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It's been quite some time since the previous post in this project, seeing as we've been very busy tackling a prolonged and immense workload as part of general updates with the new releases in the Toaru series and the Toaru Project and the wiki-wide overhaul known as the Series Three Overhaul Project (STOP). However, given recent circumstances in the latest part of the story, and the need for a short break and mood-lifter, I thought it might be time to try another one.

The subject this time is the Rose Cross - a key symbol and tool used by the Rosicrucian Order and the Golden Dawn, and the many groups derived from them. A symbol which in turn incorporates many other key symbols used in the magical systems of the Golden and the Rosen, many aspects of it have cropped up in the series and played a role in various spells seen in the story.

Note: Be aware that this post contains information pertaining to the latter part of Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index and the events of Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index, and as such, there will be spoilers for them below. You have been warned.

Note: Bear in mind that a number of the subjects which might be involved have differing interpretations and disagreements concerning them. Also, I'm just a casual reader in these areas, so there may be some mistakes at times, though I try to avoid them as much as possible. If there are any points for improvement, correction or discussion, please feel free to discuss them in a constructive manner in the comments section below.

Introduction

 * Introduction (The Rose Cross, RL and Toaru)
 * Rose cross medal
 * Madame Horos
 * Dion Fortune
 * Leivinia Birdway (Sigil): During the confrontation between Kanzaki Kaori and Leivinia Birdway as the two were going after Orlentz Trice and losing their tempers, Birdway ordered Mark Space to bring her a magic sword, intending to take Hebrew text from a cross medal and draw a sigil to use against Kanzaki.

The Rose and the Cross

 * The Rose and the Cross (Overall Symbol, RL and Toaru)

The Hermetic Rose

 * Central Rose (22 Petals, RL and Toaru)
 * 22-Petal Rose (Kabbalah, Sigil, Hermeticism)

The Four Arms of the Cross

 * Cross Arms (Four Elements, Sephiroth)
 * Lower arm (black, green or four as Malkuth/receiving the other elements)
 * Inscription colours

Rays behind the Cross
Behind the rose and between the arms of the cross, are several triangular protrusions, colored white and referred to as rays, symbolizing divine light. The rays consist of four larger ones, each one halfway between the arms and each with two smaller ones either side, between itself and the arm.

Inscribed on the larger rays are the letters (short in Latin for Iēsus Nazarēnus, Rēx Iūdaeōrum, which translates to "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews"), which are believed to have been carved in the original cross, on which  was crucified.(John) Each ray has one letter, inscribed in order from left to right and top to bottom. Additionally, an astrological symbol is inscribed above each of the letters (in INRI order - Virgo (Isis), Scorpio (Apophis), Sun (Osiris)), Virgo)., resurrection). The rays besides the final "I" merely repeat the "X" and "I" from before.

Inscribed on the smaller rays in the same way are letters comprising other magical formulae. On the counter-clockwise side of the larger rays, letters spell out LVX ("lux" - Latin for light). On the clockwise side of the larger rays, the letters spell out IAO (Isis, Apophis, Osiris - birth, death/destruction, slain/resurrection). The rays besides the final "I" merely repeat the "X" and "I" from before.

INRI has hardly been used in the Toaru series, with the main use occurring during Aleister Crowley's final battle with the recreated Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers at the church in Scotland where Aleister had married Rose Edith Kelly. In response to Aleister using the symbol of the (Y-H-Sh-V-H), derived from the tetragrammaton (Y-H-V-H) and linked to the Son of God, to build his body up to a higher level, Mathers improvised a method from the same system to purify and enhance his body in a similar fashion. His method was based around INRI, being the holy letters carved into the original cross on which the Son of God died.

One little thing of note regarding Mathers and INRI here are associations for both with the four elements. Although INRI was not originally associated with the four elements, certain occult texts from the 19th and 20th centuries gave other interpretations and backronyms to the letters - one of these was the Hebrew "Iamin, Nour, Rouach, Iebeschal" ("water, fire, wind, earth"), which was given in a 1825 book on Freemasonry by Marcello Reghellini de Schio, who claimed that it was an alchemical meaning given by the Rosicrucians. The letters of the tetragrammaton have also been associated with the four elements in a similar manner. As for Mathers, in the Toaru series his signature spiritual items are the four symbolic weapons which represent the four elements.


 * Elemental association (four symbolic weapons, four letters of the tetragrammaton and four letters of INRI)

Elemental Pentagrams

 * Magic Circle, Five Elements

Planetary Hexagram

 * Magic Circle, Seven Metals, Astrology
 * Neoka Norito

Three Principles

 * Three alchemical principles (NT/AgneseSS)