As regeneration is the key to spiritual existence, they therefore founded their symbolism upon the rose and the cross, which typify the redemption of man through the union of his lower temporal nature with his higher eternal nature.' It has also been suggested that the rose represents silence while the cross signifies 'salvation, to which the Society of the Rose-Cross devoted itself by teaching mankind the love of God and the beauty of brotherhood, with all that they implied.' Others saw the Rosy Cross as a symbol of the human process of reproduction elevated to the spiritual: 'The fundamental symbols of the Rosicrucians were the rose and the cross the rose female and the cross male, both universal phallic As generation is the key to material existence, it is natural that the Rosicrucians should adopt as its characteristic symbols those exemplifying the reproductive processes. Some groups, such as the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, from a non-sectarian or non-religious view, suggest that the rosy cross predates Christianity, where 'the cross represents the human body and the rose represents the individual's unfolding consciousness. Several different meanings have been attributed to the Rose Cross, depending on the source.
3.2.1 Symbolism of the Golden Dawn Rosy Cross.3 Freemasonry and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
