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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, the 11th anniversary, and the need for a short break and mood-lifter after a rather long sweep operation, 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)
 * Consecration - NT18 mention of consecration practices (others?)

Rose cross medals are featured in the Toaru series as all-purpose spiritual items, which among other things can be used to mass-produce sigils. Two notable characters in the Coronzon Arc were shown to possess rose cross medals; Madame Horos, who brandished hers while approaching Aleister in the guise of Anna Sprengel, and Dion Fortune, who popped a worn one into her Archetype Processor for a piece of randomized magic. Leivinia Birdway also has one and apparently still relies on it for sigils.

The Rose and the Cross
The Rose Cross (or the Rosy Cross) is the primary symbol of Rosicrucianism, being connected to the very name of the movement, as well as those of its supposed founder Christian Rosenkreuz, the Rosicrucian Order that carried on the movement, and the modern-day incarnation R&C Occultics. Being based on a foundation which included Rosicrucianism along with Hermeticism and Kabbalah, it was also important in the Golden Dawn, with the cabal's Second Order also known as the R.R.etA.C. (short for "Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis", meaning "Ruby Rose and Golden Cross").


 * The Rose and the Cross (Overall Symbol, RL and Toaru)
 * Post-Gold groups

Several versions of the Rose Cross exist besides the complex variant used for the Rose Cross Lamen, though all have the same basic shape with a rose at the centre of a cross. Some have the rose depicted with ten petals, which has been linked to the ten spheres on the Sephiroth, and according to Anna Sprengel (before being stopped by Aiwass), symbolizes female reproduction. In the conclusion to Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index, Aleister refers to the true cross and the rose are symbols of man and woman respectively. Aside from being a symbol of Christianity and the crucifixion, the cross is also a symbol representing the human body.

Various people have considered the Rose Cross to be symbolic of the process of ascending to a higher state, with the rose being taken by some to represent a blooming consciousness. Aleister Crowley has referred to the Rose Cross (with one form made from a combination of the Tau and the circle) as symbolizing the union of Nuit and Hadit - the infinitely-expanded circle and the infinitely-contracted point (which Coronzon invoked while using her Magick: Flaming Sword). He and many others have also considered the Rose Cross to be a symbol of the.

The Hermetic Rose
The centrepiece of the Rose Cross is a rose symbol with twenty-two petals, each bearing a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in three rings. Sometimes called the Hermetic Rose, it is a symbol used by both the Rosicrucian Order and the Golden Dawn. In Hermeticism and Kabbalah, it has been said that the 22 characters can be used to explain everything in the world, and as such, this rose symbol represents the world. As with the rest of the Rose Cross, the petals are coloured according to the King Scale colour scheme, with their letters in complimentary colours.


 * Central Rose (22 Petals, RL and Toaru)
 * RL symbolism/notes

A prominent use of the rose, referred to multiple times within the series, is as a guide for drawing sigils,  symbols made up of a pattern of lines or a single continuous line, which represent a word, often the name of an angel for the purposes of drawing on Telesma. In the case of the rose method, a sigil is created by spelling out the word using Hebrew characters and then tracing lines between the letters as they are located on the rose in a single stroke, with the initial letter marked with a small circle and a small perpendicular line on the end marking the final letter.

The twenty-two Hebrew letters inscribed on the rose's petals are also connected to the twenty-two paths on the Sephiroth, the Tree of Life in Kabbalah. As has been stated in the early volumes of the series and demonstrated in more recent volumes, the Sephiroth is a very important concept in the world of magic and the Toaru series. It has multiple functions, acting as a map of spiritual and material realms, a diagram for the human body and soul, a guide to properly building up one's soul, and more. The twenty-two paths and ten spheres together make up the so-called Thirty-Two Paths of Wisdom, and form the structure of the magical correspondence table in Aleister Crowley's Liber 777 that is key to the systems of Magick and Modern Western Magic. In certain traditions, each of the spheres is protected by a specific angel, and in , Neoka Norito's amateur Golden-style magic involved the creation of imaginary angels and temporary spheres within the existing paths to produce an effect in the world, utilizing the association between the spheres, planets and metals (more on that in the planetary hexagram section below).

The outer ring consists of twelve petals, which are associated with the constellations making up the Western Zodiac. The petals are arranged in order from Aries to Pisces, starting with Aries at the top and going anti-clockwise, with Libra at the bottom. They are also in anti-clockwise order of colour (Red to Orange to Yellow to Green to Blue to Purple to Red), following the King Scale. These associations have been seen once in Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index, when Karasuma Fran attempted to invoke an angel associated with Virgo (with a yellow-green light), only for the opposing Karma-bearing chain to interfere with the colouration and have the red Aries activate instead, causing the spell to fail. The letters on this ring are (from Aries to Pisces) Heh, Vau, Zayin, Chet(h), Tet(h), Yod, Lamed, Nun, Samech, Ayin, Tsade/Tzaddi and Qof/Qoph.

The next ring is also in anti-clockwise colour order and its seven petals are associated with the seven planets and their associated metals (which will be covered in the section about the planetary hexagram below). The letters on this ring (the Seven Double Letters) are Peh, Resh, Beth, Dalet(h), Gimel, Kaf/Caph and Tau

The innermost ring has three petals and letters (known as the Three Mother Letters), representing three of the four elements. These are Shin (ש), Mem (ם) and Aleph (א), representing the elements of fire, water and wind/air respectively. The element of earth is not present. The Aleph petal representing air is beneath the arm of the cross assigned to air, while the Shin and Mem petals representing fire and water are on the opposite sides to the arms assigned to those elements.

The very centre of the rose is coloured white, symbolizing the light of Keter. On top of it is a smaller and more simplified version of the Rose Cross, with a gold six-square cross, a five-petal red rose at the centre, and four green barbs from between the arms of the cross. It symbolizes the microcosmic within the macrocosmic (the twenty-two petal rose symbolizing the world or the larger Rose Cross itself), with the numbers also being associated with the microcosm (5) and the macrocosm (6) - also seen on certain versions of the Thelemic. The connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm is an important element of the supernatural systems within the Toaru series, for both espers and magic.

The most recent and potent use of the rose symbol was in , the most recent light novel volume released at the time of writing, where Anna Sprengel used it in the control mechanism for the nature of the imitation "Breaker" powers she was forming in her right hand using Aiwass's energy. Rather than a physical rose symbol, Anna made use of the elemental symbolism of the digits on her left hand to switch the central three elements on and off and the coding system known as Gematria (which assigns each Hebrew character a numerical value (e.g. Shin=1, Mem=40, Aleph=300), with many ways to apply and interpret these values) to derive the meaning. In the conclusion of the battle, Touma threw a Capricorn decoration, associated with the element of Earth which has no place in the central part of the rose, to cause a malfunction in Anna's spell.

The Four Arms of the Cross
The four arms of the cross are associated with the Four Elements (fire, water, air/wind and earth), with the ends coloured according to their respective elements. The longer lower arm has a section below the rose which is associated with the Spirit or Ether. The importance of the elements within the magical system of the Toaru series cannot be understated, and they have been featured from the start.

The positions of the elements on the cross are not the common arrangement seen in the Toaru series (though the colours for three of the elements are definitely the same), one also connected to the four cardinal directions and archangels, and based on an altered form of an arrangement from the Golden Dawn's. Instead, these ends are associated with four of the Sephirah, spheres of the Sephiroth - the upper arm is associated with air, yellow and Tiphareth, the left arm with fire, red and Gevurah, and the right arm with water, blue and Chesed.

While the end of the lower arm associated with earth is sometimes coloured green, it is often coloured with four colours, being associated with Malkuth (the lowest Sephirah, representing the material world), with the nature of a container and receiver of other influences. These four parts, in each of the four directions and in a similar arrangement to the cross as a whole, are associated with the elemental parts of the element of earth - Citrine for the airy part, Olive for water, Russet for fire, and black for the lowest one, earth of earth.

The presence of the four elements within each other has been mentioned and utilized at various points, such as by Fiamma of the Right during Project Bethlehem (using the traces of the other three within his Fire to control the four after dealing with the distortion), and by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (who made use of all four with impurities within to control them and exploited them against Touma's Imagine Breaker). With the Secret Calls, Coronzon specifically invoked both pure elements (e.g. wind of wind) and impure elements, with elements within other elements (e.g. water of wind).

An elemental pentagram and the three principles are inscribed on the ends of the cross arms representing the four elements, using their respective complimentary colours. The white portion of the lower arm assigned to Spirit has a planetary hexagram instead (more on these in their respective sections below).

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. 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).

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 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 Pentagrams
On each of the arm sections associated with the Four Elements, there is a pentagram - a unicursal five-pointed star, often associated with magic circles. Each point of the pentagram has one of the elements assigned to it - the upper right point for water, the lower right for fire, the upper left for air/wind, the lower left for earth, and the topmost point for ether or the Spirit. Their order corresponds to the Golden Dawn's Supreme Ritual of the Pentagram.

Used since antiquity (with early uses in Ancient Greece and Babylonia), pentagram have symbolized and been connected to multiple subjects, the elements among them (and ether/spirit usually positioned above the material elements). They have also been used in a similar manner in the East, such as with the, though the positioning of the elements in that case is more to do with cyclic transformation and interaction (between the elements rather than the material aspects). A reverse pentagram has come to be associated with the malevolent, or matter overcoming spirit. The pentagram is also associated with the microcosm.

Pentagrams have been featured in the Toaru series from the start, with a wounded Index drawing one when guiding Tsukuyomi Komoe in casting a spell to save her life. One particular pentagram-based magic circle is often used both in and out of universe, acting as a logo of sorts for the magical side of the story.

Some versions of the pentagram found on the Rose Cross use the triangular symbols for the four elements; 🜁 (air), 🜂 (fire), 🜃 (earth) and 🜄 (water), which have also been linked to the hexagram (see below). However, the symbols used in Regardie's illustration of the Rose Cross Lamen are a wheel, an eagle's head, and the astrological signs for Leo, Taurus and Aquarius. The wheel or the circle represents the spirit, Taurus is the ox symbolizing earth, and Leo is the lion symbolizing fire. Contrary to what one might think, the eagle in this case represents water rather than air (with water described by Regardie as "flying aloft as with wings when vaporized by the force of heat"), while the sign of Aquarius, rather than water, symbolizes man and air (described as "subtle and thoughtful, penetrating hidden things").

Planetary Hexagram
Instead of a pentagram with the elements, the section of the cross associated with the Spirit has a hexagram with the symbols of the (the assigned letters for which were previously used on the second ring of the rose).

Unlike the unicursal pentagram, it is made up of two equilateral triangles (though a unicursal hexagram is used in other places), and though it is depicted with one point up, a depiction with two points up is not associated with evil. While the pentagram symbolizes the microcosm, the hexagram symbolizes the macrocosm. Although this hexagram does not have elements assigned to its points, the triangles associated with fire (🜂) and water (🜄) are used to make it, and the triangular symbols for the four elements (🜂🜁🜄🜃) can be found in its shape.

Hexagrams haven't been featured as much as pentagrams in the Toaru series, though their role in magic circles and this particular one's roles as the Star of David and the Seal of Solomon have been referenced. The combined triangles of fire and water and planetary symbols were mentioned and utilized in the summoning spell which Karasuma Fran and Toyama Luca created to rescue Kamisato Kakeru from the new world, though a unicursal hexagram was used instead of this one. Planetary magic circles were mentioned during the battle with the recreated Golden Dawn, which might have been a form of the hexagram, though it isn't completely certain.

Aspects of astrology have cropped up a bit more often, with astrological influences being a major factor affecting summonings and various other magical ceremonies, such as the first one Index guided Komoe with, the use of the Croce di Pietro, Fiamma's Project Bethlehem, and more.

The seven classical planets are the seven celestial bodies seen to wander across the sky in ancient times (compared to the other stars in fixed positions relative to one another on the celestial sphere), distinct to the naked eye. They include the planets Mercury (☿), Venus (♀︎), Mars (♂︎), Jupiter (♃) and Saturn (♄), and the two 'lights'; the Sun (☉) and the Moon (☽). Since to the pentagram example, their positions in the hexagram correspond to the order used in the Supreme Ritual of the Hexagram, with the Sun in the centre and from the top point clockwise, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, Mercury and Mars. In this set-up, six of the planets map to their respective spheres when the hexagram is overlaid on top of the Sephiroth (see illustration below), with the exception of the topmost Saturn, which is asociated with the third sphere Binah rather than the hidden eleventh sphere Da'at.

These celestial bodies (or their associated subjects) have been involved at various points throughout the Toaru series in some form or another, both in the magical sense and the scientific sense, though there haven't been any stories set on them (yet). Aside from astrological fortune telling and their influence on magical ceremonies (from Index guiding Komoe, to the Ceremony of Mo Athair), the Planetary Spirit of Mercury Taphthartharath has been involved a couple of times, and the light of Venus is used with Etzali's Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli. Aztec traditions, devices and spells (and at least one person's role) have involved the and the Moon. The moon's association with water and Archangel Gabriel has been brought up more than once. The signs for Jupiter and Saturn have appeared with Index's Collar and during events at the Misawa Cram School. On the science side, several events and technologies connected to space exploration and development have involved them (including the dubious Martian microbe incident).

Sharing the same symbols and associated with the seven planets are the, the only metals identified by and known to humanity in prehistoric times and antiquity, prior to the discovery of arsenic in the 13th century; gold (☉), silver (☽), mercury/quicksilver (☿), copper (♀︎), iron (♂︎), tin (♃) and lead (♄). Some of these metals had been involved in the magic in the series on their own (such as the gold transmutation of Limen Magna, the tool for which bore two of the symbols), though the concept of the seven metals as a whole was not brought up until fairly recently, during the climax of Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index.

A very prominent use of the seven metals and their association with the seven classical planets and from that the Sephiroth, was shown in . Having obtained magical information from R&C Occultics, Neoka Norito used an adaptation of sanctifying vocalization, utilizing a Golden-style method of creating a temporary angel and the idea that since angels guard the Sephirah, creating a fictional angel could be used to create a fictional sphere. In this case, the familiar and tangible metal (referred to by chemical symbol) was used to envision the invisible Sephirah and reach for the paths linking the spheres on the tree. With the seven metals and the positions of the seven spheres (3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) associated with them, nearly all of the tree could be reached. Through this access, a temporary extra sphere was embedded into a pathway to influence the tree and produce an effect in the world, compared to a woodpecker making a nest (albeit in a tree connected to the rules of the world). With the vocal commands for the construction, the path number was not that of the one directly between the two designated spheres but a that of path on another, indirect route between them through another Sephirah.

Three Principles
At the very end of the arms of the cross are three symbols, in different positions depending on the element. There represent the three alchemical, also known as the 'three primes' or tria prima. The three principles, each of which represent an aspect of a person, are salt (body or base matter, 🜔), sulfur (soul, 🜍) and mercury (mind, ☿) - not to be confused with the more mundane substances of the same name. The concept of the three principles and the relationships between them was one of the ideas developed by the famous alchemist (born Phillippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), who was mentioned in  during the events involving alchemist Aureolus Izzard, said to be a descendant of Paracelsus.

The symbols for the three principles are present at the very end of each arm of the cross, but they are arranged in different orders depending on the arm's element. The central symbol is the principle whose nature is chief for the particular element (e.g. Mercury for Air, Sulphur for Fire, Salt for Water), while the positions of the other two symbols are determined by the elements of the arms on the respective sides (e.g. for the upmost arm assigned to Air, Mercury is chief (flowing and ever-moving), the Sulphur side is drawn from the part of Fire (associated with luminous and electrical qualities) and the Salt side from Water (associated with clouds and rain)).

The three principles have not been featured all that much in the Toaru series, being mentioned during the events of the Coronzon Arc, during the events in the United Kingdom involving the reproduced Golden Dawn. Although they have not been featured much, they are noted as important magical concepts. In terms of use, several of the summoning ceremonies involved in the second chapter of the recent Agnese SS were said to utilize the principles in their construction (namely an astral projection attempt, a murder attempt trying to disembody and destabilize the victim so their own power destroys them, and claims connected to the creation of feminine mandrakes).