The Martinist Stream

The Martinist stream of the Order's teaching descends from the French mystical tradition of the late eighteenth century, and in particular from the writings of the philosopher who signed himself the Unknown Philosopher. That tradition teaches that the human being was created in a state of glory and freedom, fell from that state by its own act, and may return to it by a long work of purification and prayer which it called reintegration. It teaches further that this return is accomplished not by ceremonies alone, however august, but by the Way of the Heart: the silent inner turning toward the Divine which any person may practise in any place.

What the Order takes from the Martinist stream

From this stream the Order takes its anthropology, its method of inner prayer and its understanding of initiation. The anthropology is the doctrine of the fall and reintegration: that we are not what we were made to be, that we know this in our hearts, and that the knowing is itself the beginning of the return. The method is the inner prayer taught in the Third Degree, which the Order's first Grand Prior, Helene Marchetti-Vale, received in her youth and transmitted to the Order in its first year. The understanding of initiation is the Martinist understanding: that the true initiator is not the officer who performs the ceremony but the Divine presence that the ceremony invites, and that the candidate is initiated only to the degree that he or she has made room for that presence.

Reintegration

The Order teaches that the human being is a composite of body, soul and spirit, and that the fall consisted in the inversion of their proper order: the body governing the soul, and the soul forgetting the spirit. Reintegration is the restoration of the proper order. It is accomplished from above, by grace, but it must be prepared from below, by work. The work has three parts: the purification of the body by moderation, the purification of the soul by the examination of conscience, and the purification of the spirit by prayer. The Third Degree teaches all three and requires the Knight or Dame to keep a rule in each.

The Martinist tradition insists that this work is for all, and that it may be accomplished in the midst of ordinary life. Our members are not monks. They have families, occupations and obligations. The Way of the Heart is a way that can be walked at a kitchen table or on a railway platform. Its only requirement is sincerity.

The Unknown Superior

The Martinist tradition speaks of the Unknown Superior, the one who has advanced far upon the Way and who guides others without being known to them. The Order honours this ideal in its own fashion. The Knights and Dames of the Order are forbidden to disclose their degree to any but their brethren, and the Companions of the Cup are not named outside the Inner Court. The Order holds that the desire to be known as an initiate is the surest sign that one is not, and that the deepest service is the service that is never recognised.

The cloak and the mask

The Martinist tradition clothes its initiates in a cloak and a mask: the cloak signifying the protection of the Divine and the mask the anonymity of the servant. The Order has adopted these emblems in the Third Degree, where they are joined to the chivalric emblems of the sword and the spurs. The Knight or Dame of the Grail is thus at once armed and veiled: armed for service, veiled against pride. The Order regards this union of the Martinist and the chivalric as one of its distinctive contributions to the Tradition.