Customer Reviews

The Invisible History of the Rosicrucians: The World's Most Mysterious Secret Society

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Churton traces the Rosicrucian impulse to Johann Valentin and largely avoids any romantic rendering of this society and instead presents it as some proto-post-modern 'game' invented by a circle of German intellectuals who just wanted the world to be a better place. Maybe I am a romantic, but Churton at times seems overwrought and technical...making too sure he doesn't romanticize his subjects, where I would like to hear more metaphysical meandering from him, which is what this subject deserves, in my humble view.

The Invisible History of the Rosicrucians provides a fine history of secret societies and presents the first definitive, in-depth survey of these societies from their German origins in 1603 to their philosophy and development, including coverage of individuals who influenced the movement. The Rosicrucians shaped the spiritual consciousness of both North and South America, and this documents their lives and contributions.

The authors does think about things at some depth, so I am sorry to say that I cannot recommend this book. I imagine that if you are a Rosicrucian this book would be more interesting. I was hoping to find in this book a fair and more complete historical overview of the attempts at transmission of the Ancient Wisdom during a particular period in history. I was disappointed. The chapter on Helena Blavatsky and Theosophy is biased and full of errors. The chapter on Rudolf Steiner was a bit better. Also I found myself wondering if the author is actually a Mason or just one of those so-called "experts" who views it from the outside and expounds upon a subject that he does not really understand.

The author claims to be (or have been) both a mason and a Rosicrucian. However, his premise of this book is that there really isn't such a thing as a Rosicrucian. Rather, he argues, Rosicrucianism is an abstract hodgepodge of ideas, and anyone can really be a Rosicrucian. Is he, therefore, one of these "self proclaimed" Rosicrucians - not someone officially accepted into the group? The author never makes this important distinction about his background - is he a "wanna be" or is he official? Has he gone through all the initiatory rights and undergone all the initiatory study required to be a member, OR did he just think to himself, "I'm a Rosicrucian" and therefore he was? Furthermore, if he truly believes that there is no such thing as a Rosicrucian, why did he pontificate for 576 pages about the topic? Think about it - if you don't believe something exists, why would you then go on to write a lengthy book describing that very thing you proclaim is nonexistent? Why would you proclaim to be a member of something that doesn't exist? Both ideas are pretty crazy unless you are just out to make a buck and hoodwink some people. Don't be hoodwinked! Save yourself the time and money; read the dictionary before you read this book. You'll be much smarter and feel like you actually accomplished something with your time.