THE DOOR

SORONA

During the period Dowd was in training, but enrolled somewhat later than Dowd himself, Mrs. Dowd also was under instruction. Randolph at once recognized her as ideally qualified to become a teacher and guide, and when she attained to the Philosophic Initiation of Rose Cross and received the Hierarchic name Sorona, Randolph accredited her as teacher and guide to succeed Her who is Nameless. She continued as such until both Dowd and she resigned in 1907.

The men who served under Dowd as members of the Great Council of Three, are here mentioned in the proper rotation that there may be a complete record of succession. Of some of these much is known because of their writings; of others little because they preferred to remain unknown, or as Inconnu.

JOHN C. STREET

John C. Street, Author and Physician, is another of those who belong to the Inconnu, or unknown to all but those of the inner Sanctuary.

He was well known as a physician in both Boston, Mass., and Brooklyn, N. Y., but all the knowledge Neophytes had of him, with the exception of the very few who had received a special introduction to him, was the Dedication in his monumental work, The Hidden Way Across the Threshold, published in 1888. That the links in the chain of succession may be unbroken, this is given herein:

To
“The Count A. de G. (Guinotti),
“Hierarch of the Order
“S. S. S.

“Italian by birth, yet with a warm love for the whole world; whose hand is always open to the poor and the afflicted; whose generous, true heart is continually pulsating to uplift the world.

“To him whose tender affection is like a mother’s solicitude; whose brave, strong heart is like a father’s right arm; to him who infuses into every circle a childlike purity and perfect peace; to him who lives, ever striving to show mankind the way to triumph in death as in life; to him who touches nothing which he does not adorn; to him whose noble contour of face and majesty of form are only excelled by the exalted, loving Soul within, this book is dedicated and affectionately inscribed, as a feeble testimonial of sincere gratitude for his great patience and deep and tender sympathy bestowed on his dutiful student through the years of our wanderings (study and training).”

Like Tyner, Street’s fundamental inculcations were based on John’s statement:

“Ye must be born again.”

“The Temple of God is within man, therefore, individuals being so different, no man or state can dictate to another the road to Immortality [the ‘Freedom of Religion’ platform of our Constitution]. The Temple of God within is NOT a doctrine, but the Life of a Doctrine. Law and Order are always necessary, Order Being Heaven’s First Law. Were this beautiful and simple diction in force, free from the blighting influence of modern ecclesiasticism, how much wider would the gates of Spiritual Truth, and how full to overflowing would have been the Temple Within with seekers of the heavenly Light.

“Church of the Temple Within. Church of the Divine Fragments! Your children stand at your doors and knock, stand knocking far into the night, waiting to be admitted. When once the doors are opened, with pure and contrite hearts, bringing to you their offerings of Love—the universal Love which makes the spirit bright.”

The Light of the School of the Prophets,
The Order of the Illuminati, S. S. S.

Dr. Street remained a member of the Council of Three until called into the Beyond.

JAMES R. PHELPS

James R. Phelps, Physician, Linguist, Musician, Hierophant of the Illuminati, Philosophic Initiate, Member of the Council of Three of the Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis, co-instructor and guide with Sorona, was born November 16, 1837. He first studied music and became a master organist; took up the study of philosophy and comparative religions, became master of many languages that his research might be thorough, and finally, became an Acolyte in the great inner sanctuary of the Fraternitas. He was accepted by the Hierophant Guinotti, who selected Dr. Main of the Quaker community of Canterbury, England, as his master and guide.

Dr. Phelps, even more so than John Heaney, Street and others, was a true Inconnu. He firmly believed in the injunction, “Learn to know all things, yet thyself remain unknown,” and he believed in “living in the Light behind the Shadow,” seldom permitting his left hand to know what his right hand was doing.

He wrote but little, (1) then only as an individual, devoting his time and energy to his music, his profession and to instructing and guiding those committed into his care. In a personal chat he told us during a rare interview with him, that he sought to follow Old Paul, who worked at tent-making, while writing and teaching some of his disciples his deepest philosophy; that his own master-teacher developed himself while toiling among his Shaker neighbors in Canterbury; that there is a well there drilled through solid rock, and as he hammered his drill he meditated and pondered; that St. John wrote the Apocalypse in a dark, dank dungeon, below the level of the Mediterranean sea, in the Island of Patmos; that Jacob Boehme worked at cobbling while writing his inspired works, and John Bunyan wrote the Pilgrim’s Progress in Bedford jail; (2) to keep firmly in mind the fact that slavery is only of the body; that vision is more clear, the horizon farther reaching, and the windows large for those who look beyond the mere self and its temporary restrictions.

After the passing of John Heaney, the “Door” first selected by Dowd when he took his seat as Supreme Grand Master, Dr. Phelps was inducted into that highly honorable position. Dr. Phelps himself was the first to question his own fitness, and a member of the Council was requested to relay these doubts to his sponsor, Count A. de Guinotti. The reply written by one of the European Council, is in the Archives of the Fraternitas.

“When Dr. Phelps affiliated with the Ordre Illuminate of which Count A. de Guinotti (the Heliobas of Marie Corelli’s Romance of Two Worlds) was the Hierophant, Dr. Phelps questioned his fitness and ability to take any prominent position in its activities, but de Guinotti knew him better than he knew, himself and he was assigned to the care of the back door, to take charge of those who, fainting by the way, or discouraged by the apparent obstacles in the way, were given up in despair. We called him……….., or ‘the Keeper of the Back Door.’ He soon learned that there was but one door of The Temple, and that the entrance and exit were the same. Our Master said, ‘I am the door, by me if any man enter in he shall be safe, and go in and go out, and he shall find pasture.’(3) ”

To gain even a faint knowledge of Dr. Phelps, it is necessary to be personal. When I was informed that I (Dr. R. S. Clymer) had been accepted as of the first degree, November 1899, I, like many others, was somewhat timid in my approach, and so wrote to Dr. Phelps. In reply I received a letter which I have always kept as one does a most precious jewel:

“. . . now, my dear Brother,—divest yourself of any idea that you may have that my position confers on me any superiority over you. That is the rock on which many a pseudo-teacher has gone to pieces. ‘Call no man your Master on earth, for One is your Master, The Christ, and all ye are brethren.’

“And with this preface, I bid you welcome to the Temple of the Rosy Cross, where everything that you can Will to make your own, is yours by right of heritage and adoption.

“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and its justice, and all these things shall be added unto you; That is the primary thing. To have the attention diverted from this spiritual energy which flows downward and outward from The Source of All Life, to the attainment of phenomenal control over Nature’s finer forces(4), always ends in disappointment or disaster. The exercises which unInitiated Occult teachers set their students at, tend to open doors in the psychic plane, through which astral influences,—of which the student cannot understand the quality,—may enter and work havoc. The All-Wise Creator understood what He was doing when He closed up that plane of the mind and Soul,—or, in the words of Genesis 1:6-7, I translate literally:

“And said The Elohim, let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it be divided between waters to waters. And made The Elohim the expanse [dividing chasm], and divided between the waters which are from beneath to the expanse and between the waters that are from above to the expanse, and it was so, and called The Elohim to the expanse, Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, day second.

“Note here that God did not pronounce this work of the second day good, as He called the other days. The separation of the spiritual plane of the mind had become a necessity [“the earth, she became emptiness and voidness, and darkness became upon the face of the abyss”]. As a result of this divorcement of what should be,—and was, One,—man began to think and reason from externals, until the Divine Life and Energy working through him became more and more obscured and he began to doubt and deny the existence of God, and then in his need of something beyond and superior to himself, he made unto himself gods, in the likeness of himself [instead, as he should, rebuilding, i.e., REgenerating, himself in the likeness of God]. Think this over carefully, for, it is the key to the mystery of John’s wonderful assertion, which, in a way marks the reaction which resulted in The Incarnation,—the revelation of a God of Love, and a manifestation of The Way, The Truth, The Life, not as a personal Savior through material sacrifice, but as an immaculate, essential Christ.

“This is the basic foundation of the Rosy Cross,—the Divine Life within, out of which flows power and control of all created things. This life is Love in all its various manifestations, for the motto of the Rosy Cross is, Love lieth at the foundation.—I John IV.

“It comes now to me that I have written enough for this time. Ask freely all the explanations you desire. I would like to have you read The Romance of Two Worlds, and Ardath, by Marie Corelli. You will find helpful hints in these two books. Much of modern pretended occult literature is hysterical,—anything but restful.

“Take your own time to think out what I have written. Its application and relations to the things of this material life will probably be the subject of my next letter.

“Lovingly, Thy Brother,
[Initiate signature].”

Such was the guide and instructor selected by the Supreme Grand Master Dowd to be Dr. R. Swinburne Clymer’s guide and instructor.

Dr. Phelps continued a member of the Council of Three and was faithful to his trust until his passing on March 16, 1912.

ALEXANDER WILDER

Alexander Wilder, Physician, Journalist, Philosopher, Writer, Medical iconoclast, neo-Platonist, friend of man, Philosophic Initiate and Member of the Council of Three, was born in Verona, New York, May 14,1823. He was the son of Abel and Asenath [Smith] Wilder. Both parents were old American stock, the Wilder ancestry going back to Thomas Wilder who came from England to Massachusetts Bay in 1640, and, imbued with the almost fanatical belief in the right of man to freedom, both religious and civil, conveyed this idea and desire to his son.

Wilder was brought up on his father’s farm, was educated in the common school and himself became a country school teacher at the boyhood age of fifteen. That period between about 1810 and 1850, may well be called the age of light. Between these years, such men were born as Hitchcock, Randolph, Wilder, Lippard, Lincoln, Dowd and others in America, while Europe had a counterpart in Levi and others, all of whom were Immortalized in the thought of Liberty, Light and Immortality for men. Before Wilder had reached the age of twenty he had become acquainted with the Hermetic Initiate, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, then Commandant of the Cadets at West Point, and became thoroughly imbued in the Arcane. In 1846, when but twenty-three, he published his first treatise, a pamphlet entitled The Secret Immortality Revealed, Mystical in nature and showing the tendency of his nature. His progress in the Arcane was rapid and he prepared himself for the work he contemplated doing, a work to free men from the many forms of slavery which permitted man little choice of action, even as it concerned his own person. For a time Wilder supported himself by farming, teaching and typesetting. During this period he also taught himself Latin, Greek and Hebrew so well that in later years he was recognized as a finished scholar in these languages.

To his studies of Alchemical writings he added those of neo-Platonism in which in later years he was accepted as an authority.

As an Initiate of the Arcane, a Light as from heaven—possibly the same Light that descended upon Paracelsus—came upon him, and pointed out to him that the person of man, created in the image of god, by god, was Holy and Sacred and should not be either defiled or polluted; that the practice in medicine of attempting to prevent or cure diseases by means of injecting or transmitting vile animal serums was wholly against the Divine Law and, man being a free agent, should not only protest against it, but be willing to give his life in defense of his person against such pollution.

This was, of course, fully in harmony with the teachings of all who had followed the Biblical injunction “to seek the kingdom of heaven” and “become the Sons of God,” free from all evil, though few had gone as far as Wilder in accepting this dictate as an absolute Law to be obeyed though it meant revilement and imprisonment.

In order to be free from such pollution and independent of doctors in matters of health, he, under the guidance of a local physician, took up the study of medicine and became so engrossed in it that he pursued it whole-heartedly and whole-Soul-ed-ly, as he did all things in which he was interested, and, having finished this study under proper guidance and instruction, was granted a degree by the Syracuse Medical College in 1850. After graduation, and in order to be more fully prepared for the work he intended to do, he both studied and lectured on Anatomy and Chemistry in that College.

While in Syracuse he became acquainted with young Randolph and was introduced into as much of the Asian [Ansaireh] Mystery as was then known to Randolph. This acquaintance and further study under Randolph later, bore fruit in the work he did in editing Ancient Symbol Worship; Serpent and Siva Worship; The Origin of Serpent Worship, and The Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries.

In 1852 he became assistant editor of the Syracuse Star and later was on the staff of the Syracuse Journal. In all of this he was following a carefully outlined plan as will be seen later. In 1854 he was appointed clerk in the newly created state department of public instruction and for some time he edited the College Review and the New York Teacher. In 1857 he moved to New York City, where for thirteen years he held a position on the editorial staff of The New York Evening Post. All this time he was engaged in research in the Arcane on the one hand, and practice of its teachings on the other, no other Neophyte ever holding himself to as strict a regime as did this man who believed in thorough preparation. In 1869 he published New Platonism and Alchemy, a right-from-the-heart biographical and expository study of the Neo-Platonists. He was now recognized as an authority on the subject.

He now felt ready and sufficiently strong to engage in a crusade he felt called upon by God. The Light had shown him prior to 1848, that it was unholy to desecrate the body by the use of animal products such as pus used in vaccination, and he started on his mission by founding the County Botanical Medical Society, and in 1869 he became president of the New York State Eclectic Medical Society, a branch of the National Eclectic Society formed to promote botanic [Nature’s] medicine. He founded and was president of the Eclectic Medical College of New York from 1867 to 1877.

During the period between i86o and 1878 he was engaged in a bitter fight against compulsory vaccination, called by him “animal pollution,” evil if man accepted it of his own free will, but unbearable when enforced. At times the fight waxed so bitter that partisans of the practice waited for him when he tried to leave his home and stoned him. Nevertheless, having both political and organization ability, he employed both in his fight—His heart and soul (not mere belief) being in it. His reputation was such in finances (though not possessed of money or property) and in political science, while on the Staff of The Evening Post, that he was elected an Alderman of New York in 1871 on an anti-Tweed ticket.

Despite the efforts of his most bitter enemies, Wilder succeeded in his crusade for the physical freedom of man against the invasion of his sacred blood. He held high positions in the field of education. For a long time he even held an appointment in Newark as Inspector of Education, until late in life.

In 1873, Wilder published Our Darwinian Cousins.
Ancient Symbol Worship, was edited in 1875.
Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries, was edited in 1875.
Serpent and Siva Worship, was edited in 1877.
A monumental work, A History of Medicine, was published in 1901.
A translation of The Theurgia of Iamblichos by Wilder, 1911.

Wilder translated many of the writings of Paracelsus, Levi and the Alchemists for us. His translations were sympathetic and understanding because he thoroughly understood the Arcane and the jargon, of the authors, and was wholly free from bias or personal feeling.

Alexander Wilder was one of the most modest men that ever lived; a man who effaced himself in his work; sought neither glory nor position, unless it could help him in his work, and he risked his own liberty and life that others might be free.

Wilder became a member of the Council of Seven under Randolph, continued such under Dowd, and became a member of the Council of Three under our tenure of office in 1907, our last meeting with him was in the summer of 1908. He passed into the Light he had so faithfully served, September 18, 1908.

PAUL TYNER

Paul Tyner was born March 7, 1860, in the city of Cork, Ireland. His mother was of an old family, the Sarfields, celebrated by Macaulay in his account of the conflict in Ireland between the Stuart forces and those under William of Orange. His father was the representative of a London publishing house.

Tyner was brought to America at the age of four, educated in the public schools of Albany, N.Y., afterwards taking Law in the Columbia College, New York City, exchanging Law for journalism at the age of twenty, at which time he joined the staff of The New York World. In 1887, Tyner went to Central America and engaged in mining. After a year in Honduras he went to Costa Rica, where he published a daily paper, called El Comercio, an English-Spanish paper. After six months of this, Tyner returned to New York and it was at this time that, as a result of studying Dr. J. C. Street’s Hidden Way Across the Threshold he became interested in the Arcane.

In his desire to contact the Fraternity, he visited Boston and sought out Dr. Street. Dr. Street was not an accredited instructor, but was an accepted author. Dr. Street gave Tyner an introduction to Dowd and he was enrolled, Sorona being selected as his instructor and guide. Tyner was of a nature readily able to concentrate on any one subject and by 1895 had attained to Philosophic Initiation, and a year later became a member of the Council of Three.

Tyner became an enthusiastic worker in the field of the Rosy Cross. His first work was The Living Christ, an Exposition of the Immortality of Man in Soul and Body. As a theme for this work he took Ruskin’s Immortal words:

“The direct manifestation of Deity to Man is Deity’s own image in Man .... We are not made now in any other image than God’s. There are, indeed, the two states of this image—the earthly and the heavenly, but both Adamite, both human, both the same likeness; one defiled and one pure. The Soul of man is a mirror, wherein may be seen, darkly, the image of the mind of God. These may seem daring words. I am sorry that they do; but I am helpless to soften them. Discover any other meaning in the text, if you are able . . . . The flesh-bound volume is the only revelation that is, that was, or that can be. In that is the image of God painted; in that is the Law of God written; in that is the promise of God revealed. Know thyself; for through thyself only canst thou know God.”

His other work; Through the Invisible, a story of Initiation through love, after the theme of Eulis, must be esoterically understood.

For a time Tyner lived in Denver, Colorado. Here he published The Temple, a magazine devoted to Higher Human Culture and metaphysics. This was issued by the Temple Publishing Company. In addition to teaching and writing, he established and conducted the Church of the Risen Christ.

In later years Tyner resided in New York City and conducted lectures. When he was sent on a mission to Europe, he predicted that he would never return, but pass into the Unknown unknown. He remained a member of the Council of Three until the end of life.

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