| Rosicrucian Park | |
|---|---|
 Rosicrucian University building in the Park | |
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| Location | 1660 Park Ave, San Jose, California |
| Coordinates | 37°20′02″N121°55′23″W / 37.33389°N 121.92306°W |
| Created | 1927 |
| Operated by | Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis |
| Website | www.rosicrucianpark.org |
Rosicrucian Park is the headquarters of the English Grand Lodge for the Americas of the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, located in San Jose, California.
The Rosicrucian Park was established in 1927 by Harvey Spencer Lewis. It grew from one single lot to a 5-acre city block. [1] The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum was built in 1932, the Planetarium in 1936, the research library opened in June 1939. The Akhenaton Shrine was built in 1949. [2]
The Peace Garden was added to the park in 2004 and dedicated by Rosicrucian Imperator Christian Bernard. In 2013, a new Alchemy Museum was announced for 2020. [3] [4] The opening ceremony for the preliminary exhibit in the Lecture Gallery of the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum occurred during the Summer solstice of June 2015. The new museum in the former Rose-Croix University International building will include a working alchemy laboratory. The Alchemy garden in front of the new museum is composed of four elemental gardens representing the four elements. [5] [6]
From 2009 to 2015, the Park reduced its water consumption by 4.5 million gallons. [7]
The park takes up nearly an entire city block and includes the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, the administration building for the Order, the Rosicrucian Planetarium, the Rosicrucian Peace Garden, the Rosicrucian Research Library, the Grand Temple, and a central fountain plaza and gardens. A rose garden is incorporated in the Park next to the Research Library. A dawn redwood grows outside of the Rosicrucian Research Library as a memorial to H. Spencer Lewis. [8] It was planted in 1950 from a seedling from the lot brought from China by Dr. Ralph Chaney, [9] and donated by an unnamed donor to H. Spencer Lewis's widow for this purpose. [8]
The park also includes the Akhenaten Shrine (named for the 18th dynasty Pharaoh Akhenaten), which contains the ashes of AMORC founder Harvey Spencer Lewis and other former officials of the order.
With the exception of the planetarium, all buildings in Rosicrucian Park were constructed with exteriors inspired by the Ancient Egyptian architectural tradition. In tribute to their claimed Egyptian heritage, cyperus papyrus plants are also incorporated into the landscaping.
Photographs of various buildings and statuary within the block comprising Rosicrucian Park.
Tutankhamun, Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the 18th Dynasty during the New Kingdom of Egyptian history. His father was the pharaoh Akhenaten, believed to be the mummy found in the tomb KV55. His mother is his father's sister, identified through DNA testing as an unknown mummy referred to as "The Younger Lady" who was found in KV35.
Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement which arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts which purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking its knowledge attractive to many. The mysterious doctrine of the order is "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe, and the spiritual realm." The manifestos do not elaborate extensively on the matter, but clearly combine references to Kabbalah, Hermeticism, alchemy, and Christian mysticism.
Arthur Edward Waite was an American-born British poet and scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite tarot deck. As his biographer R. A. Gilbert described him, "Waite's name has survived because he was the first to attempt a systematic study of the history of western occultism—viewed as a spiritual tradition rather than as aspects of proto-science or as the pathology of religion."
Hermeticism, also called Hermetism, is a religious, philosophical, and esoteric tradition based primarily upon writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. These writings have greatly influenced the Western esoteric tradition and were considered to be of great importance during both the Renaissance and the Reformation. The tradition traces its origin to a prisca theologia, a doctrine that affirms the existence of a single, true theology that is present in all religions and that was given by God to man in antiquity.
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or Museum of Cairo, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display, the remainder in storerooms. Built in 1901 by the Italian construction company Garozzo-Zaffarani to a design by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon, the edifice is one of the largest museums in the region. As of March 2019, the museum is open to the public. In 2021 the museum is due to be superseded by the new Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza.
The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis (AMORC), also known as the Rosicrucian Order, is the largest Rosicrucian organization in the world. It has various lodges, chapters and other affiliated bodies throughout the globe, operating in 19 different languages.
Ralph Maxwell Lewis, the son of Harvey Spencer Lewis, was the Imperator of Rosicrucian organisation, the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC), from 1939 to 1987. He is the author of a number of books regarding mysticism, most of which are available from the AMORC. Ralph Maxwell Lewis was born in New York City. His father, Harvey Spencer Lewis, whom was the first Imperator of AMORC for North and South America was born in New Jersey and was of Gallic origin, being descended from Sir Robert Lewis, former American colonizers.
Harvey Spencer Lewis F.R.C., S:::I:::I:::, 33° 66° 95°, PhD, a noted Rosicrucian author, occultist, and mystic, was the founder in the USA and the first Imperator of the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC), from 1915 until 1939.
Reuben Swinburne Clymer was an American occultist and modern Rosicrucian Supreme Grand Master of the FRC, perhaps the oldest continuing Rosicrucian organization in the Americas. He practiced alternative medicine, and wrote and published works on it as well as the teachings of Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825-1875), alchemy, nutrition, religion, sex magic and spiritualism. This led to a number of conflicts with Harvey Spencer Lewis (1883-1939) and the AMORC, FUDOSI, Aleister Crowley, and even the American Medical Association.
The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum (REM) is devoted to Ancient Egypt, located at Rosicrucian Park in the Rose Garden neighborhood of San Jose, California, United States.
The Rose Cross is a symbol largely associated with the semi-mythical Christian Rosenkreuz: Qabbalist, alchemist, and founder of the Rosicrucian Order. The Rose Cross is a cross with a red, golden or white rose at its centre and symbolizes the teachings of a western esoteric tradition formed within the Christian tenets, albeit a Christianity not yet conspicuously in evidence:
"What think you, loving people, and how seem you affected, seeing that you now understand and know, that we acknowledge ourselves truly and sincerely to profess Christ, condemn the Pope, addict ourselves to the true Philosophy, lead a Christian life, and daily call, entreat and invite many more unto our Fraternity, unto whom the same Light of God likewise appeareth?"
--Confessio Fraternitatis, the second Rosicrucian Manifesto, printed in 1615
Rose Garden, also known as Rosegarden, is a historic residential and cultural neighborhood in San Jose, California, near Downtown San Jose.
The Precinct of Amun-Re, located near Luxor, Egypt, is one of the four main temple enclosures that make up the immense Karnak Temple Complex. The precinct is by far the largest of these and the only one that is open to the general public. The temple complex is dedicated to the principal god of the Theban Triad, Amun, in the form of Amun-Re.
The Teen Murti Bhavan is the former residence in New Delhi, India of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. He stayed there for 16 years until his own death on 27 May 1964. It was designed by Robert Tor Russell, the British architect of Connaught Place and of the Eastern and Western Courts on Janpath during the British Raj. Teen Murti Bhavan was built in 1930 as part of the new imperial capital of India, New Delhi as the residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the British Indian Army.
Marie Russak, also known as Marie Hotchener or Marie Barnard, was an American opera singer and architect.
The Order of the Temple of the Rosy Cross (OTRC) was an early 20th century theosophical group. It was founded in 1912 by leaders of the Theosophical Society, including Annie Besant, Marie Russak and James Ingall Wedgwood.
Gulab Bagh is the largest garden in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. It is spread over 100 acres (40 ha) of land. The garden has innumerable varieties of roses. Gulab Bagh gets its name from the abundance of rose flowers it has.
The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty spanned the period from 1549/1550 to 1292 BC. This dynasty is also known as the Thutmosid Dynasty for the four pharaohs named Thutmose.
Gary L. Stewart, born February 26, 1953 in Stockton, California, was the Imperator of AMORC from 1987 to 1990. After internal allegations of embezzlement, Stewart was ousted as leader by the organization's board of directors. On August 10, 1993, the AMORC asked the Superior Court of Santa Clara County in California for the withdrawal of charges against him and paid for the existing legal fees. In 1996, Stewart founded another organization devoted to Rosicrucianism called Confraternity of the Rose + Cross of which he is the current Imperator. Gary L. Stewart is also the "Knight Commander" of the Order of the Militia Crucifera Evangelica (OMCE) Sovereign Grand Master of the Order of British Martinist (BMO)- British Martinist Order. Currently, the British Order Martinist is active only in the English-speaking countries. The other NGOs are active in the United States of America, United Kingdom, Ghana, Brazil, Australia and other countries.
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