ZERØ HOUR, A Rosicrucian Movie?

Image credits: ABC DVD Cover

As a result of being attracted by the Rosicrucian references in the show I decided to watch the entire series. The plot is engaging but from the Rosicrucian point of view what I saw was very controversial and I decided to explore its implications here.

Summary of Topics

• Introduction
• Rosicrucian Symbology
• End of Days Call
• Rosicrucians and the Catholic Church
• The Rosicrucian View
• Conclusions

Introduction

According to Wikipedia, "Zero Hour (stylized as ZERØ HOUR) is an American conspiracy television series that aired on ABC from February 14 to August 3, 2013. The series was created by Paul Scheuring and starred Anthony Edwards. Zero Hour originally aired Thursdays at 8:00 pm Eastern and 7:00 pm Central as a midseason replacement. However, in the U.S., the pilot episode became available on Hulu Plus as of February 1, 2013. On March 1, 2013, the series was removed from its airing schedule by ABC due to low ratings. On April 26, 2013, it was announced that the remaining episodes will begin airing June 15, 2013, with two back-to-back episodes. Zero Hour was aired in Canada on the Global Television Network until ABC canceled it but returned to the schedule in the summer after original episodes air on ABC. Zero Hour is also airing via the Fox network in Italy, Spain and the Danish Broadcasting Corporation." 

The movie series plot goes along the following lines: "Hank Galliston (Anthony Edwards), publisher of a paranormal-skeptics magazine gets caught up in a hunt for the holiest of relics going back to the early days of Nazi Germany after his wife, Laila (Jacinda Barrett), is abducted." (Wikipedia). 

Also according to Wikipedia, "Each episode begins with the view of the insides of the ticking clockworks, then focuses on one of the Roman numerals of the clock face, and then the narrator recites a rhyming couplet using the number as the first word in the poem. Episode 1 begins with the number twelve for the hour and then each following episode begins with the next hour in sequence from one back up to eleven, then last is the zero hour." 

The show introduces a team of clockwork smiths contracted by the Rosicrucians in 1938, Germany, to build 12 clocks, which later become part of a elaborated plan to hide a christian relic (the woods of the actual cross where Jesus was crucified) from the Nazis. 

Seems that according to the plot, the real motives behind the protection of the Cross is that the "Pirates" (a doom's day group) using the techniques developed by the Nazi's Project ZERØ HOUR are aimed to obtain from the cross extracts of Jesus' DNA - from his blood on the cross - to create his perfect clone for the new age. The "Rosicrucians" were trying to hide the cross to avoid such event.

Rosicrucian Symbology

Since from the beginning of the movie we started to see references to Rosicrucian symbols like the Rose Cross lamen and some red rose rings used by catholic priests and layman as well - those people are called "Shepherds". 

Image credits: ZERØ HOUR movie trailer

The plot leads the audience to realize that the "Rosicrucians" decided to participate in the Nazi Project ZERØ HOUR to obtain immortality helping them to be the custodians of the Christian Relic (the true Cross of Jesus).

The Catholic Church and the R+C

Since the beginning the show emphasizes a close connection between a certain secret group inside the Catholic Church as part of the Rosicrucians. Also it make it explicit that was a Nazi project involving genetic experimentation related to occult developments leading to the End of Days.

End of Days Call

Having the "End of Days" motivation, the so called "Rosicrucians" decided to use all means at their disposal to protect of the Christian Relic not discarding the use of ruthless assassins to get the job done or doing the killing by themselves.

According to the plot, after the Nazis created a new "eternal life", actually a way to clone human life, the "Rosicrucians" kept the remains of the Cross hidden. They devised a plan, using the Nazi clone technology, to allow future generations of "Rosicrucians" to find the Relic appointing twelve new "apostles" assembled in 1938 with the power of duplicating them to protect the war-torn world from doom. One clock was created for each. Each clock containing a clue leading to the actual clock which points to the location of the Cross. The apostles then scattered around the planet to hide from the Nazis. However, the plot focuses into the cloned the Rosicrucian Nazi Colonel (currently living as Hank).

However, another group of fanatics, called by the "Rosicrucians" as the "Pirates", were looking for the Cross, not to the peace itself but to the blood of Jesus embedded into it. Using the restored Zero Hour project files they were aimed at restoring Jesus DNA from the remains of His blood to make it live again - kind of resurrection in the point of view. And that, making it fit with the Second Comming for the Apocalypse. The Pirates, even though working to bring about the Second Coming also do not hesitate to slain anyone on the path, clearly against the First Commandment: Do not Kill.

The Rosicrucian View

As we can see, the movie plot explores some of the cliches public available about the Rosicrucians, like their mystery around the time, the Rose Cross symbols and so on. Let's examine some of the elements shown in the movie.

The symbolism of the Clock

Each episode begins with the view of the insides of the ticking clockworks, then focuses on one of the Roman numerals of the clock face, and then the narrator recites a rhyming couplet using the number as the first word in the poem.

 Image credits: ABC DVD Cover
cropped and mirrored

Episode 1 begins with the number twelve for the hour and then each following episode begins with the next hour in sequence from one back up to eleven, then last is the zero hour.

In one of the scenes, Hank said: "The clock represents the Universe and our perfect place in its order."

In the part 9, according to Laila, the clues found by Hank and written down on a peace of paper have a profound meaning in "Christ Numerology" and they are the hints to find the true Cross:

10 - She didn't mentioned.
3 - The nails on the Cross.
5 - The wounds of Christ.
72 - The number of thorns in the Christ's crown.

This information is baked by the Bible Numerology referring to the Calvary.

According to the science of Numerology and Kabbalah:

10 - Is the number of emanations from the Godhead.
3 - Is the number of the manifestation, creation and balance.
5 - Is the number of transformation, the number the of human being.
72 - Is the number of the names of God.

The symbolism of the Rose Cross

The Rosy Cross (also called Rose Cross and Rose Croix) is a symbol largely associated with Christian Rosenkreuz, Qabbalist and alchemist and founder of the Rosicrucian Order.

 Frater C.R.C. 

Image credits: Wikipedia

The Rose Cross is said to be a cross with a white rose/red at its centre and symbolizes the teachings of a tradition formed within the Christian tenets.

The Rose Cross

According to the Rosicrucian tradition, the Cross it is the symbol for the human being and the Rose at the point of its crossing arms it is the symbol of Spirit/Higher Consciousness unfolding, the Divine Spark inhabiting into the secret chamber of the human heart. The cross is also associated with the Four Alchemical Elements (Air, Water, Fire and Earth), represented by the triangles depicted in the image above.

Rosicrucians and the Catholic Church

The Holy Office in 1919 issued a statement forbidding Catholics to belong to theosophical societies such as the Rosicrucians. (Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary) However, in the past the situation was very different. It is well known the members of the Church such as Newton, Galilee and Giordano Bruno as well a great number of high rank officials were students of the High Mysteries, such as Alchemy, Hermeticism and Astrology. Before the Catholic Inquisition those sciences were part of the faithful student and well tolerated by the Church. As I mentioned, only after the Inquisition, a radical movement of puritanism inside the Church that all other esoteric knowledge was banned from their congregations. So viewing Rosicrucians and priests working together wasn't a totally strange sight at all. However, those Christians who affiliate themselves with the Rosicrucians were very open minded individuals who embraced the esoteric knowledge as an advancement over their current beliefs and credos. Their code of ethics were given by the Rosicrucian Tradition and not by any fanatic/radical cult inside the Church. As such, the view of the Rosicrucians depicted in that TV series is far from any true Rosicrucian credo and/or ethics.

The aims of the Rosicrucian Order

In the late 18th century, Karl von Eckartshausen, a German Christian mystic, describes the true Adepts of the Rose Cross in the following terms: "These sages, whose number is small, are children of light, and are opposed to darkness. They dislike mystification and secrecy; they are open and frank, have nothing to do with secret societies and with external ceremonies. They possess a spiritual temple, in which God is presiding". (Wikipedia)

I think the aims of the true Rosicrucian path may be expressed by the major Rosicrucian organisations in activity in modern times.

According to the Ancient and Mystical Order Rose Cross (A.M.O.R.C.), the aims of the Rosicrucian Order is: "Rosicrucians are men and women around the world who study the laws of nature in order to live in harmony with them. Individuals study the Rosicrucian lessons in the privacy of their own homes on subjects such as the nature of the soul, developing intuition, classical Greek philosophy, energy centers in the body, and self-healing techniques. The Rosicrucian tradition encourages each student to discover the wisdom, compassion, strength, and peace that already resides within each of us." (Master of Life, booklet).

According to the Societas Rosicruciana in America (S.R.I.A.), the aims of the Rosicrucian Order is:  "The sole object of our Society is the spiritual, moral and intellectual development of its members, and, indirectly, of all mankind. This is accomplished through teachings which correlate Religion, Science and Philosophy, particularly in connection with Mystical Christianity and Hermeticism. It emphasizes the Sage's exhortation: "Man, Know Thyself." The Society, while including among its teachings the wisdom of several religions, is not interested in its members' religion, race or creed. Tolerance for all religions is stressed. Recognizing the value inherent to every form of religious expression, it seeks, among other things, to show each member the true, inner meaning of whatever has been taught as religion."

Conclusions

After going through of the intriguing plot referred above and considering the troubles of ABC was having to aired the TV show, can we see the hand of the real Rosicrucians behind those events trying to block the show from advertise a bad view on their group? The Rosicrucians as depicted in the series as a bunch of fanatics with no respect to life choosing to pursue a quest that have no connection to any Rosicrucian value or goal. The ethics and behaviors displayed by those entitled as Rosicrucians are totally opposite the the Rosicrucian code of ethics and philosophy.

Seems that the main goal of the series was to delivery a bad view about the Rosicrucian groups and their associations disguised as a suspense plot. Or the creators of the series may have some bias about the Rosicrucians or they didn't care to look more carefully into the background wide available about the Order and just plot it as the some bad guys for the story using the mystery that surrounds it as motivation. Mystery is a major catalyst in audience interests.

It is not entirely true that the series was suspended, since Fox | HD aired the entire series of episodes later on.

But the question remains... Was that series a Rosicrucian movie? A movie which express the Rosicrucian point of view about the Cosmic and humankind? According to our findings the answer is an unfortunately NO. Obviously the creators, producers and the episode writers didn't know much about the Rosicrucian Tradition, philosophy and teachings as they delivered distorted views about the subject and treated it badly making the Rosicrucianism look like any other cult of fanatics. They didn't realised that the Rosicrucian movement is behind our spiritual and scientific advancements, one of the most powerful influences for individuals in all walks of life. In modern times, working actively for more than a century, the organisations like A.M.O.R.C. and S.R.I.A. are delivering teachings for a world wide audience and reaching more than half million students in the majority of countries on this planet!

Yes, it was a deception. When I saw the movie trailer was happy thinking that finally the movie producers found some spiritual gems to delivery to the masses, uplifting our hearts and souls showing something good happening in the world. But soon enough I realised that it was another violent drama to appeal to the lower level emotions and trill the audience. Nothing else. 

References

• Bernard, Christian (2014) Appellatio Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis, Rosicrucian Order AMORC.
• Mills, Carlos (2010) The Hermetic Rose Cross, Blogger.
• ZERØ HOUR Movie (2013) - Wikipedia.