Freemasonry and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Freemasonry

Within the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite concordant body of Freemasonry, the Eighteenth Degree is specifically concerned with the rose cross and confers the title of "Knight Rose Croix". Of one version of the degree, Albert Pike wrote in 1871,

"The Degree of Rose Cross teaches three things;-the unity, immutability and goodness of God; the immortality of the Soul; and the ultimate defeat and extinction of evil and wrong and sorrow, by a Redeemer or Messiah, yet to come, if he has not already appeared." ^[4]

He goes on to give an explanation of what he believes to be the symbolism of the Rose Cross in that degree:

"But [the cross's] peculiar meaning in this Degree, is that given to it by the Ancient Egyptians. Thoth or Phtha is represented on the oldest monuments carrying in his hand the Crux Ansata, or Ankh, (a Tau cross, with a ring or circle over it). [...] It was the hieroglyphic for life, and with a triangle prefixed meant life-giving. To us therefore it is the symbol of Life-of that life that emanated from the Deity, and of that Eternal Life for which we all hope; through our faith in God's infinite goodness.

"The ROSE, was anciently sacred to Aurora and the Sun. It is a symbol of Dawn, of the resurrection of Light and the renewal of life, and therefore of the dawn of the first day, and more particularly of the resurrection: and the Cross and Rose together are therefore hieroglyphically to be read, the Dawn of Eternal Life which all Nations have hoped for by the advent of a Redeemer." ^[4]

Golden Dawn

Main article: Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn made use of the rosy cross as well, including 'The Ritual of the Rose Cross," designed for spiritual protection and as preparation for meditation. Based on the Rosicrucian symbolism of the Red Rose and the Cross of Gold, it is also a key symbol of the Golden Dawn's Second Order. According to Regardie, the Golden Dawn rosy cross contains attributes for the Elements, Planets, Zodiac, Hebrew alphabet, alchemical principles, the hexagram and pentagram, the sepheroth of the Tree of Life, and the formula of INRI. On the back side of the rosy cross is inscribed the motto of the Zelator Adeptus Minor at the bottom, "The master Jesus Christ, God and Man" between four Maltese crosses, and in the center, written in Latin, "Blessed be the Lord our God who hath given us the Symbol Signum."

Regardie says of the rosy cross in The Golden Dawn:

The Rose-Cross is a Lamen or badge synthesizing a vast concourse of ideas, representing in a single emblem the Great Work itself-the harmonious reconciliation in one symbol of diverse and apparently contradictory concepts, the reconciliation of divinity and manhood. It is a highly important symbol to be worn over the heart during every important operation. It is a glyph, in one sense, of the higher Genius to whose knowledge and conversation the student is eternally aspiring. In the Rituals it is described as the Key of Sigils and Rituals.

Symbolism of the Golden Dawn Rosy Cross

This lamen is a complete synthesis of the masculine, positive, or rainbow scale of color attributions, which is also called the Scale of the King. The four arms of the cross belong to the four elements and are colored accordingly. The white portion belongs to the Holy Spirit and the planets.

The twenty-two petals of the rose refer to the twenty-two paths on the Tree of Life and the Twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It is the cross in Tiphareth, the receptacle and the center of the forces of the Sephiroth and the paths. The extreme center of the rose is white, the reflected spiritual brightness of Kether, bearing upon it the Red Rose of Five Petals and the Golden Cross of Six Squares; four green rays issue from around the angles of the cross. Upon the white portion of the lamen, below the rose, is placed the hexagram, with the planets.

Around the pentagrams, which are placed one upon each elemental colored arm, are drawn the symbols of the spirit and the four elements. Upon each of the floriated ends (the arms) of the cross are arranged the three alchemical principles of sulfur, salt, and mercury. The white rays issuing from behind the rose at the inner angles between the arms of the cross are the rays of the divine light issuing and coruscating from the reflected light of Kether in its center; and the letters and symbols on them refer to the analysis of the Key Word - I.N.R.I.

Fellowship of the Rosy Cross

The Fellowship of the Rosy Cross was a Christian mystical organization established by Arthur Edward Waite in England in 1915. It developed out of the breakdown of Independent and Rectified Rite of the Golden Dawn. It was based on Waite's complicated ideas and its rites reflected his interest in the history of the Rosicrucian Order, Freemasonry, and Christian mystical teachings through the ages. Most of its members were Freemasons or theosophists. One of its most noted members was the novelist Charles Williams who was a member from 1917 to at least 1928 and possibly later. There were plans to establish a branch in the United States but they appear never to have been fulfilled. The order ended with Waite's death in 1942.^{[7 ]}

 Notes and references

1. ^ AMORC. The History of Rosicrucianism.
2. ^ Baxter, James. Sir Francis Bacon and The Rosy Cross.
3. ^ Hall, 1928, p.141
4. ^ ^{a b} Pike (1871), pp. 290-291.
5. ^ Crowley, Aleister. Magick, Book 4
6. ^ Crowley, Aleister. The Equinox I(4), "The Big Stick"
7. ^ Gilbert, Robert A. The Golden Dawn: Twilight of the Magicians. The Aquarian Press, 1983. ISBN 0-85030-278-1. p. 76-7

• AMORC. The History of Rosicrucianism.
• Baxter, James. Sir Francis Bacon and The Rosy Cross.
• Crowley, Aleister. (1997). Magick: Book 4. 2nd ed. York Beach, Me. : S. Weiser.
• ____. (1998). The Vision & the Voice : the Equinox, IV(2). York Beach, Me. : Samuel Weiser.
• ____. (1996). Aha! Tempe, Ariz. : New Falcon Publications.
• ____. (1982). Magick Without Tears. Phoenix, AZ : Falcon Press
• Hall, Manly. (1928). The Secret Teachings of All Ages. H.S. Crocker Co. : San Francisco, CA
• Heindel, Max. (1909). The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception.
• Pike, Albert. (1871). Morals and Dogma.
• Regardie, Israel. (1994). The Golden Dawn. Llewellyn : St. Paul, MN
• Thelemapedia. (2004). Rosy Cross. Retrieved April 16, 2006.
• Rosicrucian E-Books and Free Astrology Softwares. (ASTROWIN). [2]. Edited by Allen Edwall.

External links

• I. N. R. I.-De Mysteriis Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis, by Charles Stansfeld Jones
• Societas Rosicruciana In Anglia SRIA - Bishop Wilkins College No.58
• The Rosicrucian Fellowship, Mt. Ecclesia, Oceanside, CA. U.S.A.
• Rays from the Rose Cross