Cosmic Mission Fulfilled

COSMIC MISSION FULFILLED By RALPH M. LEWIS, F.R.C. © 1966, 1994 and 2015 Supreme Grand Lodge Of The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis. All Rights Reserved. This publication is for your personal, private use only, and may not be used for any commercial purpose. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, displayed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express and prior written permission of Supreme Grand Lodge Of The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews. For permission requests, please contact: Supreme Grand Lodge Of The Ancient And Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, Inc., Rosicrucian Park, 1342 Naglee Ave, San Jose, California 95191. The information in this book is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranty. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor the publisher shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. — 2 — Harvey Spencer Lewis, First Imperator of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, for its second cycle of activity in America; author, lecturer, artist, world traveler, and mystic philosopher. — 3 — DEDICATION TO MEMBERS OF AMORC THROUGHOUT THE WORLD Whose loyalty, devotion, and support made it possible for Harvey Spencer Lewis to achieve many of his ideals for the Order which was inseparable from his life. R.M.L. — 4 — ACKNOWLEDGMENT I am greatly indebted to members of the family, members of AMORC, and those employees of the Order who have known Harvey Spencer Lewis personally and who have been able to contribute anecdotes that heighten the intimate portrait of the man. I was also aided by and do appreciate the excellent typing of the manuscript by Ruth Ford and Josephine Curtiss. The careful editing of the manuscript is the result of the perseverance and labor of .Ruth Phelps, and the suggestions she made were all most worthy of note. Ralph M. Lewis February 1966 — 5 — CONTENTS Introduction I. A Day in May II. The Formative Years III. The Awakening IV. Youth at the Crossroads V. A Mind in the Making VI. The Quest VII. The Mystic City VIII. The Obscure Night IX. The Second Club X. Crucible of Experience XI. Days of Turbulence XII. Westward Journey XIII. The Facets of a Personality XIV. A Period of Vital Decisions XV. The Southern Sojourn XVI. An Experience Relived XVII. Genius and Jeopardy XVIII. Behind the Veil of Time XIX. The Great Cycle of Creativity XX. The Human Relationship XXI. International Affiliations XXII. Mystic and Philosopher XXIII. The Climactic Events XXIV. Last Will and Testament Supplementary XXV. Eulogy — 6 — ILLUSTRATIONS • Harvey Spencer Lewis, • Town Hall, Frenchtown, New Jersey. • Temporary quarters of George Washington. • The Metropolitan Methodist Church in New York City. • The “Donjon,” in Toulouse, France. • The Kingwood Methodist Church in Kingwood, New Jersey. • Imperator Harvey Spencer Lewis in his office in New York City. • Pittsburgh Convention Hall. • Altar at Luxor, Egypt. — 7 — INTRODUCTION N CONSIDERING AN introduction to this work, to the life of this man, great in so many qualities, one becomes very conscious Iof his own inadequacies in doing justice to it. Certainly, words can never fully portray his character and attributes. Even though the words were written with the utmost sincerity, they could do him an injustice in what they failed to convey to the reader. I read again what I had written twenty-seven years ago in my official announcement to members of the Rosicrucian Order with regard to Harvey Spencer Lewis’ transition. I wrote those words not in the mood of a cold, analytical compiler of facts but under the impetus of deep emotion. To use a phrase—trite but true—it was written from the heart rather than from the mind. Consequently, I am sincerely of the opinion that that article, if somewhat abridged at this time, would be more effective than anything I might now say in introducing the life of Harvey Spencer Lewis. “I write not of the passing of a man, but of an epochal influence. There have been and will be men who, by their daring, their conquest, and intellectual achievements, so implant their personalities in the consciousness of their contemporaries that they will live forever in the minds of future men as being remarkable for their deeds. The man of whom I write never revolutionized a field of science or hacked a path through a virgin jungle to reveal new lands, nor, perhaps, did he ever build a greater or more skillful device than could some of his fellow men. I record instead the transition of a humanitarian, H. Spencer Lewis, who found his happiness and success in molding the lives and minds of human beings. “His glory, the fame that he has justly earned, is not to be found in the material things which he has erected or established, for their — 8 — COSMIC MISSION FULFILLED brilliance must diminish with the passing of time. His distinction will be found, rather, in the incentive, the vision of life, and the grasp of living he instilled within the minds of thousands he counseled. To his credit in the archives of time will be recorded no one amazing deed but ten thousand attainments not yet realized. “Behind unmaterialized ideas in the minds of thousands, which at some later date will win acclaim, is the influence of the precepts he taught, loved, and lived. In the heart of each of these persons there will always exist a debt of gratitude to him for having shown them the way. His life will not be looked back upon with remorse that it could not have continued longer, for one may, perhaps, but need to look at a neighbor to find living within that neighbor his principles and ideals. He lives in the minds and personalities of all those he so sincerely taught the ways of life, and who devotedly practice what he believed with all his heart. “Whether it be a test every humanitarian must endure, or the result of a combination of circumstances their lives bring about, he, like his eminent Rosicrucian predecessors, was a most misunderstood man. If it was a gift he gave, he was accused of ingratiating himself. If by personal sacrifices he was brought face to face with sheer financial adversity, he was taunted with the cry, ‘If you are a master of worldly goods, you should have plenty.’ If at times in later life he sought to ease his cares by simple comforts and pleasures, such imprecations as ‘commercialism’ were hurled at him, and insinuations that he was prostituting his trusts and talents. Whenever he revealed an honor of the multitude he received from notables and institutions for his personal achievements, there were some who labeled him an exploiter, and if he refrained from mentioning them, the challenge to prove his worthiness to hold his exalted office was flung at him. “Every advancement of the Rosicrucian Order of the North and South American jurisdiction, in the service it rendered to its membership and the facilities it afforded them and the advantages it made possible to them, was the result of his planning, his vision, and his excellent executive ability. To have removed him from the Rosicrucian Order or to have had him retire in the early years of its re-establishment would have been like removing the foundation from some great edifice, for it rested upon his genius and brilliance. — 9 — COSMIC MISSION FULFILLED “However, as AMORC won recognition in this jurisdiction as an institution of culture, learning, and humanitarian practice, as well as being known to have a sound material foundation, it inadvertently incited jealousy, rivalry, and hatred in certain individuals. This malice was directed mainly not toward AMORC but toward the principal personality upon whom its progress depended—in other words, our Imperator, H. Spencer Lewis. “Perhaps few men in modern times have been subject to such conspiracies, intrigues, and deliberate attempts to malign their character, destroy their family reputation, ruin their life’s work, and even harass them unto death if possible, as he had to endure. No highly melodramatic novel with all the embellishments a fertile imagination might conceive could approach the artifices and devices employed by these enemies of light to try to shatter him and his work. “Literally tons upon tons of literature, even unto this hour, have been mailed and are being mailed and distributed to malign him, to accuse him of the vilest acts, but written so as just to avoid the penalties of the postal laws. Time and time again these enemies, these partners of darkness, have been challenged by him to open public debate wherein he personally and justly could defend himself against the charges. Repeatedly have they refused, resorting to excuse or ruse, always hoping to involve the character of the organization through him and to injure it beyond recovery. “Always, in his defense, his main concern was AMORC. His devotion to the Rosy Cross was more than a love; it was a deep-seated passion. A slur at the Order would cause his face to blanch as though he had suffered a personal physical blow. Never has he deviated from the principles to which he adhered when first re-establishing the Order in this jurisdiction after having been given the trust and authority from abroad. A comparison of his recent writings with those of more than twenty years ago shows an exact parallelism so far as idealism, hope, and faith are concerned.

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