a survey of the writings of h. spencer lewis

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THEOSOPHICAL HISTORYA Quarterly Journal of Research

Founded by Leslie Price, 1985

Volume VI, No. 6

April 1997

EDITORJa m e s A . S a n t u c c i

Cali fornia State Univers i ty , Ful ler ton

ASSOCIATE EDITORSR o b e r t B o y d

Jo h n C o o p e r

U n iv e r s it y o f S y d n e y

Jo h n P a t r ic k D e v e n e y

N e w Y o r k, N Y

A p r i l H e jk a - E k i n s

C a l ifor n ia S ta t e Univer s it y , S tan i s laus

Je r r y H e jk a - E k i n s

N a u ti lu s B oo k s

R o b e r t E l lw o o d

Univer s i t y o f Sou th er n C a l ifor n ia

A n t o i n e F a i v r e

E co le Pr a t iq u e d es H a u te s Etu d es , Pa ris

Jo s c e ly n G o d w in

Colgate Univers i ty

Je a n - P i e r r e L a u r a n t

E co le Pr a t iq u e d es H a u te s Etu d es , Pa ris

J. G o r d o n M e lt o n

I n s t it u t e f o r t h e S t u d y o f A m e r i c a n R e l ig i o n

U n iv e r s it y o f C a l if o rn i a , S a n t a B a r b a r a

L e s l i e P r i c e

F o r m e r E d it o r , Theos oph ica l Hi s tory

G r e g o r y T i ll et t

U n iv e r s it y o f W e s t e r n S y d n e y , N e p e a n

K a r e n - C l a i r e V o s sSa n Jos e S ta t e Univer s i ty

Theosophical History ( IS SN 0 9 5 1 - 4 9 7X ) i s p u b l is h e d q u a r t e r l y i n Ja n u a r y ,

A p r i l, Ju l y , a n d O c t o b e r b y Ja m e s A . S a n t u c c i (D e p a r t m e n t o f Re l ig i o u s S t u d i e s,

Cal i fo rn ia Sta t e Univers i ty , P .O. Box 6868 , Fu l l er ton , CA 92834-6868 U.S.A.)

T h e jo u r n a l c o n s i s t s o f e i g h t i s s u e s p e r v o l u m e : o n e v o l u m e c o v e r in g a p e r i o d

o f t w o y e a r s . T h e j o u r n a l ’s p u r p o s e i s t o p u b l i sh c o n t r i b u t i o n s s p e c i fi c a ll y

r e l at e d t o t h e m o d e r n T h e o s o p h i c a l M o v e m e n t , fr o m t h e t i m e o f M a d a m e

H e l e n a B l a v a t s k y a n d o t h e r s w h o w e r e r e s p o n s i b l e in e s t a b l is h i n g t h e o r i g in a l

T h e o s o p h i c a l S o c ie t y ( 1 8 7 5 ) , t o a l l g r o u p s t h a t d e r i v e t h e i r t e a c h i n g s — d i r e c tl y

o r i n d i r ec tl y, k n o w i n g ly o r u n k n o w i n g ly — f r o m h e r o r h e r i m m e d i a t e fo l lo w

e r s . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e jo u r n a l is a l s o r e c e p t i v e t o r e l a t e d mo v e m e n t s ( i n c lu d i n g

p r e - B l a v a t s k y it e T h e o s o p h y , S p i ri tu a l is m , R o s i cr u c i a n i s m, a n d t h e p h i l o s o p h y

o f Em a n u e l S w e d e n b o r g t o g i v e b u t a f e w e x a m p l e s ) th a t h a v e h a d a n i n fl u e n c e

o n o r d i s p l a ye d a n a ff in i ty t o m o d e r n T h e o s o p h y .

T h e s u b s c r i p t i o n r a t e f o r r e s id e n t s i n t h e U .S. , Me x i c o , a n d C a n a d a i s $ 2 1 .0 0

( o n e y e a r ) o t $ 3 8 .00 ( t w o y e a r s ) . C a l if o r n ia r e s i d e n t s , p l e a s e a d d $ 1 .6 2 ( 7 .7 5 % )

s a l e s t a x o n t o t h e $ 21 r a t e o r $ 2 .9 4 o n t o t h e $ 3 8 r a te . F o r r e s i d e n t s o u t s i d e N o r t hA m e r i ca , t h e s u b s c r i p t i o n r a t e i s $ 2 5.0 0 ( o n e y e a r ) o r $ 4 5 .0 0 ( tw o y e a r s ) . A i r

m a i l i s $ 3 5 .0 0 ( o n e y e a r ) o r $ 6 5 .0 0 ( t w o y e a r s ) . S in g l e i s s u e s a r e $ 6 .0 0 .

S u b s c r ip t i o n s m a y a l s o b e p a i d i n B r it i sh s t e r l in g . A l l i n q u i r i e s s h o u l d b e s e n t

to J a m e s S a n t u c c i, De p a rtm e n t o f Relig iou s St ud ies , Ca lifo rn ia S ta te Un iv er-

sity, P.O. Box 68 68, Fullerton, CA 92834-6868 (U.S.A.). P e r i o d i c a ls p o s t a g e p a i d

at Fu l l er ton , Cal i fo rn ia 92631-9998 . POSTMASTER: Send a dd ress chan ges to

T h e o s o p h i c a l H i s t o r y ( c/ o Ja m e s S a n t u c c i ), D e p a r t m e n t o f R e li g i ou s S t u d i e s,

Cal i fo rn ia Sta t e Univers i ty , P .O . Box 6868 , Fu l l er ton , CA 92834-6868 .

T h e E d i t o r s a s su m e n o r e s p o n s i b i li ty fo r t h e v i e w s e x p r e s s e d b y a u t h o r s

in Theosoph ical History .

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mailto:[email protected]



THEOSOPHICAL

HISTORY ____

ContentsApril 1997

Volume VI , Num ber 6

Editor’s Comm ents

Jam es San tu cci..................................................................................................................187

Communicat ionsThe Theosophists and the Fairies:

A Footnote to the Story of the Cottingley Fairies

Leslie Shep ard ................................................................................................................... 194

“Fairies” or “There is No Religion Higher Than Truth”

Jean Overton Fu lle r .........................................................................................................198

K.H. and Peter Davidson

Josce lyn God win ............................................................................................................. 202

From th e New paper s

Lampsakanism

The Illuminated Lampsakenoi

Notes by James Santucci ................................................................................................ 203

Articles

H. Spencer Lewis: A Bibliographical Survey

David T. Rocks ................................................................................................................. 215

H. Spencer Lewis Bibliobraphy

David T. Rocks ................................................................................................................. 219

Book Reviews

M adam e Blav atsky ’s Baboon

Rober t Boyd ...................................................................................................................... 224

Sites of Memory, Sites o f M ourn ing

Robert Ellwoo d .................. 228



Ed i t o r ' s Co m m e n t s

In This Issue

The October 1996 issue of Theosophical

History contained the first article on a

Rosicru cian su bject, Dav id T. Rocks’ “Mrs. MayBank s Stacey.” This a r t icle focu sed on the

imp or tant issue o f AMORC fou nd er H. Sp en-

cer Lew is’c la im to having r ece ived the legi t i-

m ate transm ission o f the “an cient” Rosicru cian

her i tage or l in eage . The them e con t inu es in

Mr. Ro cks ’ “H. Spe n cer Lewis: A Bibliogr ap h i-

cal Su rve y.” AMORC and Lew is have of tenbe en cha l leng ed by o th e r r os ic ruc ian o rgan i -

z a t ions r ega rd ing the ir gen u ineness . The

p r inc ip a l defense o f Lew is’ c la ims, as m ight

b e e x p e c t e d , h a v e b e e n a d v a n c e d t h r o u g h

the con d u it of AMORC p eriod icals . Mr. Rocks

discusses the pr inc ipa l publ ica t ions in the

f i r s t a r t ic le and provides an annota ted b ib l i -og raph y o f th ir ty t it le s ( book s an d p am ph let s )

by and abo u t H. Sp en cer Lewis tha t il lus t ra te

his c la ims and teachings .

Theosophical H istory VI/6 187



H. Spencer Lewis:

A Bibliographical Survey

David T. Rocks

During his twenty-four years as Imperator,1

Harvey Spencer Lewis (1883-1939), founder

of the Ancient Mystical Ord er Rosae Crucis, m adenu merous claims of authenticity for himself and for

his organization. In doing so AMORC became the

target of rival rosicrucian organizations who were

also touting their own authenticity. Consequently,

allegations by and about Lewis were p ublished so

frequently that the only means o f determining what

was or was not claimed by Lewis requires athorough examination of his writings.

Therefore, the logical starting point for this

surv ey is AMORC’s per iodicals becau se the bu lk

of Lew is’ cla ims w ere pu blished there in .

AMORC’s first official pe riod ical wa s The A m eri-

can R osae Crucis. Beginning in January 1916

twelve issues comprising volume one werep ublished and , nine issues of volum e two were

published in 1917. However, by October of

1916 AMORC was experiencing conspicuous

difficulty in maintaining its publishing sched

ule. As a result, nearly every issue of the

m agazine from that point o n carried an editorial

comm ent reflecting their situation. Th e ton e of AMORC’s p lea w as u nm istakable:

Hereafter the ma gazine will be issued p romptly

and in order to prevent an y delay, or skip of

issue, in you r receipt of the magazine for the

coming year, be sure to send in your renewal

for 1917 issues as quickly as possible.

Next, the Decem ber 1916 issu e w as pre faced

as follows:

NO TICE TO OUR READERS. This issu e is late,

but we have gained some on the time lost in

the past. This is the second issue we have

mailed during the month of February [1917]

and in March two more, the January and

February [1917] issues, will be mailed.

Then, in April 1917 the editors wrote:

It is useless to comm en t further on the lateness

of our issues. Try as we will, we cannot rush

the issuing of ou r pu blication w ithout injustice

to the q uality and diversity of matter w e wish

to prod uce. This Feb rua ry issue will be in the

mails before May first, although m any m ay not

receive it until May. The M arch issue is un der way and will follow in the mails about May

10th to 15th. It m ay be possib le to pu t the April

issue in the m ails before Jun e first; if so, w e can

expect to have the July issue on time by

gaining a little each month.

This was followed by the June 1917 notice

w hich read:

IMPORTANT NOTICE. This issue of the maga-

zine is date d Jun e, 1917, althou gh it is Nu mb er

3 of Volume 2. Our last issue was dated

February, 1917, wh ich was Num ber 2 of Vol-

ume 2. In order to bring our magazine up to

date we have secured permission from the Post




Office Departm ent to skip three issues and date

the present issue June, 1917. To compensate

ou r sub scribers for the loss o f the M arch, April

and May issues all subscriptions end ing in June, 1917, or thereafter will be extended three

months. By this means we hope to keep our

magazin e up to d ate and to issue it mon thly on

or abou t the 10th of the month .

Finally, the discontinu an ce of The A m erican

R osae Cru cis was announced in November of

1917. The two reasons given were:

First, this is one step in our plan for ending,

slowly and effectively, the outward, public

prop agand a of our work. Second ly, the maga-

zine as it has b een pu blished du ring the past

two years has not afforded an opp ortunity for

the p rop er presentation o f those articles, subjects an d stu d yre fe re n ces w h ich w e w ou ld

l ike to place into the han ds of ou r memb ers.

Therefore, beginning with January [1918] we

will issue a n ew mon thly pub lication in the

form of a unique magazine.

At that time, any state with members could

be chartered with a Grand Lodge o f its own, aswas common in Masonry. Also, there were no

home-study members or initiations by mail as

there are today. Lectures were sent to the

Masters of Lodges who read them to the mem

bers. In 1918-19, it w as w ith this in m ind th at a

new publication called Crom aat was intro

duced, for members only, by special subscription. The seven issues published were lettered

A through G, with each issue focusing on a

single su bject.

A“An In ternational Language for Rosicrucians

with Complete Grammar and Dictionary.”

The Rosicrucian language was an artificial

language based on Esperanto. However, the

p roject w as soon d iscontinued b ecau se o f timeconstraints and the lack of qualified per sonn el

to maintain the d ictionary and gram mar chan ges.

B“Official Manual for Officers and Memb ers

of the AMORC.”

This was th e first ed ition o f The R osicru cian

M an u al. (New York: AMORC College Library,

1918).

C “A Complete System of Natural Harmon-

ics.”

The law of vibrations and the u niversal

cosmic keyboard w ere introduced to the m embersh ip in this issue. Lewis later incorpo rated

these subjects into the monographs [official

teachings] of the Order.

D“The Village of the Devil.”

The story written by Lewis was p ur ported torepresent one of the oldest traditions of the

Order in France, although the tradition was

cryptically stated. Later, the story wa s rep rinted

for mem bers as a Sup plemental Discour se (un

official teachings in manuscript form).

E“Cosmic Geomancy.”

A small amount of the material in this issue

was incorporated into the official teachings,

how ever, the greater p ortion of the m aterial was

expand ed and became Lewis’boo k Self M astery

an d Fate w ith t he Cy cles o f Life. (San Jose:

Suprem e Gra nd Lod ge o f AMORC, 1929).

216 H. Spencer Lewis: A Bibliographical Survey



F“The Im pe rator ’s Person al Mess age. The

Annu al Address to all M emb er’s in wh ich the

Imperator Explains the Paramount Problems

of our O rder .”

By this time the organization was on the

verge of collapse.2

G“An Official Communication from the Su-

pre m e RC Authorities to the O rder in North

America. ”

Lewis published a letter which he claimed

was from his superiors in France with his reply

to the m em bersh ip. Surp risingly, this early letter

was n ot includ ed in Ralph Lewis’3 boo k of

important R osicru cian D ocu m en ts. (San Jose:

Sup rem e Gran d Lodge o f AMORC, 1975).

In 1920, the April, May, and Ju n e issu es of

The A m erican R osae Crucis were published as

volum e three, comp rising a total of tw enty-four

issues of that m agazine.

Next, eight issues of The Triangle were

pu blished b etw een March 23, 1921 and Janu ary

24, 1922. Each issue was published in a four-

p age n ewsletter format. Then, The Triangle was

revived as a fourteen -page m agazine in August

1923; follow ed by the Septem ber an d October

issues, it was discontinued with the February

1924 issue.

In May 1925, the first issue of The M ystic

Triangle appeared and thereafter was pub

lished m onth ly until Sep tem ber, 1929. In Octo

ber 1929, the m aga zine’s title w as cha ng ed to

The Rosicru cian Digest. This final cha nge seem ed

to be part o f a program to stabilize the organi

zations p u blic imag e. Add itionally, the directors

o f AMORC ap par ently realized that their m aga

zine could be a more useful tool if made

available to members and non-members alike.

Therefore, in August 1930 the first issue of The

R osicru cian Foru m was introdu ced as a privatepu blication, for mem bers only, giving AMORC

a means o f pu blic and o f private prop agand a. In

the p reface o f his boo k, R osicru cian Q uest ion s

an d A nsw ers with C om plete H istory of the

R osicru cian O rder , Lewis wrote that:

The his tory of the Brotherhood must be

divided into tw o gen eral classifications. First, that which has come down to the present

t ime by word of mou th, supp orted by more

or less definite refere nces in ancient w ritings

or symbolical passages in the rituals or teach-

ings; and second , that w hich is truly historical

and supported by the records found in the

various b ranches of the organizat ion through -

out the world.4

Later, Lewis boasted that “No one has ever

[sic] bee n able to successfully refute th e h istorical

outline given by us in our literature.”5Likewise,

Lewis never p roved that it w as correct.

From its inception, The R osicrucian D i-

gest was published monthly until 1987 whenit became a bimonthly publication like the

R os icru cian Foru m , w hich a lways had been a

bimon thly period ical. How ever, in 1991 both

th e D igest and the Forum became quarterlies.

Interestingly, April 1990 was th e sev enty -fifth

ann iversary o f AMORC and it passed u nn o

t iced or, rather was surpassed by the newsthat Imperator (1987-1990) Gary L. Stewart

had been removed from office and accused of

embezzlement.6That aside, the publicat ions

of AMORC are u nq u estionably the m ost reli

able source o f w hat was or was not claim ed

by Lewis. Even so, the validity of his claims

must be treated as a separate issue.




In evaluating claims of Rosicrucian authen

ticity it would be prudent to bear in mind the

admonition of Manly P. Hall (1901-1990):

A book was wri t ten [Fam a Frate rnitatis,

1614] by an u nk now n p erson, advan cing the

claims of an unk now n society, making p rom -

ises that w ere n ever fulfilled, an d inviting the

learned to membership in an organizat ion

that nev er was d iscovered. The Society of the

Rose Cross taugh t an esoteric philosop hy that

has never been explained or revealed. I t

claimed a membership, yet no bona f ide

member of i t has ever been found. And i t

describes as its foun der and originator a m an

whose ident i ty , concealed under the sym-

bolic letters C.R.C. remains unknown. A

sta lwart group of fol lowers who admit ted

that they could no t f ind the society wrote an

elaborate literature in defense of it . This

l i terature was answ ered, at least in part, by a

series of theological criticisms and condem-

nat ions, and by others who could nei ther

prove nor disprove the exis tence of the

society. Upon this slender and exceedingly

at tenuated s t rand of c ircumstances, a num-

ber of modern organizat ions make high

flown an d con crete claims. But these claims,

for the most part, evaporate into the same

vaguen ess wh ich surround ed the ent i re sub-

je ct fo r m ore th an th re e h u n d re d years.7

Accordingly, a bibliography of thirty pam

phlets and books by and about Harvey Spen cer

Lewis follows this survey. Combined with theperiodicals, the pamphlets and books should

contain sufficient evidence to illustrate what

Lewis did or did not claim.

* * *

218 H. Spencer Lewis: A Bibliographical Survey



H.S. Lewis Bibliography

Pamphlets

01. The Constitution o f the A v M v O •.R C

of N orth A m erica. Adopted Ratified byall Lod ges of this Order, Rep resen ted at

the First National Convention, Held in

Pittsbu rgh , Pa., July 31-Aug. 4, 1917. To

Wh ich is Add ed Specim en By-Laws for

All Lodges. N ew York: Sup rem e Grand

Lodge, 1917. 20cm x 15cm, p p .30.

AMORC’s first constitu tion and by-laws.

02. ConfessioR ...C ... Fraternitatis. Prepared by

Bro. Profundis.81918. Third edition. In

Five Parts. San Jose: AMORC, 1978.

23.5cm x 15.5cm, pp .14, 23, 14, 14, 12.

Harvey Lewis’con fession is no w show n

only to twelfth degree members. In his

introduction, Ralph Lewis wrote that “all

of the facts concernin g th e Ord er’s rees

tablishm ent in this ju risdiction could n ot

be too quickly and frankly divulged.”

03. R osicru cian In it iat ion . A S ealed B ook o f

In st ru ct ion s f o r N eophy te In it iat es. San

Francisco: The National RC Lodge of

the AMORC, Copyright ©1921. 23cm x

15.6cm, pp.17, [3].

Contains information for ne w m embers.

04. M an T riu m phan t an d T he M ast ery o f Fate.

Containing the Secret Decalogu e by H.

Spen cer Lewis. San Fran cisco: AMORC

Movement, copyright ©1921. 23cm x

15.6cm, [32]pp.

Promotional Booklet.

05. R osicru cian I llu m in at ion . A S ealed Book o f

In form at ion an d Prelim in ary In st ru c-

tion. The Rosicrucian Order of the

Aqu arian Age by Sri Ram atherio. ThirdEdition. San Francisco: The Supreme

Grand Lodge of the AMORC, [1926].

23cm x 15.6cm, 28pp.

06. The Light o f Egypt. The S trange Story o f the

R osicru cian s by Sri Ram atherio. Tam pa,

Florida: Rosicrucian Square, 1927. 23cmx 15.6cm, 32pp.

Promotional Booklet. Official Publica

tion No. 15.

07. The Light o f Egypt. The S trange Story o f the

R osicru cian s by Sri Ramatherio. Fourthedition. San Jose: Supreme Grand Lodge,

1928. 23cm x 15.6cm, p p .34, [2].

Promotional Booklet.

08. ‘W hite B ook C’ The My sterious Origin o f the

R osicru cian s. A Challenge o f Facts Ac




cepted by AMORC. San Jose: Supreme

Council of AMORC for North America,

1928. 20.7cm x 9.2cm, 40pp.

AMORC’s official re sp on se to Clym er’s

allegations.

09. In t er n at ion ales H au p t qu ar t ier v on /

O bersten R at des A lten M ys/tischen

O rdens R osae Cru cis/ In tern ation al

H ead qu art ers o f t he/ S uprem e Cou n cil

o f the A n cient / Myst ic O rder Rosae

Crucis/ S ... S ... S ... / Berlin, Germany/

1930/ Official Comm un ication/ to all

Hu manity/ I. Manifestatio/ II. Invitatio/

III. Proclamatio/ Issued through the

United Organizations/ of the Rose Cross/

. . . / An cien t Mystical Ord er Rosae

Crucis (AMORC)/ Broth erh ood of the

Rose Cross/ Fraternitatis H erm etica

Lucis/ Ord o Temp li Orientis/ Collegium

Pansophia/ Societas Pansophia/ This is

the Second Official FAMA issued by th e

Original/ Fraternity Rosae Crucis since

the Seventeen th Century. 23.6cm x

18.5cm, 8pp.

Cover title: Pronu nz iam ent o/to all the/

W orld. This fantasy later became an

embarrassment to AMORC.

10. The W isdom o f the Sages. A Story o f the

R osicru cian s by Frater R. T. XII. Second

Edition. San Jose: Sup reme Gran d Lodge

of the AMORC, 1932. 25cm x 17cm, 32pp .

Official Pu blication No. 16. Prom otional

Booklet.

11. In t h e S u per ior Cou rt . S an t a C lar a

County, California. ‘Gui lty’ is the

Verdict of the Ju d ge in this Case of

Conspiracy and Libel against the

Rosicrucian Brotherhood, AMORC.

O f Sp ecial Interest to all Freem ason s,

Th e o s o p h i s t s , R o s i c ru c i a n s , a n d

Mem bers o f Fraternal O rganizat ions.

Editor’s ed ition. San Jos e: Dep art

m ent o f Pu blication, AMORC, 1933.

20.7cm x 9.2cm , 12pp .

“(This edition prepared especially for

the Editors of Newspapers and Maga

zines of North Am erica.)”

12. W hite B ook ‘D ’A u di A lteram Partem (H ear

the Other Side). San Jos e: The Rosicru

cian Press, Ltd., 1935. 22.8cm x 15.3cm ,

41pp.

AMORC’s further reply to the allega

tions of Clymer, et al.

13. T he Secret H eritage. A S ealed Book.

Profun dis XIII. First ed ition. San Jos e:

Sup rem e Grand Lodge o f AMORC, 1935.

24cm x 17.3cm, 32pp.

Official Pu blication No. 17. Prom otiona l

Booklet.

Ap proximately three years after Lew is’

death the contents of the pr om otional

booklets were revised and re-titled

The M astery o f Life. Official Publica

tion No. 18.

220 H. Spencer Lewis Bibliography



Books

14. A T hou san d Y ears o f Y esterdays. A S tran ge

Story o f M ystic Revelations with an in

troduction by Reverend George R.

Cha m bers.9 San Fran cisco: AMORC,

1920. 19.5cm x 13cm, 75pp.

Althoug h w ritten as fiction, Lewis wr ote

that this bo ok “will tell you the r eal facts

o f rein carn ation .” In Cha pter 8, Lewis

introduced as characters, those whom

he claimed authorized h im to establish

the Rosicrucian Order in America.

15. Unto Thee I Grant . Revised by Sri

Ramatherio. San Francisco: The Orien

tal Literature Syndicate, 1925. 18.3cm x

12.4cm, 98pp.

Lewis w rote on ly the pr eface and notes

on the terms used in the manuscript,

pp.i-vii, 93-98. He claimed that the

book was “translated by special perm ission o f the Grand Lama and D is

ciples of the Sacred College in the

Grand Temple in Tibet.”

16. The M ystical L ife o f Jesus. San Jose: Su

p rem e Gra nd Lodge o f AMORC, 1929.

19.5cm x 14cm, 320pp.

This was th e first of two b oo ks relating

to this topic. Also see number 25.

17. R osicru cian Q uest ion s an d A n sw ers with

Com plete History o f the R osicru cian

Order. San Jos e: Sup rem e Grand Lodge

of AMORC, 1929. 19.5cm x 13.5cm,

341pp. + ads.

This version of Rosicrucian h istory has

be en em bellished since its first app ear

ance in the A m erican R osae Crucis.

18. R osicru cian Prin cip les f o r the H om e an d

Bu sin ess. San Jos e: Sup rem e Gran d

Lodge o f AMORC, 1929. 19.5cm x

13.5cm, 241pp.

A self-help book.

19. Self M astery an d Fat e with t he Cycles o f Life.

San Jose : Suprem e Grand Lodge of

AMORC, 1929. 19.5cm x 13.5cm, 253pp .

Although Lewis personally believed in

astrology and other pseudo-sciences he

was convinced that his system was better.

20. M an sion s o f the Soul. The Cosm ic Con cep -

tion. San Jose : Suprem e Grand Lodge o f

AMORC, 1930. 19.5cm x 13.5cm, 338pp .

Lewis’attempt to explain reincarnation

in detail.

21. Lem u ria. The Lost Con tin en t o f th e Paci fic.

By W. S. Cerve with a Special Chapter

by Dr. Jam es D. Ward .10 San Jos e: Su

pr em e Grand Lodge o f AMORC, 1931.

19.5cm x 13.5cm, 274pp.

The au thor’s name is a pseud onym for

H. S. Lewis.




22. The B ook ofJasher. O ne oft h e S acred Books

o f the Bible Long Lost or U n discovered .

Now offered in Photographic Repro

d u ction of the Version b y Alcuin [1829

edition]. SanJose: Supreme Grand Lodge

o f AMORC, 1934. 27.5cm x 20cm, p p .[4],

xi, [3], 63, [1], 9, [1].

Lewis wrote only a preliminary expla

nation of the text.

23. Secret S ym bols o f the R osicrucians. An

Exact Reprod u ction o f the O riginal but

with the T ext an d T erm s Literally Tran s

lated. Limited Edition. Chicago: The

Aries Press, 1935. 45.5cm x 30.3cm,

pp.xiv, 58.

Preface and bibliography by Lewis. Re

printed in 1967 by Abdiel Lodge of Long

Beach, CA. Currently pu blished in SanJose.

24. The Sy m bolic Prophecy o f the Great Py ra-

m id . San Jos e: Sup reme Grand Lodge o f

AMORC, 1936. 19.5cm x 13.3cm, 192pp.

A weak contribution to pyramid lore.

Written as a self-help bo ok . Lewis con

sidered himself something of a psy

chologist.

27. A n A n thology o f Lat in A x iom s an d Epi-

gram s in Latin an d English compiled,

classified, lettered a nd d ed icated to the

lovers and students of Philosophy and

Metap hysics by Joh n W. Lang. Editio

Princeps. Preface by Dr. H. Spencer

Lewis. New York: the Author, Copy

right ©1942. 14cm x 10cm, 118pp.

Preface by Lewis was published post

humously.

28. Essays o f a M odern M yst ic. From the Writ

ings of H. Spen cer Lewis, Im perator

(1915-1939). San Jos e: Sup rem e Grand


13.5cm, pp.195, [1].

Contains twen ty-three articles reprinted

from The R osicrucian D igest an d The

R osicru cian Foru m . Many of Lewis’

articles were reprinted and sold as

booklets.

25. The Secret D octrin es o f Jesus. San Jose:

Supreme Grand Lodge o f AMORC, 1937.

19.5cm x 13.3cm, 237pp.

Written as a companion volume to

number 16 above.

26. M ental Poisonin g. SanJose: Sup reme Grand


13.5cm, 104pp.

29. Cosmic M ission Fu lfilled by Ralph M. Lewis.

San Jos e: Supr eme Grand Lodge o f

AMORC, 1966. 19.5cm x 13.5cm ,

p p .379, [1].

Biography of Harvey S. Lewis. Ralph

Lewis quoted extensively from his

father’s per iodical articles and b ook s,

as well as from number two above.

222 H. Spencer Lewis Bibliography



30. R osicru cian D ocu m en ts. AMORC. by Ralph

M. Lewis. San Jose : Sup rem e Gran d


19.3cm, pp.39, [1].

First edition. Contains th ree p ho tos and

thirty three historical documents with

descriptions in English, French, and

Span ish. The secon d edition, 1978, con

tained ch an ges in text: p age 12, Obliga

tion of Germ an Grand Master Wilhelm

Raub, dated 1973. Last page [40] has a

synop tic h istory o f AMORC.

Notes

1Al though Lewis p refer red to ca l l h im sel f Im pera to r , m ean

ing suprem e leader , he l aid c la im to m any o th er t it les

dur ing h i s t enu re . A few exam ples w ere : Genera l is s im o,

Grand M as ter Gener a l , and Sup rem e Pont if f.

2R. Sw inbu rn e Clymer. The Ros icrucian Fra tern i t y in

A m e ric a . Tw o vo lum es (Qu aker tow n, Pa . : The Ros icrucian

Foun da t ion, 1935), II: 869.Facsim ile Repr od u ct ion No. 65.

“Grand Impera to r Gr ieved a t a r res t . ” The [New York ] Su n

(19 Jun e 1918).

3Ralph Maxw ell Lewis (1904-1987) w as the so n an d su cces

sor of Harv ey Sp encer Lewis as Imp erator (1939-1987). He

had prev iously served as Sup rem e Secretary of AMORC.

4H. Sp en cer Lewis. R os ic ru cia n Qu es tio n s a n d An s w ers

w ith Com ple te His tory o f the Ros icrucian Order (San Jose :

Sup rem e Gran d Lodg e of AMORC, 1975), 17. First p u b

l ished in 1929.

5H. Spencer Lewis . “Errors in Rosicrucian History,” Th e

R os ic ru cia n Foru m 7/ 4 (Febru ary , 1937): 112-13.

6Ca t h i e Ca lv e r t . “Ro s ic ru c i an s n am e n ew l ead e r . ” S a n

Jos e M e rc u ry Ne w s (Febru ary 25 , 1987) , 4B. Ann W.

O ’N eil l. “Ros icru cian in f igh t ing ou s t s lea d er .” S a n J os e

M e rc u ry Ne w s . (Apr i l 18, 1990), 1 . Since his case w as no ta d ju d i ca t e d , M r . St e w a r t m u s t b e p r e s u m e d i n n o c e n t o f

t h e c h a r g e .

7M an ley P. Hall, The Ridd le o f the Ros icrucians (Los

Angeles: Phi losophical Research Society, 1941), 14-15.

8The na m es Brothe r Profund is , Sri Ram atherio, Frater R. T.

XII, and Profund i s XIII were a few of the pseu do nym s used

by Lewis . His in i t ia l use o f pseud onym s s temm ed f rom the

lack of an edi torial s taff .

9H. Spen cer Lewis. “Rev. Geor ge Rob ert Cha m ber s, K.R.C.,

Gran d Master , State Lodge, Iow a Ju risd ict ion .” Th e A m er i -

can Rosae Cruci s . 1-10 (October, 1916): 17. “Brother

Ch am bers is today th e Rector o f St . Pau l’s Parish in Harlan.

He is a Vice-Grand and State Lecturer for the I .O.O.F. in

Iowa, Ch ap la in o f a Ma son ic Lodge, Pr inc ipa l So journ er o f

the Royal Arch Mason s, Prelate of the Knights Temp lar. In

ad d it io n h e h as b een h o n o red w i th t h e d eg rees o f Ph . B.,

H onorary M.A., and D.C.” [Ed itor’s note : Ph.B. is correct,

bu t w hat i t re fers to is u nkn ow n. D.C. refers to Do ctor o f

Chiropractic.]

10H. Sp en cer Lewis. “A M essag e Fro m Ind ia.” By Frater

Jam es D. War d , M. D., F. R. C. The Ros icrucia n Digest . 8

2 (Mar ch 1930): 39. “Broth er Ward is the only Am ericanl iv ing today w ho en tered the m ys t ic mon as ter i es o f the

Arcane schoo l s o f Ind ia many years ago and pursued the

comple te course o f sacred mys t i ca l sc iences under the

d irect ion of the secret chiefs of the Rosicrucian an d H indu

my s t ic b ro t h e rh o o d s .

Theosophical History VI/6 223

a survey of the writings of h. spencer lewis

Documents