THE CO-FOUNDER OF AMORC

 

 

 

Spencer Lewis, the founder of AMORC, on several occasions mentioned the existence of a mysterious woman who helped him found AMORC, and below I will list the mentions I have found in chronological order.

 

 

1. What seems to be the first mention was in the first volume of his magazine The American Rosae Crucis, January 1916, where on page 13 he put the following photography:

 

 

Under the photo he wrote: "Mrs. May Banks-Stacey. Matre, Rosae Crucis America."

 

 

And on the next page he published the following article:

 

«

MRS. MAY BANKS-STACEY

MATRE, ROSAE CRUCIS AMERICA

 

It has been said there probably is no bluer blood in America than that of Mrs. May Banks-Stacey. She is a descendant of Oliver Cromwell and the D' Arcy's of France. H.er father, who was a very distinguished lawyer, was the grandson of General James Banks of Revolutionary fame, who fought with General Washington in the DuQuesne War. Her grandfather was first cousin to the wife of Jerome Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon.

 

Mrs. Thaddeus Banks, the mother of Mrs. May Banks-Stacey, was Delia Cromwell Reynolds of Maryland, and was direct descendant of the Cromwells of England. She is said to have been a magnificent woman, queenly in appearance and elegant of manner, and also one of the finest conversationalists of her time.

 

Mrs. Stacey was educated in Pittsburgh, but subsequently went to Philadelphia, where she finished her education in voice culture, art and music. It was while studying there that she had the privilege of seeing the body of Abraham Lincoln lying in state.

 

Before her marriage she was one of the most popular belles of Washington society, and is still a member of several ultra-fashionable social sets in Washington and New York. She was the prime mover in founding the Manhattan Mystic Circle, a Masonic Organization. This unprecedented honor and privilege was accorded her in recognition of pioneer services rendered to the Masonic Fraternity by her ancestors.

 

Mrs. Stacey is the widow of Col. May H. Stacey, U. S. Army, three times breveted for gallantry in action, in honor of whom Oswego Grand Army Post is named May H. Stacey Post. Her two sons, both officers in the U. S. Army, have won distinction and recognition.

 

Captain Cromwell Stacey of the Twenty-first U. S. Infantry was the man who captured Garcia and who killed the chief in the uprising of the natives 'of Samar, and during his stay in the Philippines was made "precidenti" at Parang.

 

After her husband's death,. Mrs. Stacey devoted her time and attention to philosophy and literary work, and also successfully lectured in many schools of social culture.

 

Being born in the Sign of Cancer, her mind naturally turned toward the mystic side of life, and in her persistent search for light, finally became associated with the Rosae Crucian movement. She is one of the founders of Rosae Crucis in the United States and the Matre of the Grand Lodge of America.

 

A visit to her drawing room is both pleasing and highly instructive. Her’s is a personality you seem to have knoym in some previous existence, whose lovliness wins you from the outset, to whom you can converse without reserve, who gives you that inner assurance of understanding and' response you feel is genuine. Having travelled in far off countries — in China, Japan, Australia, Europe, Cuba, the Phillipines, she has had the privilege of meeting some strange personalities, such as the Sultan of Zulu and many Indian chiefs. Being versed in Law, Medicine, Palmistry, Astrology, Occultism and Mysticism, she has a fund of knowledge rarely met with. She has studied the mysteries of Hindoo philosophy under Swami Vivekananda, Abekananda and Baha Ullah, and also has been a member of the Theosophists Inner Circle.

 

Having passed through the Spring and Summer seasons of life and approaching the Winter Solstice, she can look back upon a life full of pleasant memories and can truly say "I have lived and I have loved."

 

Her amiability and kindness endear her to all —

 

"None know her but to love her,

None name her but to praise." »

(p.17)

 

 

 

 

 

2. In his magazine The American Rosae Crucis, July 1916, Lewis detailed how he met this lady:

 

« During the fall of 1914 there came to me a grand old lady who had been a deep student of the occult for years. She had traveled much abroad in search for knowledge and had been initiated in many forms of our work. Being of royal descent and intimately acquainted with governmental and military authorities here and abroad, she had been entrusted with a special errand and mission connected with the Order.

 

Thus on another rainy night in the month of November —on my own birthday in fact— she unceremoniously and reverently placed in my hands a few papers, a small packet and a beautiful red rose! In addition to these she gave me a locket of gold set with stones in symbolical form, containing a rare and historical piece or mineral. The latter was a personal gift·to be worn in her remembrance — and ever shall I remember the dear old soul whose days are numbered, but who is sure of a sweet place in the hearts of my wife, my children and myself. (S. of the C.!)

 

The papers I found to be some of those which the Masters had explained to me in Europe in 1909 and which were promised to come to me when I needed them most, by special messenger [which was this lady]. The packet contained a seal and an insignia. I was pleased. Astounded — and now greatly fortified for my work. »

(p.12)

 

 

This statement raises several questions:

 

Why did Lewis never show the documents and objects that this lady had allegedly given him?

 

AMORC members were becoming more and more skeptical that Lewis was really supported by the French Rosicrucians, so why didn't he show those proofs that lady gave him to placate the distrust of her followers instead of showing them such documents implausible that only provoked even more mistrust?

 

 

 

 

 

3. In his mafazine for AMORC members entitled Cromaat D (1918) Lewis reported that this lady had passed away:

 

«

THE SUPREME MATRE EMERITUS RAISED TO THE HIGHER REALMS

 

On January 21, 1918, there passed from this material plane to the Higher Realms, the soul of our clearly beloved Supreme Matre Emeritus, May Banks-Stacey, widow of the late Col. M. H. Stacey.

 

Mrs. Stacey was a direct descendant of Oliver Cromwell and an indirect descendant of Mary Stuart and Napoleon. She was a native of Baltimore, her father having been an eminent jurist. She was seventy-six years of age at the time of her passing to the beyond, and leaves a daughter and two sons, both of whom hold high military positions.

 

Mother Stacey was a deep student of mysticism. She was a graduate physician and a graduate lawyer. She had travelled to nearly every foreign land and has been entertained by mere potentates than possibly any other American woman.

 

While journeying through India her attention was given to the mystic teachings of the Hindus and these started her long career of research in that field. After having lived a while and studied with many cuts, she finally visited Egypt and there came in contact with the Rosicrucian Masters. This was a few years prior to the coming of the Order of America.

 

Mrs. Stacey desired the privilege of bringing the Order’s teachings to America and so expressed her desire, pointing to the fact that her American parents and relatives had been among those who established the first Masonic Lodge in Baltimore and Philadelphia and that she was not only a member of the Eastern Star but a Daughter of the American Revolution, Colonial Dames, etc. It was pointed out to her however that the Order could not come to America until the year 1915. It was further explained that when the Order did come it would come through the sponsorship of France.

 

Mrs. Stacey was given by the Masters in Egypt a certain mystical Jewel of the Order and several sealed papers which she was requested to hold until such time as another [Spencer Lewis] came to her with a duplicate of one of the seals and requested her assistance in establishing the Order in America. Mrs. Stacey then returned to India and after showing the recognition she had received at the hands of the Masters in Egypt she was duly initiated into our Order there and was given other papers signed by the Supreme Council of the World.

 

In writing of her part in the establishment of the Order in America, Mrs. Stacey has put upon official record in the Archives of the Supreme Grand Lodge in New York the following statement:

 

“I further state that the said Jewels and INCOMPLETE instructions were delivered into my hands by the R. C. Masters of India, representing the Supreme Council of the W rid, and that I was there made an initiate of the Order and a Legate of the Order for America. I also state that the said Jewels and papers were represented to me as coming direct from Egypt and France, and that they were given to me to be formally handed to that man who should present certain papers, documents, jewels and ‘key’ in America. Such a person having matured and being Brother H. S. Lewis, I did the duty expected of me, fulfilled my commission and with pleasure express the joy at seeing the work so well under way in accordance with the prophecy made in India to me in person.

 

The history of the Jewels and papers are, to my knowledge exactly as stated herein and as described by Mr. Lewis, our Imperator in the History of the Order as published in the Official Magazine."

 

Mrs. Stacey retired as active Matre of the Supreme Grand Lodge after its first year and has since devoted her time to deep study and research.

 

She was greatly loved by all who knew her. Her kind smile and ever cheerful disposition as well as her deep knowledge of human nature, and the trials of life c n this earth, made her truly a Mother to all her “children” of the Lodge. As one of the cofounders of the Order in America her name ever shall be cherished and we know that in another incarnation she will take up the work which she was unable to complete at this time. »

(p.26-27)

 

 

Here Lewis says that he approached this lady as he wrote:

 

"The Masters of Egypt gave Mrs. Stacey a certain mystical Jewel of the Order and various sealed documents which she was asked to keep until another [Spencer Lewis] came to her with a duplicate of one of the seals."

 

But in the second article that I put above, Lewis says that it was she who approached him, since in that article he wrote:

 

"During the fall of 1914 there came to me a grand old lady who had been a deep student of the occult for years."

 

These constant contradictions in what Lewis wrote are something usual since he was not careful with the details and often he varied his narrations.

 

 

 

 

 

4. In his book Rosicrucian Manual (1918) Lewis put the picture of this lady again:

 

 

And below this picture is a note that says, “Mrs. May Banks-Stacey, Co-founder and first Grand Matre in U. S. A. (see biographical reference on page 129).”

 

And in that reference it is written:

 

« She was a member of the English Branch which sponsored the first movement in America, Mrs. Colonel May Banks Stacey (see portrait above), descendant of Oliver Cromwell and the D’Arcy's of France, placed in his hands such papers as had been officially transmitted to her by the last of the first American Rosicrucians, with the Jewel and Key of authority received by her from the Grand Master of the Order in India, while an officer of the work in that country.

. . .

Spencer Lewis visited Toulouse, the ancient center of the Rosicrucian international conclave, and returned from that country in possession of further authority. This, and the papers possessed by Mrs. Stacey, were presented to a Committee of over a hundred American citizens and the foundation for the decreed revival of the work in America was laid, with Mrs. Stacey as Grand Matre of the Order, and Dr. Lewis as Supreme Grand Master. »

(p.153 in the 1st edition, p.129 in the following)

 

 

And there we find more doubts and contradictions:

 

A member of the Rosicrucian Order of India? Where was that Order in India? And why are there no historical references to that Order except in Lewis's writings?

 

And papers received from the Grand Master of the Order of India? Who was this Grand Master of this Rosicrucian Order of India?

 

All serious students of esotericism and all researchers of the true history of the Rosicrucians would like to know these data, and of course, that they could be verified.

 

 

 

 

 

5. In his book The Light of Egypt (1927) it is said:

 

« She was a high initiate of the oldest Rosicrucian Organization of London and Paris, descended from the D'Arcy’s of France. She was a well traveled woman with many affiliations who presented herself as a Special Delegate of the Order in India. She presented Dr. Lewis and the founding committee with the final preparation papers for the great work, and the Jewel of Authority, a rare official emblem, as well as priceless treasures from the East Center archives. »

(p.14)

 

 

And again we have to ask ourselves:

 

Where are those papers that no one has seen?

 

And what jewel? What treasures?

 

Where are they? Why did Lewis never show them?

 

And the answer that comes to mind is because those documents and objects given by that lady did not really exist and were only an invention of Lewis.

 

 

 

 

 

6. In his book Questions and Answers (1929), Lewis specified that it was Mrs. Stacey who had been instructed to appoint him President of the Supreme Council of the Order in the United States:

 

« The Legate from India [Mrs. Stacey], who presented to me the jewels and papers which had been preserved from the early Rosicrucian Foundation in Philadelphia.

 

Throughout the years 1909 to 1915, many official Council sessions were held in my house and the homes of others, with men and women present who were descendants of early initiates of the Order, and a few of whom were initiates of the Order in France during the years 1900 to 1909. In 1915, the first official public manifesto was issued in this country announcing the birth of a new cycle of the Order, and immediately thereafter the first Supreme Council of the Order was selected from among hundreds of men and women who had been carefully selected during the preceding seven years.

 

At the first official sessions of this American Supreme Council officers were nominated and I was surprised to find that the Legate from India had been instructed to nominate me as the chief executive of the Order because of the work I had done during the seven years in organizing the new foundation. »

(p.150-1)

 

 

Here Lewis says that Mrs. Stacey gave him the jewels that had been preserved from the early Rosicrucian Foundation in Philadelphia. But in the third article above, Lewis says that it was just a mystical jewel of the Rosicrucian Order that the Masters of Egypt had given to Mrs. Stacey. And in the second article above, Lewis says that this jewel was a personal gift· from her to be worn in her remembrance.

 

And this is another example of how Spencer Lewis often contradicted himself in his stories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE AMORC FOUNDATION

 

On April 1, 1915, Lewis had a meeting for the official foundation of AMORC and there the people present signed the charter that I show you below:

 

 

 

In this document it is observed that under the signature of Lewis who is named “Grand Master General”, the title of “Matre General” also appears and this corresponds to Mrs. May Banks-Stacey, but no signature appears.

 

Why?

 

AMORC says that since she was the Delegate from another jurisdiction, the absence of her signature can be justified.

 

 

 

 

 

 

REVEALING WHO REALLY WAS

THIS WOMAN

 

But researcher David T. Rocks published an article in the review Theosophical History, October 1996 (p.144-150), where he details who really was the lady in the photo above.

 

Since his article is very extensive, here we are only going to make a summary, but those who want to read the entire article they can do at this link.

 

In this article it is indicated that this lady was not called May Banks-Stacey but was called Mary Henrietta Banks, she was born in 1846 in Hollidaysbourg, Pennsylvania, and married in 1866 with the captain (not colonel) May Humpfreys Stacey.

 

Captain Stacey died at Fort Ontario this same year by his Civil War wounds, leaving his wife widow with three children:

 

   -   Delia, 15 years old

   -   Aubrey aged 12 years old and

   -   Edward Cecil Cronwell, 10 years old

 

According to a file of the Secretary of War of the United States, Mrs. Stacey received a widow's pension of 20 dollars a month, which was later increased to 30 dollars, and a bonus of 2 dollars a month for each child until they reached the age of 16 years.

 

It is known that Mrs. Stacey lived between 1898 and 1903 in New York City and the first two years she stayed in a boarding house located at 101 West 40th Street, but her landlord, Mr. Fred Stanley Betts, filed a claim with the authorities because Ms. Stacey owed him $450 in accumulated rent.

 

Mrs. Banks, whose married name was Mary Stacey (not May Banks-Stacey) passed away in Evanston Illinois on January 21, 1918.

 

Mrs. Stacey's holographic will was deposited in the Cook County, Illinois, General Archives and Records in March 1918 by her daughter, and all her property (books, jewelry, furniture, etc.) amounted to an estimated value of about 100 dollars, a really very poor capital.

 

From all this history widely documented, it can be inferred that:

 

1. Mrs. Stacey was a real person but had very little to do with the occultist May Bank-Stacey who by all evidence was a character invented by Lewis.

 

2. Mrs. Stacey was a poor widow who received a small pension granted by the Government of the United States, and it is known based on the documentation presented that she lived very precariously.

 

3. Taking into account her poverty and the debts she accumulated, as well as the fact that she has three small children whom she took care of and did not abandon, how is it possible that this lady traveled to England, to Paris, to Egypt and to the India, according to Lewis? How is it possible that even she was an important member of the Rosicrucian Order in these countries, which supposes a prolonged stay in them, with how expensive those very long trips were at that time, and was entrusted with a mission like the one that Lewis says?

 

4. And there are also other details such as: the correspondence that she had with the Department of the Secretary of War in relation to the promotions of her children in the army that shows she was not interested in esotericism at all; the more than doubtful descent of her from the Cronwells of England and the D'Arci’s of France that Lewis affirmed so much, but that does not appear in her genealogy; the fact that Lewis called her by a curious name: her husband's first name, May, her maiden name, Banks, and her husband's last name, Stacey, resulting in the curious composition "May Banks Stacey "; the mistake Lewis made in giving her a different place of birth than the one on her birth certificate, and also that Lewis never gave the date she was born, probably because he didn't know, etc., etc., etc. .

 

5. And if we also consider that Mrs. Stacey never participated in the meetings of the Lewis group and that she did not sign the charter of the foundation of AMORC where the signature of the "Matre General" is missing, then there is no other possibility that to considerate that Lewis knew very little, if any, of Mrs. Stacey.

 

6. Not claiming, as Clymer does, though it is quite possible that Mrs. Stacey was a person who allowed herself to be photographed for money, with no other relationship to Lewis; it is most likely that Lewis knew Mrs. Stacey as someone from time to time and had no friendly relationship with her, using her photography and a fictional story to justify the founding of AMORC with this invented character and thus giving more verisimilitude to Lewis fantasies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

From the historical point of view this case is an accumulation of falsifications and abusive and fraudulent use of the personality of a person surely ignorant of how her name was used. And from the human point of view it is shameful that Lewis has used this poor woman, a widow with serious financial problems, to manipulate his followers. And this is one more example of the enormous charlatanism and lack of ethics that Spencer Lewis had.