author
Max Heindel
1865–1919
A Danish-born mystic and astrologer who built a devoted following in the United States, he became best known for founding the Rosicrucian Fellowship and for writing books that blended Christianity, astrology, and esoteric thought. His work helped shape a lasting stream of modern Rosicrucian literature.
2 Audiobooks
About the author
Born Carl Louis von Grasshoff in Aarhus, Denmark, in 1865, he later became known as Max Heindel. Accounts of his early life say he trained in engineering before eventually settling in the United States, where he turned increasingly toward spiritual and occult study.
Heindel is best remembered as the founder of the Rosicrucian Fellowship, established in 1909, and as the author of The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception. His writing presented a form of esoteric Christianity that drew together mysticism, astrology, reincarnation, and spiritual evolution in a style meant for ordinary readers as well as committed seekers.
He died in Oceanside, California, in 1919, but his books continued to circulate widely afterward. For readers interested in early twentieth-century occult and spiritual movements, his work remains one of the more influential entry points into Rosicrucian ideas.