The Rose Cross
On page 4a I compared the Rose Cross emblem from the Golden Dawn, seen below, to St. Peter's Bascillica, showing a fair correspondence between the two. Here I would like to look at some of the symbols on the cross, before continuing the comparison.
 Remember that four represents matter while three represents spirit. Five represents the microcosm and six the macrocosm. Four and five then pertain to floors and foundations while three and six pertain to the volumes. The cube bridges the two realms by virtue of the fact that it has six sides and a hexagon figures to us a cube. Twelve bridges three and four; four being time and three bring space (volume). At the center of the image we see a five parted rose symbol of the female and the microcosm. The cross quarters the circle. The cross extends past the edge of the circle, so that if you folded it up, it would produce a cube. Also in the center we see the 22 Hebrew letters divided into groups of 3, 7 and 12. On the tips of the cross are the symbols for salt, sulphur and mercury from alchemy. The one being featured is in the center. We see mercury twice, at the bottom and at the top. Salt is on the left and sulphur on the right. On the arms of the cross we see the five elements, earth, air, fire, water and spirit, with a pentagram. The figure at the bottom is on top of an X sign that would appear to indicate earth.
 Just above that we see a hexagram with the sun at the center. This is the ancient representation of the order of the planets. On the points of the compass we see the sign for the sun once, the sign for Scorpio once and the sign for Virgo twice. Mercury (also seen twice) 'rules' Virgo. So, in the outermost ring we see alchmical signs, the next ring is the four elements, inside that we have the sun the planets and the zodiac signs. At the center we see the rose and the cross, symbols of the masculine and feminine generative forces. Please note the Master's Square below the hexagram. Projecting the lines of that produces a large oblique square.
 Connecting the corners of the compass produces another square that bisects four circles. The top three circles are air, fire and water, the bottom one is the circle of the planets. The circle at the bottom is earth, in its own square. If we double the top square, the bottom circle and square prove to be at the center of that. The ten red circles (above) show the spheres on the Tree of Life. We are reminded of a cathedral floor plan, the floor plan of the Mason's Lodge, and a baseball field. Both the circle and square have 360 degrees, so in baseball its 90 feet betwen bases.
 It's like a protective magic circle except that its square.
 Notice that Faust stands inside a square with four pentagrams, and that Mephistophiles is in a triangle outside the square. Below is an illustration of a 'magic circle'. Inside the triangle it reads, 'for the spirit to appear in.'
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