Mysteries of the Rosie Cross

About this book

Who were the Rosicrucians, and what did the earliest manifestos promise? The anonymous historian behind this 1891 volume traces the legend of a secret brotherhood through its printed claims, supposed founders and later interpreters.

The narrative follows Christian Rosenkreutz and the movement's appeals to hidden wisdom, reform and initiatory knowledge. Alongside the romantic accounts, it records the difficulty of separating actual societies from literary inventions. The persistence of the Rosicrucian legend becomes almost as compelling as the surviving traces of the movement itself.