I. N. R. I.
________
DE MYSTERIIS ROSAE RUBEAE ET
AUREAE CRUCIS
by
ONE
Whose Number is
777
Frater Achad
Wherein. under the form of an admonition to an
Adeptus Minor of the R.R. et A.C., is disclosed
the true Symbolism of the Rosy Cross for the
enlightenment of those who are worthy of the same.
MARK
WELL, O my Son, and give heed unto this my counsel and advice, O
thou who hast for the first time this day beheld the Mysteries of
the Redde Rose whereon sparkleth the Dew, and of the Golden Cross
from which cometh the Light of the World. Is not this Symbol to
be found upon the breast of all true Brethren of the Rosie Cross?
Hold fast to this Jewel and treasure it as thy Life itself, for
many and great are its virtues, and of these will I now discourse
unto you in part.
Know
then, O my Son, that there be many Crosses and that the Symbolism
of these varieth according to the Art of the Wise which giveth them
due Proportion; so, too, are to be found Roses whose Petals signifie
a Five-fold, and a Twenty-two-fold, and a Forty-nine-fold Order.
These, again, may seem to be united or divided, in whole or in part;
yet each Symbol concealeth its aspect of the One Secret most perfectly,
according to the Understanding of the true Seeker after L.V.X.
It would
seem in these latter days that the true Light hath been much darkened
and obscured, so that even the most ignorant imposters, having heard
our motto "Omnia ab Uno," which signifieth how All cometh
from the One, have thought that all Roses and all Crosses be alike
and of equal virtue; yet herein they err gravely, which error hath
become apparent in the strange confusion which at this time prevaileth,
so that their words have become as a Babel, even as it was of old
time to the great hurt of the human race.
And even
though our Father, Christian Rosencreutz, and our Antient Brethren
his heirs and successors, did much to restore the Order of the Universe
and the Power of the Word therein, yet such is the Darkness in which
men live, and such the confusion that is now upon us, that it were
indeed time that the true Brothers should again extend the Light
of the Cross, if-so-be a spark of the true Fire yet burns brightly
within them.
Unto
you, O my Son, in whom that Fire burns, I would be as a bellows
to fan the Flame into a great burning which shall illume the Darkness
wherein thou walkest; so that from a flickering rushlight thou mayest
become as a Lamp of Pure Oil, and that thy Lamp may shine forth
as an Ever-burning Star of Hope to thy fellow men.
For this
reason will I discourse unto you, not of the Cross of Suffering
to which thou wert bound and upon which thou tookest thine obligation
on behalf of the Universe that Obligation, every Clause of which
contained a Secret reference to the Holy Sephiroth, the Emanations
of the One from Whom cometh All but rather of that great and complete
Symbol of the Rose and Cross concealed within thy breast, upon the
back of which is engraved "Magister Iesus Christus--Deus est
Homo--Benedictus Dominus Deus Noster qui dedit nobis Signum"
and thy Mystic Name as Fra:. R.R. et A.C.
But it
is of the face of the Cross that I would chiefly discourse unto
thee, for, wearing it upon thy breast, thou art become as the Sun
who seeth not His own Face, yet giveth the Light of His Countenance
to the Just and to the Unjust with equal Love and Blessing.
What
is it, then, that I see upon thy breast, O my Son?
In the
Centre of All is a Single Point of Light whose Starry Brilliance
blinds these eyes, for it is even as Hadit, Thy Secret Self at the
Centre of thy Being. It is Unique, Thy One Secret which thou sharest
with the One, not the Many. It is Thy True Name, the Word which
brought Thee into Being, whose Echo thou art, and will be to the
End. This I know, for such a Word and such a Light dwelleth in Me,
and I in Him. It is also that Word which is writ in the White Cubic
Stone, but for each it is different, and no man may know It but
he who possesses It.
Around,
and Illumined by that Central Light, is a Rose of Five Petals. It
is the Star of Unconquered Will, the Will of the One Light and Word
of thy Being as it comes into Manifestation in Matter. It is the
Sign of Man, the Microcosm, who mirrors through his Five Senses,
the Great Rose of Creation. This Rose lives indeed, and the Green
barbs, which have opened to display it, are still bright with colour
as they extend in Four Directions, each harmonizing and bringing
to a point Two of the Elements from which thou wast made.
This
Rose sparkles upon a Cross of Gold, and though crucified thereon,
to it Glory and Suffering are identical. This Cross is of Six Squares,
an Unfolded Cube; it is that same White Stone wherein the True Name
was Concealed, yet opened as a Cross in order that it may be known
as a Living Stone, displaying the Secret of Life Itself. With its
Arms it showeth forth the L.V.X. which is the Light of the Cross;
its sacrifice discloseth the Rose of Love, and this supreme act
of revealment declareth its own essential Liberty. Thus we find
Light, Life, Love and Liberty in the very Heart of Man, while concealed
behind all are the words: Deus est Homo.
This,
O my Son, I behold On the Centre of thy Jewel, but even as thou
art but a tiny image concealed within the Heart of a Greater Rose,
wherein it flashes forth as a gleam of Red Gold.
Thou
rememberest, O my Son, when thou wast within the Sacred Vault, which
is to be found within the Mountain of A:.--that Vault of Seven Sides
of which showeth forth the Colour of one of the Great Planetary
Intelligences? Never wilt thou forget that LIGHT which is the Great
Mystery of the Ceiling of the Vault, even though, Ages hence, the
Darkness of the Floor may be obliterated from thy memory when the
Light has completed Its Work.
Dost
thou remember how, touching with the Wand the Rose and Cross upon
the breast of the form in the Pastos, thou wert prompted to say
"Out of the darkness let the light arise"? And how a Voice
from the still figure within, replied: "Buried with that LIGHT
in a mystical Death, rising again in a mystical resurrection, Cleansed
and Purified through him our MASTER, O Brother of the Cross of the
Rose! Like him, O Adepts of all ages, have ye toiled; like him have
ye suffered Tribulation. Poverty, Torture, and Death have ye passed
through. They have been but the purifica tion of the Gold."
"In
the Alembic of thine Heart,
Through the Athanor of Affliction,
Seek thou the true stone of the Wise."
Hast
thou not found such a Stone concealed in the Heart of the Rose of
Creation? Is not that Stone Thyself? Never again wilt thou be "Shut
up" for the Rose of Thy Being has opened, and Thy prison has
been exchanged for a Cross. But in this transition "That which
is below has become like unto that which is above" and that
which is within seeth Itself in that which is without. Thus there
is Beauty and Harmony in this Degree of Adeptship.
But though
thou mayest know the Word of this Grade and the Formulae thereof,
thou hast yet to Overcome many difficulties e'er thou art Master
of the Temple of the Universe. Around thee I see the First Three
Petals of the Greater Rose, forming an upright Triangle upon which
are the Sacred Letters Aleph (A), Men (M) and Shin (Sh), each shining
upon a petal of a different Colour--Yellow, Blue, and Red. As thou
hast already been taught, these are the Three Mother Letters of
the Sacred Hebrew Alphabet, the Letters of the Three Elements, of
which the Fourth, or Earth, is the ad- mixture. Thou must master
the Elements, O my Son! These are to be found in the Cross of thine
own being, and thou already learned to "Establish thyself firmly
in the equilibrium of forces, in the centre of the Cross of the
Elements, that Cross from whose Centre the Creative Word issued
in the birth of the dawning Universe." Thou has learned to
be "Prompt and active as the Sylphs, but to avoid frivolity
and caprice; to be energetic and strong like the Salamanders, but
to avoid irritibility and ferocity; to be flexible and attentive
to images like the Undines, but to avoid idleness and changeability;
to be laborious and patient like the Gnomes, but to avoid grossness
and avarice." Thou must not forget these early lessons in thy
search after greater ones.
Seven
other Petals encircle these Three, each again shines forth in its
true Colour, forming the Rainbow of Promise; but of Promise fulfilled,
since the Circle is Complete. Upon each Petal appears another Sacred
Letter, the Letters of the Seven Planets, those great Elementary
Rulers whose Influence is ever-present and whose Aid and Co-operation
of the Great Celestial Intelligences. Who, through thine own Holy
Guardian Angel, are ever ready and willing to lend thee of their
Wisdom and Power. These are the Rulers of the Sephiroth below Chokmah
and above Malkuth, according to the Plan of the Minutum Mundum which
thou saw'st upon the small altar within the Vault of Initiation.
Yet again,
surrounding these Seven, are twelve outermost Petals, engraved with
the Simple Letters of the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac, the Sphere
of the Fixed Stars. Each has its appropriate Colour, and all may
be recomposed into the White Light of the Centre. In the Outer these
Colours mix and form the Grey of the Sphere of Chokmah, which is
ever the balance of Black and White; but Within, the Great Star
Universe is focused upon that Central Point, which is Everywhere,
since the circumference of the Infinite Rose os Nowhere. This Centre
is the Kether of the Whole Scheme, for "Deus est Homo."
Thus,
O my Son, have I drawn for thee the Great Rose of Two-and-twenty
Petals, the Two-and-twenty Letters of the Holy Alphabet from which
may be formed all Words, sacred and profane. These are united and
bound together in such a manner that the Sigils of the Angels may
be drawn therefrom, but of this I may not speak more plainly, for
it is thy task to discover and use them. And the Influence of the
Rose is that MEZLA which is the Influence from the Crown, and this
descendeth like Dew upon the Rose, even as it Uniteth the Sephiroth
of the Tree of Life. This Tree is itself formed as an Ankh, which
is but a form of the Rose and Cross, used by our Brethren of Antient
Egypt as a Sign of their Way or Going; as such it is the Key of
the ROTA, or Taro of Thoth.
When,
O my Son, by means of thy Central Will, thou shalt have expanded
thy Rose of Five Petals so that it comprehends this Greater Rose
whereof the Petals are Two-and-twenty, thou mayest come to a further
understanding of the Cross which hath Four Arms, the sum of which
from One to Four, being Ten, as are the Holy Sephiroth.
The Great
Cross, of which the cross of thy being is a reflection and minute
counterpart, is again formed of Six Squares, for it, too, represents
the Unfolded Cube. The Cube is matter, the Cube unfolded displays
the several Elements with their Spiritual Centre. So, likewise,
doth IHVH appear as God of the Elements until SHIN, the Holy Spirit,
descendeth into the midst and bursteth Him asunder as IHShVH, which
is the Name of the God-Man, the Redeemer.
So likewise
is Man, the Pentagram of the Elements Crowned with Spirit, shown
with Unconquered Will on each Arm of the Cross. Thus is he Master
of the Four Worlds, through co-operation with the Macrocosmic or
Divine World which is found Symbolized by the Hexagram below the
Great Rose on the lower Arm of the Cross, and which appears surrounded
with the Sign of the Sun in the midst.
The extremity
of each Arm of the Cross is Triple, and each triplicity is assigned
to the Three Alchemical Principles in their proper combinations.
Thus again we find the suggestion of Twelve Circles, corresponding
to the Zodiac or Star Universe, while the Thirteenth is concealed
as a Point in their midst, and is the UNITY thereof. Thirteen is
One plus Three which is Four; Four is the Number of Manifestation
in Matter; in in Matter the Three Principles (or Gunas) are ever
operative, singly as forces united as Spirit.
Thou
has, O my Son, the knowledge of the Invoking and Banishing Rituals
of the Pentagram, whereby thou mayest control the Elements and the
Astral Plane; therefore thou understandest how these Pentagrams
should be traced with thy Wand and Will, and how this formula is
symbolically shown in the arrangement of the Symbols of the Elements
which are shown round the Pentagrams upon the Arms of the Mighty
Cross. Thou knowest, too, how the Planetary Rulers, and even the
Zodiacal Signs, are to be Invoked or Banished by means of the Holy
Hexagram, the true arrangement of which is also shown in this Symbol.
But what of the Barbed Rose Leaves which in the Microcosmic Rose
were single, and here are shown as Triple in each quarter? What
of the Letters and Symbols thereon?
Here
indeed is given the Formula whereby the L.V.X. may be drawn from
the Cross, and the Key-Word found, and the Word be subtly extracted
therefrom. Without this knowledge how cans't thou give the true
Signs of thy Grade? Let us therefore analyse the Keyword, as did
our Antient Brethren: