Invisibles

For nearly 400 years, incredible myths and stories have been woven about the 'invisible' Brothers of the Rose Cross, the so-called 'Rosicrucians'. It has been said that Rosicrucians possess the secrets of Man, God and Nature, that they can turn lead into gold, that they govern Europe in secret, that [...]
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For nearly 400 years, incredible myths and stories have been woven about the 'invisible' Brothers of the Rose Cross, the so-called 'Rosicrucians'. It has been said that Rosicrucians possess the secrets of Man, God and Nature, that they can turn lead into gold, that they govern Europe in secret, that they enjoy the elixir of life, that theirs is the true philosophy of Freemasonry, that they can save - or destroy - the world. Most amazing of all perhaps is the Rosicrucian vision of an invisible, inviolable and utterly secret body - the Hidden Guardians of the planet. This is the 'secret society' behind all mystical and magical secret societies. Only they, it is alleged, possess the true key to understanding the spiritual and material essence of all religion.The story of how a young German nobleman, Christian Rosycross, escaped his boring cloister and sped to the east in search of wisdom about a century before Columbus sailed west, has been told many times since it first appeared in a booklet in 1614.For much of the time between that date and today, the story of the genesis of the Rosicrucian movement - the founding of the 'invisible fraternity' and the discovery of the founder's extraordinary tomb in 1604 - has been taken literally in many quarters. "The Fama Fraternitatis", the document in which the story first appeared, has been taken for historical fact and even more than that. What began as a game became a religion. How did these extraordinary beliefs come about? Why has Rosicrucianism been such a powerful force on the culture and imagination of Europe and America? How did a Game become a worldwide religion? At last, the whole story can be told - the true history.From the dreams of a brilliant young student at Germany's university of Tubingen to the accidental publication of the Rosicrucian manifestos in 1614 - 'the greatest publicity stunt of all time' - the story takes us on to the creation of real Rosicrucian brotherhoods in Europe in the 18th century. These brotherhoods changed history.Men as brilliant and diverse as Percy Shelley, Thomas de Quincey, Isaac Newton, and Victor Hugo - among many more - have tried to fathom the mystery of the Rosicrucians and their origin. The Nazis set up an official study to get to the bottom of the subject; they did not succeed. Never was there a story more controversial or more mysterious to tell. This book tells the true story, a story full of humour, deception, ironies intended and unintended. It tells of how the best intentions can go wrong and how goodness can emerge from fantasy.Crazy as it often is - the story is nonetheless startlingly true. Tobias Churton's book unpacks the complex history and philosophy of the Rosicrucian movement, outlining the story in accessible terms, explaining its origin and purpose, giving clear sketches of its earliest creators and their motives. Research into the Rosicrucians - once an esoteric past-time, now a serious academic study - has advanced greatly since the early 1980s. This will be the first book to tell the whole story with the benefit of the very latest research from the movement's beginnings to the present day.