Initiates of the hoary past, such as to be found among the secret societies of the Compagnons, Knights Templer, Dionysiac Artificers, and the Operative Masons, designed and built their temples, cathedrals, lodges, and places of worship after the geometric design and anatomy of Man's body. King Solomon's Temple and the Great Pyramid are just two examples of sacred edifices constructed after the harmonic proportion embodied within Man. In one sense, Man is the source of all measures, and is himself, the measurer of all things. Within archetypal Man, lies a tome of cosmic measurements, harmonics, and balance. Ancient Greeks produced art-forms--sculptures of the human physical form that stimulated the aesthetic sense and subtly aroused and awakened in the onlooker the memory of his divinity, spiritual nature, and origin. Symmetry in an artist's soul results in the symmetry of created forms, the harmony and beauty of which triggers in the witnessing soul through impressions impinging upon the consciousness, an alignment with the spiritual SELF. By gazing at spiritual beauty one instinctively feel the presence of the Divine.

Various symbols in the past have been used by esotericists to represent Man. Among the well-known emblems are the pentagram, the five-pointed star, numerologically the pentad; and the hexagram, the six-pointed star--the hexad. The former represents Man's occult nature, while the latter symbolizes the unity of Man and God; or "coordinated Man"--Man with the perfect harmonization of the lower principles of his four-fold personality and his spiritual triad.

The cross, of which there are many versions, is another ancient design that portrays Man. The use of this symbol probably had its inception during the age of Man's adoration and veneration towards the Sun. Awakening at dawn, man would face the rising sun with outstretched hands to receive the beneficent rays of life. This pose casts a shadow on the ground in the form of a cross. This was how man was symbolically equated with it. The daily ritual of sun veneration and adoration is still to be found in some cultures, in India especially. It is believed that the rite invokes an additional amount of vital force, or prana that fills the energy-structure of the microcosm. Mantras such as the beautiful Gayatri are also sometimes recited in the rite in conjunction with physical movements, making it a sacred exercise.

At a later period, in the days of the mushrooming of esoteric schools and secret societies in Spain and the rest of Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries, the mystic rose was added to the cross, thus expanding and elaborating upon its symbolism. The union of cross and rose, is in a dynamic sense, the unity of Islamic and Christian mysticism unified by the Knights Templar and expressed in their doctrines. The "Rosy Cross" as it came to be called, was adopted by a certain mystical brotherhood that called itself "Rosicrucian" after the appellation "Rosy Cross," or "Rosae Crucis," to give its original Latinized version. So exquisite in form, and so sweet its perfume that the rose signified Man's unfolding spiritual nature, his innate God-attributes. Qabalistically speaking, the cross has its origin in Malkuth, whereas the rose has its roots in Kether. The substance of the rose is divine, being composed of light, life and love; whereas crystallized spirit is the substance of the cross. Hindu philosophers would say that the rose is a manifestation of Purusha, or Soul; and the cross, Prakriti, or Matter. From one point of view, the rose attached to the cross represents the unfoldment of the anahata (heart) chakra. Rich with metaphysical significance, the Rosy Cross may be considered as one of the Secret Doctrine's most profound Word made manifest in symbolical form. Meditating upon such a symbol, like the Holy Grail, puts us in touch with a vast fount of wisdom--with the egregore, the archetypal force, the group consciousness, and the psychic pool of spiritual ideas represented by the symbol.

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