Great Universal Brotherhood

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Seal of the Gran Fraternidad Universal

The Great Universal Brotherhood ( GUB ) is an esoteric organization founded by the French astrologer Serge Raynaud de la Ferrière (SRF) in Caracas , Venezuela in 1948 . The organization is characterized by an abundance of spin-offs, which are predominantly active in South and Central America as well as in the USA .

Origin, foundation and spin-offs

The GUB characterizes itself as a civil, cultural, non-governmental, non-profit organization that aims to bring science, art and religion together with the aim of intellectual improvement and a “spiritual re-education of humanity”, regardless of race, nationality, gender or belief or social class .

Article 1 of its statutes states: "The Great Universal Brotherhood and its Public Representation The Mission of the Order of Aquarius is a civil and cultural organization that seeks to bring science, art and religion together for intellectual improvement and spiritual re-education, through the fusion of all sects , associations, humanitarian, philosophical, scientific, artistic, esoteric, religious and initiatic societies . "

According to its own information, the brotherhood has locations in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, USA and Venezuela . There are numerous fractions from the Brotherhood. Luis Gonzalez Reimann identified several conflicts and power struggles in his analysis of the organization and carried out an investigation into the ramifications of the splits. José Manuel Estrada founded the first spin-off GFU Linha Solar (GUB Sonnenlinie) in Mexico in 1967. It was later referred to as RedGFU and in turn is the origin of eight other lines. After leaving the GUB in 1990, David Ferriz Olivares founded a second organization in Lima, the Magna Fraternitas Universalis . This split gave rise to seven main branches in Peru, Venezuela and Mexico. Juan Víctor Mejias and Alfonso Gil Colmenares, two of the founder's four main adepts, stayed together in the founding organization.

working area

Although work areas such as education, health, social affairs and cultural issues are generally addressed on the official GUB website, these fields of action are not covered to the same extent in all countries. The GUB focuses on the health sector. To promote psychophysical gymnastics , yoga and vegetarianism , Prenatal and naturism . The GUB is active in the area of ​​welfare and social welfare, which concerns the supply of the needy with food, clothing and toys. She is also active in the adult education of indigenous communities, especially in questions of child and infant care, hygiene, drug prophylaxis , pregnancy and nutrition counseling, and she offers pre-yoga exercises. In the field of education, the artistic training of children is particularly encouraged. In the cultural sector it is usually a matter of maintaining folklore and local literature.

Conditions of access

People who want to join the Brotherhood must meet certain conditions: vegetarian diet, daily practice of "psychophysical gymnastics", hatha yoga and study of the founder's works. The consumption of alcohol, tobacco and drugs is prohibited. New members are encouraged to recruit additional members, sell the founder's writings, spread the principles of the movement, and help fund the fraternity through raffles, food sales, courses, and more. The initiation takes place in three stages: 1. Preinitiations -School, 2. Initiation School, 3. Esoteric Circle. After the initiation itself there are another seven stages. Members of the brotherhood are sworn to silence and are not allowed to comment on the teachings of the initiation schools.

The GUB and UNESCO

Since the 1950s, the GUB tried unsuccessfully to become a member of UNESCO. At the end of the 1990s, the organization received advisory status ( NGO ) in the Department of Public Information (DPI) and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

The FISS

In 1947 Serge Raynaud founded another short-lived association in Paris, called the Groupement Mondial de Cosmobiologie (GMC) (World Group of Cosmobiology ), which is dedicated to astrology . In 1960 the name was changed to Fédération internationale des sociétés scientifiques (FISS) (International Federation of Scientific Societies). The new organization came together in just a few meetings. She never succeeded in organizing astrological conference or publishing a corresponding journal. The FISS existed from 1960 to 1962.

literature

  • Cesar Alcalde: Movimientos Religiosos Libres . Lima: Concynet 1988.
The author is a Peruvian religious scholar. The book contains documents that the author collected during his studies in France. In his book, he compares the “myth constructed” by Serge Raynaud's followers with the documents he has discovered.
  • JF Mayer: Les nouvelles voies spirituelles: enquête sur la religosité parallèle en Suisse . Lausanne: National Research Program 21-Cultural Diversity and National Identity, Editions L'Age d'Homme 1993.
This book examines such groups in Switzerland. It is part of a program on cultural pluralism and national identity that was established in 1985. The GUB is quoted on page 126. Serge Raynaud is described as an astrologer and represented as the founder of an "order of Aquarius". The GUB does not exist in Switzerland, but some spiritual groups in Switzerland had contacts with the GUB in the 1980s.
  • CL Holland: Toward a Classification System of Religious Groups in the Americas by Major Traditions and Family Types . San Pedro, Costa Rica: Prolades. http://www.prolades.com/clas-eng.pdf
The text classifies religious communities in America, it has appeared within the Latin American Socio-Religious Studies Program (Prolades), the GUB is mentioned in the book.
  • Ornelia Urpis :: Identificazione, struttura e carisma in un nuovo movimento spirituale: la grande fraternita 'universale . Dissertation from the University of Trieste 1997.
This dissertation examines the structure of the GUB: the dissemination, principles and teaching basis, the recruitment of followers as well as aspects of the emotional identity of participants and members.
  • JG Melton, M. Baumann: The Great Universal Brotherhood . In: Religions of the World, a comprehensive encyclopedia of beliefs and practice. Vol. 4: S-Z. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2002.
In this encyclopedia of religions, the GUB and its goals are described on page 1380. The text contains information from the perspective of the dissident branch of José Manuel Estrada and his GFU Línea Solar .
  • JL Montero Badillo: Convencidos o confundidos: Estudio etnohistórico sobre una universidad New Age, sus procesos de educación, seducción, confusión e iniciación y su relación con el contexto , 2011.
The author is an anthropologist and was a student and professor at the Universidad Albert Einstein in Mexico, which was founded by José Rafael Estrada Valero, dissident of José Manuel Estrada, and is close to the brotherhood. The book describes the context in which the Universidad Albert Einstein was created. The author believes that the value of their master’s degrees is zero because the subjects are the master’s theses on the work of Estrada, i. H. his book Enseñanzas de la Nueva Era , (Teachings of the Aquarian Age). This work is itself a summary of Serge Raynaud's teachings.
  • Le fraternità universali: la linea Raynaud de la Ferrière, in Cesnur . http://www.cesnur.org/religioni_italia/f/fraternita_01.htm
CESNUR is a New Religions Study Center and was founded in Italy in 1988 by a group of scholars. The current chairman is Luigi Berzano, sociologist at the University of Turin. CESNUR director is Massimo Introvigne . The investigation puts the GUB on a par with Edmund Bordeaux Szekely and the " New Acropolis " movement, and mentions some dissident movements of the GUB in Italy.
  • Pamela Siegel: Serge Raynaud de la Ferrière. Aspectos Biográficos. Ed da Autora . Campinas, Brazil. 2014. ISBN 978-85-912978-1-8 . [3] l
The author is a psychologist and PhD. The book is the result of a thorough research in archives and libraries in Europe, which she carried out from 2006 onwards after evidence for Serge Raynaud's academic titles, which he cites in his letters and texts. The author also analyzes and documents the GUB's relations with UNESCO, the Société astronomique de France (Astronomical Society of France, SAF), the Fédération internationale des sociétés scientifiques (International Association of Scientific Societies, FISS) and the Institut archéologique de los Alpes -Maritimes (Archaeological Institute Alpes-Maritimes, IPAAM). Finally, she describes in detail the differences of opinion between adepts Serge Raynaud and traces the GUB family tree with its extraordinarily diverse ramifications.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ferrière, SR de. Nueva Humanidad en Marcha. Caracas, Ediciones Gran Fraternidad Universal: 2004. ISBN 980-6187-78-4 . S. 7. Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 29, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / granfraternidaduniversal.org
  2. ↑ Ibid p. 33
  3. ^ Ferrière, SR de la. Nueva Humanidad en Marcha. Caracas, Ediciones Gran Fraternidad Universal: 2004. pp. 46-48. Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 29, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / granfraternidaduniversal.org
  4. ↑ RedGFU: http://www.redgfu.it/
  5. ↑ Luis Gonzalez-Reimann. Religious scholar and Indologist, University of California, Berkeley. He was a member of the GUB in Mexico in the 1970s and worked on the publication of the book "The Art of New Age" and other texts by SRF,
  6. ↑ Gonzalez-Reimann, L. La Gran Fraternidad Universal y Organizaciones Derivadas de Ella. p. 346-352. IN: Siegel, Fr. Serge Raynaud de la Ferrière. Aspectos Biográficos. Ed da Autora. Campinas, Brazil. 2014. ISBN 978-85-912978-1-8 . 369 ff. [1]
  7. ↑ Ferrière, SR de la, , Lima, Gran Fraternidad Universal, 1974, 339 p. Tome II, Carta Circular n ° 39, de 22/05/60, p. 236. http://www.sergeraynauddelaferriere.net/index.php?sect=obras/circulares&headlines=false
  8. ^ Siegel, Fr. Serge Raynaud de la Ferrière. Aspectos Biográficos. Campinas, Brasil, Pamela Siegel, 2014. ISBN 978-85-912978-1-8 , pp. 128–154. [2]