Origin of the Martinist Order of the Netherlands
The Martinist Order was established in the Netherlands on September 26th, 1968 at the request of Philippe Encausse, the President of the Federation of the Martinist Orders located in Paris.
Maurice H. Warnon of Brussels (Belgium), at the time a member of the Supreme Council of the French Martinist Order, was appointed by Philippe Encausse as Sovereign National Representative for the Netherlands and charged with the mission of spreading the Martinist ideas and initiations in that country.
The first Dutch Martinist Group was called “Jacob Boehme, No 65, College d’Amsterdam”. It received its Charter from the Supreme Council in Paris on November 9th, 1970. Philippe Encausse had proposed the foundation of an independent Martinist Order in the Netherlands on February 20th, 1970 but the Dutch members chose to remain attached to Paris for the time being.
After working closely with the French Martinist Order, it became apparent that the Dutch members objected to the close relationship of the French Organization with the “Gnostic Apostolic Church”, most of them being from Protestant origin. They were strongly attracted by the Martinist teachings but wanted to retain complete freedom of religion and worship. Philippe Encausse understood very well the religious traditions of the Netherlands and suggested for the second time the creation of a separate branch of the Martinist tree, namely the “Ordre Martiniste des Pays-Bas”.
The decision for independence came in September 1975, during the “Martinist Days”, the annual gathering of the members of the Order in the Netherlands. A new Constitution was adopted and subsequently the “Ordre Martiniste des Pays-Bas” was founded on September 12th of the same year by the transmission of the powers of the National Representative of the French Martinist Order to the newly created Supreme Council of the Netherlands.
This body was formed by the Officers of “Jacob Boehme” which name was changed into “Supreme Conseil de l’Ordre Martiniste des Pays-Bas, No 1, college d’Amsterdam”. The former Group “Jacob Boehme”, becoming “Jakob Boehme No. 2, college van Amsterdam” by the first Charter issued by the new Supreme Council.
Following the death of its first Grand Master, Maurice Warnon, it has been lead successively by Joan Warnon, Jean-Marc Warnon, and Michael Warnon, the current Grand Master. The present Supreme Council was appointed in 2019.
The Martinist Order of the Netherlands is not a territorial jurisdiction but rather a specific orientation of the Martinist movement. It is in close relationship with all the other Martinist organizations andwelcomes allMartinists as visitors. It has grown into an international Order, operating in five countries and two continents.