Order of the Lily and the Eagle
The Order of the Lily and the Eagle ( OLA ) is an independent, spiritual, esoteric movement. The vision of the OLA is to establish love and reciprocity in humanity.
The OLA was on January 6th jul. / January 19, 1915 greg. founded by Maria Routchine-Dupré with the assistance of Demetrius Plato Semelas, both Master Rosicrucians of the Oriental tradition, in Cairo , Egypt.
After Maria Routchine Dupré's death in Paris in 1918 , Semelas took over the leadership of the order and on October 23, 1919 he re-established it in the form that still exists today.
The founders
Maria Routchine-Dupré
Maria Routchine was born on November 25, 1883 in Odessa , Russia . When she was a child, her family immigrated to Paris . Very young, she expressed her love for humanity and especially for the socially oppressed woman of her time. In 1907 she married the French engineer Eugen Dupré, and had three children.
In 1910 the Dupré couple met Demetrius Semelas in Cairo , heir and successor of the Oriental Rosicrucian tradition (Brothers of the Orient), with whom they developed a deep spiritual bond.
With a special initiatory education, Maria Routchine-Dupré gradually revealed the higher aspects of her spirituality. She conceived and transmitted a new and original teaching on the moral rebirth of man and humanity.
Although the Rosicrucians did not accept women in their order, Maria Routchine-Dupré was exceptionally accepted by them because of her high spirituality and in 1913 initiated into the last remaining branch of the Brothers of the Orient, the "Brothers of Truth", in Athens .
In 1915 she founded the Order of the Lily and the Eagle in Cairo in the presence of the following three witnesses : Antonios Hatziapostolou, Nikolaos Kontaros and Georgios Agathos, all of Greek origin. Together with Eugene Dupré, they were the first four regional governors (great committees) of the OLA
Immediately thereafter, Maria Routchine-Dupré returned to Paris, where she gave inspired teachings to her students in Paris and Cairo. She died on January 30, 1918 in Tenon Hospital, Paris, at the age of 34.
Demetrius Plato Semelas
Demetrius Plato Semelas was born on May 2nd jul. / May 14, 1884 greg. born in Sylivria, Thrace. He left the French School and studied at the French School of Commerce in Constantinople. Immediately afterwards (1900) he went to Egypt to work. At the age of 19 he went to Athens to study medicine. Then he married Sofia Plyta, from whom he had a son named Plato (1910).
During his stay in Athens he was instructed to discover medieval knightly manuscripts, which revealed his special mission: to revive the work of the Knights Templar (Templars), which according to those manuscripts is: “The universal society of the union of men under one God and of a society ”.
Semelas stayed in Athens until 1909, where he met the last Rosicrucians of the Orient called "Brothers of Truth", was initiated by them and became their successors.
In 1911 Demetrius Semelas returned to Cairo, where he was initiated into the Martinist Order by Papus, and he founded the 'Essen Lodge No. III'. He supplemented the rite of the order with the rites of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree, which Papus adopted and which are still used today in some contemporary expressions of Martinism.
In 1913 Demetrius Semelas and seven employees set up the Council of Fraternities and, together with them, created the “World Code”, an inspired “charter” of principles and ideas for a worldwide social rebirth.
During his stay in France (1915-1924) Demetrius Semelas published the following socio-political journals: Mediterranée Orientale (1917) and Hellénisme Irrédimée (1919) as well as the initiatory magazines: La Force de la Vérité (1918) and EON (1920). He was also a member of the Upper Council of the Cabalist Rosicrucian Order (1916), General Delegate of the Martinist Order (1916), founding member of the Friends of Louis Claude de Saint Martin (1920).
From 1910 he worked closely with Maria Routchin Dupre to found, establish and expand the Order of the Lily and the Eagle (1915).
After Maria Routchine-Dupré's death (1918), Demetrius Semelas took over the leadership of the Order of the Lily and the Eagle as a blanket authorized representative and redesigned it at the request of its founder (October 23, 1919). He worked for the OLA for five years, personally training his students and enriching the order with original and inspired teachings, regulations and rites.
Exerted by severe chronic tuberculosis, he gave the last breath on August 6, 1924 in the sanatorium of Durtol in France, while his burial was carried out the next day in the Orthodox St. Stephen Church in Paris.
He determined Eugen Dupré as the first successor by means of a written will and Georgios Agathos as the second.
The successors
Eugen Dupré (1924–1945)
After Demetrius Semela's death (1924) and according to his written will, the leadership of the order was assigned to Grand Commander Eugen Dupré, who was the husband of Maria Routchine, founder of the OLA. Despite the many and varied difficulties that Eugene faced, he managed to collect and organize the teachings of the order founders by adding valuable and insightful comments and references to their oral teachings from his personal notes and memories.
He organized and expanded the order by emphasizing the social dimension and direction envisaged by its founders from the beginning.
Georgios Agathos (1945-1958)
After Eugen Dupré's death in 1945, the management was assigned to the written will of Demetrius Semelas according to the Grand Commander Georgios Agathos. Georgios emphasized the even greater practical application of the teachings, while he restructured the order according to the needs of his epoch and clarified the teachings of the order's founders even more with insightful comments. He died in Athens in 1958 after naming Vassilios Gouletas and Madeleine Weill from France as his successor as the female co-leader of the order.
The continuers of the work (1958 to today)
During the Order's recent history (from 1960 onwards) a number of disagreements about the spiritual orientation of the Order divided both the leadership and its members. In addition to the regular successor line (which is determined by the written testament of the respective order leader) at least three or four large formations still exist today under the same name and emblem, but with different administrations. Official efforts for fraternal cooperation have been underway on the part of these formations since 2007.
Vision and mission
According to the belief of its founders, this is accomplished through the following three purposes:
a) the individual instruction of each member of the order so that it creates a free and independent personality.
According to its founders, this personality (not the famous personality) is the only means that enables the person to defend himself against the influences and pressures of his natural and social environment that disorganize, disorient and alienate him .
Exactly this personality is the means with which a person can see through the world with his own clear view. By perfecting his personality, man himself can claim a share in real social rebirth as well as offer his own kind.
b) Carrying out physical, emotional and spiritual charity towards all those who suffer.
The commitment of genuine and complete charity contributes to the fact that the helpers exercise their strength charitable and that those helped regain their independence and dignity.
c) the development and expansion of a “world code” based on the observation and research of nature and its laws.
Through the moral rebirth of its persons, human society will come to the point in time when it will seek and ultimately accept a physical, moral and reasonable organization. Now it will collectively lead to health, happiness and progress.
Symbols and emblems
The symbols of the OLA reveal and describe its mission. Love, friendship and solidarity correspond to the lily, while wisdom, justice and honesty (the sense of justice) correspond to the two-headed eagle.
In addition to this emblem, there are other emblems or symbols that are used as appropriate; for example a linear representation of a lily and an eagle.
Doctrines, religious rules and rites
Teaching
In addition to the legacy of the old Rosicrucian tradition, the initiation in the OLA is based on the original teachings of the two founders.
Her teaching conveys to his order members the principles for the development of a free and independent personality, so that by applying these principles they become the source for the emergence of happiness and progress for themselves and for those around them.
Order rules
To support community and promote reciprocity among its members, the founders of the OLA put together a constitutional charter (23/10/1919) and rules so that collective life within the Order remains hierarchical and protected, as well as making progress.
rites
The internal tasks of the order are accompanied by a simple ritual that is appropriate to the circumstances. Prayer, invocation, meditation, concentration, learning, and the dialectical exchange of ideas are various means used in religious activities.
organization
The OLA is organized on the model of the orders of knights of the Orient and is administered in this way. He has one (1) introductory rank (brother / sister) and seven (7) ranks of chivalry. The first three ranks of chivalry (teaching - education - work) are initiatory and the last three are ranks that concern the internal administration or management of social projects. The seventh rank belongs to the leadership of the order.
Finances
According to the will of its founders, the Order has no property, cash register or other funds, while its services are offered completely free of charge. All expenses and means for the realization of its activities are covered exclusively by voluntary work and by free donations from its members.
The aeonic tradition
The “Aeonic Tradition” is the new spiritual message that the founders of the OLA conveyed to humanity.
EON is the name chosen to align the notion of the Supreme Being, the original source and destination of every creation.
The word “EON” comes from the ancient Greek “ΩΝ” which, with the addition of the letter “E”, means “he who was, is, will be”, eternally and infinitely in and of himself.
According to the Aeonic tradition, AEON, the Supreme Being, the restless, conscious and living being, penetrates into non-being, namely into inner and chaotic existence against being. The existence known as "first creation" emerged as a result of a deliberate pause in the conscious movements of being in a moment of eternity.
In order for the being to restore order and harmony inside the chaos that has arisen in this way, it presented its twofold nature of love-wisdom and penetrated into non-being, in order to see the spirit (spiritual creation or ouranos cycle) as its representative in the supreme and to create the area of existence closest to the being. Later on, incomprehensible choices and events led the mind into the lowest realm of existence, which led to the appearance of material creation (cosmos cycle). So this is how time, space and form appeared in the lowest realm of creation.
Since then, the order and development of the material world has taken place through the steps of space-time, in which the innumerable forms of life in the visible and invisible universe are revealed. The sequence and alternation of these forms reflects the rational and wise thinking of the Supreme Being.
According to the Aeonic tradition, there are 7 spirits who invade Material Creation or the Cosmos cycle to serve the plans of the Supreme Being and to carry out the work of creation.
The human form - not necessarily as one is used to distinguishing and perceiving it - appears last within creation and represents the culmination of the conscious activity of the Supreme Being on this plane.
The human mind as an incarnate spirit works to evolve by awakening and perfecting itself in accordance with its archetypal origins and mission. This "alchemical transition" (= evolution) is the result of the development of a free and independent personality who testifies to the elevation of human consciousness at the level of its origin, its mission and its goal.
This is the deep need and the spiritual priority of all people who continuously receive help, protection and guidance in their work and efforts from the conscious forces of spiritual creation or the Ouranos cycle.
According to the Eonic doctrine, the gradual awakening and perfecting of human personalities will result in the composition of a human whole (societies, nations, races, humanities, etc.), not all sorts of individuals, but a higher existence with a unified consciousness and unity There will be action within creation. This united humanity as a unified, superior and superconscious unit represents the ultimate goal of human evolution on this planet (and elsewhere).
Established by its founders to proclaim the Eonian tradition, the OLA advised: 1) the people: to develop a free and independent personality
2) towards the human whole: towards its rebirth through love and mutuality and
3) towards united humanity: towards its return to its original source.
bibliography
- Encyclopedia Papyrus Larousse / Britannica, article "Order of the Lily and the Eagle", pp. 279–280
- Encyclopedia Papyrus Larousse / Britannica, article "Semelas Demetrius", Volume 53, p. 315
- Revue de l'OMT, Janvier 1996, no 4, p. 35-38
- EON Revue Initiatique, 1/12/1920 -Janvier 1923, ed. D. Semelas, Paris, imprim. M. Cahen, 17 rue Poissoniere
- La Mediterranee Orientale, revue bi-mensuelle, 21/4 / 1917-30 / 12/1918, ed.DPSemelas, Paris, impr. Driary-Cahen.
- Spyros V., The Martinism of Semelas , announced at the 20th International Conference on Martinist Studies GEIMME, in Segovia, Spain, 25-28 March. November 2011