A Review of ‘The Temple and The Vault’ by Travis Trinca

Author

Travis Trinca

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A Contextual Introduction

In Two Parts

Part 1. Because we always start with a song, here is a poem written by Jean Francois Bernardini from the amazing I Muvrini-Corsican Polyphony-singers in 2004, guests of the Celtic Night III concert in the Stade de France in Paris. For us, it depicts the lamentation of Humanity, symbolized here by Earth-Gaia- in front of the horrendous spectacle of the world we live in.

Sophia (Wisdom) is GRIEVING, but, still tells us why there is HOPE:

‘ She may have been walking for a hundred years—or perhaps, only a moment. The night wind caressed her face. I couldn’t tell you where her country was, where her home was. Whether she was the wife of a sailor, a peasant, an exile, or a migrant, whether she had crossed the sea, a mountain, or the ocean. The earth seemed to lie behind her. Watching her walk, you might have imagined she was carrying it alone on her shoulders.

Who could say what she was looking for, what she longed to hear that night? At night, the eyes of men dim a little. They say the light is within: in a village, at the end of a port, atop a mountain, a lighthouse in the ocean, or perhaps a star in the sky. With every song that echoed, she tuned her soul, she matched her steps. She said she wanted to learn the path to the world’s most beautiful signals—to the beauty that unites people and nations. She wrote her dream in four words: “Unity that gathers. Diversity that enriches.”

In each song of the world, she wanted to engrave an alliance, a recognition. In every language, she wished to learn the part that speaks of otherness, of intelligence, of humanity. She said that this—this was the most beautiful promise of the future: of peace, of wealth, of the world.

One day, a poet wrote for her: “Man is neither great nor small. He is the size of what he knows how to love and respect.” She replied that throughout one’s life, one must learn to be the guest of another, the guest of the world—and that this is true hospitality. Perhaps she had been walking like this for a hundred years—or perhaps just a moment. That was her fidelity.

The love song that brings tears to a people’s eyes can never, ever leave the soul of the world un-moved. That was her peace.

Tonight, between the sea and the ocean, perhaps there are a few more lights in the hand of the earth. There, where nothing is separated…There, where all the dignities of the world add up and recognize one another. There, where children of Brittany once wrote of all those countries scattered by the wind, of wheat fields in the pockets of peasants, and of the ocean whose only border now is the seed carried in the hand of a child. Tonight…Tonight, the bread will be white on the table of welcome. Traveler, stay here to share it.  She may have been walking for a hundred years—or just for a moment. She said that this kind of beauty is invincible. She said that this kind of beauty is invincible‘.

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Part 2. Humanity’s spiritual journey began not with dogma or doctrine, but with story—living myths and archetypes that spoke directly to the soul. In the earliest days, human beings did not separate the world of the seen from the unseen. The divine shimmered in every tree, mountain, and stream; the cosmos was a grand tapestry woven with meaning. Myths were not entertainment but maps of the soul—timeless guides through the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. They were the first Temples of Light, passed on through symbols, dreams, and ritual.

From these roots arose the great Mystery traditions of antiquity. Egypt, Sumer, Persia, Greece—all bore sacred schools in which initiates were slowly introduced to the deeper rhythms of the cosmos and the hidden anatomy of the human being. These teachings pointed not outward, but inward, toward the divine spark within, and the alchemical path to its realization.

But over time, the living waters of myth began to crystallize. The archetypes, once fluid and alive in the imaginal realm, became fixed as gods and then institutionalized into rigid forms. The age of organized religion arose, preserving fragments of the Mystery teachings, but often at the cost of their inner light. The myths became literalized, their symbols flattened, their inner meanings veiled from the many and guarded by the few.

This process of crystallization—from myth to dogma, from revelation to institution—was accompanied by a gradual obscuration of the primordial Light. What once unified the inner and outer, spirit and matter, became dualistic. The cosmos was no longer animated by soul but dissected by reason. With the Enlightenment came tremendous liberation from tyranny and superstition—but also a growing disenchantment. The stars no longer sang. Nature became a mechanism, the soul a ghost in the machine.

We now live in the echo of that disenchantment. Post-modern society, for all its freedoms, drifts unmoored. The East and West, each in their own way, have suffered under failed models—materialist reductionism on one side, dogmatic traditionalism on the other. The result is a world awash in data but starving for wisdom.

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Heirs of the Ancient Lore

Travis Trinca’s book, ”The Temple and the Vault‘ is a timely publication. The author, was faced with a difficult task: How to tackle this burning question: ‘Are initiatic societies STILL RELEVANT in our post-modern society?’

Here he reviews three initiatic projects: 1. Main Stream Freemasonry, 2. Rosicrucian Masonry with the SRIA. a.k.a. Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia & its inner circle, the HOGD, a.k.a. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and 3. Modern (non masonic) Rosicrucianism with the AMORC, a.k.a. The Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis.

We are led through the mythical back-bone of these societies and their foundational myths and legends are analyzed in a very sharp and synthetic manner. Fraternal and mystical societies have always existed as echoes of the Lost Ancient Mysteries—subterranean streams preserving the memory of a time when human beings walked in conscious relationship with the divine. These societies arose as custodians of the inner teachings, often encoded in ritual, symbolism, and legend. They have drawn strength from the great myths of the past, knowing these are not fantasies as so many members declare, but seeds of future possibilities as the author explains further on, giving them a great spring cleaning and dusting away the slag accumulated at times when members started to lose connection and understanding with the inner teaching of these evergreen legends and myths.

But, there is a kind of ghosting bi-polarity in the way those societies have evolved throughout our modern history in the way they see themselves & the way they act in daily life. This discrepancy is at the heart of the subject, the elephant in the room, here, in the temple and the vault.

The Kipling verses in the song-poem, ‘Fate’s Discourtesy‘, a.k.a. ‘A Song in Storm’, Elgar used for his song-cycle, ‘Fringes of the Fleet‘: ‘The game is more than the player of the game, and the ship is more than the crew!‘ was the invisible leitmotiv that ruled most of the initiatic orders which were built as a mirror of the society they were contemporary to. The individual was part of a collective, the bonds were strengthened by religious, socio-economical and political incentives.

With the unstoppable twilight of the nineteenth century colonial powers-now barely the shadow of their self-proclaimed ‘Illustrious past‘-these initiatic orders, and especially main stream Freemasonry (English & Continental-altogether), were part of a wide tapestry of influence, in which the individual has always been sacrificed to the collective, or at least to particular interests groups. They had and still have to rethink their purpose, methods & actions in our post-modern society, if they do not want to become completely obsolete.

Also, historical Rosicrucian groups of the seventeenth & eighteenth centuries, were often at odds, positioning themselves on the different sides of society’s struggles, from the conservative and the liberal point of view. Besides this, the well read and frantically discussed (but never implemented) Rosicrucian manifestos were like an impressive blue-print for the building of a united Europe (way in advance for its time!) to develop in ways that would have spared us the shameful religious wars we have been plagued on the European continent, due to the main monotheistic religions being blinded by their mutual intolerance, leaving behind nothing but trails of blood, suffering & traumatic events (their tremors can still be felt way into our contemporary times).

Nick Farrell, in a recently published article, gives us a lucid reality-check and speaks of a decline of the work of the traditional orders: ‘Secretive, hierarchical occult orders (e.g., classic Golden Dawn-style lodges) are dying out along with serious traditional coven work. Along with them is the rarer long-term apprentice model, where a student trains under a master for years. Also taken with this is any sense of a unified, esoteric culture—it’s now more fragmented than ever as occultism declines.’ He also adds: ‘In 20 years, traditional orders will probably be a thing of the past’. (From Nick Farrell’s Magical Blog).

It is because Travis Trinca is acutely aware of this worrying trend, that he offers us a much needed inventory of what could be salvaged from this slow-motion shipwreck and the answer is clear: The FOUNDATIONAL MYTHS!

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So, is Freemasonry

still an heir to the ancient mysteries?

Because main stream Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry-being inherently part of the establishment-part of the game-it has shown less flexibility than Rosicrucianism in the evolution of its rituals and ceremonies.

(An important note: We do not talk here about ‘Continental‘ Freemasonry, as a great part of it has a more liberal approach to society).

Despite this worrying situation, Travis Trinca explores its founding legends and, as he unlock the staircase of degrees’ symbolism and dynamics, inviting us to re-visit and re-discover what seemed outdated and fossilized. He brushes the dust and reveals the beauty and depth of those masonic legends and show us how they are STILL relevant to our modern time’s needs.

For instance, the legend of Hiram Abiff, central to the Blue Degrees (1–3) of Freemasonry. On the surface, a tale of betrayal and martyrdom. But beneath lies a profound mystery of death and rebirth—the divine builder slain before his temple is complete, a symbol of the lost inner word that must be rediscovered within each initiate.

Further on, the Royal Arch and the Mark are powerful continuations, drawing into biblical symbolism and function as a mediating chamber with what is called the ‘side degrees’ composed of external non-masonic orders-many of a chivalric nature-and the higher degrees of the Scottish Rite.

These higher degrees draw mainly upon the lore of the Knights Templars, heirs to both the Crusading zeal and the secret wisdom of the East. Their myth speaks of hidden knowledge, un-just persecution, and the survival of a spiritual lineage through darkness.

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When Modern Rosicrucianism

almost resorted to Spiritualist Seances!

Besides the side degrees, many masons were still thirsty for more spiritual food and this is were Rosicrucianism comes to take its complementary role. And this is where Travis Trinca devotes most of his work to present us with the Rosicrucian Source- Legend.

In the Rosicrucian stream, the figure of Christian Rosenkreutz and the three Manifestos (the Fama, Confessio, and the Chymical Wedding) represent the possibility of an alchemical rebirth for Europe—a clarion call to a spiritual reformation grounded not in power or orthodoxy of groups, but in healing, harmony, and the inner transformation of the individual.

Masonic Rosicrucianism and Rosicrucian orders operating outside of Masonry were more flexible than Freemasonry itself and were quite quick in adapting to the needs of a changing society. What cannot be done before the end of the nineteen century was then possible and it is remarkable! Some impressive figures labored very hard to provide their groups, Unity, lineage & authenticity.

Francis Meinsohn writes: ‘It is commonly accepted in the rosicrucian ‘milieu’ that a ‘rosicrucian revival’ consists in the ‘opening of a grave’, which will characterize the ‘activity’ period during which a discreet but more powerful than normal shedding of light allows the sincere seeker to comprehend a new form of the esoteric teaching of the Rose+Cross. As an unavoidable consequence, within the span of more or less ten years, the darknesses that rule the Earth, through incompetence and greed, will quickly manage to obstruct this communication of light-unable to function anymore, as only dead bodies of father Rosenkreutz prowl around.

This is the reason why the Fraternity’s initiates operate, a while after the opening of the grave, to its ‘closing’, so that Rosenkreutz’s living body may one day more easily come back to life. Therefore, according to the rosicrucian tradition: ‘The secrets preserved in rare manuscripts, carved in hieroglyphs on the walls of the grave, engraved on metal pieces, inscribed on jewels or written with blood on sheepskin, are prepared to be revived through modern interpretations and practical applications.’ (From: ‘The Discreet Signs of the R+C transmission).

Another important concept, comes from French Esotericist & Historian, Serge Caillet, who has coined the important concept of ‘Filiation by Desire’ (Filiation de Désir)

Robert Wentworth Little, William Robert Woodman, William Wynn Westcott and Samuel Liddell Mathers were very active in linking the SRIA and its inner circle, the HOGD to what they perceived to be the Rosicrucian European heritage; and this is exactly also what Harvey Spencer Lewis, the founder of the AMORC in the United States, did when he went to France and Belgium to link his new interpretation of Rosicrucianism into a complex field where the historically traceable information and symbolic legends were voluntary blurred together.

They were all eager to connect their group-project with a qualitative connection with ‘a plausible historical survival of ancient Rosicrucian lineages dating back to the dawn of the 16th century‘.

The reality of these ‘lineage survivals’ and the contact with putative representatives of those esoteric and spiritual currents are well documented and discussed by many historians & scholars in the past and here it is performed in a engaging and refreshing manner in ‘The Temple and the Vault‘ with a wealth of documentation, some of it published for the first time.

What is fundamental is the drive they had, through their powerful desire, to seek the acceptance of ‘an archetypal invisible realm‘ to symbolically validate their modern interpretations of the ancient ways.

Why so many years after their impressive endeavor, these venerable Houses have become endangered, like under a kind of curse? We find ourselves today in front of mummified structures, with their aging rites and rituals, which were at the time of their ‘invention‘ trail-blazing and well in advance of their time!

The inability to emulate the drive of the founders of these modern orders is the reason why there is no life left in them. Hence, the old saying: ‘Emulate not what the elders did but what they were seeking‘.

Also, the baffling inability to embody and emulate the Rosicrucian Manifestos in Rosicrucian groups, creates a drastic departure from this unique & seminal source and explains why there are today as many ‘Rosicrucianism in concept & practice’ as you have Rosicrucian groups!

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Conclusion

Leaders of our epoch’s initiatic orders for the great part are good custodians, but most did not reach the level of their own initiators and teachers, and so on, down to the initial impulse & source. This level of ‘non-realization’ of a sustainable integration of their individuality is one of the many reasons these orders do not renew themselves in the manner Francis Meinsohn described earlier and by re-connecting, individually & collectively, with the evergreen initiatic foundational myths & legends, carefully identified and described in ‘The Temple and the vault‘.

True community can only be built when individuals are sustainably regenerated. Not through utopian fantasies or imposed ideologies, but through inner work, self-knowledge, and alignment with demanding higher and ethical principles.

This is exactly what Travis Trinca’s essay conveys: ‘Your journey is strictly personal. While initiatic homes provide structure and community, every seeker is a navigator of their own journey, honoring inner callings and aspirations. It is important to remember that a group can facilitate but not replace your personal journey. You must be the architect of your own growth.‘ (from page 184)

We stand now at a crossroads. The myths are calling again—not as nostalgic relics, but as keys to a future yet unborn. The task ahead is not to revive the past, but to re-enchant the present. To gather what was scattered. To remember what was forgotten. And to quietly, steadily, build communities of Light—rooted in wisdom, alive to mystery, and devoted to the healing of both soul and world.

This is the heart of the message Travis Trinca invites us, in this successful debut with renowned publisher, Lewis Masonic, to reflect and decide of a proper course of action for ourselves.

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Because we always part with a song, here is singer Manu Chao, in his ‘I need the Moon’ song, who has re-enchanted through his humanistic Art the French & South American music scenes with his touching simplicity:

‘I need the moon to talk to her at night. I need the sun to warm up my life. I need the sea to look far into the distance. I need you so much, right here beside me. I need the moon to see the day coming. I need the sun so badly to call it in the night. I need the sea right here beside me. I need you so much to save my life.

I need my father to know where I come from. I need my mother so much to show me the way. I need the subway to go have a drink. So much need to forget, So much need for prayers. I need the moon to talk to her at night. I need the moon to talk to her at night. So much need of the sun to warm up my life. I need the sea to look far into the distance. I need you so much, right here beside me.

I need the earth to know what hell is, so much need for a little corner to take a piss in the morning. So much need for love, so much need every day. I need you so much, right here beside me. I’ve dreamed so much of a day, walking under the moon. I’ve dreamed so much of a night, in the sunlight of your nights.

I’ve dreamed so much of a life of sleeping through this morning. I need the moon to talk to her at night. I need the moon to talk to her at night…No need for death to laugh at my fate. No need for death to laugh at my fate’.

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Note: 

You can find Serge Caillet’s Blog here

You can find Francis Meinsohn’s Blog here

You can find Nick Farrell’s Blog here