About the Exhibit

Rare Books from the Rosicrucian Library, which was on display at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum March 2 - August 15, 2004, showcased some of the treasures from the Library's collection. From the Rosicrucian Manifestos and early Martinist writings to mystical novels and Egyptian pictorials, the exhibit gave members and the public the opportunity to see some of the volumes which are rare and too delicate for regular access. As a research facility, the Library's collection has been a central part of Rosicrucian life since the founding of this cycle of work in 1915.

The Rosicrucian tradition is a philosophical and initiatic tradition. As students progress in their studies, they are initiated into the next level or degree.

Rosicrucians are men and women from around the world who study the laws of nature, in order to live in harmony with them. Individuals study the Rosicrucian lessons in the privacy of their own home on subjects such as the nature of the soul, developing intuition, classical Greek philosophy, energy centers in the body and self-healing techniques. Many of these lessons are based on principles recorded in ancient books or manuscripts, some of which are represented in this exhibit.

The Rosicrucian tradition encourages each student to discover the wisdom, compassion, strength and peace that already reside within each of us.

The volumes in this exhibit, some of them hundreds of years old, are a symbol of the transmission, reception and appropriation of knowledge across time, and across cultures. As such, they represent an important facet of the Rosicrucian philosophy. The human community seen in this perspective, is not only spread across the globe, but also throughout time, and we can communicate with one another across the ages by many means, including books.

This is important, because by receiving and appropriating the knowledge and experiences of our ancestors, we do not have to start from scratch each generation. Further, by reading the thoughts and histories from all over the planet from various epochs, we are freed from the assumption that any given thing "has always been done just one way." Therefore, both communal insights, and individual diversity, can be balanced with one another in creative, dynamic growth for the service of all of humanity, and for our world as a whole.

As Rosicrucian Imperator, Christian Bernard puts it in Rosicrucian Questions and Answers (2001):

"The laws and esoteric principles developed in the monographs, accordingly, are a result of the work mystics have also employed to penetrate the mysteries of the universe, nature and humanity ... The Rosicrucian teachings have never been and never will be frozen in time."