent R. C. Order, may be aptly designated the Great Ameri- can Hoax or the Unique Lewistonian Device for the promotion of a fraternal racket. This hoax and “tall story’? was too much even for as daring, as audacious and as presumptuous a promoter as Mr. Lewis. He was not bold enough to repeat this hoax story or to publish it twice. In the next edition of The Light of Egypt? it was omitted and no mention was made concerning it. It is a way- side tale he would like to forget.
After a fashion he did hold a meeting of a few of his members in the summer of 1918 in New York City that might, by stretching the imagination, be called a convention. However, no European, Egyptian or East Indian delegates were present.* The only revela- tion made at that convention was financial distress, dissension and
1The original “Fama Fraternitatis” was not a private pamphlet. It was pub- lished to the world—not issued “privately,’ as Lewis says he issued the “Second Fama Fraternitatis” in 1918.
° Edition of February, 1928.
®’This was during the World War, when sea travel was very hazardous. It is not at all likely that delegates traveled from these countries to New York to verify his “Jewels and seals.” It will be recalled that he attributed his failure to his inability ‘to communicate with the “Masters” in Europe to the World War. See quotation (24).
779
ANs ANSWER TO, LEWIS: WHITE, (7) BOO as
desertion in the ranks and the failure and collapse of his organi- zation.
The first and only Fama Fraternitatis ever issued by the Frater- nity of the Rose Cross was issued as aforesaid in Germany in 1614. Therefore, this alleged ‘‘Fama Fraternitatis” issued ‘“‘privately”’ in the year 1918, if it were so issued as alleged, would have been the “Second Fama,” but by 1930 he had forgotten all about ‘this ‘‘Sec- ond Fama,” which he issued privately in 1918 to “the venerables of America and Europe” and issued another “Second Fama,’”* which shows that he was anxious to forget and did conveniently forget his 1918-hoax story.
Now, to be sure, this “private document’ alleged by Lewis to have been issued by himself to the “‘venerables in America and Europe’’—not including Egypt and India—never existed. And such a document with the endorsements, comments and signatures of the highest officers of the Fraternity in various lands cannot be produced. Neither can the alleged documents, seals, jewels and ancient cartouche of Amenhotep IV or the sarcophagus alleged to have contained them be produced. Notwithstanding his statement that he returned to New York with them and that he translated thé documents and had the jewels, seals and cartouche verified by sev- eral high representatives from the Supreme Councils of France, India, England and Egypt, yet no one—save Lewis alone, who saw them only in his imagination—ever saw said documents and imagi- nary devices, and they did not exist except as imaginary devices of fraud. Such a hoax story as this may be disregarded, except as a Badge of Fraud which speaks eloquently and in no uncertain terms. of a wicked fraternal swindle.
995,
Changes His Location and Propaganda
Unable to agree with his Florida backer in the winter of 1927, he moved his headquarters to San Jose, California. With himself as the Imperator of the Hierarchy and his son as the Grand Secretary, he began to convert his fraudulent R. C. Order into a family
* See his announcement of the “Second Fama,” p. 371, supra, and the text thereof, pp. 372 to 377, supra. Also Reproductions Numbers 47 and 47A, pp. 393-394, supra.
° Perhaps this “private document” signed by others was his “Confessio” described by Mr. William Reisener in his statement quoted on page 96, supra.
780
Pere Ch AIMS OF Rok C. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
racket, which he speedily accomplished, as we shall see in Chap- ter V1:
He changed his promotional propaganda, omitting the details of the organization and establishment of his fabrication in America, also the sources of his authority, dealing only in generalities so as to leave an entirely different impression from that conveyed by his former statements. In the following statement to be next reviewed we shall see his first deceptive and tricky effort to change the foun- dation date of his fabrication from 1915 to 1909, as finally claimed by him under oath in 1934.°
In February, 1928, from San Jose he issued a rewritten, greatly revised and changed edition of The Light of Egypt, omitting there- trom his Great American Hoax story which we have just consid- ered. In this booklet, written and widely distributed to secure pay- ing members for his questionable fraternal enterprise, we find a new type of promotional propaganda, as follows:
“The Present Order in America
(78) “Just before the great world war the leading Rosicrucian bodies in Europe decided upon a complete real‘ location of Rosicru- cian jurisdictions throughout the world. Many congresses were held and various Supreme Councils assembled in many cities. During all these years the continent of America was still under the direction of European jurisdictions. “The new plans were to make it a separate jurisdiction.®
“In the summer of 1909 Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, former President of the New York Institute of Psychical Research and editor of sev- eral metaphysical and occult magazines, went to Toulouse, France, the ancient seat of the Rosicrucian activities of Europe and for the past hundred years or more the meeting place for continental Rosi-
° See Exhibits B and C, Volume I, pp. 253 to 256.. Text Volume I, pp. 198 to 223. * Correctly quoted. What is meant by “real” locations of Rosicrucian jurisdictions throughout the world we do not know, but we do know that at no time did any real Rosicrucian bodies decide upon a reallocation of Rosicrucian jurisdictions.
They possessed no such right or power. The idea is ridiculous. There was no such action taken.
8 His statement here that European bodies made this decision cannot be recon- cciled with his statements in quotation (40) and the decision made at Memphis, Egypt,
at the “High Lateran Council R. C. of the World.” Such contradictions are Badges of Fraud.
781
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS’ WHITE (?) BOOK “D”
crucian Congresses.”
“There under the auspices of the French jurisdiction, the Order Rose Croix, a special group of high officers, initiated Dr. Lewis into the international organization and appointed him their Legate to establish a separate Jurisdiction of the Order for America.
“Previous to this, many prominent Americans had been initiated into the Order in France, England and Germany, while traveling abroad,' and all had been advised that in time the Order in America would be one of the largest of all the jurisdictions.” (The Light of Egypt, February Edition, 1928, pp. 9 and 11. The italics are ours.)
Here, as usual, we find his one consistent and ever-prominent device, namely, the bolstering of himself, the creation of the fic- titious greatness of “Dr. Lewis” and the building of a false back- ground and antecedents for himself as a fraudulent artifice to promote his fraternal racket.
However, in 1928 he created a new type of false promotional propaganda that repudiated the 1916 story of his journey to the East and his initiation in the French Lodge at Toulouse.? There he was received into the French Lodge which became his sponsor. Here the artifice changes and a “special group of high officers,” under the auspices of the French jurisdiction, initiated or inducted him into the “International Organization” and the inference of his tricky generalized statement is that he became the Legate of the International Organization, with authority from it to estab- lish his spurious R. C. Order in America. )
Continuing this new type of false propaganda, he gives us an entirely different version of the organization of his fabrication in America, ‘‘dressed up” and rearranged in this wise:
“The Great American Conclave
(79) “Dr. Lewis returned from Europe and began at once his
® In this paragraph he promoted “Dr.” Lewis, the great occult editor, whose im- portance is greatly exaggerated. In this connection, to keep the record straight, it must be recorded that there is no authentic record of any Rosicrucian Congress ever having been held at Toulouse, France.
1 This is introductory to a change of his story. In his first story he organized his fabrication with any and all whom he could induce to join him. In this revised
version he would have us believe that he organized his enterprise with Rosicrucians of foreign initiation.
*See his statements in quotations (17) to (21), especially the last, dealing with his remarkable initiation. See also (22) and (23).
782
FALSE CLAIMS OF R.»>kC. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
official activities.* In the early fall of 1909 he held conferences with a number of those who had been initiated abroad and who were familiar with the rules and regulations of the foreign jurisdictions and acquainted with the Supreme Officers abroad.
“The task of translating into English the many documents and papers of authority’ required months of labor, and the formation of a foundation committee necessitated many interviews and private council meetings. J'welve men and women had been placed on the foundation committee® by Dr. Lewis before the end of 1909, and thereafter many months were spent by these persons assisting in the preparation of literature, a new and typically American Constitution for the Order, and the development of many new features that had not been introduced into the American form of Rosicrucianism.? All this had to be done in great secrecy until a certain stage of the work was reached.
“When this point was attained there came to Dr. Lewis the first of the many messengers of the Order from Europe. This first rep- resentative was Dr. May Banks-Stacey,® wife of Colonel Stacey and a descendant of the Cromwells and D’Arcys of France. A woman of wide travel and many affiliations, she came as a special legate of the Order in India. She brought to Dr. Lewis and the foundation Committee the final papers of preparation for the great work, and the Jewel of Authority, a rare official emblem and valuable treas-
3 This is a futile attempt to date the founding of his enterprise back to 1909, in- stead of 1915, as shown by his former statements.
* Compare this with his former statements which this contradicts. Here he would leave the absolutely false impression that he organized his fabrication with and through the aid of Rosicrucians of a foreign initiation and that his foundation com- mittee, first members and council were Rosicrucians, instead of victims of his fraudulent scheme. Yet, notwithstanding, in quotation (33) all of the members and officers were initiated for the first time on May 13th, 1915.
° This is preposterous on its face. Only one paper or document granting authority is required, and it would not require months to translate it.
‘In his earlier statements, shown in quotations (27), (49) and (63) the founda- tion committee consisted of nine, called together on February 8th, 1915; here, how- ever, it consisted of twelve, formed in 1909.
“Indeed, it was a new form of spurious Rosicrucianism. The “many new fea- tures” introduced by Mr. Lewis prove its spuriousness.
* Building “Dr.” May Banks-Stacey into a glorified myth—he uses this myth as a fraudulent device to promote his racket. The fullsome praise of this myth used as a device is a Badge of his Fraud.
>
® Is it not strange that with “final papers” and the “Jewel of Authority” delivered to him in the winter of 1914—see quotation (26), that he continued and so continues ‘to this day to collect numerous additional papers and insignia of authority to prove the authenticity of his fabrication. Such action on his part is convincing proof that it is spurious.
783
AN ANSWER TO LEWIS’ WHITE (?) BOOK “D”
ures from the archives of the Oriental headquarters. During her stay in America she acted as the first Matre of the Order.” (Jd., p. 11. The italics are ours.)
The Great Occult Promoter “Dr.” Lewis Greatly Assisted by His Myth—“Dr.” May Banks-Stacey
In the July edition, 1928, of his propaganda booklet, The Light of Egypt, he introduced the foregoing statement—quotations (78) and (79)—revised slightly as to details, with a glowing tribute to himself and his ‘“‘Dr.’’ May Banks-Stacey myth as the outstanding characters in his fabricated American organization. His introduc- tory remarks are as follows:
(80) “The year 1909 was a very important year in the activities of many Rosicrucian jurisdictions, and in the history of many meta- physical, alchemical and Hermetic organizations. “To the Rosicru- clans it was the year of new birth, the year of the new cycle, in those lands which had completed the 108 years of silence. Chief among these was America, where the Rosicrucian activities consisted of a great fire of power and knowledge’ burning in quiet preparation for the sudden fanning into brilliant flames. Wiauth other organizations the year was an important one in its relation to the periodicity of the Aquarian cycle. All in all, 1909 proved to be the ‘quickening and awakening’ year for all lands ready for the new dispensation of ‘Light, Life and Love.’
“For several years prior to 1909 many men and several women of profound metaphysical and occult training and preparation journeyed to Europe, and, in either France or England, received initiation into the Rosicrucian Order to enable them to assist in the newer activities for America.”
“Two characters stand out in the history of the present American organization. One of these is Mrs. Col. May Banks-Stacey, a de- scendant of the D’Arcys of France, and through blood relationship with the nobility of England, a high Initiate of the oldest Rosicru- cian organizations of London and Paris. She was also an Initiate
+ Judging from the confession of his “Great Mistake” made in quotation (25), the “great fire of power and knowledge’ did not burn so brilliantly in 1913 as here related, and further, judging by the abject failure of his fraternal project in 1918, there does not appear to be any great “quickening and awakening” for Lewis’ new dispensation of Light, Life and Love.
* Compare this statement with the last paragraph in quotation (78).
784
Pap oes CLAIMS OF K.+hC. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
of the Order in India, and was appointed an American Legate of the Indian Jurisdiction.®
“The other is Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, formerly President for many
years of the New York Institute for Psychical Research, editor of ‘several metaphysical magazines, and a co-worker with Elbert (Fra) Hubbard of Roycroft fame, and Mrs. Ella Wheeler Wilcox,* both of whom were desirous of helping in the Rosicrucian work and ren- dered unusual services.
“Dr. Lewis went to France in the summer of 1909 and after con- sultation with the Supreme Master of the French Jurisdiction was placed under the direction of the European Supreme Council, whose sessions finally agreed to the plans of the new cycle for America, and authorized the French Jurisdiction to sponsor them.” (The Light of Egypt, July edition, 1928, p. 18. The italics are ours.)
Now, finally, after much ado and many contradictory statements concerning his alleged right, power and authority and his initiation in France, his statements simmer down to this one, viz., that he consulted the Supreme Grand Master—not the ‘“‘Most Worshipful Grand Master’—of France, laid his plans before him and was placed under the European Supreme Council—not the World Council R. C. or the Supreme Council of Egypt—and it finally agreed to his plans for America and authorized the French Juris- diction to sponsor them.
The reader and investigator will find it most interesting to com- pare this statement with the many we have reviewed and with those to follow. In his wild, false, contradictory statements many Badges of Fraud are to be found which label his scheme a swindle.
Revision of “Complete’ History
The “Complete and Authentic History of the Order” published in 1916 was completely revised beyond recognition and published in book form in 1929 under the title “‘Rosicrucian Questions and
Answers With Complete History of the Rosicrucian Order.” This
3 One thing is certain, Mrs. “Col.” or “Dr.” May Banks-Stacey was not a high Rosicrucian initiate. If she had been, she would have known at once that Lewis was not a Rosicrucian and she would not have assisted—zf she did assist—him in organizing a spurious Rosicrucian Order.
4This is a gross misrepresentation made after the death of the prominent persons named. They were not associated with Lewis in his fraternal racketeering. See statement of Mr. William Reisener in Chapter II, pp. 110 and 111, supra.
785
AN ANSWER (FO LEWIS” WHITE Gb OO hms
book sold under false pretenses to thousands at $2.00 per copy and is a complete misrepresentation of the Rosicrucian Order and is not an “‘authentic’”’ or a ‘‘complete” history of such Order.
In his revised “‘complete”’ history we find another and quite dif- ferent account of the organization of his fabrication from that set forth in his ‘‘complete”’ history of 1916, as follows:
(81) ‘For many years I had held together a very large body of men and women devoted to occult and metaphysical research along Rosicrucian® lines. As editor of several occult magazines, I had made contact with various Rosicrucian manuscripts and had discov- ered that I was related to one of the descendants of the first Rosi- crucian body in America—that which had established itself in Philadelphia in 1694. This gave me access to many of their old papers, secret manuscripts and teachings. “These we discussed, ana- lyzed, and attempted to put into practice. Among ourselves, the society, composed of several hundred persons in professional life, was known as “The Rosicrucian Research Society®. Among the many prominent persons then affliated and holding active positions as officers were J. K. Funk, president of the Funk and Wagnalls Pub- lishing Company (publishers of the Literary Digest); ‘Fra’ Elbert Hubbard, of the famous Roycrofters, and who was deeply interested in the work to the very day of his transition, and Ella Wheeler Wil- cox, the famous mystical writer, who later became a member of the Supreme Council,“ of AMORC, which position she held until the time of her transition. Others equally prominent who were active members are still members of the present AMORC in high degrees.® The meetings of the Society were held monthly from 1904 to 1909 in New York City. Realizing that we were not yet chartered or authorized to use the name Rosicrucian, the society operated publicly under the name of The New York Institute for Psychical Research. [He admits he had no right to use the name because he was not chartered—he has no charter now—yet he uses the name. |
“Just before 1909 there applied for membership in our society one
> Jt will be noted that he also revised his spelling of the word “Rosaecrucian” to Rosicrucian. See Volume I, p. 210, e¢ seq.
6 This alleged society was known to no one. It is a creation of Lewis’ imagina- tion, born long after 1909.
“She was a “secret” member of his council and no one knew about it except Lewis, who did not know it, but falsely asserts it.
8’The only other of equal prominence still a member of AMORC is “Dr.” H. Spencer Lewis. This is false promotional propaganda of the most insidious kind. It is not Rosicrucian history.
786
PALER CLAIMS OF R.>eC.. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
_ who presented papers proving the appointment of ‘Legate’ of the Rosicrucian Order in India. Many weeks of close association re- vealed the fact that I might be successful in my search for some form of authority to introduce the true Rosicrucian work in America at the right time. Every means of communication with any official of the Order in foreign lands was denied to me until 1909', when I was informed that the year for the public appearance of the Order in America was at hand and that definite arrangements for the new cycle had been completed. “The Legate from India encouraged me to follow the urge that had actuated me for six or more years, re- gardless of trials that might tend to discourage my unselfish aims.?” (Lewis’ Complete History of the Rosicrucian Order, 2nd Edition, 1932, pp. 147 to 149. Most of the italics are ours.)
The foregoing introduction, which contradicts many of his for- mer statements, is a preamble to another revised version of the old story of the organization of his fabrication and how he acquired Rosicrucian authority thereof—if any.
Continuing in his history book, we read:
Another Version of the Revised Version
(82) ‘Therefore, I went to France in the summer of 1909 and after a brief interview with one who refused to commit himself very definitely I was directed to various cities and in each case redirected until I finally approached a definite contact in Toulouse. There I eventually found that my plans and desires had been anticipated and known for some time, and I was permitted to meet not just one of the officers of the French Rosicrucian Order, but a number, as well as some who were members of the international Council’ of the Rosicrucian bodies of various European nations. At a regular Coun- cil meeting, and at several special sessions of the Order in: other
9JIn his statement in quotation (26) this “grand old lady” first appeared in the fall of 1914. Here he advances her appearance date to “just before 1909.” The reason therefor is obvious. The “legate from India” was a great convenience and, being a device, could be conveniently used.
1 This statement made in 1929 is strangely contradictory to the statement made in his autobiography in 1916, set forth in quotation (15). Indeed, it is strange that he should have been denied every means of communication with any official of the Order until 1909, when he had been a “Dignitaire Supreme of the Rosicrucian Order” since 1905. A fraternal racketeer needs a good memory most of all.
2For a demonstration and manifestation of his unselfish aims, see Chapter VI.
3 Here it is the International Council of Europe—not the Supreme Council of the World, as claimed in quotations (35), (42) and (70).
787
AN ANSWER TO‘'LEWIS’ WHITE (7) 500K. 2.
cities held in the months following, I was duly initiated* and given preliminary papers of instructions to present to others whose names had been given to me. I was also instructed to arrange to hold pre- liminary foundation meetings for the purpose of organizing a secret croup of workers, who would receive further instructions from Leg- ates of the Order in India and Switzerland.°
“These instructions were signed by Count Bellecastle-Ligne, the secretary of the International Council® and the venerable LaSalle, the well-known author of many historical Rosicrucian documents and Grand Master of the Order Rosae Crucis or Rose Croix of France. Before leaving France I had the pleasure of meeting several of the highest officers and met in America on my return the Legate from India, who presented to me the jewels and papers which had been preserved from the early American foundation.” (Id., pp.
149-150. The italics are ours.)
The crooked story of his initiation, as told in his history of 1916 and especially as set forth in quotation (21) of a one-night initia- tion and illumination, changes here. In the months following in the regular Council meetings in Toulouse and at several special sessions in other cities he was finally initiated. It is strange that they would take him to special sessions in other cities when the Lodge of France was located in Toulouse. If you can believe that they did, then you cannot believe that he stayed in France for ‘months following” to receive an initiation all over France, because in his statement set forth in quotation (79) he tells us that he re- turned from France, and in the early fall of 1909 he held confer-
* Compare this with his statements in quotations (21) and (58).
5 Note that it was the “secret group of workers” who would receive further instructions from Legates of the Order in India and Switzerland, not Mr. Lewis, who received the jewels and instructions as he has elsewhere claimed, as we have seen and shall see hereafter.
8 In his statements shown in quotations (7) and (23), de Bellcastle-Ligne was Grand Master of the French Order. In quotation (58) he was the Supreme Hiero- phant of the Aquitania jurisdiction and here he is the Secretary of the International Council of Europe, while the venerable LaSalle was the Grand Master of France, not de Bellcastle-Ligne, who sponsored Lewis’ fabrication. What a changing, con- fusing and contradictory story! Contradictions are Badges of Fraud.
‘In quotations (26), (49) and (79) his convenient myth, the Legate from India brought him jewels, seals and trinkets from Egypt and India, but here she presents him with jewels and papers from the early American Foundation of 1694. What a convenient Legate and useful device—such a story bears the ear-marks of fraud. These alleged documents were not delivered to him as alleged, and he cannot pro- duce them.
788
Poke CLAIMS) OF RoC. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
ences in America. Therefore, he did not tarry months in France.
Here also he makes another attempt to connect his spurious Order with what he says was the first R. C. Order in America founded in Philadelphia in 1694, although he had previously denied any connection and estopped himself from ever claiming any such connection.°
The Imperator’s Great Surprise
Let us continue with his revised ‘‘Complete”’ history and note: (83) “Throughout the years 1909 to 1915, many official Coun-
cil® sessions were held in my home and the homes of others with men and women present who were descendants of early initiates of the Order and a few of whom were initiates of the Order in France dur- ing the years 1900 to 1909. In 1915 the first official public manifesto - was issued in this country announcing the birth of a new cycle’ of the Order, and immediately thereafter the first Supreme Council of the Order was selected from among hundreds of men and women who had been carefully selected during the preceding seven years.” At the first official session of this American Supreme Council officers were nominated, and I was surprised to find that the Legate from India had been instructed to nominate me as the chief executive of the Order because of the work I had done during the seven years in organizing the new foundation. Well-qualified persons were elected to other executive positions in the Order, and official docu- ments were presented to committees for translation and adoption in a form to fit American conditions.
“These meetings were followed by the first initiation of new members,* the report of which to the French High Council brought a document of sponsorship for the American branch signed by the
' principal French Officers.* As with every new cycle in each land, the first years of its activity are under the sponsorship of some well- established jurisdiction, and so for a time this new cycle® of the
8 See quotation (68), also (39), supra.
® We wonder how Council meetings could have been held before the Council was. formed. We suppose it is his careless way of handling the truth.
1Not the “birth” of the Order as shown in quotation (7) and other statements. ? Compare this with his statements in quotations (30), (63) and (73).
’ Compare this with his statement in quotation (33), where all the members of the Council and al/ officers were initiated.
4 We have seen that this was a faked and spurious document. ° First, as we have seen, he caused “the Order” to be born and established in
789
AN ANSWER -TO LEWIS” WHITE) BOOKy =.
American Order operated under the sponsorship of the French juris- diction.” (Jd., pp. 150-151. The italics are ours.)
No doubt it was a great surprise (!) to Mr. Lewis to learn that he was to be the official head and manager of his own fabrication which through his own strenuous effort he had succeeded in or- ganizing with about twenty-five or thirty people in 1915, if we can believe his first accounts thereof.
No doubt it will also be somewhat of a surprise to the reader when comparing his statement in his revised “‘complete”’ history of 1929 with his statement relating to the same subject matter in his ‘Authentic and Complete” history of 1916 shown in quotations (29) "ands (.0)
No mention was made in the current report of the first Council meeting, of the Legate from India—Mrs. May Banks-Stacey— being present and nominating Mr. Lewis to head the Order he had fabricated under instructions.° If a real representative of a real Rosicrucian Order had been present with real instructions to have Mr. Lewis appointed head of the organization then organizing, it does seem that it would have been regarded as of great importance and at least of sufficient importance to have required it to be men- tioned in the then-current reports of the first council meeting when oficers were elected. It was not mentioned in the current reports of the meeting. Jt did not happen. It was an after-thought which grew into a matured device along with the rapid-growing and ex- pansive false propaganda used to promote and to perpetuate this fraternal swindle. |
A1s Fabrication a Separate Jurisdiction
Notwithstanding that three years prior thereto, in 1926, he had declared himself Imperator-King of AMORC throughout the world and took upon himself the grave responsibility of re-estab- lishing the fraternity throughout the world “along the most mod-
America. Then reborn and re-established, and in later years, he brought it forth in its “new cycle” and “period of activity,’ whereas, as a matter of fact, he estab- lished a spurious Order and a fraternal swindle.
® Under whose instructions she was acting—if she did act as claimed—is not in- dicated or revealed. However, the inference intended was, that she was acting under the instructions of high Rosicrucian officials. Such is one of the many tricky methods employed by this fraternal promoter and racketeer.
790
PeSENCLAIMS OF Roe C. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
IIT
ern lines,” yet after recording the rapid spread of his fabrication throughout America in his Revised ‘“‘complete”’ history of his fab- ricated AMORC throughout the world and in America, he tells us that:
(84) “The result of this increasing activity resulted in a procla- mation being issued at the International Convention of Rosicrucians held in Europe,® establishing North America as a complete jurisdic- tion of the international organization and no longer necessary to operate as a branch of the French body.®
“Eminent Rosicrucian officers of France, notably Monsieur Ver- dier,’ the commander-in-chief of the Illuminati of the Rosicrucians in Francé, visited the Order in America and left papers of approval and recognition. hese were followed later on by a document issued by the International Convention held in Switzerland, appointing the national headquarters of the Order in America as a branch of the international body. This document? is one of the most important in the archives of the American headquarters.”’ (Jd., p. 155. The italics are ours. )
However, it appears that the ‘‘complete”’ history of his mythical, world-wide organization and of his American fabrication is not complete after all and that the true “history” thereof is a mass of
See quotations (70) and (71).
8 According to earlier accounts—see quotation (40)—his fabrication was made a separate jurisdiction by “Pronunziamento Number 987,601,” declaring the action taken at a “High Lateran Council of the Council R. C. of the World,” held in Mem- phis, Egypt, on July 20, 1916, during the World War, when it is not likely that any meeting of a World Council was held, But in the revised “complete” history that action was taken by an international convention held in Europe—time and place not stated, and perhaps unknown.
® As we have seen in quotations (11) and (61) and elsewhere, he has repeatedly declared—emphatically declared, that his fabrication was not and is not a branch of any foreign organizations; yet here, despite his previous denials and declara- tions, he admits that it was at one time a branch of the French body, and is now a branch of the international body.
1 Back in 1915, as shown in quotation (10), Monsieur Jerome T. Verdier was the “Magi of the Supreme Council of France in Toulouse,” when he visited Lewis in New York—if he did. Here in the revised “complete” history, in 1929, he became the “Commander-in-Chief of the Illuminati of the Rosicrucians in France’—an or- _ ganization unknown to the authentic Rosicrucian Fraternity.
2 This evidently refers to his “Important Rosicrucian Document Number 4,” issu- ing from the Sovereign Sanctuary of the O. T. O. in Switzerland, which we trans- lated on page 281, supra, and discussed at length in Chapter IV, supra. See Repro- duction Number 40, p. 283, supra. But there was zo International Rosicrucian con- vention held in Switzerland which issued the document as here claimed by Mr. Lewis.
got
AN ANSWER TO - LEWIS =WHYILTE (2) bOOe ie
contradictory false statements.
The Way of the Transgressor
Looking over his propaganda booklet issued in 1930, we find this fraternal racketeer and promoter of a fraudulent R. C. Order asserting by inference that his fabrication is connected with and a continuation of an early American Rosicrucian organization, of which Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were members. His averments are as follows:
“Great American Members (85) “In America, during the years 1694 to 1800, the work of
the Rosicrucians had more direct bearing upon the founding of the American system of progressive living than any other institution. Its members, including Thomas Jefferson, were instrumental in bringing greater freedom to the American people, and such men as Benjamin Franklin aided the Rosicrucians to spread their teachings into every home.?
“Eminent clergymen, priests, ministers of various denominations, educators and lecturers took up the high ideals of the Rosicrucian movement, and today the work in America, Canada and Mexico is perfectly organized in every large city or section of each State and province, all operating under one Charter granted by the Interna- tional Council, and working in harmony with the official organiza- tions throughout the world.” (The Light of Egypt, November 1930, p. 9. The italics are ours.)
Using his usual promotional propaganda and device of the asso- ciation with his fabrication and himself of eminent people, he here makes the unique and astounding claim that his organization in America is operating under a charter granted by the International Council and working in harmony with the “official organization” throughout the world, notwithstanding the fact that he has no such charter. Moreover. If he correctly described his alleged Inter- national Council in quotation (46) as being an “advisory council,” composed of the heads of each branch in each land, then it could possess no charter-granting power from its inherent nature. Con-
8 If there was such a Rosicrucian organization as he described, of which such eminent Americans were members, he is estopped to claim any connection with it, as we have seen, by reason of his statement set forth in quotation (68).
192
FALSE CLAIMS OF R.kC. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
tinuing in the same article, he asserts his spurious Order to be:
“The True Rosicrucians
(86) “Therefore, there is today just ONE Rosicrucian move- ment throughout the world, operating as a unit, free from religious or political distinctions and abiding by the ancient rules which pro- hibit any form of commercialism, fanaticism, extravagance, or pre- posterous pretensions. Under one name, one symbol and one guiding Council, the Rosicrucian movement is known today by its
symbolical abbreviated name, AMORC.
“That there should be some forms of imitation, some pretenders who would make use of the name and high repute of the movement is regrettable. ‘[Indeed, it is!] “There are not many, and their existence may be taken as a compliment to the high regard in which the Rosicrucians have been held for so many centuries. ‘The distin- guishing features between these pretending bodies and the real Rosi- crucian organization is found in the fact that the AMORC bodies throughout the world do not sell their teachings, do not claim to have books teaching the arts and ‘secrets’ of Rosicrucianism® and do not indulge in fortune telling by astrology or crystal-gazing, and do not claim to have a personal leader who ‘discovered’ the teachings and to whom allegiance and adoration must be given as a demigod.”
(Id., pp. 9-10. The italics are ours.)
The way of the transgressor and the arch-impostor is to assume a virtue and to pretend to be that which he is not. Here he as- sumes to be the head of the authentic Rosicrucian Order in Amer- ica and condemns all other movements, including the AUTHENTIC ROSICRUCIAN FRATERNITY, as being spurious and operating in imi- tation of his fraudulent order and fraternal racket. All pretenders have followed the same course. Matthew McBlain Thomson claimed that his American Masonic Federation was the true and authentic Masonic Order and that the regular Masonic organiza-
+ When you read his merchandising list in Chapter VI and the manner in which he has converted his family racket into a commercial project, when you read _ his extravagant and high pressure propaganda and when you consider his preposterous pretensions, herein set forth, you know that he is a pretender de luxe and a racketeer extraordinary.
5 The teachings are given only to those who pay their dues. He has a library of Rosicrucian books, which he sells. See back covers of the Rosicrucian Digest— his official organ.
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AN ANSWER TO LEWAS (WHIT Beate b OO
tions in the United States were spurious.® Such is the way of the transgressor and the pretender.
Preposterous Pretensions
Contending, as we have just seen, that the true Rosicrucian movement is free from “preposterous pretensions,” we find that, in the next edition of his propaganda booklet, The Light of Egypt, issued March, 1931, he proves his fabrication to be the “True Or- ganization” by making the following PREPOSTEROUS PRETENSIONS, to wit:
“Rosicrucian Authority—The True Organization
(87) “Many persons believe that the word ‘‘Rosicrucian” is a generic word that may be applied to any system of instruction or method of spiritual development that is unique or beyond the com- mon-place. This wrong belief is responsible for a number of small movements in various parts of the world composed of men and women studying various arcane philosophies calling themselves ‘Rosi- crucian students.’
“There is but ove true Rosicrucian organization throughout the world, whose founders invented the word ‘Rosicrucian’ as a defini- tion of their original symbol, consisting of the Rose on the Cross. These founders have perpetuated the true Rosicrucian Organization through all ages by insisting that each successive Master or Grand Master and Imperator of each branch of the organization shall be a blood descendant by transfusion of the original founders." Thus the original organization has perpetuated itself in all lands and has retained its secret archives and preserved its teachings exclusively for its members, and has successfully prevented any of its real teachings and instructions from ever being printed or issued in public books, or sold by publishing companies or groups not chartered and sponsored by the true organization.
“Regardless of the claims made by Rosicrucian societies, fellow- ships, or publishing companies,® which use a name that is different
®See The Thomson Masonic Fraud, pp. 72 to 97, inclusive.
“We have considered these preposterous pretensions in Chapter IV, pp. 353 to 363, supra.
‘In much of his propaganda literature, he has referred to the Randolph Founda- tion of the Rose Cross—the true and genuine organization of the Rosicrucians in America—as a publishing company. This has been one of the methods employed
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PASE CEAIMS OF K>--C. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
from the true name of the organization and use a symbol that is slightly different from the true symbol, the fact remains that the genuine Rosicrucian organization throughout the world has only one headquarters in each country, and all of these are operated under a universal or International Supreme Council, composed of the high officers in every land and. maintaining an International Secretary and headquarters in Europe near the location of the original Euro- pean foundation.® :
“Unless any European movement is an adherent to, or a member of, the International Supreme Council and has on its official docu- ments the International seal,‘ the group or organization is not teach- ing the true Rosicrucian instructions, nor has it access to the won- derful archives and libraries? or secret and rare manuscripts preserved and added to since antiquity.” (The Light of Egypt, March 1931, p. 23. The italics are ours.)
Shrinkage in Claims of Authority
In his next propaganda booklet, The Wisdom of the Sages, which was issued in March, 1932, and circulated throughout the United States during the years 1932 and 1933 in the vast volume of from eight to ten thousand copies per month,* he makes no direct claim to Rosicrucian authority, abandons his former prac- tice of attempting to set forth said claims and makes a brief and “simple” averment asserting in substance that his spurious R. C. Order, which he also calls the ‘“Rosicrucian Brotherhood,” is the
to discredit the authentic Order, that his spurious Order may survive. Other methods employed to the same end have been considered in Chapter III, supra.
9 This refers to his futile attempt in 1930 to form the International Council, Pan- sophia, in conjunction with Heinrich Franker—Recnartus—with headquarters in Berlin, Germany, “zear the location of the original European foundation.” By this -statement—recognizing the German Foundation—he repudiates all his previous claims that the Rosicrucian Order first originated in Toulouse, France. This same subject matter has been dealt with at length in Part Three of Chapter IV, pp. 325 LOMO SUPT.
1The “International Seal” here referred to is shown at the top of the title page of his “second Fama,’ locating the International Headquarters of the Supreme Council of AMORC in Berlin, Germany. See our Reproduction Number 47, p. 393, supra. However, he soon abandoned this claim, as he abandonéd and repudiated his alliance with Recnartus and his faked R. C. organization called ‘Pansophia.” See Part Three of Chapter IV, supra.
2'This refers to the “Collection Pansophia” described on pp. 349 to 353, supra.
3 So stated by Mr. Lewis in his Temple Monograph, Eleventh Grade, Number 29, -p. 3, quotations (98) and (101).
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AN ANSWER TO LEWIS’ WHITE GC?) (BOOK? Dp]
authentic organization. his booklet, which deals only in generali- ties, inferences and alluring inducements, was designed to deceive and did deceive thousands and induced them under false pretenses to become paying members of his fraternal racket.
The only scant reference he makes to his authority, which is by inference only, is found on the last page of the booklet, as follows:
“Averment—T he International Name
(88) “The Order uses the same ancient name that is found in the oldest records. That name in complete Latin form is: Antiquae Arcane Ordinis Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis. In America and other English-speaking countries the name is shortened to Ancient, Mystical Order Rosae Crucis. The Latin words Rosae Crucis mean
“of the Rosy Cross.” For the sake of brevity, the initials are used thuswAyvi we Omni:
“The True Organization
“There are certain characteristics that determine at once the au- thenticity of any organization claiming Rosicrucian authority. The true Rosicrucian Organization for every jurisdiction of the world is represented at all International Rosicrucian Congresses held in Europe.*. In North America that Organization is the A. M. O. R. C. and has a United States patent on the name of the Order, and its true symbol. It never uses the name of Rosicrucian Society or Rosicrucian Fellowship or Center. The initials A. M. O. R. C. appear on all of its literature, on its announcements, and are asso- ciated with all of its outer activities.
“Tts True Symbol
“The official true symbol of the Order is a gold cross with a single red rose in the center.’ The cross has no religious signifi-
*In Chapter IV we examined into his so-called International Rosicrucian Con- gresses held in Europe and found that they were snares, delusions and fraudulent. His spurious R. C. organization has never been represented at a genuine Rosicrucian Congress. This statement is willfully false.
° Here he adopts the symbol of the authentic Order, without right or authority, as the symbol of his fabrication, just as he wrongfully appropriated the Rosicrucian name for his spurious Order. Such wrongful appropriation of the symbol and name
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PACSESCLCAIMS OF RoC. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
cance, as it was used as an ancient symbol before Christianity. [As if Christianity were the only religion.] Jts true meaning is the material body of man with arms outstretched in salutation. ‘The rose represents man’s soul confined in the body unfolding as it receives more light and understanding.
“To reach the Administration Halls and Supreme Lodges of the Order in North America, address all mail as follows: Rosicrucian Brotherhood® Rosicrucian Park San Jose, California”
(The Wisdom of the Sages, p. 32. The italics are ours.)
Wanton False Pretense
Falsely claiming that his fabrication is the “true Rosicrucian Or- ganization,’ he deliberately represents that it “has a United States patent on the name of the Order and its true symbol.” This repre- sentation is absolutely false. It was made with willful intent to deceive. He has no patent on a Rosicrucian name or on the true Rosicrucian symbol. This false representation is based upon a trademark which he registered in the unincorporated name of his fraternal racket or spurious R. C. Order shown in fac-simile in our Reproduction No. 71 at the end of this chapter. Now, he did not register the name or the symbol as a trademark, but registered a design for certain publications named herein wherein the name “The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis” and the Rosy Cross form a part of the complete design shown in said Reproduc- tion No. 71 containing said name, the Rosy Cross, the word Cro- maat and other symbols or insignia. This design in its complete form—in its entirety—can only be used as a trademark on his pub- lications. If any part of the complete design is omitted, then it is
of the Rosicrucians is fraudulent and done with fraudulent intent to deceive, and has deceived thousands to their detriment.
6 Although he had previously declared that his fabrication is “the true Order— the original and perfect Rosicrucian Order—is known by only one name—‘The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis’” (see Volume I, p. 211) and that other organizations calling themselves temples, centers and BROTHERHOODS have naught to do with AMORC (see Volume I, p. 210). Yet here, contrary to his pre- vious positive declaration that his fabrication is an. ORDER—not a BROTHER: HOOD, we find him advertising his false wares under the name of the Rosicrucian Brotherhod, and that, too, notwithstanding, that he had also declared that his fab- rication is not afhliated with any “movement using the word Rosicrucian” in this country. See quotations (55), (60), (88) and (89).
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AN ANSWER TO (LEWIS MATTE CabOOkR. os
not the trademark that he registered and is of no force or effect. Such design or registered trademark does not protect the use of or give him the right to use the name “Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis’? or the Rosy Cross separately as a trademark for his publications.
To secure members for his fraternal racket and spurious R. C. Order under such false pretense is not only wanton and grievous, but it is reprehensible beyond all measure, since he knew and so declared’ that the words Rosicrucian or Rosae Crucis or any forms of the terms have not been and cannot be patented.
In this wise and by such despicable misrepresentations, he uses a trademark* registered by the United States Government® as a fraudulent device to deceive his victims and to lead them to believe that our Government has sanctioned his scheme by giving him pat- ent protection for the Rosicrucian name and symbol which he uses wrongfully and without rightful authority.
The Often-Told Story Told Differently Each Time
Since 1918 Mr. Lewis has published a book called the Rosicru- cian Manual—A MORC, which he has sold to his victims. The earlier editions were issued by a publishing company. The later editions have been sold direct by a special department of his com- -mercialized fraternal racket known as the Rosicrucian Supply
Bureau.
In the sixth edition of his said manual, published in 1934, under the title of ““The AMORC and Its Organization,” we find him telling another and quite different story of his AMORC and its organization from those other different stories which we have re- viewed, as follows:
(89) “Then came 1909—108 years after the year 18011 and the
“See his statement to this effect in quotation (65), supra.
SIn several of his publications he identifies said Trade Mark by its serial num- ber while falsely representing it to be-a patent.
®* As aforesaid, in devious ways and by ingenious methods he has used govern- ments, governmental agencies, their implied approval of his scheme, and his alleged
association with high governmental officials as a device to promote his fraternal swindle.
‘This refers to his claim, heretofore discussed, of a Rosicrucian Colony which he
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FALSE CLAIMS OF R.»>+kC. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
time for rebirth and reorganization? in a public form was at hand. The story of how our present Imperator, H. Spencer Lewis, was chosen to bear the burden of reorganization has often been told, investigated, verified, and acknowledged by the highest Rosicru- cian authorities of Europe and other lands.’
“Having had passed to him in the proper way certain knowledge preserved by the descendants of the first foundation in America,‘ he prepared himself through various courses of study and associa- tion with scientific and metaphysical bodies, for the work he was to undertake in 1909. Then in the month of July of that year he went to France, where he was introduced to the right authorities and inducted into the mysteries and methods of carrying out his life mission.
“Returning to America he held many secret sessions with men and women who had been initiated into the Order in France and India® and other lands, who formed with him the first foundation com- mittee. “Together they labored for six years so that in the seventh year of preparation they could announce to the American public the re-establishment of the Rosicrucian Order. The first official Mani- festo was warmly greeted by a gathering of over three hundred
says settled in Philadelphia in 1694 and continued active as a Rosicrucian organi- zation until 1801, when it ceased to function.
> Compare this statement changed so as to connect his fabrication with an alleged eariier American R. C, Order with his earlier statements shown in quotations (7), (10), (16), (48), (63) and (72). There his fabrication was “born” and “estab- lished’; here in his changed and contradictory version the process changes to one of “rebirth” and “reorganization.”
8 This reminds us of how often he has used this special device of having his claims and authority verified. This is another angle, that of having his “story” verified by the highest Rosicrucian authorities in Europe and other lands—it is a Badge of Fraud.
+ This is a repetition of his claims made in quotation (82), where he says that on his return from France in 1909 the Legate from India presented him with “jewels and papers” from the early American foundation. Here he says that by certain knowledge preserved by the descendants of the first American foundation and passed on to him before he went to France in 1909 he was able, with various courses of study, to prepare himself for the fabrication of his spurious R. C. Order. Can anyone tell from his statements when, if at any time, he came into possession .of the secrets, jewels and papers of the alleged first American foundation? Cer- tainly not, because the truth is that he received no such “knowledge,” jewels or papers. See also quotation (81), where he claims that he is related to one of the descend- ants of said alleged first American foundation.
5JIn his previous version of this same story he had called together Rosicrucian initiates from France, England and Germany. This is the first version in which he has introduced initiates from India. Compare this with his earlier statements as to who composed his foundation committee in quotations (27), (49), (63), (72) sand (79).
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AN ANSWER TO LEWis’ WHITE 7), 500k.
prominent students of the ancient Rosicrucian teachings, who exam- ined the official papers, seals and warrants [!] possessed by Imper- ator Lewis and formed the first American Council of the Order.® A report of that session was sent to France, to the body of men who undertook the burden of supporting the foundation work in America, and a few months later the Grand Council of the Ordre Rose Croix of France sent the Imperator a paper of sponsorship for the Order in America.
“Thereafter further organization meetings were held until a point was reached when two officials of the International Council’ of the Order visited America, approved of the organization as established here, and, upon their report to the International Convention in Europe,® the American Order was made an independent jurisdic- tion, coming directly under the guidance of the International Coun- cil of the Order, instead of under the sponsorship of the French jurisdiction.
“And this gave the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC) of North America a representation in the Interna- tional Council,® in its National and International Conventions and Congresses, and made the American AMORC a part of the AMORC of the world. Therefore, the AMORC is today the ONLY Rosicrucian movement in America having such authority and connections.*
“But there are other Rosicrucian movements here. “They use the
\
6 He has given us several different versions of the formation of his American Council who issued the “first official Manifesto.” In quotation (30) about thirty of the most active workers met, constituted themselves the Supreme Council and issued the American Charter, which was the “first official Manifesto,’ as shown in quo- tation (32). Here he multiplies the number present by ten or more and over three hundred prominent students of Ancient Rosicrucian teachings examined the official papers, seals and warrants possessed by Imperator Lewis. A warrant is a charter, and he has shown by his statement in the next sentence and by other statements that he had no charter in 1915. By increasing the number attending the meeting on April 1, 1915, from about thirty to more than three hundred he has demonstrated his superb ability as a mathematician, but truth and his veracity suffered severely.
7In his earlier statement—quotation (10)—Jerome T. Verdier, Magi of the Supreme Council of France, visited America and approved of the plans. Here Mons. Verdier in- creases and is ¢wo officials of the International Council. Which of these two different versions is true? Neither. They are both false. Just Badges of Fraud.
8 Again he makes the assertion that his fabrication was made a separate jurisdiction by a convention in Europe and not in Memphis, Egypt, as he alleges in quotation (40).
9 Here he says he was given a representation in the International Council. In his statement—quotation (40)—he was given three representatives on the Council with twenty-one votes out of forty-eight.
1 Which is no Rosicrucian authority at all. This is obvious.
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Peo CDAIMS OF Ri+eC. AUTHORITY REVIEWED
term or word Rosicrucian. But none of these Rosicrucian move- ments or publishing companies or societies uses the term Rosicru- CIAN Orper, nor do they use the title Ancient and Mystical OrpER Rosae Crucis.” (Rosicrucian Manual—AMORC—p. 6. ‘The
italics are ours.)
A Strange Story—Strangely False
This story, told so often and so differently each time, takes on a still different aspect in the Manual of AMORC. In the earlier versions of this oft-told story “Dr.” Lewis has our hero, ‘‘Impera- tor-Rex, the Most Perfect Master Profundis,” seeking long and vainly for the hidden Rose Cross and begging—imploring with abject humility—that he might become a humble member of the great brotherhood,’ notwithstanding that four years prior thereto he had been made a “Dignitaire Supreme of the Rosicrucian Or- der.”* Here the spotlight shifts and our hero becomes the martyr and was chosen from among the many eminent scientists and men worth while to assume the grave responsibility and the heavy bur- den of the reorganization of the Rosicrucian Order—a task ‘‘none but the present Imperator-Rex of AMORC throughout the world, Harve Spencer Lewis, F. R. C., Ph.D., could have accomplished.’
In his first and other versions he was initiated into the Order in the Supreme Grand Lodge of France, and then it changed and was the International or World Council,’ but in the Manual version he merely went to France in 1909 and was introduced to the right authorities and was inducted into the mysteries and methods of cunning fraternal racketeering, which has been his life’s mission. This version is, perhaps, nearer the truth than the many other versions, except that it was not necessary for him to go to France to learn the methods and the tricks of fraternal racketeering.
It will be recalled that in the early days of his fabrication and for a few years thereafter he undertook to distinguish his spurious R. C. Order from all other movements using a Rosicrucian name, and from the authentic Fraternity by designating his fabrication as
2 See his statement in quotations (17) and (18). ° Shown by his statement in quotation (15). 4 See his remarkable statement in quotation (70).
© For his first version see quotation (21) for other and different versions see quotations (71), (80) and (82), as well as others herein set forth.
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AN ANSWER “TO LCEWIs” WAITER Gt) bOOle bs
an “Order” and declaring that it had naught to do with the authen- tic organization or others using the word “‘Rosicrucian” and calling themselves societies, fellowships, brotherhoods or fraternities.° Since then he has repudiated all of his earlier claims and statements and has referred to his fraternal racket as the “‘Rosicrucians”’ as a brotherhood and fraternity, and although he began to change his promotional propaganda and to revise and reverse his claims about the year 1928 or 1929, he has, through carelessness and inadvert- ence, carried these earlier false statements and propaganda into the 1934 editions of his manual. Thus he continues to assert his inconsistent, false claims unto this day.
Boldness as an Artifice
Fearing, no doubt, that some may doubt and disbelieve his vari- ous propagandic stories, the truth of which cannot be verified, in the next statement in his 1934 revised Manual he resorts to the artifice of boldness—of definite and unequivocal statements and emphatic claims, asserted, as it were, “without fear of contradic- tion,” as follows:
(90) “Ever since the AMORC was organized in America it has made its definite and unequivocal claim of genuineness. Its Supreme Lodge was duly incorporated, not as a society or fellowship of Rosi- crucians, but as “Che Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis of the Great White Brotherhood." Please note the word Order and the Latin term Rosae Crucis in the title. Its Colleges and Univer- sities were also incorporated, and a Patent was secured from the United States Government protecting the name and. symbols of the Order in the United States and Dependencies. AMORC is the only Rosicrucian movement in North America having a patent on the symbol of the Cross with ONE rose in its center, which is the true ancient symbol of the Order in all lands.8
® See Volume I, pp. 208 to 222 both inclusive and quotation (60).
A bolder, falser representation could not be made. By this absolutely false propaganda he attempts, as we have seen in Part Four of Chapter IV, to associate his fabrication with the Great White Brotherhood while teaching doctrines of the Black Brotherhood, as shown in Part Five of Chapter IV. It was not incorporated until 1928 and then as the “Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC.” The words “of the Great White Brother-
hood” were not a part of the corporate name, as above willfully misrepresented. See