Would you have crossed the Threshold of AMORC in 1932?

The order’s manual, printed at San Jose in 1932, calls the first degree the “Crossing of the Threshold”. It says who may apply, how, and what is signed before going in. Seven questions, each set beside what the text says.

The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis was founded in the United States by H. Spencer Lewis in 1915. Its Rosicrucian Manual is the guide handed to members; we follow the fifth edition, of 1932. The order still exists and its rules today are not those of this book. Nothing is sent anywhere.

1. Would you wait to be invited to apply?

“Men and women may become members of our Order through being invited to make Application for Admission, and then having such application passed upon” (p. 25).

Yes Perhaps No

2. Once invited, would you still plead?

The applicant “must humbly seek and pray for admission, as though he or she had not been invited to do so” (p. 25).

Yes Perhaps No

3. Would you accept a committee, an interview and a ballot?

A Membership Committee passes on the application, members interview the applicant, then the lodge votes: “two black balls cast upon reasonable and sufficient grounds” keep him out (pp. 25–26).

Yes Perhaps No

4. Would you sign an oath of secrecy before even being initiated?

The first oath is signed in the “Official Black Book” of the lodge: “Before the Sign of the Cross, I promise, upon my honor, not to reveal to any one but a known Brother or Sister of this Order, the Signs, Secrets, or Words” learned (p. 44).

Yes Perhaps No

5. Would you follow six weeks of preparatory lessons, with reports?

The new member receives lessons by mail for six weeks, tries experiments and reports on them. Then, “if the member is properly prepared, he is admitted into the First Grade”; if not, he is prepared further (p. 53).

Yes Perhaps No

6. Would you serve expecting nothing in return?

“All members are pledged to give unselfish Service, without other hope or expectation or remuneration than to Evolve the Self” (p. 25).

Yes Perhaps No

7. Would you perform the entrance ceremony alone, at home?

For members by correspondence, the First Grade initiation ceremony is performed “in the privacy of some part of the home” (p. 53). In a lodge it is the “Crossing of the Threshold” (p. 70).

Yes Perhaps No

Rosicrucian Manual, 5th edition, San Jose, 1932.

Where this comes from

Rosicrucian Manual, prepared under the supervision of H. Spencer Lewis, Rosicrucian Press, San Jose, California, fifth edition, 1932; first edition 1918. Read in the scan at iapsop.com. Page numbers are those of the printed book.

The manual distinguishes the lodges, where one is initiated in person, from the “National Lodge”, by correspondence: six weeks of preparation, then three neophyte grades by sealed mail. It states what is secret (the ceremonies, signs and passwords) and what is not (the laws and principles taught, which members must be able to use to help others).

On the order’s origin the manual asserts an ancient lineage that historians do not accept. We take nothing from it: only the procedure of entry concerns us here.

This test sets your answers beside a manual printed in 1932. It does not belong to AMORC, gives no access to it and does not describe its present rules; the order has its own site and its own conditions.