HISTORY OF TRF LONDON CENTRE

It is a well-known fact that there is no nation without its Mystery Teaching. Every nation on earth has got its own Spiritual Teaching that is given to the few and for the material, social, and cultural as well as political advancement of its many citizens. In this regard, Great Britain is no exception. There were few prominent Rosicrucian’s in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Britain. Among them were famous philosophers such as Robert Fludd and Elias Asmole. We also understand that the celebrated playwright, William Shakespeare was influenced by a Rosicrucian initiate. His many plays and dramas could be truly understood only in this light.

It is recorded that the Rose Cross work was founded by Elias Asmole, a hermetic scholar and kabbalist of sixteenth-century England. He founded a Masonic Lodge and a Rosicrucian Order in London and worked with both of them together.

In those early days, Rosicrucian meetings were all held in secret. It was not until the first decade of the twentieth century that a messenger by the name of Max Heindel was found to promulgate the Teachings publicly. He founded the Rosicrucian Fellowship, a preparatory school whose headquarters is in Oceanside, California, USA, to train students for the Rosicrucian Order. His main published book (Magnus Opus) is called THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION.

Since it started, it has spread to all corners of the world like wildfire to prepare humanity for the New Age of Aquarius. In London, we have records of addresses of individuals who were students as early as the nineteen-thirties. It was around the nineteen fifties that formal study groups began to spring up. We had a ninety-seven year old probationer, Brother Charles Brathwaite who recalled that there were at least two study groups in London, one in Holborn and the other in Richmond. According to our dear friend, the Holborn group existed up to 1964. Meetings were held on Wednesday evenings from 5 – 7 pm at the Kingsley Hall, Wesleyan Church in Holborn. The average attendance at these meetings was 6. The leader of the group was Sister Linda Norton.

Also, according to our late friends Sister Dorothy Hilton and Brother George Greening, our present TRF London Centre was created in 1980 by the call of a German Student during the winter of 1979, who through our Headquarters invited friends to unite with him in taking TRF Teachings to the Festival of Mind-Body-Spirit held at Olympia in London in June 1980. Four students attended this Festival and in 1982, Brother John Hempstead, then the German Secretary at Headquarters, Mt Ecclesia and his wife graced the meetings of the London Study Group. He gave two lectures at the Seymour Hall. His lectures which consisted of the origins of TRF were accompanied by slides.

It became a chartered centre in 1984 with Sister Dorothy as President, Brother George Greening as Secretary and Brother Emmanuel Amanfo as the Treasurer. Meetings were held at various places such as 14 Morden Gardens where our president lived, Willesden Green and the Neasden Libraries. The average attendance at these meetings was seven.

Visiting the sick in hospitals and helping the old in our various communities was the quest of the Centre. Sister Dorothy helped the young and the old at WISE (a Charitable Association) to improve themselves and the local community.

To date we have hosted three European International Conferences: The first was held at Sarum College in Salisbury in 2009. The Theme for the Conference was: “Self-forgetting Service”.The second European International Conference was held in 2014 in Abbey House in Glastonbury with the Theme as “Universal Brotherhood.” The third conference was held in 2019 1st– 4thAug at Sarcum College in Salisbury with the theme: ‘Applying the principles of A Sane Mind, A Soft Heart, and A Sound Body.

Presently TRF London Centre continues to thrive and to disseminate these wonderful Teachings of Christian Mysticism through direct classes and the distribution of TRF Flyers.

TRF London Centre launched its own website in December 2017.