Beverly Randolph & the Forgotten Eleusinian Rosicrucians of England

And the Italian Roots of the English Rosicrucians

This post reveals for the first time to the public the activity of an unknown Rosicrucian sect that celebrated the Eleusinian mysteries in England. Most interesting of all, they claimed to have found a fertility cult in Naples from which they would resurrect the worship of Priapus! The Rosicrucian Paschal Beverly Randolph’s sexual teachings seemed to come onto the scene, out of nowhere. In fact, this English group was the actual “Brotherhood of Eulis” that he so richly described. What’s more, the English fraternity had strange ties to Italy, granting it an authentic Rosicrucian lineage!

Quite a few occult authors have stated that the teachings of Paschal Beverly Randolph have nothing to do with actual Rosicrucianism. Indeed, in comparison to the pietistic teachings of his counterparts the very sexual nature of his teachings seems totally foreign. Randolph came onto the scene declaring the existence of the “Brotherhood of Eulis,” while using words like “clitoris, sperm, womb” etc. in the same breath as “Rosicrucian Mysteries.” His prudish Christian counterparts were aghast! For a long time, I too ignored his teachings, assuming there was no Rosicrucian lineage really behind it. Besides, groups using his teachings today certainly are off putting. It wasn’t until I discovered a strange Rosicrucian group, operating in England one hundred years prior to the appearance of Randolph, that taught the very same erotic mysteries that I had to rethink the whole situation.

This post will most likely cause you to reassess your understanding of what role sexual mysteries play in the world of Rosicrucianism. But first, let’s look at Randolph’s teaching:

“The loss or waste of semen beyond a certain amount, unmistakably impoverishes the blood and body” writes Randolph.[1]  And “In normal life and loving, the superabundance of this precious element, after undergoing a change from the lymphy to an aeriform state, is sent along the telegraphic nerve to all parts of the body, but in greater volume to the brain by day and the solar plexus when we sleep.”

He wasn’t, however, teaching a perverse form like modern sex-magic schools, but rather he was teaching the “Celebration of the Mysteries of Love.”[2] This is quite often lost on modern schools of sexual magic, who actually are just into worshipping sex itself. Alas, Randolph warns us that “The Children of Night are very apt to grow up in twilight and choose Dark Paths in Life. But, the Babes of the Day, the Children of Aurora, have greater Beauty, Power, better Forms, fuller Minds, keener Intellects, profounder Judgments, clearer Perceptions and nobler Aspirations.”[3]

His work therefore was not aimed at profanity, but aimed to transmute the sexual energies through the Love Mysteries for regeneration, so that “the arterial blood is changed into an impalpable aethereal aura, which enters into the nerves and veins and invigorates the system… in which case the Love Element rushes through the body and brain as doth typhoons upon sandy deserts.” In short, he is talking about transmuting the lower erotic into higher Eros for internal alchemical regeneration.

Interestingly, Randolph was certain that blood and the physical body had to first be prepared and purified in order to really operate Rosicrucian magic. He writes in his book on training Clairvoyance that “Never forget that pure blood gives pure power. If your blood is foul with pork fat, rum, disease etc. don’t attempt clairvoyance till you are free from it. Artists prepare their paints, you must prepare your body, else no good picture comes, no lucidity follows. Above all, the blood must be purified, vacated of its poisons and be toned up to concert pitch, if you would enjoy the music of the spheres.”[4]

Needless to say, there are some real gems to be found in Randolph. Still, he is largely ignored by mainstream Rosicrucians and misinterpreted by perverse sexual “Rosicrucian” schools. Indeed, there is a great difference between the teaching he received vs. those who took after his writings. But, before we get to that matter, the big question is, where did his teaching really come from?

Beverly Randolph’s Rosicrucian Origins

Rosicrucian writers like Clymer, who founded his FRC and claimed to have inherited Randolph’s teachings, have placed Randolph’s Rosicrucian origins in France and North Africa. In 1861 Paschal visited Paris where he indeed became acquainted with reputed Rosicrucians but “after sounding their depths found the water very shallow and very muddy, as had been the case with those I met in London: Bulwer, Jennings, Wilson, Belfedt, Archer, Corvaj a and other pretended adepts.” Notice that he rejects Hargrave Jennings in this list, which is quite strange, considering their similar writings…

Now, that same year of 1861, Randolph had also travelled to London, where he was inducted by Hargrave Jennings as a Knight in the Order of the Rose. It was nine years later in 1870 that Randolph founded the “Brotherhood of Eulis” to spread his teachings. Then 1874, Randolph publishes his most famous work, “Eulis!” which included a long treatise on “Affectional Alchemy.” Now, if you read this work it appears Randolph does not see his “Brotherhood of Eulis” as his own invention. He appears to be trying to revive this ancient society in America and indeed I found proof of this! His final two works, The Ansairetic Mystery and The Mysteries of Eulis, were distributed privately, presumably to Brotherhood members, but were published much later. But, why on earth would sexual teachings have anything to do with the Eleusinian Mysteries and how are both tied to Rosicrucianism?

“Hermetists, Pythagoreans, Rosicrucians, and lastly, the Brotherhood of Eulis, all of whom were, and are, students of the same school.” Randolph.

Hargrave Jennings Leaves the Key

In 1884 Hargrave Jennings published “Phallicism, Celestial and Terrestrial: Its connection with the Rosicrucians and the Gnostics and its foundation in Buddhism.” Thus, it is clear at least one other person at the time connected the sexual mysteries to Rosicrucianism. Quite a few have stated that Hargrave Jennings was a student of and influenced by Randolph. However, it was the other way around! Quite a few will disagree with this statement at first. But, look deeper.

Randolph founded his Brotherhood of Eulis in 1870. That same year Hargrave Jennings published his “The Rosicrucians: Their Rites and Mysteries. With chapters on the ancient fire and serpent-worshipers, and explanations of the mystic symbols represented in the monuments and talismans of the primeval philosophers.” The key to finding the older Rosicrucian transmission is in the word “represented in the monuments” in this book title. This whole theme points the way.

Does Jennings’s book contain sexual teachings? Indeed, on several occasions he outlines phallic symbols, saying “The three most celebrated emblems carried in the Greek mysteries were the Phallus, “I,” the Egg “O,” and the Serpent “S,” or otherwise the Phallus, the Umbilicus, and the Serpent. The first, in each case, is the emblem of the sun, or of fire, as the male, or active, generative power.”

We have established that Jennings’ book and the founding of Randolph’s “Brotherhood of Eulis” appeared in the same year of 1870. So, which one came first? What exchanges really occurred in 1861 when Randolph and Jennings met in England? Again, the real clue to the mystery appears in Jennings’ mention of monuments, where he writes “The universality of the serpentine worship, or phallic adoration, is attested by emblematic sculpture and architecture all over the world.” He goes on to show church steeples, obelisk, pillars and all kinds of objects at sites of worship as phallic.

“OK Monuments, so what Sam? What’s the big deal?” You see, Jennings wasn’t just writing on this topic by himself. There is, in fact, a whole line up of English Rosicrucians discussing the Eleusinian mysteries in relation to sexual mysticism, the Rosy Cross and architecture. Randolph was a student of this Eleusinian Rosicrucian sect and was revealing its secrets. Jennings mentions a more profound knowledge belonging to this sect in his private letters published by the famous occultist Yarker:

“I do not approve of Randolph’s Book nor do I look with favour upon his “Eulis,” or upon anything which refers in any way to this coarse and rough, even vulgarly free and mischievous and most mistaken way of dealing with these, in truth, sublime and exquisitely learned subjects.”[5]

According to Jennings we learn that Randolph was publishing their secrets:

“…Randolph, with his mischievous books, which ought not to have been published! (and later)… I first knew Randolph the American thirty-five years ago, he was, physically, a very remarkable man. Take care and preserve this letter.”[6]

We are quite fortunate that Jennings set the record straight. Randolph refers to Jennings as “the chief Rosicrucian of all England,” which would imply Jennings was in fact the living leader of the Eulis Brotherhood. They must have had some sort of fall out later, however. Randolph would later say Jennings was a fake, as noted above, and pretend his lineage came from the “Supreme Grand Lodge of France.” Going by Randolph’s writings, nothing could be further from the truth. He entirely drew from an English R+C lineage! But, what kind of Rosicrucian group was this? Looking at the below picture, I’d say it was quite a remarkable one. This Tarot image of the World Card comes from Jennings’ 1884 edition of the “Divine Pymander.” Can you see what’s special?

Jennings’ Tarot card features the Hebrew letter Tau. Eliphas Levi did this too, and so did Mathers and Westcott in their Order of the Golden Dawn. However, the publication date of 1884 is four years prior to the founding of the Golden Dawn in 1888. Not only does this show the first use of the Hebrew-Tarot attributions in England, but in Jennings’ private letters he mentions it is the “21^st Key of the Correct Tarot.” The major breakthrough of the Golden Dawn was its reassignment of the Tarot Card of the Fool to the letter Aleph and the number 0. Now, the question is, if Levi’s attributions had already been published, what did Jennings mean by “Correct Tarot?” This is quite possibly a hint of something remarkable going on within his Eleusinian Rosicrucian sect.

Now for the good part. We learn that this Rosicrucian group actually was far older.

Knight Brings the Erotic Eleusis Cult to England

The fact is, Hargrave Jennings obtained his heritage from one English gentleman named Richard Payne Knight (1750-1824), who wrote extensively on these very topics. But, he didn’t just bring the sexual mysteries to England, he also united them with the Rosicrucian current from Italy. Let me explain.

Knight’s book titled “Discourse on the worship of Priapus,” was published in 1786 and he became notorious for claiming the supremacy of the phallic cults. In it, he “sought to recover sacred eroticism, denouncing Judeo-Christian puritanism, which led to many attacks on him as an infidel” in his time. The central claim of his work was that there was a central impulse to worship the “generative principle” as shown through genital imageries as depicted in art and architecture throughout the world. Well and truly ahead of his time he may have paved the way for the entire Pagan revival of today. Obviously, with such a publication date of 1786, Pascal Beverly Randolph hadn’t even been born yet.

This is all quite significant, as in Germany the Golden Rosenkreuzers had dwindled. Few Rosicrucians were remaining of the old movement. Meanwhile, in England, the Rosy Cross was going strong! By understanding Knight, you’ll now see how Randolph’s sexual teachings came from England, and not France, as several have suggested. But, does this prove there was indeed a “Brotherhood of Eulis” as Randolph claimed or was it a figment of his own imagination? It turns out, we are dealing with a real lineage!

In 1777 Knight went to Italy and met Sir Hamilton in Naples and here it all begins! Something everyone should know about Naples is that several occult Orders have maintained that it was the home to some sort of sexual mystery cult. Kremmerz’s (1861-1930) Italian “Osiris Order” and some branches of the masonic Egyptian Rite of Memphis Misraim both practice sexual mysticism for internal alchemy. In fact, several branches of the Rite of Memphis Misraim name their Arcana Arcanorum the “Scala of Naples” or “Naples Regime” denoting its origins. See my M.M Review to learn more. There is actually some truth to it all coming from Naples and Knight’s visit to Hamilton in Naples left us ample record. Just not in the way those lineages would have you believe!

Actually, part of the lineage is quite funny. Hamilton had a massive collection of Greek and Roman artefacts. He had hired a certain Pierre-François Hugues d’Hancarville to catalogue each item and provide notations. D’Hancarville was something of a Casanova in his region, known for his “life with women.” He had even given himself the title of “Baron d’Hancarville.” So obsessed with sex was d’Hancarville that he also produced two pornographic volumes under fictitious imprints, which would widely be plarigaized. During his 1777 visit Richard Payne Knight obtained a series of notations from d’Hancarville describing some depictions of mystery rites on Greek vases. His cheeky notes were written in French. They elaborately described the strange idea that sexual mysteries were perpetuated through the Mysteries of Eleusis and shown on the vase reliefs! Actually these vases are in the British museum today under the Hamilton collection. Originally, the notes were not meant to have been seen. But, too late, Knight was enthralled! Being a seeker, he needed to know more.

The notes were drafted through observation of a local phallic veneration cult still practiced in the area by the peasants in Naples. It was also in this environment the that Hamilton and the lusty Baron d’Hancarville concluded that the local country folks’ rituals and customs possessed the keys to decoding the vases and other ancient artefacts they had been studying. This wasn’t all though. For Hamilton the local worship possessed the full keys to awakening the Mysteries of Eleusis!

Sir Hamilton clearly described his discovery in 1771 when he sent a letter to Sir Joseph Banks. Banks had just returned from his Polynesian travels with Captain Cook and would soon join Hamilton in his study of the local Dionysian cult and join his Eleusis Order. In the letter Hamilton said that, “On the 17^th of September, at Isernia, one of the most ancient cities of the kingdom of Naples an annual fair is held which last three days. At the fair, ex-votos of wax, representing the male parts of generation, are publicly exposed.” He says, most importantly that, “I will conclude this hasty sketch of the Priapic cult with a brief description of the Dionysia, or festivals celebrated in honour of Bacchus, which throw considerable fight on this worship.” Here, Dionysus is a clear indication of the Eleusinian Mysteries!

Hamilton mentions above “the Priapic cult” and Sir Knight would soon title his book “Discourse on the worship of Priapus,” just four years later. A movement was gaining momentum between these gentlemen. But what was it exactly? The actual local worship he had witnessed was celebrated to “Saint Cosmo” and Hamilton believed that it was the survival of an ancient fertility cult in Isernia. During the ancient festival wax objects are named “Saint Cosmo’s Great Toe,” calling upon the cheeky Neapolitan euphemism for the phallus. Hamilton marvelled at the “singularity of the ceremony” coming to the conclusion that the “cult of Priapus was in full vigour, as in the days of the Greeks and Romans.”[7] From this point onwards they put great effort into carrying out studies to show unbroken continuity between of the ancient mysteries in the superstitions of the local peasants.

Randolph’s Brotherhood of Eulis was born! Of course, the teachings of Hamilton’s Eleusinian Mysteries are far richer than Randolph’s and this warrants much investigation. One of the interesting elements of Hamilton’s teaching was the “woman’s body as an object of knowledge.” Sir Banks, Sir Hamilton and Sir Knight now set to work, drafting their reawakened mysteries. I must stress again, all of this happened long before Randolph had even been born. Goodbye “Grand Lodge of France” origins story!

The Dilettanti Society Embraces the New Eleusinian Mysteries

The newly discovered ancient mysteries would not be left in Naples. Back home in England a group known as the Dilettanti was ready to inherit the awakened cult in full! Somewhere before 1735 the Dilettanti Society was founded in England by Thomas Anson, who also connected to Francis Dashwood, better known for founding the infamous Hellfire Club. The Dilettanti Society was at first a gentlemen’s club, yet it was so much more. Each of its members had been on “The Grand Tour,” a tradition of nobility to visit European cities for cultural enrichment. You never know what might be found on such trips! During the tours, young men and women of the upper class would expose themselves to music, art and several have described it as an emersion into the legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance. That meant statues of the Greek gods were quite a theme! For some, these excursions went on not just months, but even years. It was during such trips that Dilettanti members would now uncover a forgotten Hermetic strain that was undeniably Rosicrucian.

As I said, Jennings’ reference to architecture in relation to Rosicrucianism was important. The Dilettanti had a particular focus on architecture. In fact Anson and another member of the Dilettanti used their extreme wealth to rebuild Shugborough Estate by covering it with mysterious temple structures. Anson filled Shugborough with paintings and ordered allegories painted on the ceilings. What’s more, aside from the strange Tower of the Winds, he had the mysterious Shepherd’s Monument built, which many have identified as a Rosicrucian structure. The new features of the park contain many strange ciphers and is said to be an architectural representation of the Rosicrucian mysteries! Just Google search the Shepherd’s Monument itself and many occult conspiracy theories abound.

The figures of Sir Banks, Sir Hamilton and Sir Knight would also soon join the Dilettanti. There the society circulated Richard Payne Knight’s treatise on the worship of Priapus in full. Both the Hellfire Club and the Dilettanti shared the same inner order, a sect known as the Monks of Medmenham. Something strange was going on within this circle. According to its secretary, Horace Walpole, its members practiced pagan rituals to Bacchus and Venus in a new church. Francis Dashwood built numerous shrines to different gods, including the phallic god Priapus, Venus and Dionysus!

These are all gods covered by Knight’s treatise on the worship of Priapus. It is quite certain that much of the society’s worship predates Knight’s visit to Naples. We cannot be sure how early Hamilton, Anton and company began exporting the new Eleusinian mysteries to England. The writer and Neoplatonist Thomas Taylor was also a member of the Dilettanti and published a thick volume titled “The Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries” in 1790. In is footnotes you’ll see the phallic emphasis, such as when discussing the Bacchic orgies. Taylor writes of “A golden serpent, an egg, and the phallus.”[8] You will remember Jennings’ earlier statement about the phallus as the letter “I,” the Egg as “O” and the Serpent as “S.” Taylor also notes that “the son of Amytheon introduced into Greece the name of Dionysus, the ceremonial of his worship and the procession of the phallus.” Knight was but one of many returning from “The Grand Tour,” carrying the Eleusinian doctrine!

Until now, no one has identified the Dilettanti as the forgotten “Eulis Brotherhood” of Randolph, the real source of his sexual teachings. The Dilettanti even had a sacred “Tomb of Bacchus” for ritual. As with Jennings’ mention of monuments, the majority of publications coming out of this circle were on architecture. But, so far, we have only identified the sex, the Eleusinian Brotherhood and its real sources in Naples. Even if this is a game changer for many, where is the Rosicrucian connection?

The Italian Rosicrucian Source: the Accademia dell ‘Arcadia

During their time on the Grand Tour, those who gave life to the Dilettanti stopped off in Rome to visit the Accademia dell ‘Arcadia. It was here that they would witness a theatrical model they could bring into their new Eleusinian mysteries. The Academy was founded in 1690 to promote “Greek and Roman Sprit.” Known for its theatre, paintings and poetry as Bruce Redford points out in his “Dilettanti: the Antic and Antique in Eighteenth-Century England” its mode of the arts was transferred so that the “Dilettanti owe a great debt to Accademia dell ‘Arcadia.”[9]

The Academy had statues of Pan and Hermes on the portico, deities pouring water and a powerful Pegasus figure against a background of shrubbery. Members of the Academy read poetry in a ceremonious event styled after the Olympic games held for the gods and were often dressed as shepherds. One now has to wonder on Anson’s Rosicrucian Shepherd monument…  The Academy’s symbol was the syrinx of Pan and the infant Christ! Aside from all this they appear to be extremely Hermetic. The “Shepherds” who guarded the Christ child “were taken to represent the pastoral Arcadia, conveniently combining Christianity with pagan antiquity.”[10]

More important to our inquiry though, is the fact that the Academy was founded in 1690 in Rome in honor of former Swedish Queen Christina. For any of those who do not know, she is quite a big deal in Rosicrucianism! Author Susana Ackermann writes “After her death in 1689, she was chosen to be a symbolic figurehead, Basilissa (Greek for Empress), by the poets that formed the Accademia dell’ Arcadia.” Susanna Ackerman’s article on Queen Christina covers her ties to the Italian Golden Rosy Cross extensively and I recommend reading her article. The Queen practiced alchemy and was surrounded by poets and visionaries who expected a Rosicrucian fulfillment of its vision.

Interestingly, if you look at the activity of Rosicrucians throughout history, they were always tied to academies dedicated to the arts, literature and poetry. Although occultists, the Dilettanti established an Academy of its own in England, to mirror the Accademia dell ‘Arcadia of Italy. Obtaining its charter, it was planned that the president of the Royal Society should always be chosen from the Dilettanti. Similarly, Johan Valentine Andrea, author of the Fama Fraternitatis, was a prominent member of the Fruit-bearing Society in Germany, along with his mystical friends. Thus, Italy, England and Germany saw Rosicrucians connected in a two layered system. “Real Rosicrucian” circles were part in parcel with the “outer vehicle” of the arts. Wherever they existed, it was within academic networks.

Concluding Randolph and the English Phallic Rosicrucians

In conclusion, the lineage of the English Rosicrucians had been all but forgotten until now. Not only did it tie itself to a circle that was clearly in with Italian Rosicrucians, but it had actually awoken the fertility cult of Dionysus from local festivals continued in Naples. After Randolph announced his “Brotherhood of Eulis” events were set in motion which would change the world forever. Right after, the first grade of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor would be named the “Grade of Eulis,” and the HBL would quote Randolph and Jennings for its own teachings. It should be pointed out that the HBL’s Peter Davidson was under the direct tutelage of Hargrave Jennings and that Davidson also stated that Max Theon himself, master of the exterior circle, had actually been initiated into the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor in England! The implication is that the HBL aligned itself to the original English Eulis Brotherhood! The knock-on effect of Randolph, of course, did not stop there. Soon after, the OTO and many Orders would go on to promote a “sex magic” or lay claim to possessing Randolph’s full teaching or “oral tradition,” despite forgetting the English society. Over time, most of the original ideas of the real Brotherhood of Eleusis would be lost. Yes, I would go on to say today’s groups practicing “sexual mysticism” do NOT operate anything like the original. The challenge now, for those involved, is how to rediscover those mysteries.

However, the success of the mission Sir Hamilton, Knight and Banks undertook to awaken an ancient mystery cult from local peasant superstitions and practices should also give us hope! As I was visiting a local celebration here recently on the River Rhine in Germany, it was mid-August where again I saw a village practice a similarly potent festival, known here as the “Bacchusfest.” The term literally means “Festival of Bacchus” and Bacchus was the Roman name for Dionysus the Greek god of wine and the Eleusinian mysteries! This area of the River Rhine was historically a Roman colony, known for wine growing, where it saw Romans bring their religion with them. Here, the towns gather every year to throw a Bacchus figure into the river, to later “resurrect him” out of the stream. Some towns burn the effigy entirely within a dugout grave, after a Protestant minister has paraded him about. As I watched it this year, reflecting on the English Rosicrucians, I had to ask myself, would the Eleusinian Brotherhood yet awaken from such ashes again?

One has to wonder at the possibilities all around us, all around YOU right now.

Samuel Robinson

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[1] The Grand Secret 1861 page 11

[2] The Grand Secret: page 16.

[3] The Grand Secret: page 16

[4] Seership: the Magnetic Mirror. Page 3

[5] “Invictus: Letters of Hargrave Jennings.” Yarker 1895 page 16

[6] Ibid, page 46

[7] “Sculpture, Sexuality and History” page 46, Jana Funke und Jen Grove.

[8] “The Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries” page 117.

[9] “Dilettanti: the Antic and Antique in Eighteenth-Century England” page 8.

[10] “A Handbook to Classical Reception in Eastern and Central Europe” by Dorota Dutsch