AMORC

AMORC (standing for, among others, the Ancient Mystical Order of the Rosy Cross, Antiquus Mysticusque Ordo Rosae Crucis or the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis) is a Rosicrucian organization founded by Harvey Spencer Lewis in the United States in 1915. It has lodges, chapters and other affiliated bodies in several countries. It operates as a fraternal order in the mystical Western Esoteric Tradition. There are 12 grand lodges that represent the geographical regions and languages in which AMORC operates, including English, French, and German grand lodges. It is the largest Rosicrucian order.

The order is led by the Supreme Grand Lodge, led by the leaders of the grand lodges. The head of the order as a whole is the Grand Imperator, or Imperator. Since 2019 Claudio Mazzucco occupies the office. They operate two periodicals, the Rosicrucian Digest, and a members' only periodical, the Rosicrucian Forum. Their headquarters are located in San Jose, California. At Rosicrucian Park in San Jose they operate the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, a planetarium, and a temple. The park is a local tourist attraction.

Harvey Spencer Lewis founded the Rosicrucian Research Society in 1904. Lewis was an advertising agent and occultist who had affiliated with several other orders.

He either founded AMORC or changed the name of the Rosicrucian Research Society to AMORC after a trip to France, claiming that he had been initiated into Rosicrucianism there in an "old tower" in Toulouse. He presented this as a revival of the original, partially mythical and ancient Rosicrucian Order. The Ancient Mystical Order of the Rosy Cross (AMORC) was founded in 1915. Lewis was the first Imperator, or leader, of the group.

The group later moved to San Francisco, Tampa, and in 1928 finally moved to San Jose, where their headquarters remain. The group was successful in the US and grew rapidly, leading to conflict with other Rosicrucian orders. Older Rosicrucian orders, particularly the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis, said they were not truly Rosicrucian. Lewis then accused the FRC's leader, R. Swinburne Clymer, an alternative medicine practitioner, of receiving his MD from a diploma mill. This exchange resulted in a decades long feud involving several Rosicrucian orders. With its creation came public meetings and a sizable publicity campaign. As a result, AMORC is the most publicly well known Rosicrucian order.

Several branches in Europe were founded, which were mostly independent from the main branch of AMORC. Several of these groups would later splinter off into their own organizations, but Lewis kept the significant French branch of AMORC tied to the parent by collaborating with its leader Jeanne Guesdon. A Danish Grand Lodge was established in 1920, the organization's first presence in Scandinavia. Lewis died in 1939. Lewis was succeeded by his son, Ralph Maxwell Lewis.

AMORC was extremely successful in Francophone countries; as a result, in the 1970s, AMORC made an effort to centralize control over Francophone esotericism generally, creating their own orders for specific kinds of esotericism. At this time, Raymond Bernard was the leader of Francophone AMORC, making him the second highest ranking person in the organization's entire hierarchy. Bernard decided that controlling a parallel neo-Templar order to AMORC would help keep AMORC members also desiring Templar initiation within the milieu of the organization. In October 1970, Bernard incorporated the neo-Templar Renewed Order of the Temple (French: Ordre rénové du Temple, ORT) as an association at the suggestion of Julien Origas. AMORC also created an AMORC-tied Martinist order.

It utilized a double structure, where Bernard was the secret grand master and real leader, but with Origas as the formal president of the organization. This was done in order to keep the ORT subservient but also separate from AMORC, a structure which was accepted by Ralph Lewis in October 1972. They were endorsed in AMORC's official bulletin in 1970, who said they were the only legitimate Templar group. Lewis grew concerned over the ORT's increasing success negatively impacting AMORC's international performance, and Bernard left as a result. Origas succeeded him as leader. After he left, Bernard began discouraging AMORC members from joining the ORT. Origas later entirely split from AMORC.