Randolph, Paschal Beverly

Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825–1875) was a multifaceted figure of the 19th century, known as an African-American medical doctor, occultist, spiritualist, and writer. He is credited by A. E. Waite with establishing the earliest known Rosicrucian order in the United States and may have been the first to introduce erotic alchemy principles to North America. Born in New York City, Randolph's early life was marked by hardship after his mother's death, leading him to work as a sailor from his adolescence. His extensive travels during this period, which included journeys to Europe and Persia, exposed him to various mystical traditions and occult practitioners, fostering his lifelong interest in esoteric subjects. Upon returning to the US, Randolph pursued a career as a public lecturer and writer, becoming a trance medium and spiritual practitioner. He also trained as a medical doctor, authored over fifty works on magic and medicine, and was a vocal advocate for birth control. Randolph's unique contributions to occultism include his development of sex magic theories and his embrace of pre-Adamism, a belief in humanity's existence prior to the biblical Adam.

Randolph developed his own synthesis of esoteric teachings, often working in isolation. He adopted the pseudonym "The Rosicrucian" for his writings before formally founding the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis in 1858, establishing its first lodge in San Francisco in 1861. This organization is recognized as the oldest Rosicrucian group in the United States and continues to exist today. While the modern Fraternitas Rosae Crucis reportedly downplays Randolph's focus on sex magic, his theories and techniques in this area significantly influenced other occult fraternities, such as the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, though his direct association with the latter remains unclear.

Randolph's incorporation of sexuality into his occult system was notably bold for his era. He theorized that sex magic could enhance health, foster love, empower women, and lead to the birth of exceptionally intelligent children. In his less publicly circulated writings, he critiqued church and marriage as oppressive institutions, suggesting that love could instigate a global revolution. Randolph also held progressive views on gender, considering earthly gender to be temporary and referring to the divine with both male and female attributes. His concept of the spirit world described inhabitants as being energized by electric currents rather than blood, moving through magnetism, and experiencing a more fulfilling existence, including relationships that lasted only as long as mutual pleasure persisted.

A proponent of pre-Adamism—the belief that humans existed before the biblical Adam—Randolph authored "Pre-Adamite Man: demonstrating the existence of the human race upon the earth 100,000 thousand years ago!" under the pseudonym Griffin Lee in 1863. This work distinguished itself from other pre-Adamite texts by drawing from a wide array of global traditions, esoteric knowledge, and ancient religions, rather than relying solely on biblical interpretations. Randolph's research, informed by his extensive travels, posited that civilized pre-Adamites inhabited all continents between 35,000 and 100,000 years ago, contrasting with other authors who depicted pre-Adamites as primitive beings.

Randolph lived a peripatetic life, residing in various locations across the United States. He was married twice: first to Mary Jane, with whom he had three children, and later to Kate Corson, with whom he had one son. His second wife collaborated with him on his spiritualist work and published his books after his death. Randolph's end in Toledo, Ohio, at age 49, remains a subject of dispute. While a newspaper reported his death as a self-inflicted gunshot wound, contradictory accounts exist, including a deathbed confession from a friend claiming to have killed him in a fit of jealousy and temporary insanity. Official records list his death as accidental.

“I believe in love, all the way through. And while I live will help every man, woman, and the betweenities to win, obtain, intensify, deepen, purify, strengthen and keep it, and I will help all others to do the same. There! That's me! I mean it!”