The Turba Philosophorum is indisputably the most ancient extant treatise on Alchemy in the Latin tongue, but it was not, so far as can be ascertained… - A. E. Waite

The Golden and Rosy Cross, understood in the secret circles ns the Cosmic Cross of the Order, symbolizing universal manifestation, with the manifested Christ in the centre as the power and the grace of all things. The motto is: Ego sum flos campi et lilium convallium. This emblem appears on the title-page of Geheime Figures, issued at Altona in 1785, and is characteristic of the theosophical spirit which permeates the whole work. It was attached evidently to a ribbon or collar, and is probably the reverse side of a Cross shewn in another plate, described as of fine gold and said to have been worn by each Brother on his breast. The inscription on the reverse is the well-known salutation of the Order which was repeated on exposing the symbol: Benedictus Dominus Deus noster qui dedit nobis signum. Beneath this inscription the signs of Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are written about a six-pointed star, having the Sun in its centre. (preface)

“From small beginnings unto greater ends” is an old, it may be, an honoured adage. Hereof is the Mystery of the Rosy Cross in origin, history and development. At the last close of all, there is something that remains to be intimated, and it is of two kinds: (1) There is that which is left over for want of available materials, and here it is an open question whether there is any way in which our knowledge is likely to be extended, unless it be in respect of accidents and minima, in days to come; (2) There is something which belongs to the Holy Assembly, is reserved thereto and can be found only by those who are without when he who is now a Stranger at the Gate receives that call which takes him across the threshold. But this is of the spirit, is indeed the inward life, and not matter of history. Benedict Dominus Deus noster qui dedit nobis signum . For those who know or can discover the authorised battery of the Rite, it may happen that the door will open and that he — Ostiarius Magnus — by whom they are admitted will be Christian Rosy Cross, who after witnessing the Hermetic Marriage left the Palace of the King, expecting that next day he should be Door Keeper. Introilus Apertus est ad Occlusum Regis Palatium. The ways indeed are many, but the Gate is one. V ale te, Fratres. Ch XXIV

Not only are great subjects encircled, for the most part by an external penumbra which, in comparison with them- selves, is a region of trifles, but the subjects themselves, when approached, not so much in an unserious spirit as in the mood of the light mind, seem, under such auspices, to abdicate their proper office and to manifest on their fantastic side. They enter to this extent the region of comedy, and as he must be a cross-grained poet who cannot be diverted by the skilful parody of his own work, so it is in no sense outside the law that the true mystic-— who is saved by many things, including a sense of humour — should be the first perhaps to appreciate the motley appear- ance of his own interests, when seen under the reflections of travesty. (Chapter XXII, A Kabalistic Order of the Rose-Croix)