H. Spencer Lewis

H. Spencer Lewis (1883–1939) was an American religious leader and the founder of the Ancient Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis (AMORC) in 1915. He claimed to have learned Rosicrucian teachings from European Rosicrucians and disseminated them through mail-order lessons, attracting a global following. Lewis considered Egypt to be the origin of Rosicrucian wisdom and supported the creation of an Egyptian Museum at AMORC's headquarters in San Jose, California.1

Rosicrucianism is a movement whose members claim to possess esoteric wisdom passed down from ancient times. The teachings combine occultism with elements of Hermeticism, Jewish mysticism, and Christian Gnosticism. The origins are often traced to anonymously published books attributed to Johann Valentin Andreae, which tell the story of Christian Rosenkreuz, a figure now widely believed to be fictional. Early Rosicrucianism declined due to the skepticism of the Enlightenment but experienced a revival in the 19th century, leading to the establishment of various societies.12