AMORC
Initiation Ritual for Plane 1

1980s

Salutes in omnibus punctis trianguli!
Beloved Members of the Esoteric Hierarchy:
This, the Sanctum Initiation preceding Plane IV, is intended to set the mood, to provide a symbolic and mystical atmosphere for the subjects, teachings, and purposes of this degree. It is therefore advisable that every Hierarchy member make a sincere effort to perform this simple ceremony. However, if circumstances make it impossible for you to do so, then at least proceed with the monographs of Plane IV as they are extended to you.
 
 
Appurtenances:
 
The following simple things are needed in advance of the Sanctum rituals:
A. Three white candles with holders (to be lighted when directed)
B. Matches to be placed with the candles
C. Incense and incense burner
D. Candle snuffer (if you have one)
E. Rosicrucian sanctum apron (if you do not have one, proceed anyway)
 
 
Sanctum Arrangement:

A. The three candles are to be arranged-unlighted-in the form of a triangle on a table or shelf, or whatever serves as your sanctum altar. One point of the triangular arrangement of the candles is to be toward yourself.
B. In the center, between the candles, place your sanctum incense holder. Ignite the incense before proceeding with the ritual.
C. The lights in your sanctum should be subdued--possibly with only a shaded light near your sanctum altar and by a chair where you are later to be seated.
D. Hereafter in the ceremony (the ritual) you will be referred to as the Supplicant. In this sense the word means one who is seeking further light; that is, understanding and unfoldment both psychically and intellectually.
The term "Master" refers to your Class Master as though he were personally and vocally addressing you.
 
 
Mystical Ceremony
 
SUPPLICANT: (Be seated with the apron on your person and proceed to read.)
MASTER: Of what does man's existence consist? It is on the screen of his consciousness that there is mirrored all that man perceives as reality. It is in his consciousness, too, with the guidance of his instincts, intuition, and reason that this reality of his existence receives identity. He confers upon it a distinction, a meaning, to himself.
Man's world then is not one but several. Each of the worlds he experiences or conceives to exist has a definite relationship to his personal life as his thoughts, ideals, and activity.
Man lives in a physical body in one world, but in his mind and thought he lives in other worlds. They are equally important not only to his physical well-being but also to that euphoria, that sublime state known as Peace Profound.
These three worlds must be interrelated harmoniously if man is to know happiness in all of its potentialities.
MASTER CONTINUES: Beloved Supplicant, arise and approach thy sanctum altar that these truths may be symbolically revealed to you.
SUPPLICANT: (Rise, take these instruction sheets with you, and walk to your sanctum altar.)
MASTER: Beloved Supplicant, ignite the flambeau (candle ) to thy left.
SUPPLICANT: (Light the candle farthest from you, to your left. Now, continue to read the Master's remarks while facing the light ed candle.)
MASTER CONTINUES: Thou, Supplicant, as all men, art aware of thine finite being. Thou art a minuscule of material particles infused with an infinite cosmic energy.
Thou art also, as all men, conscious of a majestic reality that far transcends thine own being. It is the Cosmos, the macrocosm, the greater universe of which thou art the microcosm, the lesser universe. Thou and all things perceived and unperceived by thee art the manifestations of this Cosmos.
Gaze, Supplicant, upon the light of the flambeau. It symbolizes another world which has affinity with thy being. Meditate upon thy relationship to this infinite source from which the known descends and of which, as yet, a vast unknown awaits being revealed to the mind of man.
SUPPLICANT: (You will now lay down the papers and take the ritualistic posture of "Forming a Lodge." This is done by placing the left hand over your heart and your right hand over the left. Then, for the next two or three minutes, think of this macrocosm of galaxies, of universes, of solar systems, of great stars, and so on, and of a scale of energies which compose all the phenomena man knows in and about him and much of which he is as yet ignorant. Give thought to the nature of this greater world of which you are only partly conscious. Think of gods, of minds, of powers, of all those things that humans have attributed to it in their attempt to penetrate the veil of mystery which surrounds it.)
MASTER: Beloved Supplicant, now light the second flambeau.
SUPPLICANT: (Light the candle immediately before you. Then continue to read the Master's remarks while facing the candle.)
MASTER: Beloved Supplicant, what is man? Was he spontaneously created as a unique creature? Was he a special design in the mind of a Divine Being? Or was he an orderly development of the cosmic phenomena of life as are other living things? Is man's self-realization the consequence of an infinite intelligence that is related to the natural processes by which his body as an organism functions? Is the self-consciousness a soul quality which all things possess but, in that order of organic development which is man, is experienced alone by him?
Man categorically has defined his entity as body, mind, and soul. Are these separate qualities or are they interrelated elements of a single being? These things, Beloved Supplicant, are the so-called mysteries of the second world of human existence, the world of self. It is the 'I am that I am.' Gaze, Supplicant, upon the light of the second flambeau and meditate on this second world of thine own existence.
SUPPLICANT: (Resume your former posture of forming a Lodge and meditate upon the questions propounded as you gaze upon this candle. After a few minutes, resume reading.)
MASTER: Beloved Supplicant, ignite the third flambeau, the one to thy right.
SUPPLICANT: (Light the candle as directed and then continue to read the Master's remarks.)
MASTER: Beloved Supplicant, man is a coordinator, not a creator. Whatever man manifests is composed of elements that are of cosmic forces and substances. But man may direct, control, combine, and synthesize cosmic and natural forces to bring forth new forms or expressions of reality. Although man is a product of two worlds, the third can be one greatly of his own choice. With the world of the Cosmos and the world of self, man can produce an environment and society which may fulfill his highest aspirations.
To accomplish this the conditions and powers of the other two worlds must be applied harmoniously, to the full extent of human comprehension, to the world of material reality and objectivity.
SUPPLICANT: (This third candle symbolizes the everyday world, the environment in which you are placed. How much of the other two worlds have you related to this third world? Is there an interplay between them? Have you given yourself more emotionally or intellectually to one of the three worlds than to the others?)
MASTER: (Now again lay down the manuscript and assume the former ceremonial posture and gaze in meditation upon this candle. Then after three minutes, resume reading the Master's remarks.) Beloved Supplicant, extinguish the flambeau to thy left.
SUPPLICANT: (Extinguish the candle by snuffing--do not blow it out.)
MASTER: The light of the Cosmos--which this flambeau symbolized --its powers and forces, its universal consciousness ever flows through thee. It is not separated from thee.
Be ever aware of this truth.
Beloved Supplicant, now extinguish the second flambeau, the one to thy right.
SUPPLICANT: (Extinguish the candle.)
MASTER: The light of the material world which this flambeau symbolized, its reality and phenomena, are also part of thee. Thou art both dependent upon and independent of them.
Thou canst not remain a mortal without material, physical dependence on the natural world. Yet, it is also incumbent upon thee to freely direct the manifestations of this natural world as you understand them so as to favor the other two worlds, the Cosmos and the self.
MASTER CONTINUES: Before thee there is now but one flambeau shining forth. It depicts thee, thy self. In it are embodied the other two worlds, the Cosmos and the natural world of matter. They are part of thy substance and thy consciousness.
As this single flambeau symbolizes the whole thee in harmonious unity, so may you come to understand this relationship fully and Peace Profound be thine.
SUPPLICANT: (Now be seated to meditate upon the ritual and its significance. Reread any section of it that you may desire.)
Your report on this ritual will be appreciated.
Sincerely and fraternally,
YOUR CLASS MASTER