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WISDOM BECOME KNOWLEDGE

WHEN IT BECOMES YOUR PERSONAL
EXPERIENCE

Arcanum Arcanorum
Scientific Illuminism

A..A..
"Freemasonry is a fraternity within a fraternity - an outer organization
concealing an inner Brotherhood of the elect. Before it is possible to
intelligently discuss the origin of the craft it is necessary to establish
the existence of these two separate yet interdependent orders, the one
visible and the other invisible. The visible society is a splendid
camaraderie of "free and accepted" men enjoined to devote
themselves to ethical, educational, fraternal, patriotic, and
humanitarian concerns. The invisible society is a secret and most
august fraternity whose members are dedicated to the service of a
mysterious Arcanum Arcanorum."
MANLY P. HALL

According to Webster's Dictionary, the word "Arcanum" refers to "secrets" or

"the Great secret," the word "Arcanorum" refers to the "secret of secrets." What
is the "secret of secrets?" It is contained in the instructions that have been
passed down through the ages by the Mystery Religions, and when you

http://sites.google.com/site/memphismizraimbg/a-acomplete this series of letters you will understand the mystery that has fueled
world strife since the dawn of civilization. Latin syntagm ARCANA
ARCANORUM meaning is "(the) Secret of (all) Secrets". The abbreviation with
three points forming a triangle following the initials is typical of esoteric
societies; A..A.. is considered the ultimate level of initiation in a few modern
secret or discreet initiatic societies, such as Freemasonry, Golden Dawn, etc.
A..A.. is from Latin: Arcanum Arcanorum, "Secret of Secrets," or Hebrew:
Arikh Anpin, "Vast Countenance" or English: "Angel and Abyss", or Kether)
alternately, Argenteum Astrum or Greek: , "Astron Argon", both
literally; "Silver Star". Its motto is: "The method of science, the aim of religion."
A..A.. is the one true and invisible Order which has operated under various
names and guises throughout history to guide the spiritual evolution of
humanity. The goals of the A..A.. are those which have motivated spiritual
exploration and religious inquiry throughout human history. Its methods are
those of science; its aims are those of religion. It is the Arcanum Arcanorum,
and the Holy of Holies wherein the Sacred Ark rests inviolate. Every legitimate
magical order, mystery school, religion, or other agency disseminating some
portion of Wisdom or Light is or has been but an Outer Vehicle of this Inner
Fellowship of Light. The Arcana Arcanorum is a elite Rite that goes back to
Atlantis. It is the highest of Rites and its purpose is to give offspring to the
'superhumans'. You must possess a special DNA to join.
The Arcana Arcanorum class of degrees was purportedly first devised by the
controversial magus and Freemason known as count Alessandro Cagliostro
(thought to constitute the pseudonym of Giuseppe Balsamo), also the creator of
the Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry; the A..A.. Egyptian Masonry tends to focus
on Alchemy (a word which means Egypt, Al-khemi or Land of Khem), neoplatonism (a philosophical movement that started in Alexandria, Egipt) and the
Kabbalah. Some of the Rites that make up Egyptian Masonry are the Egyptian
Rite of Masonry created by the alchemist Count Cagliostro, the Antient and
Primitive Rite of Memphis and the Oriental Rite of Misram. Masonic degrees
have survived and are now part of the Memphis-Misraim Rite. The Rites of
Misram and Memphis, commonly known as Egyptian Freemasonry, originated
in Italy and France and combined masonic symbolism with Egyptian and
alchemical references. At that time Malta was a center for Masonics, and other
esoteric cults and the Arcana Arcanorum. Very close to the Grand Master of the
Order of the Knights of Malta, Manual Pinto de Fonseca, Cagliostro founded the
Rite of High Egyptian Masonry in 1784. He received, between 1767 and 1775,
from Sir Knight Luigi dAquino, the brother of the national Grand Master of
Neapolitan Masonry, the Arcana Arcanorum, three very high hermetic degrees.
In 1788, he introduced them into the Rite of Misram and gave a patent to this
Rite.
In 1782 Count Cagliostro gathered his research in secret societies into a body
of knowledge known as the Arcana Arcanorum, or A..A.., consisting of a series
of magical practices that stressed internal alchemy. The fruits of Cagliostro's
researches into the occult societies of Europe were a body of knowledge known
as the Arcana Arcanorum, or A..A.. He took this term from the original
Rosicrucians of the 17th Century, but his corpus consisted of descriptions of

http://sites.google.com/site/memphismizraimbg/a-amagical practices that stressed "internal alchemy," so it goes. Cagliostro

introduced the three very secret and famous degrees of Arcana Arcanorum
(A..A..) into the Rite of Misram in 1788, out of which the Rite of Memphis later
manifested (1838), which also incorporated templar and chivalry symbolism.
The Rites merged into Memphis-Misram (MM) in the late 19th century, and are
unrivalled when it comes to quantity of degrees in one system. Several versions
of the A..A.. have existed and been in use, and since many consider it to be
the one real golden treasure of the hermetic tradition, no MM society dare to
give any details about it (some however have dared to make up their own
versions, so that they officially can claim to possess it).
Cagliostro incorporated his "secret" teachings in the so called Arcana
Arcanorum consisting of Kaballistic practices that stressed "internal alchemy".
The highest hermetic mysteries has always dealt with a sexual interpretation of
alchemy. An example is Cagliostro's Arcana Arcanorum. But the A..A... of
Cagliostro is only one minor example of the inner teachings in european
esotericism. Each of the stages of alchemy found its correspondence in the
body of the follower. Not unlike Swedenborg and his Masonic colleagues in
London who assimilated their sexual theories into a special order of
Freemasonry, the "Royal Order of Heredom of Kilwinning" or "Rite of Seven
Degrees. In 1785, a French Masonic convention invited Alexander of Cagliostro
to Paris, he whose effective knowledge of the Mysteries was known and
praised In fact, had this plan succeeded, it would allow the diffusion to a large
extent, but only to the intitiatic orders (open to both sexes), after serious studies
and duly accomplished trials, what was called in the eighteenth century, The
Arcana Arcanorum (Knowledge possessed by Saint Germain and firstly
Althotas and transmitted to Cagliostro, Aquinas, and some others, relative to
rites of High Evocatory Theurgy, secondly the essence of Alchemic and finally
techniques of accelerated evolution, based on Theurgy. The Order of Misraim
was introduced into France after 1813 by the Bedarride brothers; afterwards it
spread to Belgium, Switzerland, Britain, and the U.S. It consists of two forms of
practice: the Kabbalistic form adopted by the Bedarrides and the EgyptianHellenistic form of the highest degrees known as the Arcana Arcanorum. The
Rite of Misram in France made it official in Paris in 1814 was composed of 90
degrees, taken from the Scottish freemasonry, from Martinism and other
Masonic currents, and the last four degrees received the name of "Arcana
Arcanorum.
The Crown of the A.P.R.M.M. is found in the 87 through 90 (Rgime de
Naples), which composes the entire philosophy of the True Rite of Misram
and which furnishes a developmental explanation of the rapport between Man
and God, through the mediation of heavenly spirits. 87 up to 90 are the
famous Arcana Arcanorum Degrees, made famous by Cagliostro in the 18th.
Century. They were originally adapted and incorporated in the Mizraim-Rite in
Italy, in the beginning of the 19th century. The "ARCANA ARCANORUM' were
also incorporated in the highest Degree of ' L'ORDRE HERMETISTE
TETRAMEGISTE ET MYSTIQUE' , one of the participants of the
Convention.The degrees of the Arcana Arcanorum are the culmination of the
Masonic Wisdom, as well as the teachings of the Ages. It may be said that the
preceding degrees are merely a training ground for those things which are

http://sites.google.com/site/memphismizraimbg/a-ataught in the Arcana Arcanorum. The actual teachings of these degrees was
even concealed from the most advanced members of the Rite of Misram, and
many prominent members of the Rite were not admitted to the these degrees. It
was for this reason that these degrees were often replaced by administrative
degrees, where the degrees of 87 through 90 merely served to identify the
heads of the Rite. Entire jurisdictions of the Rite were created where not even
the Grand Conservator was admitted to the secrets of the Arcana Arcanorum.
It should also be noted that neither Marc nor Michel Bedarride were ever
initiated into the Arcana Arcanorum when they received their patents. They
would have aggravated this situation, since they were not able to communicate
a secret of which they were not in possession. This would have created a
situation where the exoteric Masonic frame began to replace the inner esoteric
magical and alchemical work (of the Arcana Arcanorum) of the Rite until the
esoteric nature had all but vanished as fewer and fewer Lodges were
established or overseen by members who were participants of the mysteries of
the Arcana Arcanorum. Joly, however, was such a Mason. In addition to being
responsible for the creation of the lectures for the high degrees, he was
admitted to the Arcana Arcanorum by Lasalle and Lechangeur. Joly soon found
himself opposing the Bdarrides and their control of the Rite and held less and
less influence on its development until his name was not even mentioned in
Marc Bdarrides book on the Rite, despite his role in its development in France
and in creating the lectures for the higher degrees. Lechangueur provides
Franois Joly with a Charter to propagate the Rite of Misraim in France.
Additionally, Joly was admitted into the Arcana Arcanorum by Lechangueur, the
summit of the Rite, which contained the inner secrets of Egyptian Freemasonry.
Bedarride, despite his control of the Rite, and work in expanding its degrees,
was never admitted into the Arcana Arcanorum.
The secrets of the Arcana were brought to the Rite by the Chevalier Luigi
dAquino, who was a friend of Cagliostro. Jean Mallinger in his work Inconnues
states, ...the parallels between certain passages of the Arcana and the
traditions of the ritual of Cagliostro are amazing. Gaston Ventura has claimed
that the 88 of the Arcana Arcanorum contains a Martinist initiation. The
ideologies of Martin de Pasqually and agliostro are, however, very close when
dealing with the soul of Man and his reintegration with the divine. The Rite itself
claims that the secrets of the Arcana Arcanorum are derived from EgyptoHellenic Hermeticism and the verbiage of the Rite is decidedly pantheistic. This
description of the Arcana Arcanorum might be a key to the Bdarrides lack of
involvement with these degrees and the direction that the Rite took in France.
The Judaic religion of the Cavaillon region of Italy (home to the Bdarride
family) would not have been in accord with Egypto-Hellenic Hermeticism, and
the degrees of the third and fourth series (created by Bdarride) show more of a
movement towards Cabalism and Jewish mysteries. The degrees leading up to
the Arcana Arcanorum are decidedly monotheistic (in the Old Testament
tradition), so descriptions of these secrets as pantheistic would lead us to
conclude that they were either written at a different time in the evolution of the
Rite, or by different authors, or that they comprise an entirely different sort of
Mysteries than those of the lower degrees. Descriptions of the Arcana
Arcanorum and the rituals of the Krata Rapoa also show a remarkable similarity.

http://sites.google.com/site/memphismizraimbg/a-aParallels between Cagliostros Egyptian Rite and the Krata Rapoa have already
been shown. The mysteries of the Arcana Arcanorum were probably an early
addition to the Rite and almost certainly of Italian origin. It is possible that the
Rite continued to grow in the middle as it expanded, adding degrees between
the symbolic rites and the Arcana Arcanorum.
Giuliano Kremmerz (1861-1930) is the founder of the "Ordine Osirideo Egizio"
(Egyptian Osirian Order). The O.O.E. was an internal Order dedicated to
spiritual and operative alchemy. Although Kremmerz was a "notorious" occultist,
he has a lot of interesting material to offer. His connections with a movement
where possibly the M..M.. and its Arcana Arcanorum is derived from, are also
worthwile to investigate. Apparently, Kremmerz' first teacher was a Pasquale de
Servis, a.k.a. IZAR, and his teachings were based upon the A..A.. - Scala di
Napoli system. While the A..A.. is not part of Ordo Templi Orientis, O.T.O.
does consider the A..A.. to be a close ally.
Ordre Reaux Croix Martinist Order was founded by S:.I:.I:. members (Free
Initiators) of the SRC+SRA, 'Sodalitas Rosae+Crucis & Solis Alati a Hermetic
Masonic Rosicrucian Order founded at the Vernal Equinox in 2003. This Order
incorporates such initiatic systems as the Golden Dawn, the Martinist tradition,
the Gnostic tradition, and the Arcana Arcanorum degrees of Memphis-Misraim.