Lecture: The Rose Cross

The Rose Cross is associated with a number of different schools of thought, including that of the Golden Dawn, Thelema, the OTO, and the Rosicrucians (also known as the Order of the Rose Cross). Each group offers somewhat different interpretations of the symbol. This should not be surprising as magical, occult and esoteric symbols are frequently used to communicate ideas more complex than is possible to express in speech.

The Cross

Cross-shaped objects are commonly used in occultism too represent the four physical elements. Here each arm is colored to represent one element: yellow, blue, black and red to represent air, water, earth and fire.

These colors are also repeated on the bottom portion of the cross. The white on the upper portion of bottom arm represents spirit, the fifth element.

The cross can also represent dualism, two forces going in conflicting directions yet uniting at a central point. The union of rose and cross is also a generative symbol, the union of male of female.

Finally, the cross’s proportions are made up of six squares: one for each arm, an extra one for the lower arm, and the center. A cross of six squares can be folded into a cube.

THE ROSE

The rose has three tiers of petals. The first tier, of three petals, represents the three basic alchemical elements: salt, mercury and sulfur. The tier of seven petals represents the seven Classical planets (The Sun and Moon are considered planets here, with the term “planets” indicating the seven bodies that appear to circle the earth independently of the star field, which moves as a single unit). The tier of twelve represent the astrological zodiac. Each of the twenty-two petals bears one of the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet and also represents the twenty-two paths on the Tree of Life.

The rose itself has a myriad assortment of additional meanings associated with it:

It is at once a symbol of purity and a symbol of passion, heavenly perfection and earthly passion; virginity and fertility; death and life. The rose is the flower of the goddess Venus but also the blood of Adonis and of Christ. It is a symbol of transmutation - that of taking food from the earth and transmuting it into the beautiful fragrant rose. The rose garden is a symbol of Paradise. It is the place of the mystic marriage. In ancient Rome, roses were grown in the funerary gardens to symbolize resurrection. The thorns have represented suffering and sacrifice as well as the sins of the Fall from Paradise. ("A Brief Study of The Rose Cross Symbol," no longer online)

Inside the large rose is a smaller cross bearing a another rose. This second rose is depicted with five petals. Five is the number of the physical senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, and it is also the number of man’s extremities: two arms, two legs, and the head. Thus, the rose represents humanity and physical existence.

THE THREE SYMBOLS AT THE END OF EACH ARM

The three symbols repeated at the end of all four arms stand for salt, mercury and sulfur, which are the three basic alchemical elements from which all other substances derive.

The three symbols are repeated on each of the four arms of the cross, numbering a total of twelve. Twelve is the number of the zodiac, comprised of twelve symbols that circle the heavens throughout the year.

THE HEXAGRAM

Hexagrams commonly represent the union of opposites. It is composed of two identical triangles, one pointing up and one pointing down. The point-up triangle can represent ascending toward the spiritual, while the point-down triangle can stand for the divine spirit descending to the physical realm.

THE SYMBOLS AROUND AND IN THE HEXAGRAM

The symbols in and around the hexagram represent the seven Classical planets. The symbol for the Sun is in the center. The sun is generally the most important planet in Western occultism. Without the Sun, our planet would be lifeless. It is also commonly connected with the light of divine wisdom and the purification properties of fire, and was sometimes considered the visual manifestation of God’s will in the universe.

On the outside of the hexagrams are the symbols for Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, Mercury, and Mars (clockwise from top). Western occult thought generally considers the planets in the farthest orbits from the Earth in an earth-centric model) to be the most spiritual, because they are the furthest from the physicality of the Earth.

Thus, the top three planets are Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, while the bottom three are Mercury, Venus and the Moon.

The cross-shaped sign, represented in its simplest form by a crossing of two lines at right angles, greatly predates the introduction of Christianity, in both East and West. It goes back to a very remote period of human civilization. It is supposed to have been used not just for its ornamental value, but also with religious significance. It may have represented the apparatus used in kindling fire, and thus as the symbol of sacred fire or as a symbol of the sun, denoting its daily rotation. It has also been interpreted as the mystic representation of lightning or of the god of the tempest, or the emblem of the Aryan pantheon and the primitive Aryan civilization.

Ankh

Another associated symbol is the ansated cross (ankh or crux ansata) used in ancient Egypt. It was often depicted in the hands of the goddess Sekhmet, and as a hieroglyphic sign of life or of the living. Egyptian Christians (Copts) adopted it as the emblem of the cross.In his book, 

The Worship of the Dead, Colonel J. Garnier wrote: "The cross in the form of the 'Crux Ansata' ... was carried in the hands of the Egyptian priests and Pontiff kings as the symbol of their authority as priests of the Sun god and was called 'the Sign of Life'."

   

Ndj & nfr

Another Egyptian symbol is the Ndj (Cross-ndj (hieroglyph)) - Uses for the hieroglyph: 1— "to protect, guard, avenge", and "protector, advocate, avenger" 2— "homage to thee", (a form of salutation to gods) 3— "discuss a matter with someone", "to converse", "to take counsel". Yet another Egyptian symbol is the nfr - meaning: beauty or perfect.

In the Bronze Age a representation of the cross as conceived in Christian art appeared, and the form was popularized. The more precise characterization coincided with a corresponding general change in customs and beliefs. The cross then came into use in various forms on many objects: fibulas, cinctures, earthenware fragments, and on the bottom of drinking vessels.

De Mortillet believed that such use of the sign was not merely ornamental, but rather a symbol of consecration, especially in the case of objects pertaining to burial. In the proto-Etruscan cemetery of Golasecca every tomb has a vase with a cross engraved on it. True crosses of more or less artistic design have been found in Tiryns, at Mycenæ, in Crete, and on a fibula from Vulci.

According to W. E. Vine, the cross was used by worshipers of Tammuz, an Ancient Near East deity of Babylonian origin who had the cross-shaped taw (tau) as his symbol.