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
-
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
- ^
AMORC. The History of
Rosicrucianism.
- ^
Baxter, James. Sir Francis Bacon and The Rosy
Cross.
- ^
Hall, 1928, p.141
- ^
a
b Pike (1871), pp.
290-291.
- ^
Crowley, Aleister. Magick, Book 4
- ^
Crowley, Aleister. The Equinox I(4), "The Big
Stick"
- ^
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
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