Man, the Microcosm; Part 1

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

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