Secrets and Practices of the Freemasons: Sacred Mysteries, Rituals and Symbols Revealed - Jean-Louis de Biasi 2011

Chapter of Rose Croix
Practice of The Individual Rituals of The High Degrees

Knight of the Rose-Croix (18th Degree)

In the last chapter, I revealed the names of several Rose-Cross orders that existed in the past. Historically, in Freemasonry, several rituals are more or less related to the Rose-Cross. The 18th Degree, Knights of the Rose-Croix, developed in several versions, according to the influences, understanding, and goals in different countries. Those details that were of lesser importance ultimately disappeared. The individual practice found here is rooted in the most accurate and effective origins, so that you will achieve an immediate and powerful connection with this egregore and spirit.

For this practice, it will be necessary to use certain images related to this ritual, which you will be able to find in the appendix, and some required images will be placed beside the relevant part in reduced size, in order to fit the page.

Prepare your room for the practice as you did for the Masonic meditation (Chapter Six).

On your altar, place two items: (1) a printed representation of a pentagram surrounded by Hebrew letters, crowned by a triangle, with the Tetraktys at the center, and (2) a black veil large enough to cover your head. (If you don’t have one, you can visualize it during the practice.) Optional items to place on the altar are a bell or five tealight candles (place one candle on each of the points of the pentagram).

Put the symbol of this degree (the compass, rose-cross, and pelican) to the east of your altar or on the eastern wall. If you have the apron or collar of this degree, you may wear them.

When everything is prepared, sit down on your chair and relax for a while. Remain in this position for a few moments, breathing quietly, with your eyes closed or slightly closed. Be attentive to your breathing; listen to the flow of your breath, in and out. Watch your chest rise and fall. Remain quiet, breathing gently in and out. Breathe in through your nose and out of your mouth. Relax for a while until you are deeply comfortable.

Maintain your state of relaxation. Make sure you are comfortably seated and that your back is as straight as possible. Place your hands flat on your thighs, breathing quietly for a little while.

After a moment of silent relaxation, stand up. Put the palm of your right hand on your solar plexus and exclaim: “O thou who art the creator, the preserver, and the father of all mankind, O beneficent and merciful one, please guard us in thy holy keep; guide our footsteps, that we may not stray from thy truth into the paths of error! If we, in our hearts, desire of thee anything whatsoever that is not good for us to have, deny it unto us! If we fail to ask for anything that we ought to ask at thy hands, give it unto us, we beseech thee, out of thy exceeding goodness. Chasten us for our sins, that we may, by thy discipline, learn wisdom. Make us useful unto others and content with the lot which thou assignest unto us; and may we so labor here and elsewhere, as to deserve thy favor and benefit our fellows. So mote it be!”

Relax your arms and sit down. Put the veil on your head, covering your face and your eyes. Visualize a dark place all around you. The light is just adequate for you to see the details of the place where you stand. The floor is strewn with broken columns and fragments of Masonic working tools. There is a pillar in front of you, to the east. The word Faith is engraved on it in violet paint. On your right, to the south, another column is engraved with the word Hope painted in scarlet red. On your left, to the north, the third column is engraved with the word Charity painted in sky-blue.

In front of you, to the east, an altar is covered with a black cloth strewn with white flames. On the altar in your mind, visualize the symbol you placed on the altar at the beginning of this practice. Pick up the bell with your right hand, or just use the palms of your hands to clap, making a sharp noise, similar to a knock. This is a “battery.”

While you hold the visualization of this place in your mind, knock thirty-three times. Stand up, remove the veil from your eyes, and light the five small candles clockwise, beginning with the candle nearest you on the left.

With your body, you will form a pentagram by lifting your arms so they are on the horizontal plane, with your palms facing the floor. (Your legs should be shoulder width apart.) Visualize your solar plexus filling with a bright rose-colored light. Feel the vibrations coming from your solar plexus, the light and heat.

Visualize the five Hebrew letters on the five parts of your body: Yod— (red): left foot; He— (blue): left hand; Shin— (bright white light): head; Vav— (yellow): right hand, He— (dark brown): left foot. If you are unable to visualize the Hebrew letters, hold the colors and their positions on your body in your mind. Feel the presence and power of each center.

Breathe deeply and relax. Increase the intensity of your visualization.

Holding this position, pronounce (vibrate) the first letter Yod. Pronounce this letter five times. During each inhalation, increase the visualization of the letter. If you are unable to visualize the letter precisely, just stay focused on the feeling in that part of your body.

Figure 42: Pentagram and the invocation direction

Repeat this process for each of the following letters, with five vibrations of each letter. The order is: Yod, Heh, Shin, Vav, Heh.

When this sequence is complete, relax your arms on either side of your body, with your legs in contact, or very close together. Breathe normally for a while, without visualization. Remove the black veil from your head.

With your right forefinger in front of you, draw a clockwise pentagram of invocation beginning with the top point of the pentagram. During this movement, pronounce the sacred name “Yeshua” (Yod-He-Shin-Vav-He). The pronunciation must start when you begin the pentagram and stop before you complete it.

Turn right to face south. Draw the same pentagram, pronouncing the same sacred name.

Proceed in the same way, turning to the west, and then the north. Face east to complete and close the circle. You have drawn four pentagrams to the four directions. These invocations have increased the light of your aura and the subtle light of this place.

Place your right hand on your solar plexus, and your left hand on top of your right hand.

Vibrate the same sacred name “Yeshua” six times.

Visualize your aura increasing in brightness. After you have completed these six vibrations, lower your arms and relax them, then kneel.

Figure 43: Symbolic representation

of the Rite Rose Cross developed in

this part of the book

Visualize again a dark place all around you. You are in a small, square room. The walls are black. You feel a frightening aura and the presence of human skeletons all around you. Breathe slowly and focus on your inner soul, the essential and immortal part of your being.

Cross your arms on your chest, left over right, the palms of your hands in contact with your body. Your eyes are closed. After a short period of silence and meditation, pronounce each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. At the same time, visualize the creation of a wall of light all around you, revolving clockwise. If you don’t know the alphabet, just read this list, with your eyes slightly closed. (The letters are: Alef, Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Heh, Vav, Zayin, Cheth, Tet, Yod, Kaf, Lamed, Mem, Nun, Samekh, Ayin, Peh, Tsadi, Qof, Resh, Shin, Tav.) Don’t worry about pronouncing the letters correctly. Focusing on the alphabet and the wall of light will be enough to create this subtle reality on the spiritual plane.

Meditate in this place of light for a while, and then stand up.

Resume your seat and breathe in silence.

Visualize the chamber of the chapter created by your last invocations. Imagine that the hangings surrounding the chamber are crimson red. The chamber is lit by thirty-three candles. Three candlesticks each hold eleven candles, and these candlesticks are placed to the east, south, and west, respectively.

To the east, you see the image of the compass, the rose cross, and the pelican. Take your time and focus on each symbol. Imagine that your altar is covered with a white cloth, or look at your altar with your eyes slightly closed. Visualize the symbols you placed on it.

Exclaim: “More than any other, a Knight of the Rose-Cross must know himself—he must find his inner balance and renounce all disgraceful behavior. May the divine powers help me to clearly see the secret of my being!”

Pause.

Exclaim: “May the divine powers be invoked by their sacred names, sealing my deep and true desire!”

Invoke the four sacred names:

1- “Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh Eloah Vedaat”

2- “Raphael”

3- “Malachim”

4- “Chemech”

Visualize the lights of the candles increasing.

Focus for a while longer on the symbol of the pelican, then say: “Lux e Tenebris” [“Light out of darkness”].

Pause.

Pronounce the Greek words, which are keys of this degree: Pistis [faith], Elpis [hope], and Agape [charity, love].

Breathe rhythmically and relax.

When you feel ready to continue, stand up and return to the pentagram posture. With your arms on the horizontal, turn your palms to face the east. Close your eyes and breathe rhythmically. After a moment of silence, exclaim: “In hoc signo vinces!”

After a short pause, continue:

“As true Knight of the Rose-Cross, I will always put my higher ideals before everything else. I know the weakness of my human nature. I know that desire and will are the only powers allowing me to progress beyond my physical limitations. In order to become the Knight of the Rose-Cross that I truly want to be, I understand that self-sacrifice must be at the core of my dedication. At every moment of my life, I need to learn a way to live simultaneously in this world and in the spiritual world, illuminating the one by the divine fire of the other.”

Lower your arms and relax them. Visualize a rose as large as you are, directly before you. Imagine that the rose progressively surrounds you. You are at its center, and this mystical flower illuminates your aura. Feel its energy and peace.

With your right forefinger, draw a horizontal line in front of you from left to right while you exclaim: “Ego Leukothea Eïmi!” Feel this balanced power deeply within your aura.

With your right forefinger, draw a vertical line in front of you from top to bottom (approximately the same size as the first line) as you exclaim: “Ego Melanotheos Eïmi!” Feel deeply that you are on the vertical axis between the earth and sky.

Breathe rhythmically and relax.

Place your hands on your solar plexus. Visualize the heart of the rose (your own heart) becoming more and more luminous. You are surrounded by rays of light. In front of you, the pelican and the surrounding scene comes alive, receiving the sunlight of your hidden rose, the light of your noble desire.

Breathe rhythmically and relax for a while, holding on to this feeling and visualization in your mind. Exclaim: “Igne Natura Renovatur Integra!” [My entire nature is renovated by fire!]

Visualize the light increasing again. Exclaim: “Ego Agathodaïmon Eïmi!”

Spread your arms out wide on either side of your body, with your palms open and facing the sky. Exclaim: “May the rose of my soul illuminate the cross of my body!”

Maintain this position for a few moments.

Relax your arms and be seated for a moment of silent meditation. When you feel ready to stop, open your eyes and blow out the candles. Remove your apron if you have one. Record your feelings, remarks, experiences, and thoughts about this practice in your notebook (which must be reserved for this purpose).