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 en-
              lightenment 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 Mys-
teries 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 Sym-
bolism 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 purification 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 For-
mulae 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 thy- self 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 ex-
panded 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, like-
wise, 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 Macrocos-
mic 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 tripli-
 city 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. Thir-
teen is One plus Three which is Four; Four is the Number of Manifest-
ation 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 ex-
tracted 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:

    I.
    N.
    R.
    I.

    Yod.
    Nun.
    Resh.
    Yod.

    Virgo, Isis, Mighty Mother.
    Scorpio, Aphopis, Destroyer.
    Sol, Osiris, Slain and Risen.
    Isis, Aphopis, Osiris..

    I. A. O.

    Make now the Signs whereby the L.V.X. which is the Light of the 
Cross, shines forth, and thou hast the meaning of the Rose Leaves of
thy Mystic Jewel; leaves that are Ever-Green as Life Itself.

    And now, O my Son, go thou and partake of the Mystic Eucharist, 
even as thou hast been taught by Those who Know. Fortify thyself, for
thou hast yet a perilous journey before thee. Thou hast been led unto
the  Light; bethink thee that there is yet another Rose and Cross, the
Rose of Nine-and-forty Petals---which is Seven by Seven---upon the
Cross of Five Squares. The Mysteries of these thou wilt someday know,
but not now; for these partake of the nature of that Great Darkness of
N.O.X., the Darkness which is as the Light which is Higher than
Eyesight; the Pure Darkness of Understanding, or of the Womb of the
Lady Babalon, and the City of the Pyramids which is the abode of NEMO.

    May thy Mind be open unto the Higher,
    Thy Heart a Centre of Light,
    And thy Body the Temple of the Rosy Cross.

    Vale Frater!

                  -o-