see also Black Mirrors
see also The Rosicrucian Order
by Michael Nowicki
Among H Spencer Lewis' many talents was that of designer and
builder of unusual electrical inventions and prototypes for
the purpose of demonstrating the mystical principles and
natural law found in the teachings. If he were alive today he
would probably be called a hardware hacker in the best sense
of the term.
When the first AMORC Rosicrucian Temple was opened in 1915 in New York City it had a 'wireless' radio with HSL often putting on headphones and scanning the airwaves to hear what was out there.
Indeed, part of the description of a Rosicrucian throughout the ages is a mystic who can embrace new technologies to help spread the Light. Modern Rosicrucians have adapted the new Internet technology in much the same way to stay in touch, participate in forums, distribute materials, get research help, learn about local activities and visit web sites like this one.
So, with the goal of inspiring others to find new ways to use new technologies to spread the Light I offer for your entertainment this collection of strange devices from the night gallery of the occult.
Luxatone - The Color Organ
The Color Organ was a device that converted portions of the
audio spectrum into portions of the color light
spectrum. The microphone was used to
input speech or music and the display screen would display
the colors and their intensity in sync. The man
on the left is Ralph M. Lewis before he became the 2nd
Imperator of AMORC.
It's primary use was to demonstrate the Cosmic Keyboard as
taught by AMORC that there are octaves of manifestation and
that each musical note has a harmonic correspondence to a
specific color in a higher octave.
The design principle was fairly simple though innovative for
it's time. The screen was a triangular box with a
translucent piece of glass on the front. Within the box
in each corner was a red, blue or green colored light bulb
whose light would glow and be visible through the glass
viewing screen.
Within the console itself was a complex circuit built from
vacuum tubes and radio components. There was one
primary detection channel or circuit. When a
sound frequency was detected via the microphone the circuit
would measure the frequency and power the colored light bulbs
in combination to mix the desired color. The
three light bulbs represented the three primary colors from
which all other colors could be mixed by lighting the bulbs
in varying intensity with the blended color appearing in the
center of the triangular display.
The guts of the Luxatone with vacuum
tubes and a hefty power transformer.
After the Luxatone was demonstrated with success this booklet
was published and sent out to members of the Order and the
newspapers. Here's scans of the complete booklet.
If you were in college in the 1960's or 70's you may have
owned a modern version of the Luxatone sold by Radio Shack
that connected to the speaker terminals of your stereo and
blinked colored lights in rhythm with the music. Far
out, man! And a very entertaining scientific
demonstration of the Cosmic Keyboard principles.
The
Cosmic Ray Coincidence Counter
The Cosmic Ray Coincidence Counter appears to have been a
very early prototype of a Geiger counter to detect and
register ambient levels of radioactivity which at that time
in the 1930's was still an largely unknown frequency spectrum
and scientific mystery.
Just as radio had years earlier proven that speech and music
could be transmitted via an unseen and wireless 'ether' it
could now use that same radio technology to contact and
demonstrate the existence of an even high rate of vibration
that was closer still to the divine vibration of creation.
The two long tubes on the front were used as transducers to
detect the Cosmic Ray particles just like a radio antenna or
sensor probe of a giggler counter. These were rotated
and adjusted along with the dials to set the frequency range
and detection sensitivity.
Now if you look carefully at the photos showing the
rear of the unit you'll see a vacuum tube driven radio
receiver and audio amplifier connected to a round speaker
from which the audience could actually hear the Cosmic Ray
particles. The metal box on the bottom
shelf was the AC power supply.
This device was used for demonstration purpose at conventions
and RCU during the late 1930's to early 1940's to demonstrate
the existence of higher frequency manifestations and the
ability to contact these forces through the use of the
principles of attunement.
Sympathetic Vibration Harp
One of the keystone teachings of AMORC was the principle of
resonance or sympathetic vibration which simply states that
one object vibrating at a particular frequency with resonate
with another object that is also tuned to the same frequency.
H. Spencer Lewis built a simple harp from wood with 12
strings tuned to the 12 musical notes of the scale. You would
then strike one of the tuning forks and hold it close to the
strings so the one string tuned to that note would sound.
Pitch pipes were also used as were violin bows stroked
against a pane of glass (see above).
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