Societas Rosicruciana in America
The Societas Rosicruciana in America (SRIA - Rosicrucian Society in America ) is a spin-off of the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis (SRCF), the American branch of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (also SRIA) and was founded in 1907 by Sylvester C. Gould .
Sylvester C. Gould broke with the SRCF, which, like the SRIA (England), is only accessible to master masons of good repute, in order to found an initiation order with the SRIA (America) that is accessible to all. When Sylvester C. Gould died in 1909, Dr. George Winslow Plummer led the SRIA, who was also a former member of the SRCF. Plummer completely restructured the SRIA, introducing a correspondence course, which the new members receive by post, and published the SRIA correspondence system in a number of book publications. If a member has completed the basic course, he can join a local box where various initiations are offered. This structure was very successful and on the one hand brought many members to the SRIA, so that in 1930 there were already thirty local lodges (called colleges), and on the other hand the system became the basis of almost all American occult lodges of the twentieth century (e.g. the Builders of the Adytum ).
When George Winslow Plummer died in 1944, his widow Gladis Plummer took over the leadership of the Order, which was known within the Order as Mother Serena. After her death in 1989, her sister Lucia Grosch took over the leadership of the order, which she still exercises today.
literature
- John Michael Greer: Encyclopedia of Secret Doctrines , edited and supplemented by Frater VD, Ansata Verlag 2005, ISBN 3778772708