IF ANY one slogan describes the
Rosicrucian Research Library, it would be "Hidden in plain sight." The library occupies an 80-year-old building at the back of Rosicrucian Park and provides the most comprehensive collection of esoteric readings anywhere in San Jose. Anyone from the public is allowed to hang out but everything in Rosicrucian Park seems to exist behind some veneer of mystery.Inside the library, visitors are greeted with a display showcasing several copies of a 2009 Wired issue dedicated to esoteric mysteries, the CIA and the Rosicrucians. Also inside the room are portraits of Julie Scott, the current grand master of the English Grand Lodge for the Americas, Christian Bernard, the current Rosicrucian imperator in France, as well as busts of former imperator Ralph Davis and the Greek philosopher Epicurus. And, of course, there are thousands of books on every occult and esoteric subject imaginable, in every format: ancient treatises, large-bound volumes, magazine articles, collectible Time-Life series, Rosicrucian material in probably 10 different languages, antiquarian volumes behind a glass case, folios and several shelves of new, yet-to-be-cataloged books.
Esoteric enthusiasts from across the globe submitted to a recent conference held in the site academic papers Patricia Downes, an organization development specialist with a doctoral degree from George Washington University, gave an interactive presentation titled "The Great Work and the Workplace: Transforming Work and Workplaces Through Stealth Esotericism". Mioara Merié, Ph.D., wrote a paper titled "Christian Esotericism and the Inner Eye: Automatic Drawing, Sciences of the Mind and Religious Innovations in Mid-Nineteenth Century Britain." Her presentation explores, among other things, the afterlife investigations of Victorian-era Christian spiritualists. Herm Cardona, MSSI, 32°, talked about Freemasonry and the Enlightenment; Bruce Krajewski, Ph.D., analyzed the unpublished papers of a bizarre castle builder in New Jersey; and Geoffrey Redmond discussed the I-Ching's influence on Western esotericism.
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