An Overview of the Order

Initially our Order was organized as the non-sectarian Science of Man Church in San Francisco in 1961 by Reverend Earl W. Blighton. Classes and meetings on the Ancient Mystery Teachings were held by Dr. Blighton on a regular monthly basis and a church structure began to grow.

As the Brotherhood grew Father Paul, as he was known, and his wife Helen Blighton, known as Mother Ruth, created the monastic seminary called the Holy Order of MANS in 1968. It continued to be non-sectarian, and therefore not affiliated with any religion. It became an international organization with Order Houses in almost every state of the United States and several were abroad.

Father Paul – Dr. Earl W. Blighton

Few people can be called Adepts. There are master teachers, mystics, healers, and gurus, but the Adept is a special class of spiritual master that combines the skills and qualifications of these and supersedes them all. Father Paul was an Adept. Acknowledged by some of the leading spiritual teachers of his day, including Murshid Samuel Lewis, Theosophist Joe Miller, and Satguru Subramuniyaswami, Father Paul was widely regarded as a leader in the burgeoning spiritual movement of the 1960’s. His favorite saying was “By their fruits ye shall know them.” As founder of the Holy Order of MANS, a group that epitomized Christian Mysticism and the Occult Philosophies of Rosicrucianism and Theosophy, Father Paul proved that he could indeed produce “fruits”. He did it by teaching from his heart, by which he attracted scores of young people who then mirrored what he taught in their lives.

In five years, the Holy Order of MANS had three thousand members and Brother houses on two continents. Father Paul showed how spiritual development could be accomplished not in decades but in a few short years. When people tried to put him up on a pedestal, he would always say, “Look to the Master Jesus and you will never go wrong.”

Mother Ruth – Rt. Rev. Helen Blighton

Father Paul once said about Mother Ruth, “Nobody sees her.” Indeed, Mother was a silent presence in the Christian mystery school, the Holy Order of MANS. Those who knew her, however, hung on her every word. She was always the voice of reason and understanding and, most of all, wisdom. In her younger days, she was a student of Jason Lotterhand, famous author and lecturer and head of the school of Tarot Symbolism, Builders of the Adytum. She would also teach private classes to those who expressed an interest in Tarot symbolism and astrology. Her knowledge of both subjects was broad and deep. As the wife of Father Paul, she was also the Co-Director of the Holy Order of MANS and oversaw the well-being of all of its members.