The words of the Order and of the Tradition, briefly explained.
The Order uses a vocabulary drawn partly from the Western Mystery Tradition and partly from its own chivalric Rule. This glossary, compiled by Caspar Lindqvist for the use of Postulants and revised by successive Wardens of Studies, explains the terms most often met in these pages. Terms reserved to the degrees are not included.
The Hermetic science of transformation. In the Order, principally the transformation of the self by the stages of dissolution, purification and recombination which the alchemists described in the language of metals; in the Inner Court also a laboratory practice upon the substances of nature, undertaken as a meditation.
The Rule of the Order, composed by Edmund Thorne Ashby in 1987 and adopted by the Charter. Every member is examined upon them before reception and renews them yearly.
The office of the Grand Chancellor, through which the Order conducts its correspondence and receives petitions. Also the corresponding office of each Commandery.
The regular meeting of a Commandery, ordinarily monthly, at which instruction is given, practice is undertaken, works of service are reported and degrees are conferred. Also the Winter Chapter of the whole Order and the Spring Chapter of Commanders.
The founding document of the Order, signed at Harrowmere on Michaelmas 1987, constituting the Order and defining its purpose, Rule and government.
The elected head of a Commandery, serving for three years.
A full working body of the Order, chartered by the Grand Council, of not fewer than nine Knights and Dames, empowered to confer the three degrees of the Outer Court.
A member of the Inner Court, invited after not less than seven years in the Third Degree. Companions are not named outside the Inner Court.
The annual assembly of the whole Order at Harrowmere at Michaelmas, at which the Articles are renewed, Councillors are elected, the Grand Master addresses the Order and the accounts are rendered.
The Hermetic doctrine that the cosmos is ordered by analogy, so that the small reflects the great and the inner the outer. The foundation of the First Degree.
The provision for members living at a distance from any body of the Order, who pursue the study by post and travel for initiation and Convocation.
The central symbol of the Order: the human heart emptied, cleansed and offered, so as to receive the Light. Also the Grail. See the Discourse on the Cup.
A woman of the Third Degree. The title of the Third Degree is Knight or Dame of the Grail, at the member's choice.
A stage of the work, with its own study, practice, service and ceremony of reception. The degrees of the Outer Court are Page, Squire and Knight or Dame.
A short Hermetic text, of uncertain antiquity, setting out the doctrine of correspondence and the operation of the one thing. Studied by every Page with the commentary written for the Order.
The ceremony at the Winter Chapter in January at which the lamps of the Oratories are rekindled from the flame of the mother Commandery.
The vessel of the medieval romances, variously a cup, a dish or a stone, which heals the wounded king and feeds the company. In the Order, understood not as an object but as a condition: the heart made ready to receive the Light. See the Cup.
The governing body of the Order, of nine Knights and Dames elected in Convocation for three years, which appoints the officers and charters the local bodies.
The presiding officer of the Grand Council and the visible head of the Order, appointed by the Council for a single term of not more than nine years.
The officer of the Grand Council having charge of the spiritual and contemplative life of the Order, the Vigil and the rule of daily practice.
The alchemical name for the whole process of transformation by which the base is made noble; in the Order, the whole of the inner work from the Postulancy to the end of life.
The house in the country where the Order was founded in 1987 and which was bequeathed to it in 1996. The seat of the Grand Council, the Library and the Commandery of the Rose and Cup.
Pertaining to the philosophical and religious writings attributed to Hermes the Thrice-Greatest and to the tradition descending from them, which teaches correspondence, the ascent of the soul and the science of transformation. One of the three streams of the Order.
The body of practice beyond the three degrees of the Outer Court, entered by invitation, whose members are the Companions of the Cup. It has no governing authority.
The officer of the Grand Council having charge of the Library, the archives and the publications of the Order.
A man of the Third Degree. The title of the Third Degree is Knight or Dame of the Grail.
The emblem of the Third Degree, shown within the Cloak: the Light kept and carried in secret. Also the flame kept burning at Harrowmere since 1987, from which the lamps of the Oratories are kindled.
Pertaining to the French mystical tradition of the late eighteenth century, which teaches the fall and reintegration of the human being and the Way of the Heart. One of the three streams of the Order.
The Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels, the twenty-ninth of September, on which the Charter was signed and about which the Annual Convocation is held.
A small body of the Order, of not fewer than three members, meeting for study and practice under the sponsorship of a Commandery. Also the room in a Commandery set apart for contemplative practice and the Vigil.
The three degrees of Page, Squire and Knight or Dame, through which every member passes.
A member of the First Degree. The word of the Page is Quaere, Seek; the badge is the Cup beneath the Seven Stars.
One whose petition has been accepted and who is preparing, for not less than six months, for reception as a Page.
The officer of a Commandery having charge of instruction.
The officer of a Commandery having charge of its spiritual life, who examines Postulants upon the Articles and guides the works of service.
The Martinist term for the return of the fallen human being to its first estate, by the restoration of the proper order of body, soul and spirit. The work of the Third Degree.
The Rosicrucian emblem of the Rose blooming upon the Cross: the soul opening at the centre of accepted incarnate life. The badge of the Second Degree.
Pertaining to the fraternity announced in the early seventeenth century by three documents calling for a general reformation and binding its brethren to heal the sick, and to the impulse descending from them. One of the three streams of the Order.
The Twelve Articles, together with the rule of daily practice of each degree.
A member of the Second Degree. The word of the Squire is Serva, Serve; the badge is the Rose upon the Cross.
In the Tradition, the work of making the self a fit vessel for the Divine by contemplative and ritual means. In the Order, the practice of the Inner Court.
The name under which the principal writer of the Martinist tradition published his works in the late eighteenth century.
The night of solitary watch kept by the Squire before reception as a Knight or Dame, with the sword and the Articles before him or her.
The watch kept by the Order through the shortest night in memory of its first Grand Master and all its departed brethren.
One of the three founders, each of whom brought one of the three streams. Also the Warden of Studies, the officer having charge of the curriculum, and a Warden Emeritus, a founder or officer retired with honour.
The Martinist name for the inner path of silent prayer and the discipline of conscience, by which reintegration is sought in the midst of ordinary life.