| Rosicrucian Park | |
|---|---|
 Rosicrucian University building in the Park | |
 | |
| 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.
Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in early modern Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts announcing to the world a new esoteric order. Rosicrucianism is symbolized by the Rose Cross or Rosy Cross. There have been several Rosicrucian organizations since the initial movement was founded, including the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross (1750s–1790s), the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (1865–present), and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1887–1903).
Akhenaten, also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning c. 1353–1336 or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Before the fifth year of his reign, he was known as Amenhotep IV.
The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis (AMORC) is a Rosicrucian organization founded by Harvey Spencer Lewis in the United States in 1915. It has lodges, chapters and other affiliated bodies in several countries. It operates as a fraternal order in the mystical Western Esoteric Tradition.
Ralph Maxwell Lewis, was an American mystic and the second Imperator of the Rosicrucian organisation AMORC from 1939 to 1987. He is the author of a number of books regarding mysticism. His father, Harvey Spencer Lewis, was the first Imperator of AMORC.
Harvey Spencer Lewis, a Rosicrucian author, mystic and the founder of AMORC. He led AMORC as its first leader (imperator) from its creation in 1915 until his death.
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 legendary Christian Rosenkreuz, a Christian Kabbalist and alchemist said to have been the founder of the Rosicrucian Order. The Rose Cross is a cross with a rose at its centre, which is usually red, golden, or white. It symbolizes the teachings of a Western esoteric tradition with Christian tenets.
Atenism, also known as the Aten religion, the Amarna religion, the Amarna revolution, and the Amarna heresy, was a religion in ancient Egypt. It was founded by Akhenaten, a pharaoh who ruled the New Kingdom under the Eighteenth Dynasty. The religion is described as monotheistic or monolatristic, although some Egyptologists argue that it was actually henotheistic. Atenism was centered on the cult of Aten, a god depicted as the disc of the Sun. Aten was originally an aspect of Ra, Egypt's traditional solar deity, though he was later asserted by Akhenaten as being the superior of all deities.
Rose Garden, also rendered as Rosegarden, is a historic district of Central San Jose, California, near Downtown San Jose and The Alameda. Rose Garden is a district made up of numerous historic neighborhoods, such as Hanchett Park, primarily characterized by its architecture and numerous cultural institutions, including the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, Rosicrucian Park, which includes the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, and the historic Hoover Theater.
The Dendera Temple complex is located about 2.5 kilometres south-east of Dendera, Egypt. It is one of the best-preserved temple complexes of ancient Egypt. The area was used as the sixth nome of Upper Egypt, south of Abydos.
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.
Amarna art, or the Amarna style, is a style adopted in the Amarna Period during and just after the reign of Akhenaten in the late Eighteenth Dynasty, during the New Kingdom. Whereas ancient Egyptian art was famously slow to change, the Amarna style was a significant and sudden break from its predecessors both in the style of depictions, especially of people, and the subject matter. The artistic shift appears to be related to the king's religious reforms centering on the monotheistic or monolatric worship of the Aten, the disc of the Sun, as giver of life.
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.
The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, formerly known as the Miami Science Museum or Miami Science Museum and Space Transit Planetarium, is a science museum, planetarium, and aquarium located in Miami, Florida, United States. The museum originally opened its Coconut Grove location across from Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in 1960. It relocated to Maurice A. Ferré Park in the downtown area adjacent to the Perez Art Museum Miami in 2017 after the closing of the Coconut Grove location in 2015.
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 1550/1549 to 1292 BC. This dynasty is also known as the Thutmoside Dynasty) for the four pharaohs named Thutmose.
Museum of Freemasonry, based at Freemasons’ Hall, London, is a fully accredited museum since 2009, with a designated outstanding collection of national importance since 2007 and registered charitable trust since 1996. The facility encompasses a museum, library, and archive.
