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MASTERS HONOR SPENCER LEWIS


 
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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