Our Tradition
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The Aesthetic Rosicrucian Order of the Temple and the Grail is a chivalric Order of the French Gnostic tradition.
Following the ancient gnostic schools of Simon, Menander, Saturninus, Basilides, Valentinus, and Marcion, in the second and third centuries the Manichaeans provided a bridge of transmission of gnostic doctrine to the Bogomils and Cathars in the Middle Ages. |
Cathar Fortress at Montségur.
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The Cathars appeared in the 11th century in the region of southern France, known as Occitania, and today referred to as the Languedoc (language of Oc). This entire region had converted to gnostic Christianity when the Cathars flourished there, which fostered the protection and development of ancient traditions. The first versions of the kabbalah developed in this area in the 12th century. The Roman Church decided to stomp out the Cathar ‘heresy’ with the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229).
Trobadours, 14th century.
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Also in the Occitan, the troubadours preserved their Mysteries in lyric poetry. The troubadours flourished in southern France, northern Spain, and northern Italy from the late 11th to late 13th century.
After the near extinction of these traditions, in 1323 seven individuals founded the Consistori dels Sept Trobadors ("Consistory of the Seven Troubadours") to revive and perpetuate the lyric school of the troubadours (roughly 1160-1220) and Occitan poetry. It was also known as the Sobregaya Companhia dels Set Trobadors de Tolosa ("Overjoyed Company of the seven troubadours of Toulouse"), or the Consistori del Gay Saber (Happy Knowledge). The contests were held intermittently until 1484. |
Rosicrucian Manifestoes
In the early 17th century three Rosicrucian documents were published in German, promoting reformations in society and religion, and professing to reveal a secret society of unknowns: the Fama Fraternitatis (1614), the Confessio Fraternitatis (1615) and the Chymical Wedding (1616). Rosicrucianism appeared in France in 1623, when placards were affixed to the walls of Paris, reading:
“We, the deputies of our chief college of the Brethren of the Rosy Cross, now sojourning, visible and invisible, in this town, do teach, in the name of the Most High, towards whom the hearts of the Sages turn, every science, without either books, symbols, or signs, and we speak the language of the country in which we tarry, that we may extricate our fellow-men from error and destruction."
In the early 17th century three Rosicrucian documents were published in German, promoting reformations in society and religion, and professing to reveal a secret society of unknowns: the Fama Fraternitatis (1614), the Confessio Fraternitatis (1615) and the Chymical Wedding (1616). Rosicrucianism appeared in France in 1623, when placards were affixed to the walls of Paris, reading:
“We, the deputies of our chief college of the Brethren of the Rosy Cross, now sojourning, visible and invisible, in this town, do teach, in the name of the Most High, towards whom the hearts of the Sages turn, every science, without either books, symbols, or signs, and we speak the language of the country in which we tarry, that we may extricate our fellow-men from error and destruction."
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Another version states:
"We, the deputies of the College of the Rosie-Cross, advise all those who seek entrance into our society and congregation, to become initiated into the knowledge of the Most High, in whose cause we are at this day assembled, and we will transform them from visible beings into invisible, and from invisible into visible, and they shall be transported into every foreign country to which their desire may lead them.” After the period of the Rosicrucian manifestoes, the tradition continued in two forms: the Masonic Rose+Croix and French Orders of the Rose+Croix. The last branch of the Order was that of Toulouse (France). Also after the Rosicrucian manifestoes, the Consistori dels Sept Trobadors (Consistori del Gay Saber) was renewed by Louis XIV in 1694 as the Académie des Jeux floraux (Academy of the Floral Games), the oldest literary institution in the western world. |
Jeux Floraux de Jean-Paul Laurens (1838-1921).
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Vicomte Louis Charles Édouard de Lapasse
In 1831 the famous Toulousian doctor Vicomte Édouard de Lapasse (1792-1867) was initiated into the Hermeticism of the Rose+Croix by Prince Balbiani of Palermo, who was recommended to him by the Rose+Cross in Germany (connected with Karl von Eckartshausen). Returning to France, he learned about the French Rose+Cross. He studied medicine at the Faculty of Paris, then for a time he was a journalist before returning to the practice of medicine in 1842, curing for free. The Vicomte was president of the archaeological society of Toulouse, and was one of the seven Maintainers of the Floral Games. He died in 1867. |
Vicomte de Lapasse.
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Firmin Boissin Firmin Boissin (1835 - 1893) received the Rose+Croix accolade from the members of the last branch of the Order, that of Toulouse. This Toulouse Rose+Croix, which appeared in 1850, was incorporated into an ancient and authentic esoteric and alchemical tradition dating back to the Middle Ages. Boissin started his career as a French teacher, then went to Paris where he was known in literary circles, himself being the author of various literary essays and also novels. In 1887 he was elected a Maintainer of the Jeux Floraux. He was a defender of the teaching of the Languedoc, and in 1888 he was one of the co-founders of l’Athénée des Troubadours, which organized literary competitions in the French and Occitan language. |
Firmin Boissin.
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Boissin was Commander of the Rose+Cross of the Temple, Prior of Toulouse, and Dean of the Council of 14. He wrote that he was a transmitter of the secret tradition of the troubadours, similar to those of the Dame de Toulouse, of the Albigensian Parfaits and of the Massénie du Saint Graal, indicating that he held this initiatory deposit of the Vicomte de Lapasse and of the Arcade d’Orient. Also, Boissin was affiliated with the Nicotiniates, who carried a Pythagorean tradition.
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Adrien Peladan & Josephin Peladan
Dr. Adrien Péladan (1844-1885), son of the Knight Adrien Péladan, was initiated by Firmin Boissin in 1858. He was connected to the ‘Rosicruciens de Toulouse’, a group of Hermeticists active in the region around 1860. Adrien Péladan was one of the first French homeopaths. He was also a magnetizer. He was a student of the German physician Samuel Hahnemann, who created homeopathy. Adrien Péladan worked at the Hahnemann Hospital in Paris. He published several books on medicine and homeopathy and founded the magazine L’ Homéopathie des familles et des médecins. He had a strong interest in alchemy and other esoteric subjects. He was also said to have a lineage through l’Abbé Lacuria, who had received it from Éliphas Lévi, who had himself been initiated into a Rosicrucian Order in England by E.G. Bulwer-Lytton. |
Dr. Adrien Péladan.
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Sar Péladan by Jean Delville.
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Adrien was the older brother of Joséphin Péladan (1858-1918), whose ideas he influenced. Joséphin Péladan was born and grew up in Lyon, France. In 1881 he moved to Paris and became an art critic and novelist. In 1884 he published a novel with strong Rosicrucian and occult themes. This work attracted the attention of 23 year-old Stanislas de Guaita and sparked his interest in esoteric studies. Péladan and de Guaita were also among 'Les Compagnons de la Heirophonie', the inner circle of French occultists who joined with Dr. Gerard Encausse (a.k.a. “Papus”) in an attempt to restore the western Mystery tradition. Péladan and de Guaita together created a project to rebuild and renovate the Order of the Rose+Croix, which was on the verge of extinction, and founded the Ordre Kabbalistique de la Rose+Croix (OKR+C) in 1888, into which they recruited Papus.
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By the 1890s, the collaboration between de Guaita, Péladan, and Papus became strained by disagreements, and Péladan left the OKR+C. Péladan drew up the Rose+Croix Esthétique in May 1891 on the Feast of the Ascension and published the foundation document of l’Ordre de la Rose-Croix Catholique et Esthétique du Temple et du Graal on August 23, 1891. Péladan organized the famous Salons de la Rose+Croix, a series of six art and music salons held in Paris between 1892 and 1897, which included 170 artists, including many prominent Symbolist painters, writers, and composers. In 1894 a branch of Peladan's Order was established in Belgium and was headed by the famous symbolist painter Jean Delville. After the sixth Salon in December 1897, Péladan closed his Order, which continued to operate in Brussels and France. Peladan died of food poisoning in 1918.
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Emile Dantinne
Dantinne worked as a librarian for the Belgian city of Huy. In 1904 he met Peladan, who lectured at the Ravenstein Hotel in Brussels, a meeting place for the members of the Order. After this Dantinne became a regular visitor of the group in Brussels. After Peladan’s death, Dantinne published L’oeuvre et la pensée de Péladan: la philosophie rosicrucienne and reorganized the Order under the name of Rose-Croix Universelle. In 1923 it was reorganized as the Ordo Aureæ & Rosæ Crucis (OARC) in three separate Orders:
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Emile Dantinne.
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In 1927 Dantinne founded l’Ordre Hermetiste Tetramegiste et Mystique (also called "Order of Hermes” or “Pythagorean Order”). In 1957 this Order was separated into two different streams: Ordo Hermetis Trismegisti and Ordo Hermetis Tetramegisti.
The Rosicrucian philosophy flourished in Belgium, which became a center of European esoteric orders and societies. Dantinne was a leading force in organizing FUDOSI (Federatio Universalis Dirigens Ordines Societatesque Initiationis) in 1934. He was recognized as the Imperator of Rosicrucians of Europe until his death in Huy on May 21, 1969.
Dantinne published over 30 titles concerning topics such as foreign languages, local history, metaphysics, occultism etc. He also published numerous articles in the famous Swiss periodical INCONNU. He was the founder of the Commision de recherches scientifiques sur l'occultisme (CRSO) in Huy. He also founded the 'Institut scientifiques sur l'occultisme' and the 'Societe Metaphysique' in Brussels. The Government and the King of Belgium rewarded Dantinne several times for his contributions to education and culture. In 1962 he was admitted into 'De Leopoldsorde' (one of the highest honorable titles of the state of Belgium).
The Rosicrucian philosophy flourished in Belgium, which became a center of European esoteric orders and societies. Dantinne was a leading force in organizing FUDOSI (Federatio Universalis Dirigens Ordines Societatesque Initiationis) in 1934. He was recognized as the Imperator of Rosicrucians of Europe until his death in Huy on May 21, 1969.
Dantinne published over 30 titles concerning topics such as foreign languages, local history, metaphysics, occultism etc. He also published numerous articles in the famous Swiss periodical INCONNU. He was the founder of the Commision de recherches scientifiques sur l'occultisme (CRSO) in Huy. He also founded the 'Institut scientifiques sur l'occultisme' and the 'Societe Metaphysique' in Brussels. The Government and the King of Belgium rewarded Dantinne several times for his contributions to education and culture. In 1962 he was admitted into 'De Leopoldsorde' (one of the highest honorable titles of the state of Belgium).
Knights of the Rose+Croix
Starting in the thirteenth century it became the privilege of certain spiritual authorities to confer Chivalric Orders for the advancement of spiritual and social virtues, such as charity, nobility, fidelity, and uprightness. The quest for the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend represents this pursuit of the soul’s perfection. The Chivalric filiation of our Order is:
Huges Capet
Louis IX (Saint Louis), King of France
Grand Master of l’Ordre de la Crosse de Genet
Robert de Clermont
Henry IV, King of France
Grand Master of l’Ordre de Saint Michel
Louis XIII, King of France
Grand Master of l’Ordre de Saint Michel
Louis XIV, King of France
Grand Master of L' ORDRES DU SAINT ESPRIT ET DE SAINT MICHAEL
Philippe V (Duc d' Anjou), King of Spain
Grand Master of L'ORDRE DE LA TOISON D'OR
Charles III, King of Spain
Grand Master of L'ORDRE DE LA TOISON D'OR
Henri de Bourbon, Duc de Seville Prince Francois de Bourbon
Knight of L' ORDRE DE LA TOISON D'OR
Prince Francois de Bourbon, Duc de Seville
Grand Master of L' ORDRE DE SAINT LAZARRE DE JERUSALEM
Marquis Portafax de Oria
Paul Pierre Jean Neveu, Baron de Geniebre
Michel Swysen, Comte d'Aijalon
Armand Toussaint
Martinist Knights of the Rose + Croix
Archbishop Triantafyllos Kotzamanis
Martinist Knights of the Rose + Croix
Bishop David Gittens (Tau Thomas, Sar Savitar)
Rosicrucian and Military Order of the Sacred Grail
Bishop John Cole (Tau Iohannes Harmonius)
Rosicrucian Order of the Grail
Louis IX (Saint Louis), King of France
Grand Master of l’Ordre de la Crosse de Genet
Robert de Clermont
Henry IV, King of France
Grand Master of l’Ordre de Saint Michel
Louis XIII, King of France
Grand Master of l’Ordre de Saint Michel
Louis XIV, King of France
Grand Master of L' ORDRES DU SAINT ESPRIT ET DE SAINT MICHAEL
Philippe V (Duc d' Anjou), King of Spain
Grand Master of L'ORDRE DE LA TOISON D'OR
Charles III, King of Spain
Grand Master of L'ORDRE DE LA TOISON D'OR
Henri de Bourbon, Duc de Seville Prince Francois de Bourbon
Knight of L' ORDRE DE LA TOISON D'OR
Prince Francois de Bourbon, Duc de Seville
Grand Master of L' ORDRE DE SAINT LAZARRE DE JERUSALEM
Marquis Portafax de Oria
Paul Pierre Jean Neveu, Baron de Geniebre
Michel Swysen, Comte d'Aijalon
Armand Toussaint
Martinist Knights of the Rose + Croix
Archbishop Triantafyllos Kotzamanis
Martinist Knights of the Rose + Croix
Bishop David Gittens (Tau Thomas, Sar Savitar)
Rosicrucian and Military Order of the Sacred Grail
Bishop John Cole (Tau Iohannes Harmonius)
Rosicrucian Order of the Grail
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Armand Toussaint
Armand Toussaint was initiated in a Russian line of Martinism in Paris by the artist Serge Marcotoune (Martinist Order of the Temple and Temple of the Holy Grail). Marcotoune instructed Toussaint to establish a lodge in Brussels. Toussaint fused the Russian Martinist lineage with a chivalric lineage of the Order of Saint Michael to form the Ordre Martiniste des Chevaliers du Christ (OMCC) in 1971. Toussaint was the Honorary Grand Master of the Les Freres Aînés de la Rose-Croix (FARC). He founded the the Fraternite Rosicrucienne, and the “Martinist Knights of the Rose+Croix.” |
Armand Toussaint.
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Triantafyllos Kotzamanis
Toussaint initiated Archbishop Triantafyllos Kotzamanis (Sar Heironymous), who was a leading figure of the OMCC under Toussaint and was Grand Commander of the Martinist Knights of the Rose-Croix. In the 1980s Toussaint authorized Kotzamanis to establish Martinist Lodges under the name of “Loges de Chevaliers Vert.” Kotzamanis also received certain assignments of the Order of Hermes and Orpheus (the Pythagorean Order of Dantinne and his disciple Jean Mallinger). |
Triantafyllos Kotzamanis.
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David Gittens
In 1985 David Gittens took over as Grand Master of the Martinist Knights of the Rose+Croix, which he received from Kotzamanis, and renamed it the Rosicrucian and Military Order of the Sacred Grail. Gittens was consecrated Bishop of the Gnostic Church (Tau Thomas) in 1987 and active in the Ordre Martiniste et Synarchie in Barbados (Sâr Savitar). He died April 4, 2011. |
Bishop David Gittens.
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John Cole
In 1992 John Cole (1953-2010) received the Order from David Gittens and was its Grand Commander. Cole named it the Rosicrucian Order of the Grail. In 2001 George Boyer, Grand Master and Lord Abbot of the Healing, Teaching and Chivalric Order of St. Michael and St. Raphael and Prince Chief Adept of the True and Rosy Cross (established in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1694 by Johann Kelpius) gave a charter to Gittens and Cole. John Cole (Tau Iohannes Harmonius) was auxiliary bishop of the Midwest United States for the Gnostic Church, l’Eglise Gnostique Catholique Apostolique. He was also the first Grand Master of the Ancient Martinist Order, established in 2000, and Grand Master of the Blue Lodges of the Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis and Misraim. He died in 2010. |
Bishop John Cole.
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Aesthetic Rosicrucian Order of the Temple and the Grail
With the approval of the Holy Synod of the Gnostic Church (l' Église Gnostique Catholique Apostolique) and the Ecumenical Gnostic College of Metropolitans, the Order was reconsecrated as the 'Aesthetic Rosicrucian Order of the Temple and the Grail' on August 23, 2017. While the name of the Order changes, the official name ‘Les Chevaliers de la Rose et de La Croix’ (Knights of the Rose+Croix) is still used.
Our name reflects that adopted by Joséphin Péladan (we omit ‘Catholique’) to renew the emphasis on art and poetry, as expressed by the troubadours and in the Toulouse Rose+Croix. Our Order today is influenced not only by Péladan and his predecessors in Tolousian Rosicrucianism, but also by those who followed them in the traditional chains of in-person initiation over the past century.
With the approval of the Holy Synod of the Gnostic Church (l' Église Gnostique Catholique Apostolique) and the Ecumenical Gnostic College of Metropolitans, the Order was reconsecrated as the 'Aesthetic Rosicrucian Order of the Temple and the Grail' on August 23, 2017. While the name of the Order changes, the official name ‘Les Chevaliers de la Rose et de La Croix’ (Knights of the Rose+Croix) is still used.
Our name reflects that adopted by Joséphin Péladan (we omit ‘Catholique’) to renew the emphasis on art and poetry, as expressed by the troubadours and in the Toulouse Rose+Croix. Our Order today is influenced not only by Péladan and his predecessors in Tolousian Rosicrucianism, but also by those who followed them in the traditional chains of in-person initiation over the past century.