One of the
constants of Harvey Spencer Lewis, the founder of AMORC, is his continuous
contradictions with large doses of fantasy that make him fall often into big
lies, which would not be serious if he was someone without responsibilities of
any kind, but when he is an individual who leads a movement that guides a large
number of people, then such contradictions constitute something disastrous
because they disorient those who believe in good faith in this individual.
And if these
fantasies are manifested in false documents, then the matter is even more
serious because there is already an obvious intention of deception, and it
shows a lack of scruples on the part of this individual who does not hesitate
to falsify documents in order to be able convince people, even if that is
completely fraudulent.
This is the
case of Spencer Lewis who falsified many documents, and one of the most curious
among the many that he produced (since he did not stop seeking the recognition
and the honors that could serve him to impress people) is "the Charter of
the Great White Lodge".
All this
happened when Lewis, after having had a resounding failure at the Second AMORC
Convention, held in the summer of 1918 in New York City, a large number of
members were skeptical of the stories he told them.
The lack of
credible explanations in the matter of the disappearance of the funds of the 6%
obligations for the purchase and restoration of the property of the singer Lily
Langtry and the subsequent arrest of Lewis, this produced a considerable loss
of members that caused that Lewis accepted the offer of a German confectioner
named Willem Reisener, who became his protector and paid for the transfer of
the AMORC organization to the city of San Francisco in 1919, and there Lewis
came into contact with a curious character.
Ralph Lewis,
the son of Spencer Lewis, relates in his book Cosmic Mission Accomplished that this individual was an elderly
Englishman, a Buddhist priest who made friends with his father and with whom he
spent many afternoons in his office talking about philosophy and psychology. And
that Lewis out of sympathy for his old friend agreed to receive an honorary
consecration as a "Buddhist priest."
But the
reality does not correspond with the version that Ralph told in his book, since
this old man was of Persian origin and called himself "Bishop
Masananda" (curious title for a Buddhist) of the "Church of
Dharma" (curious name for a Buddhist institution).
This
eccentric old man said that he acted as "The Great Hierophant for the
Western World of the Great White Brotherhood of Tibet" (which sounds
strongly to charlatanism) and also called himself Sri ELMM Kahn; that is how he
signed the letters and documents he emitted.
The fact is
that on August 17, 1920, the "Bishop Masananda of the Dharma Church"
ordained Spencer Lewis as "priest" of this church, to whom he
conferred the mystic name of "Sri Sobhita Bhikku".
And to
immortalize the event, a certificate was issued which we reproduce below:
The text
says the following:
G∴ W∴ B∴ L∴
These are the initials of Great White
Brotherhood Lodge
Salutations
In the name of KAR-GYA-PA, the Venerable founder of
the G∴ W∴ B∴ L∴ in the sacred mountains of Tibet,
and in the name of his apostolic successors as Narpa, Mila-Ba-Pa, Om- Rah-Mah,
Kar-Ma-Baksri, Kar-Ma-Pa etc.
Then follows a text in Hebrew
Then say
By this proclamation be it known
that in accordance with the instructions, decrees, powers and mandamuses of the
venerable G∴ W∴ B∴ L∴ whose secret sign and name are
revealed in this document, and vested with the right, the authority and sole
permission to act as Prelate, Master and Secret Chief for the Western World,
the undersigned Messenger of Light, and we who have signed and sealed this document,
institute and establish in the Occident of the world
for and during the Aquarian cycle, the Occidental section of the Great White
Brotherhood Lodge, to be and to continue to be an active body with all of the
privileges as of the Oriental section, to accept and admit members who have
been duly tried through the grades of the recognized and approved Order, to
confer upon them the rights and powers of the G∴ W∴ B∴ L∴, and to affiliate them with the Oriental section of the G∴ W∴ B∴ L∴
And this document also proclaims the
nomination of the beloved and respected Reverend Sobhita Bhikku, ordained by me
on August 17, 1920, in California, USA, known to the world as Harver Spencer
Lewis, Ph. Dr. who is also certified and honored by the Indian Academy of
Sciences, India, as our successor in the role of Prelate and Secret Head of the
G∴ W∴ B∴ L∴ according to the Apostolic
Succession, upon the death of the undersigned.
Signatures
Dated:
October 20, 1920 AD 2508 AB 3273 RC in San Francisco, California, USA.
Witnesses:
Maud Moore, Willard Moore, Columba H. Reisener.
_ _ _
This
document was first published in September 1933 in AMORC's Rosecrucian Digest magazine (p.317) and it is considered one of the
five important documents that support the authenticity of Spencer Lewis,
however a simple analysis casts seriously doubt on its legitimacy.
The first
thing we can notice is that the charter was issued on October 20,
1920, three days after Lewis' "ordination as a Buddhist priest."
Why it was not published the same day?
Everything
suggests that it was a later initiative made by Lewis that should serve as
recognition and honor for subsequent propaganda activities.
Secondly, this
"charter of the Great White Lodge of Tibet" is in English and there
is not a single symbol or letter in Tibetan in it, which makes no sense if it
was supposedly issued by great Masters of Tibet.
And not only
does it not have anything in Tibetan, but it also has a series of inscriptions
in Hebrew, which makes these "Tibetans" who do not put a single
Tibetan word in an official Tibetan document, instead they are knowledgeable in
Hebrew.
And they
loved to write in Hebrew since inside the six pointed star which appears in the
lower left margin, there is also a series of Hebrew letters.
It would
have been better for Lewis and his old friend to pretend that this chart had
been issued by a Lodge of Kabalistic Masters because that would have made their
deception more credible.
In addition,
a cross with a serpent appears above the document, which is a European
alchemical symbol but has never been used in Tibet.
In the
central seal located in the middle of the letters G ∴ W ∴ B ∴ L ∴ there is a cross that is a
Christian symbol but it is not Tibetan at all.
In the
center there is an Ankh which is an Egyptian symbol which has never been used in
any of the Tibetan writings.
The document
talks a lot about “apostolic succession”, which is a Christian term, not a
Tibetan one, but let's see what Madame Blavatsky who was in contact with the
Masters of Tibet, says about this matter:
-
"The apostolic succession is a fraud" (Isis Unveiled II,
p.544)
We have to
ask ourselves why those "Tibetan Masters of the Great White Lodge of
Tibet" who are the highest spiritual intelligences of humanity, make a document
with a jumble of symbols and without not a single Tibetan letter or symbol, but
instead they put a lot of Hebrew letters and the text is in perfect English ???
All this sounds
like fraud. It seems that Lewis put these symbols simply to impress his
followers, and his fraudulence is accentuated by delusion of grandeur since
there the "Adepts of the White Lodge name Lewis: heir Prelate and Secret
Chief."
But not so
secret since his new titles were quickly revealed in AMORC so that people would
know that Lewis was the "Venerable representative of the Great White
Brotherhood."
* * *
But now
let's see what Spencer Lewis said about the Great White Lodge in his Rosicrucian Manual, because this will
allow us to see what extent Lewis was able to distort his own teachings when it
suited him.
« You will realize, of course, that
the Great White Brotherhood and the Great White Lodge have no visible
organization. They never come together in one united session; their members are
never assembled in any one meeting; they have no Temple known by their names;
and they have no earthly rituals, physical organization laws, or material form
as a Brotherhood or Lodge. »
(p.144,
1932)
And as you
yourself can see, Spencer Lewis with this diploma is contradicting what he
himself wrote, since if there are no meeting centers, ceremonies, temples, etc.
What is this "Charter of
the Great White Lodge" and what real value does it have if it
contradicts what Lewis himself claimed to teach?
The fact is
that this disjointed matter and this very strange document, one more of Lewis's
montages that like many other things he used very recklessly because he had an
unbridled fantasy, caused a serious incident among the European members of the
Masonic rite Memphis-Misraim.
This happened
when a Masonic group of them, led by Arthur Rombaud and the Belgian lawyer,
Jean Mallinguer, split from the French matrix of the Masonic Rite of Memphis
Misraim, led by Grand Master Constant Chevillon, as Lewis intervened in the
matter, who said that by virtue of the "powers conferred by the Charter of
the Great White Lodge of Tibet", he recognized this split.
But later
when Brother Arthur Rombaud learned what that "charter" was, he felt
so ashamed that he resigned from his position as Grand Master of Memphis
Misraim and withdrew from all esoteric associative activity.
~ * ~
And this is one more example of the enormous
charlatanism of Spencer Lewis.
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