Orders of the Universal Reformation, Utopias

by Manly P. Hall

The story of the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross is set forth, including the origin of the Society, its program of reformation in Europe, and its final disappearance from the stage of public affairs. The landmarks of the Great School and its initiates during the era of tradition which led to the social experiment in the Western Hemisphere are discussed. The Utopians and the program for a better world, Lord Bacon's relationship to the Rosicrucians, and his curious book, The New Atlantis, are examined. The basic text of the Rosicrucians is studied, as well as the elusive German theologian, Andreae, who was believed to have written the early Manifestoes. The place of the German mystic, Boehme, in the story is considered along with Elias Ashmole and several other men from the seventeenth century who sought to discover the secret of the Rosy Cross.

102 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1976

About the author

Canadian born, Manly Palmer Hall is the author of over 150 published works, the best known of which are Initiates of the Flame, The Story of Healing, The Divine Art,Aliens Magick and Sorcery The Secret Teachings of All Ages, and An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy.
He was also the author of a masonic curiosity, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry in 1923, more than thirty years before he joined a lodge. The preface of later editions states "At the time I wrote this slender volume, I had just passed my twenty-first birthday, and my only contact with Freemasonry was through a few books commonly available to the public." Later, in 1944, he wrote The Secret Destiny of America which popularized the myth of a masonic purpose for the founding of the USA. In 1950 he weighed in again on the meaning of Freemasonry with his booklet: Masonic Orders of Fraternity.
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Initiated: June 28, 1954
Passed: September 20, 1954
Raised November 22, 1954
Jewel Lodge No. 374
Source: Grand Lodge of California records ; William R. Denslow, 10,000 Famous Freemasons, vol. ii. Trenton, MO. : Missouri Lodge of Research / Educational Bureau, Royal Arch Mason Magazine, 1958. p. 165.