The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis
The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis (AMORC), also calling itself the Rosicrucian Order, is currently the largest Rosicrucian organization in the world. It has various lodges, chapters and other affiliated bodies throughout the globe, operating in 19 different languages.
AMORC claims to be the oldest existing Traditional Fraternity and the modern-day manifestation of the ancient 'Rose-Croix' Order, which is said to have originated in the Ancient Egyptian Mystery schools. The ancient Mysteries are said to have been preserved through the millennia by closed secret societies until the early years of 17th Century Europe. At that point, according to AMORC internal mythology, the time was right for the existence of this body of secret knowledge to become open, i.e. revealed, to the world, in the form of the Rosicrucian manifestos.
In his book, Silentium Post Clamores (1617), famous seventeenth century Rosicrucian Michael Maier described the origins of Rosicrucianism as "Egyptian, Brahmanic, derived from the Mysteries of Eleusis and Samothrace, the Magi of Persia, the Pythagoreans, and the Arabs." Several of his other works also allude to the mysterious origins of the Rosicrucians.
