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e,oary, is the cross adopted as one of tie embl~ms of the Rose :roix degree. The rose, in ancient mythology, was consecrated to I-Iarpo.. ~ntes, the god of silence; uud in the mysteries the hierophant wore a crown of roses. lIenee th is flower was considered a~ t.he enl bIenl of silence and secrecy; and when any thing was intended t,) be kept secret, it was said to be delivered sub rosa, or "under the rose." R,agon, in explaining the jewel of the Rose Croix, says that as the cross was in ~jgypt an en1blem of immortality, and the ros~ of secrecy, the rose followed by the cross was the simplest mode of writing" the secret of inunortality." But he subsea quentIy gives a different explanation, nalnely, that, as the rose was the emblem of the female principle, and the cross or triple phallus of the male, the two together, lilce the Indian lingnlu, symbolized univers'al generation. 13ut Ragon, who has adopted the theory of the astrollOluicul origin of FreeuHlsonry, like all theorists, often carries his speculatiollson this subject to an extreme point.. A shnpler allusion will better suit thecharaeter of the degree, and be 1noro ill acc()rdauce ,vith what we have already said of its othersynlbols. The rose is, in llUtny places of Scripture, applied as a figura.. tive appellation of Christ. 'IILis is fanliliar to all readers; thus in the Book of Canticles 11t1 is called "the rose of Sharon." 1'he cross, of course, alludes, as \ve have already shown, to his death; the rose OD the cross, i~ therefore an en1 bIenl of the death of the Saviour for the sins of lutlnkind. Eron. this brief review of the
SYID boIs of the Rose Croix, i i will be evident that it is, in the strictest sense, a Christian degree.. * This Inust, of course, nUlrk it as ODe of comparatively
.. The documents of this degree always cornUlence with these words: l'In wr name of the Holy and Undivided 1'rinity," and end with the salutation. I 10 the peaceful union of the sacrod numbers.''' 'rhe members place R. ". 1 41.. end of their :qa~oJ.