Course XXVI - Teaching 10: Christian Military Orders

Now if you consider the teachings of Amon, not in his refuge but among men that fight and suffer, you shall observe during the first century before Christ the existence of numerous Schools, none of them purely devoted whether to the concept of “Non-Being” or to that of “Being.”
One of these trends prevails in them. In order to classify them, we would have in general: on the one hand, the doctrine of Amon, polytheistic, Platonistic and idealistic; and on the other, the doctrine of Athon, monotheistic, Aristotelian and materialistic.
These Schools were founded by “Renigar”, renegades, which should not be taken in a derogatory sense, because these beings, many of them Initiates, left more ancient and pure Schools, united their own ideas with ideas of their ancient School and others, and founded a new School. Usually, other “Renigar” abandoned these Schools and at a time founded other Schools.
It should be especially noticed that so many Schools flourished shortly before and after Christ. We must emphasize their eclectic character. They prepared the field for the dissemination of the extraordinary labor of Jesus.
The Solar Initiates, before Christ, came to the world in an inaccessible form to ordinary people. On the contrary, Jesus came to redeem all.
The same occurred with secret societies; they were almost impenetrable.
Jesus showed, first, that he was Man. And he made the great sacrifice of giving His Body.
Also, by his resurrection and ascension to Heaven, he showed that man was able to ascend to God, that hope must reach everybody, and that every one can realize his God.
But if Christendom had not counted on a very efficient divulger as Paul of Asher, it would not be so much divulged, because its doctrine was esoteric.
Paul gave to peoples notions that apparently were inaccessible to them. He cast pearls before swine; and sowed lavishly. He knew that he would pay by his own blood the disclosure of these secrets. He carried on imperturbably: he knew that his karma would not come and be active up to his last word. Paul takes Christ as the exemplar, as the man that helps to his purpose. But always he mentions Him as the Redeemer. He does not mention Man. Also he suggests that, after the union of Man with his Savior, even there is a greater chance: something like a Buddhist Nirvana.
His work was triple:

1. He opened a channel between Divinity and Humanity, the entire Humanity. A symbol of this is the wound at the side of Christ, and his blood ever emanating from it. As a consequence of it, since then the esoteric societies were never as hermetic as before; always there is certain “leak” by which some secrets of these societies become known. The blood of Christ is shed over the entire world.
2. He established that man gets his salvation by the act of the Redeemer. Now man must not expect the Grace. Now he knows that also the Divinity was made flesh for him.
3. He is a true pioneer of what still is a hope: the union of polytheism with monotheism; that is, purity of the polytheistic conception with the accessibility of all men to the monotheistic concept. In short: Redemption of all men.
   Polytheism as a guardian of the esotericism.
   Christendom in its beginning and establishment as monotheistic religion absorbs the esotericism that just in the dynasty of the Ptolemies had been openly inserted in the monotheism.
   In the first Christian century, the pure esotericism had been introduced in the Gnostic Church that denied the supreme authority of the Old Testament. Later, when the Gnostic Church is destroyed, the Orthodox Church takes the esotericism.
   As you see, then Christendom had received an immense spiritual wealth.
   After the redeeming sacrifice of Christ –an event that the people could understand through Paul and the doctrine of the Doctors, especially Saint Augustine– Christendom had a very powerful influence. Its expression, the Church, acquired very great prevalence, as much economic as political. But it prevailed spiritually from sixth to tenth century.
   The Church needed a renewal, and after the favorable and direct renewal made by the Crusades, there was other renewal, more furtive and deeper (as a consequence of the Crusades): the esoteric societies are now in Europe.
   Seven great beings carried the knowledge kept in the East. Europe needed knowledge, and these beings carried with them an institution so far unknown: the University.
   In those times, every University dealt with only one branch of knowledge: Bolonia, right; Salerno, medicine; et cetera.
   The Military Orders, especially the Teutonic Order, carried with them many secrets, and hence much knowledge.
   Then two great spiritual forces meet in Europe: the Church and the just-arrived secret societies: the former somewhat spiritually declining; the latter, strong in a not quite active millennium.
   The monotheistic notion of the Church had changed to a certain extent: the personal God, realizable by man, now was not Christ but the Church, or the “Dogma”. The contact with esoteric societies would vivify its spiritual content.
   This unity in action culminated when Gilbert, a monk, great mystic and occultist, was raised to the Pontifical Throne with the name of Silvester II (d. 1003).
   Now the two suns, Amon and Aton remained united.
   So, the Cardinals’ College was a true college of sages. They had to educate the ecclesiastics. The regular clergy had not any contact with the people: they lived a pious life for themselves. Clergy hardly knew the indispensable Latin to celebrate Mass.
   The Orders of Knights could not deal with it because their members were laymen. Then, a Cardinal –later, Pope Gregory IX– organized a religious Order whose rules were partially taken from those of Military Orders.
   As in the latter, there were three grades related to the three forms of the Church to make its work: Mystique, Apostolate and Teaching. Convents should have schools.
   They choose a being like Francis of Assisi because his spirit is more adaptable to these plans. He had fame of sanctity. Gregory IX somewhat cunningly sanctioned certain constitutions that he wrote by himself. Francis did not agree entirely but, doubtless, the purpose of the Pope was good. The success of this Order is well-known, as well as that of other Orders founded later.
   Seemingly this union of the Church with secret societies was invincible. But there was a division, so far latent, between Papacy and Empire. Some esoteric societies were on the side of the former, and others, on that of the latter. In fact, these trends were not pure, but those who were for the Papacy were rather idealistic followers of Non-Being as the supreme expression. Here is the motto of the Nominalists during the Middle Ages: “All is one Voice”. And the “realists” were against them.
   Here is the really notable importance of the esoteric societies: Herman von Salza, Great Master of the Teutonic Order, negotiated an agreement between the Pope Boniface VIII and the Emperor Frederick II. Later, in 1544, Albert, Margrave of Brandenburg and First Duke of Prusia, fostered especially the education in all cities of the Prusian State, and founded school with classes of Latin, as well as the Gymnasium of Könisberg and the University in the same city. He instructed to print books in German for his Court (catechisms, et cetera), and his servants were free to study. Also he preserved the treasure of Esoteric Teachings inherited from his brothers in religion, and limited them to some few sages. So, Esoteric Associations came into being among Lutherans; these Associations were very hermetically kept and an excellent document of them is “Chemical Wedding”, by Johann Valentinus Andreae (Andrae), the surmised founder of the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis.