Editorial Page

Welcome to Volume 16 of the Rose+Croix Journal!

We are pleased to present the latest papers accepted for publication in the Rose+Croix Journal, an international, transdisciplinary, peer-reviewed online journal that focuses on topics that relate to the sciences, the arts, history, mysticism, and spirituality, especially transdisciplinary topics that traverse and lie beyond the limits of various fields of study. Since its founding in 2004, the Journal has provided readers and researchers with materials that enlighten, educate, challenge, and inspire.

Over the years, many individuals worldwide have contributed to the success of this journal, including our authors, peer reviewers, editors, translators, proofreaders, and most importantly, every reader of the Rose+Croix Journal. Thank you all so much for your participation!

This issue features the following papers:

“Online Transpersonal Meditation as a Method for Confronting the Pandemic: Traditional Knowledge in Dialogue with Psychology” by Luiz Eduardo V. Berni, PhD

“Reckoning the Number of the Beast – A New Approach” by Pedro Carvajal, PhD

“Provençal Troubadours, the Love of Beauty that Exalts the Poet, and the Wandering Arabic Minstrels of Islamic Spain” by Christopher Eriksson, PhD

“Carpocratian Philosophical Magic” by Gerhard Lechner, PhD

“Parallels among the Carpocratians and Ebionites and the Works of Sebastian Franck” by Gerhard Lechner, PhD

“Mystical Astrology Behind Self-Mastery and Fate with the Cycles of Life” by Anne Nordhaus-Bike, AB

Since the publication of our last volume, many of you have experienced the challenges that the year 2021 and the first months of 2022 have brought. We are hopeful that the papers in this current volume will inspire you to contemplate new subjects and to appreciate their mystical import.

Four of our papers feature international authors who examine aspects of the mystical life: from Brazil, Luiz Berni discusses the efficacy of meditation and examines the effects on participants in an online environment during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021; from Spain, Pedro Carvajal offers a new approach to interpreting the Number of the Beast and also references the book Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the 16^th and 17^th Centuries; finally, from Austria, Gerhard Lechner has two papers that focus on the philosophy of the Carpocratians, a second-century CE Christian Gnostic sect whose interpretation of the Christ Consciousness as accessible to all through inner work aligns with the writings of later mystics. We are also pleased to offer Christopher Eriksson’s paper on the mystical aspects of the Provençal Troubadour and Arabic minstrel traditions as well as a paper by Anne Nordhaus-Bike that explores Harvey Spencer Lewis’s connection to astrology, particularly in reference to his popular book Self-Mastery and Fate with the Cycles of Life.

All of these papers successfully explore various subject areas as well as transdisciplinary topics and expand our understanding of the natural laws around us. The abstracts for each of the papers are published in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Also included on the Journal’s website are tools for dissertation searches, research links, archival documents of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, and guidelines for submitting a paper. The submission deadline for the Rose+Croix Journal is May 15 for the following year’s annual issue; however, authors are encouraged to submit their papers for the peer-review process as soon as they are ready. Both Rosicrucian members and non-members are invited to submit papers for consideration.

If you would like to join our team of volunteers working on the Rose+Croix Journal, please let us know by emailing Grand Master Julie Scott at editor@rosicrucian.org. All areas and levels of expertise are welcome.

Again, thank you for reading the Rose+Croix Journal – enjoy!

Sincerely, 

Claudio Mazzucco
Executive Editor