Related Terms • Golden Dawn Cross • Rose Cross Lamen • Adar • hexagram Related Resources • Hermetic Tradition • Historical interest • Alchemy • Esoteric Kabbalah • Rosicrucianism   Glossaries  • Symbol Glossary • Alternative Religions Glossary • Glossary of Magick and the Occult

The Rosicrucian rose is another form of the Rose or Rosy Cross, a Christian symbol originating in the first century. It was adopted as a Hermetic occult symbol during the English Renaissance and was re-popularized by the Nineteenth century magical order the Golden Dawn.

The cross symbolizes resurrection and rebirth, the earth axis, and the world of matter; the rose, the unfolding nature of spiritual growth, the blood of Christ, awakening. The two symbols combined show thew triumph of the spiritual over the material.

The history of the Rose Cross is an unusual one. It has been linked with the equilateral red cross used by the Knights Templar. The appearance of the rose cross in "Christian" art is often taken as a secret communication of heresy- the worship of the Goddess Venus, or even secret tantric sex practices.

For example, a Catholic rosary, spread flat reveals a symbol of the planet Venus- a circle surmounting a cross. If one draws a line connecting the five beads of the "mysteries" (that is, the five large beads in the circle), a pentagram is formed- the "Rose of Venus." The pentagram is a symbol of the Planet Venus, as it is the shape it forms on its travels through the heavens. The name "rosary" means "garland of roses," and early Rose Cross imagery mimicked the shape of the rosary.

Related Symbols:

Related Resources:

• Rosicrucianism
  The Rosicrucians are the fabled Hermetic brotherhood of the Renaissance.
• Hermetic Texts
  Traditional Hermetic texts- the Emerald tablet, the Corpus Hermeticum, more.
• Mystery Schools and orders
  Mystery schools and initiatory orders in the Hermetic tradition- the Masons, the Golden Dawn, Crowley's OTO, etc.