The Martinist Order of America (or M∴O∴A∴) is an initiatory Order open to all men and women of good will who:
- wish to bring down the Kingdom of God by the awakening and by the more intense communion with the message and the life of the Glorious Christ whom they feel in their deep inner being;
- believe that the coming of this Kingdom is at first governed by a personal spiritual activity, the aim of which is to blossom in the middle of daily life the qualities of heart and spirit with which they are entrusted with;
- believe in finding a source of spiritual nourishment in the study of the sacred books and of the human thoughts found in hermetic traditions, philosophy and science;
- believe in the help of the “Passed Masters,” such as the Rose+Cross, Pythagoras, Plato, Plutarch, Master Eckhart, Jacob Boehme, Swedenborg, Eckhartshausen, Martinez de Pasqually and his disciples Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, Master Phillip of Lyon, as well as all those who inspired them or who were inspired by them ever after;
- believe that the blossoming of the inner being results from a path which, although distinctive to everybody, however needs an initiation and a support, which will be found easier in an already existing spiritual community;
- believe that now, at the beginning of the Aquarian age, humanity having changed, the conditions of life and specially its rhythm having changed, it is time to prepare us inwardly to receive and to transmit the new energies which will take us to a state of more elevated consciousness, to new responsibilities and to more efficient actions in the midst of the Creation.
The aim of the Order is the Reintegration of the Human Being into his/her primitive purity, the ever more and more approaching of mankind to God. The Martinist Order of America is one of the branches of the prestigious filiation mentioned above. It transmits, with complete regularity, through initiatory filiation, the traditional degrees of Martinism. The Order admits in its ranks men and women who wish to work in complete brotherhood/sisterhood for their spiritual evolution in an ascending movement towards the Creating Principle.
Joanny Bricaud, Notice Historique sur le Martinisme
The aim to attain is and will always be the spiritualisation of individuals and societies.
In this regard let us mention the following words written by Papus:
The Order, in its whole, is above all a school of moral chivalry, trying hard to develop spirituality in its members by the study of the invisible world and its laws, by the exercise of devotion and of intellectual assistance, and by the creation in each spirit of a faith, all the more solid because it is based on observation and science. Martinism derives directly from Christian Illuminism and has adopted its principles.
Forming the real centre of this living University, that will one day recreate the marriage without division of Science and Faith, without epithet, Martinism tries to be worthy of this name by establishing superior schools of metaphysical and physiological science, disdainfully moved away from classical teachings under the pretext that it is occult.
Our epoch of scepticism, of adoration of the material world and of atheism, needed so badly a frank Christian reaction, independent of all clergies, that in all the countries where it has penetrated, Martinism has saved many souls from doubt, despair and suicide. It brought back to the comprehension of Christ many spirits that certain clerical actions had moved away from Faith.
Not asking from its members any contribution, nor entrance fees into the Order, neither asking any regular tribute from the Lodges to the Supreme Council, Martinism has remained faithful to its spirit and origins by making material poverty its very first rule.
Martinists want to be Christians, free from any clerical connection, and the accusations of “Satanism” will just make them shrug their shoulders, while asking Heaven for mercy for those who slandered them unfairly.
Martinists do not practise any magic, be it white or black. They study, they pray and they forgive injustices.
Martinism does not ask its members for any oaths of passive obedience, nor does it impose on them any dogma, be it materialistic or clerical, thus leaving them in a perfect freedom of consciousness.
We simply remain fervent Knights of Christ, enemies of violence and vengeance, resolute synarchists, opposed to any anarchy from above or below, in one word, Martinists, as have been our glorious ancestors Martines de Pasqually, Claude de Saint-Martin and Willermoz!
The Martinist Order of America, wanting itself free from any Saturnian structure, hardly has any organised structure, this means, there are no statutes, no registered office, no membership cards, no subscription fees, no entrance fees. It exists only in the Invisible.It consists of simple adherents and of “Initiates” divided in three grades, two probationary degrees and one grade. This grade, the S∴I∴ or “Unknown Superior” (also called “Unknown Server”) is only granted to members who show themselves worthy by their behaviour in their daily life, as well as by their special knowledge (concerning the doctrine and workings of the “Passed Masters” of Martinism — hermetic traditions) and in general by their support for Martinist principles. Only the grade of S∴I∴ can under certain conditions grant the right and the power to initiate according to the Tradition.
M∴O∴A∴ is constituted of two Circles:
- the External Circle for esoteric studies, which is a school of instruction for the first two degrees which meet in an “Instruction Lodge,”
- the Inner Circle of the SS∴II∴ who meet in a “Chapter” or “Grand Chapter” and whose will is to be part of this chosen community called the “Inner Sanctuary,” “Society of the Elect” or “Inner Church” (D’Eckhartshausen and Lopoukhine), which is aware of the universal and central character of esoterism and for which “the present possession of God, of Jesus-Christ in us, is the centre to which all mysteries, as the rays of a circle, focus.” (D’Eckhartshausen, La Nuée sur le Sanctuaire).
Martinism is Christian chivalry, or, if preferred, a chivalric line of individual and collective improvement. It thus must tend to be made up only of perfect servers and successors of the real Masters of the movement.
This asks all members for a pattern of behaviour freely accepted by all, a spirit of devotion and a discipline without which all the collective work would be impossible. Greatest tolerance or better, widest spirit of comprehension is thus required.
We so ask you to meditate on your request and to find out the deeper reasons of it, according to these indications, before taking any further steps.