Démétrius Platon Sémélas naquit au mois de mai 1883 à Silivri, petite ville sur la mer de Marmara à l’ouest d’Istanbul. Il était de religion grecque orthodoxe et avait fait ses études au Collège Français d’Istanbul. Il obtint son bachot à l’école commerciale grecque. Après avoir terminé ses études secondaires, il vint au Caire et là, il fut employé de commerce.
GOALS
The Order of the Lily and Eagle has as its motto:
« Love and Reciprocity established in the heart of Humanity »
The Order of the Lily and The Eagle is a "Spiritual Knighthood" that brings together within it the high moral values spread throughout the world. It calls on its members to practice generosity and social justice to fight poverty, misery and moral distress.
The aim pursued, as it was given by Marie Routchine on the day of the founding of the Order on January 19, 1915, was above all: "The protection of the weak, charity for the poor, the needy, widows and orphans, and help for the sick and the suffering."
Indeed, it is a common mistake to consider Initiation in itself as a goal, because contrary to conventional wisdom, it is not a magic wand.
Initiation must become the priority to receive a teaching and to make it live in oneself. This assiduous practice is the living path that leads to the higher goal of Universal Brotherhood: the union for the evolution of all human beings in order to bring them to full happiness. This is how we conceive of initiation, and we guide our work with a triple purpose:
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· TO FORM THE PERSONALITY: To train the personality of the individual and guide the work needed for his/her development towards perfection.
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· TO RADIATE LOVE: To radiate the Love that the members of the Order of the Lily and Eagle are animated by when they see the suffering of other people, and this, through Charity.
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· TO BENEFIT SOCIETY: To bring the benefits of the first two goals to society through foundations and institutions.
We can therefore say that the synthesis of the work created by Marie Routchine is:
''The perfecting of the individual man and woman for the well-being of the Collectivity”
What is Initiation in the Order of the Lily and Eagle? What' is its purpose? Why engage in one kind of approach, rather than another? What does this mean for the neophyte?
Initiation involves a series of keys and diagrams of the manifested Truth that the disciple receives, and which by means of his own work, he comes to affirm. One is not initiated by learning texts or the contents of documents and books, which is the method of teaching conventional knowledge such as language, spelling, mathematics, or geography. And it is only the lack of the true understanding of the initiatic method that can cause the aspiring initiate dissatisfied and continually seeking to receive new and different teachings. The initiatic work is the elaboration of the Initiate’s own understanding, the forming of his own ‘doctrine,’ and it is a work that will eventually express and manifest as his own dissimilar personality.
"One of the fundamental principles of Initiation lies in the persevering and persistent effort to obtain in oneself a beneficial force of will based on an enlightened freedom. The strengthening and maximum elevation of this faculty of will within us must lead us to the possession of the means and strengths that every initiate must possess to act for the well-being of the collectivity.” Eugene Dupré
There can be nothing more precisely clear than this proposal, which has always been the means of action of postulants on the path to Mastership. These few words sum up the work of Initiation:
"Every human being has as a natural educator the Creation that surrounds him; it is sufficient to pay a certain attention to this silent educator which can become the most eloquent master that a man could possess." Marie Routchine
"Any human being who has shown a concern, however minimal, for the progress and development of his physical, psychic and spiritual personality is a person well-suited to our Evolutionary Initiation." Demetrius Plato Semelas