The Rose in mysticism and the Hermetic Philosophies is a profound symbol of consciousness and the soul personality. It symbolizes consciousness projected into the material form. Consciousness is symbolized in a very apt and beautiful way as a flowering process and an unfolding manifestation. This flowering , blooming and unfolding of its petals in a perfect mandalic symmetry, represents man's divine inner consciousness being revealed as layers of his being open up to reveal its ever becoming center, the Inner Self. To the Rosicrucians the symbol of the Rosy Cross is sacred. The Rose crucified on the cross is the symbol of the true divinity of humanity. The cross represents the four cardinal points of being in a balanced state. The crossing of the vertical and the horizontal lines represent the conjunction of the opposites. The vertical, upright, being the spiritual, creative, positive and active aspects of being, conjuncts the horizontal, the material and the passive aspects. It is at this conjunction point, representing balance and harmony, that the rose flowers and unfolds itself. The cross also represents the body of man with outstretched arms as his whole earthly plane and his heart, his soul, being again at a conjunction between the superiors and inferiors, head in heaven, feet on earth, he is also between left and right as opposition between the forces of light and darkness, life and death. To the initiates this symbol of divine consciousness crucified or infused upon and in his physical body is a most profound and sacred mystery of the incarnation of the soul. A beautiful Hermetic Dictum of the Rosicrucians is, "Ad Rosam per crucem, ad crucem per Rosam." To my Rose by way of my cross, to my cross by way of my Rose.
- Steve Kalec