Note: [1]
It is an indisputable fact that the secrets of heaven and hell, which are beyond human conception, that is, beyond the grasp of the terrestrial mind, cannot be taught or explained in any way other than by means of sign and symbol. In reality the whole of visible nature with all of its countless and multifarious forms is only a collection of symbols, visible representations of invisible principles and powers. We ourselves are symbols in which all the powers of the Macrocosm are represented and in which they may become manifest. We need not search in the depths of the sky, among the starry heavens, or in any external thing for proofs of the existence of a God of the universe. If the god-head within ourselves becomes manifest, we shall ourselves be living proofs of the existence of the universal God and become acquainted with all of his divine secrets.
The ancient Rosicrucians and mystics, that is to say, those who were really saints and sages, were by means of interior revelation and illumination initiated into these mysteries and knew the deeper secrets of nature. They imparted their knowledge in symbols, which are easily comprehensible to all whose minds are ripe for their understanding, and the study of these symbols will aid them in arriving at a truer knowledge of eternal truth. To the skeptic, the doubter and materialist they will have little significance; but to the earnest seeker after truth, whose understanding is still veiled by the cobwebs of Maya, they will be useful in removing the veil and in opening his new senses, so that the light of eternal wisdom will illuminate his mind. In the Bible we read that Jesus spoke to his disciples, saying: “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables, that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not understand.” (St. Luke viii. 10.) The kingdom of God is the kingdom of divine wisdom, and no one will have real knowledge of these mysteries unless he enters that kingdom of light. Likewise in the Bhagavad Gita (xviii. 67) the Divinity tells Arjuna: “These truths are not for those who practice no self-control and do not worship me and will not hear my voice; neither are they for the doubter and reviler.”
For these reasons even a theoretical knowledge of the meaning of symbols would have little value for the vulgar and profane, because a true understanding of divine powers can only come through their acquisition and experience. The saintly Thomas a Kempis says: “Of what use would it be to you if you were told all the mysteries of the holy Trinity, if that Trinity rejected you?” And the great mystic Jacob Boehme exclaims: “Of what use to me is a science which is not a religion?” As the Bible says: “Only the spirit of God searcheth all things, even the deep things of God.” (I. Cor. ii. 10.) Therefore if we wish to know these “deep things” we must search for that knowledge within, the spirit of God, and not in the lower light of the reasoning brain. Fortunately, we do not have far to go for that spirit, because, as St. Paul teaches, we are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwelleth in us. (I. Corinth, iii. 16.) For the purpose of finding that spirit a study of the Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians is a great help and of the utmost importance.
Some twenty years ago a collection of these extremely rare and valuable Symbols came (in a very remarkable way) into my possession,[2] and were published by the “Occult Publishing Co.” The book has been long out of print; the plates are not obtainable and the originals have mysteriously disappeared. Two of the originals (not published) have been retained by me, and one of these is herewith added to this article. A whole book might be written for the purpose of explaining the drawing, but the following may serve as a superficial short survey:
[See images at the end of this article.]
The space around the circle and including the circle must be supposed to represent the inconceivable, impenetrable, unknowable, the absolute, the unlimited, unchangeable, eternal Reality; the one only God whom “the heaven of the heavens cannot conceive of nor encompass,” of whom no description can be given, who is above al) qualities and whom we can worship and adore in silence only.
The circle with all of its contents is a symbol of the manifested Godhead, the Logos or Brahma. He is the substance and essence of everything including ourselves. “God’s omnipresence or essentiality is from eternity to eternity. In God there is no thing, neither near nor far. He is All in All and everywhere.” Thus the Bible teaches: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” (John i. 1 and 3.) The Bhagavad Gita also teaches this omnipresence of God: “He who sees the eternal One in all being, is the true seer” (C. xiii. v. 27) and the great mystic Bishop Eckhart writes: “Put everything that is not God away from you, and there remains nothing but God.” But as everything is already essentially God, that which we can put away is essentially nothing but an illusion (Maya), God is the One and the All. Without the One there could be no number. Man without God is the Nought, only in his union with God does he acquire a certain value, for the 1 combined with the 0 makes 10.
Everything is nothing without God. This nothing is called Maya, illusion, a state of vibration which represents itself as what we call “Matter” or “Nature,” the manifested world of forms and appearances. Matter has neither life nor consciousness of itself; its life and consciousness being a threefold reflection only of the all-life, all-light and all-consciousness of God, or, to express it in other words, it is a manifestation of his divine spirit. The direct reflection of this divine life and light in the heart and head of man, is the divinity, the light of his soul, the Christ or redeemer, his own personal God, his own divine higher self. The aim and object of every Rosicrucian, and the ultimate object of existence of every man or woman, is to become conscious of and united with one’s own higher self and thus attain to immortal life, knowledge, bliss and happiness in the Christ. Christ, the Word, is the spiritual Sun of the universe, our visible sun being only a reflection of his divine light. His kingdom is the celestial world, the kingdom of light or “heaven the kingdom of divine love, from which Lucifer (the personification of egotism) has been driven out and which is to be occupied by man, and wherein Christos is the eternal King.” It is called “the right hand of God,” because his left hand is the kingdom of darkness and ignorance, with its outcome, the kingdom of hell or the second death, the abyss or prison of Lucifer, the spirit of passion and perversity. There we see in the symbol the “residence of the (spiritually) dead in extreme darkness, and lost souls waiting for judgment and the first death,” while on the opposite plane is the “country of paradise of the living and justified souls.”
In the centre of the figure is to be seen the heart, which includes a cross, the symbol of matter penetrated by spirit. In the heart of the true Rosicrucian the Word becomes flesh and the spirit of the universal God manifested as a person or personal individuality. And here it may be remarked that the personality of mortal man is made up of many ever-changing personalities or thought-forms; it is a kingdom with many inhabitants. Only the immortal inner man has a durable individuality and is the king and lord of that realm.
The kingdom of light or heaven is the world where the will of divine wisdom rules; the kingdom of hell is the world in which that will is perverted, and it is therefore called the “kingdom of wrath. ” It is not a personal God who has become wrathful ; but the kingdom of hell which has perverted the divine will and thereby caused the wrath.” The kingdom of light is the kingdom of goodness and love; the kingdom of darkness, the realm of darkness, passion and hate, is the kingdom of evil. But there is a third kingdom, namely, the terrestrial worlds in which the influence of the other two worlds is active. In our terrestrial world good and evil are in contact; there is the continual battle between light and darkness, ignorance and knowledge, superstition and truth. The kingdoms of light and darkness belong to eternity; in our world only is the conception of time maintained.
There are a number of minor points concerning that figure which might be discussed, but they may be left to the intuition of the reader and student, as they form a good subject for meditation and concentration of the mind.
Image from Dr. Hartmann’s article: The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the 16th and 17th Centuries.
[R.H.—See next page for another, similar image from a different source but clearer.]
Image: “Figurative image of how within this world three worlds in each other, namely this earthly sun-world and also the heavenly hellish world have their effects. and the darkness cannot conquer the light. it also shows that the land of the dead, the entrance to hell or superficial darkness, where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth, as well as the land of the living, the heavenly paradise or third heaven are from this world. and that the human being has all these things in his heart: heaven and hell, light and darkness, life and death.”
Source: Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the 16th and 17th Centuries. J. D. A. Eckhardt (Editor) Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, 1987 [Altona, 1785 Edited and printed by J. D. A. Eckhardt. Commissioned by the Bookstore of Mr. Herold in Hamburg]
Notes
[1] The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the 16th and 17th Centuries. Franz Hartmann, M.D. The Word 7, no. 2 (May 1908), 88-92. Additional image source: Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the 16th and 17th Centuries. J. D. A. Eckhardt (Editor) Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, 1987 [Altona, 1785 Edited and printed by J. D. A. Eckhardt. {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}
[2] Comp, my “Adventures Among the Rosicrucians.” Boston: Occult Pub. Co.