The phrase “without sound of hammer” has as familiar a ring to Rosicrucians as it may have to Masons. It refers to building the vehicle of light needed to travel in the foreign countries of the spiritual worlds, and to work in the vineyard of the Christ. There is a spiritual connection between the Rosicrucians and the Masons, and as Rosicrucian members we consider ourselves to be “Masons at heart” because of the many similarities in the tenets, rituals and first-hand knowledge regarding the building of the spiritual or soul body.

  The first tenet is that the inner temple cannot be built through an ethic of separatism, but by the “philosopher’s stones” of men and women who have evolved through the Christ-transforming ideals of love and service. These stones are made from the alchemical wedding of fire and water, the blending of the male and female principles. These living stones, also called the diamond body of the temple of God, are generated and raised to incandescence by high and noble thought, by meditation on spiritual subjects, by unselfish altruism expressed in daily life, and by purifying the blood of passion.

  Max Heindel, messenger of the Elder Brothers of the Rose Cross and author of the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, reminds us that when David desired to build a temple for the Lord, he was denied the privilege because he had been a man of war. Whether separatism designates an inner war with ourselves, the battle of the sexes, or the warring of states and nations, such disharmony is in direct opposition to the conception and realization of the immaculate heart of the soft diamond body.

  The second principle goes deep into ancient Rosicrucian Philosophy. While remaining secret, this knowledge was practiced at the beginning of the second millennium, when the Rosicrucians, known in Jerusalem at the time of King Solomon’s Temple as the Priory of Sion and the Knights Templars, committed themselves to the alchemical pursuit of “transmuting lead into gold.” This phrase was a partial blind for the endeavor of building the diamond body “without sound of hammer.” The gold referred to is the light ether of the “golden wedding garment,” a vesture woven by selfless acts of charity. It is ceremonialized in the alchemical wedding of Christian Rosencruz, the “Eldest” (most evolved) of the 13 Elder Brothers of the Rose Cross.

  Many New Agers believe that Rosicrucians in the Middle Ages manifested external, physical gold, when in fact they were developing internal, spiritual gold. If today’s average man or woman comprehended the virtue and value of building the diamond body, he or she would desire that more than gold, as do members of the Rosicrucian and Masonic organizations today. Until now it has been their (reluctantly) best kept secret. But evolutionary advances now permit this spirit-building process to be open to all individuals who desire it.

  The third principle is that we are all “temple builders” working under direction of God and His ministers, the divine Hierarchies. The Elder Brothers of the Rose Cross, also known in modern times as the Priory of Sion, work through one of the seven mystery schools that represent these divine Hierarchies. These high spiritual Beings are inaugurating the “New Age of Aquarius” which, according to the Rosicrucian Philosophy of the Elder Brothers, will not come into full effect for another 600 years. However, here on the cusp of the new millennium, humanity is even now within the orb of the Aquarian ray which, with increasing force, impels us to build the spiritual temple, the diamond body. Mystic Masons and Rosicrucians are not only forging the living temple of the radiant soul body, they are helping to build the temple of humanity at large, so that the Christ Light can manifest throughout the world, and the ecclesia of universal brotherhood and sisterhood, made “without sound of hammer,” can become a reality.

  -Susann Lee White