17世紀時，三份玫瑰十字會的宣言被匿名發表：1614年的《兄弟會傳說》（Fama Fraternitatis）、1615年的《兄弟會自白》（Confessio Fraternitatis）及1616年的《基督徒羅森克魯茲的化學婚禮》（Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459）。它們共同描述了德國朝聖者“C.R.C”的傳奇經歷，在第三份宣言中稱他為基督徒羅森克魯茲。傳說這個朝聖者在中東跟隨神秘學大師們學習，返回德國後創立了玫瑰十字會，目的是帶來“人類全面的改革”。在他的有生之年，據說教團中只有不超過八名成員。在羅森克魯茲死後，即15世紀，教團就消失了，直至17世紀初期才“重生”（就在諸宣言發表的年代）。傳說在羅森克魯茲死後120年，他的墳墓被人發現和開啟，在那裡找到一些珍貴文獻，教團因此重新興起。
In order to assist in bringing about the reformation, a mysterious person called "The Highly Illuminated Father CRC," a German by birth, descended of a noble family, but himself a poor man, instituted the "Secret Society of the Rose Cross." CRC was placed in a cloister when only five years of age, but later becoming dissatisfied with its educational system, he associated himself with a brother of Holy Orders who was setting forth on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They started out together, but the brother died at Cyprus and CRC continued alone to Damascus. Poor health prevented him from reaching Jerusalem, so he remained at Damascus, studying with the philosophers who dwelt there.
While pursuing his studies, he heard of a group of mystics and Qabbalists abiding in the mystic Arabian city of Damcar. Giving up his desire to visit Jerusalem, he arranged with the Arabians for his transportation to Damcar. CRC was but sixteen years of age when he arrived at Damcar. He was received as one who had been long expected, a comrade and a friend in philosophy, and was instructed in the secrets of the Arabian adepts. While there, CRC learned the Arabic tongue and translated the sacred book M into Latin; and upon returning to Europe he brought this important volume with him.
After studying three years in Damcar, CRC departed for the city of Fez, where the Arabian magicians declared further information would be given him。 At Fez he was instructed how to communicate with the Elementary inhabitants [probably the Nature spirits], and these disclosed to him many other great secrets of Nature. While the philosophers in Fez were not so great as those in Damcar, the previous experiences of CRC enabled him to distinguish the true from the false and thus add greatly to his store of knowledge.
After two years in Fez, CRC sailed for Spain, carrying with him many treasures, among them rare plants and animals accumulated during his wanderings. He fondly hoped that the learned men of Europe would receive with gratitude the rare intellectual and material treasures which he had brought for their consideration. Instead he encountered only ridicule, for the so-called wise were afraid to admit their previous ignorance lest their prestige be impaired. At this point in the narrative is an interpolation stating that Paracelsus, while not a member of the "Fraternity of the Rose Cross," had read the book M and from a consideration of its contents had secured information which made him the foremost physician of mediæval Europe.
Tired, but not discouraged, as the result of the fruitlessness of his efforts, CRC returned to Germany, where he built a house in which he could quietly carry on his study and research. He also manufactured a number of rare scientific instruments for research purposes. While he could have made himself famous had he cared to commercialize his knowledge, he preferred the companionship of God to the esteem of men.
After five years of retirement he decided to renew his struggle for a reformation of the arts and sciences of his day, this time with the aid of a few trusted friends. He sent to the cloister where his early training had been received and called to himself three brethren, whom he bound by an oath to preserve inviolate the secrets he should impart and to write down for the sake of posterity the information.
根據18世紀玫瑰十字會團體「金玫瑰十字」（The Golden and Rosy Cross）的一個較不為人所知的傳說，玫瑰十字會在46年創立，當時耶穌的一位門徒馬可成功令亞歷山大港一位諾斯底主義哲人Ormus及其六位追隨者皈依。玫瑰十字會因這些人的皈依而誕生，融合了早期基督教及埃及神秘宗教。在此版本中，羅森克魯茲並非創立者，而是加入一個已存在的教團並且成為其總導師。
根據Émile Dantinne（1884年—1969年），玫瑰十字會的起源可能與伊斯蘭教有點關連。依第一份宣言《兄弟會傳說》（1614年）所述，羅森克魯茲在16歲那年展開朝聖之旅。他到過阿拉伯、埃及和摩洛哥，在那些地方與東方的哲人接觸，他們向他展示「全面的和諧科學」（universal harmonic science）。在耶路撒冷學習阿拉伯哲學後，他被引領到Damcar。這個地方的確實位置是個謎，它不是大馬士革，卻距離耶路撒冷不太遠。其後他在埃及短暫停留。不久以後他起程前往Fes，那裡是一個哲學及神秘學研究的集中地，計有Abu-Abdallah、Gabir ben Hayan及賈法爾·薩迪格的鍊金術、Ali-ash-Shabramallishi的占星學及魔法，以及Abdarrahman ben Abdallah al Iskari的秘傳科學。不過Dantinne稱羅森克魯茲也許從「精誠兄弟會」（Brethren of Purity）得到他的秘密知識，那是一個在10世紀成立於巴斯拉（在今伊拉克）的哲學家會社。他們的教條源自對古希臘哲學家的學習，不過變得像新畢達哥拉斯主義多一點。他們採用了畢達哥拉斯主義傳統，以數字的形式揭示客體和思想。他們的法術教授神及天使的名字、以神之名召喚、卡巴拉、驅邪及其它相關科目。
根據Maurice Magre（1877年—1941年）所著的Magicians, Seers, and Mystics一書，羅森克魯茲是13世紀德國Germelschausen家族的最後子孫。該家族的城堡位於黑森邊界的圖林根森林內，奉行阿爾比派教條，並結合基督教及異教觀點。整個家族被圖林根的Landgrave Conrad殺害，只有最年幼的兒子（將近5歲）倖免。他被一位阿爾比派大師級僧侶秘密帶走，安置在一所受阿爾比派影響的修道院內。他在那裡受教育，並且遇上與建立玫瑰十字兄弟會有關的四位兄弟。Magre的記述大概來自口述傳說。
Those Masonic brethren who have investigated the subject accept the historical existence of the "Brotherhood of the Rose Cross" but are divided concerning the origin of the Order.
One group holds the society originated in mediæval Europe as an outgrowth of alchemical speculation.
一組認為，在歐洲起源於中世紀的鍊金術社會投機的產物。
Robert Macoy, 33°, believes that Johann Valentin Andreæ, a German theologian, was the true founder, and he also believes it possible that this divine merely reformed and amplified an existing society which had been founded by Sir Henry Cornelius Agrippa.
Some believe that Rosicrucianism represented the first European invasion of Buddhist and Brahmin culture.
有人認為，Rosicrucianism首先代表佛教和婆羅門歐洲文化的入侵。
Still others hold the opinion that the "Society of the Rose Cross" was founded in Egypt during n the philosophic supremacy of that empire, and that it also perpetuated the Mysteries of ancient Persia and Chaldea.
In his Anacalypsis , Godfrey Higgins writes: "The Rosicrucians of Germany are quite ignorant of their origin; but, by tradition, they suppose themselves descendants of the ancient Egyptians, Chaldeans, Magi, and Gymnosophists."
(The last was a name given by the followers of Alexander the Great to a caste of naked Wise Men whom they found meditating along the river banks in India.) The consensus among these factions is that the story of Father CRC, like the Masonic legend of Hiram Abiff, is an allegory and should not be considered literally.
A similar problem has confronted students of the Bible, who have found not only difficult, but in the majority of cases impossible, their efforts to substantiate the historical interpretation of the Scriptures.
Admitting the existence of the Rosicrucians as a secret society with both philosophic and political ends, it is remarkable that an organization with members in all parts of Europe could maintain absolute secrecy throughout the centuries.
Nevertheless, the "Brothers of the Rose Cross" were apparently able to accomplish this.
然而，“玫瑰十字兄弟”顯然能夠做到這一點。
A great number of scholars and philosophers, among them Sir Francis Bacon and Wolfgang von Goethe, have been suspected of affiliation with the Order, but their connection has not been established to the satisfaction of prosaic historians.
Pseudo-Rosicrucians abounded, but the true members of the "Ancient and Secret Order of The Unknown Philosophers" have successfully lived up to their name; to this day they remain unknown.
During the Middle Ages a number of tracts appeared, purporting to be from the pens of Rosicrucians.
在中世紀出現了一些小冊子，看來是從玫瑰十字會的筆。
Many of them, however, were spurious, being issued for their self-aggrandizement by unscrupulous persons who used the revered and magic name Rosicrucian in the hope of gaining religious or political power.
This has greatly complicatedthe work of investigating the Society.
這大大複雜化該協會的調查工作。
One group of pseudo-Rosicrucians went so far as to supply its members with a black cord by which they were to know each other, and warned them that if they broke their vow of secrecy the cord would be used to strangle them.
Few of the principles of Rosicrucianism have been preserved in literature, for the original Fraternity published only fragmentary accounts of its principles and activities.
馬丁·路德的印章File:Lutherseal.jpg 古代蠟封印章，刻有D: M. Luther(?)及鍊金術符號，在德國萊茵河被發現玫瑰十字會作品的作者通常偏向信義宗，不過兩者之間的關係並不明朗，有人認為以下事情可能意味兩者有關連：玫瑰十字會檔案指控當時天主教會的虛偽；馬丁·路德的標誌是一朵綻放玫瑰中有一個十字；從1521年5月至1522年3月，路德在圖林根森林西南的瓦爾特堡停留，那森林據稱是羅森克魯茲的出生地。
在首兩份宣言及《化學婚禮》中呈現的傳說及想法給一些作品帶來靈感，當中有德國的米歇爾·麥耶爾（1568—1622）、英國的羅伯特·弗拉德（1574—1637）及伊萊亞斯·阿什莫爾（Elias Ashmole，1617—1692）及另外許多人，諸如Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens、Gotthardus Arthusius、Julius Sperber、Henricus Madathanus、Gabriel Naudé、Thomas Vaughan等。（Sédir, Les Rose-Croix, Paris 1972, p. 59 to 68）Elias Ashmole在1650年出版了Theatrum Chimicum britannicum，他在該書的序言中為玫瑰十字會辯護。對玫瑰十字會主義的有影響的後來的著作包括George von Welling從鍊金術及帕拉塞爾蘇斯取得靈感寫成的 Opus magocabalisticum et theosophicum（1719），及Hermann Fictuld在1749年所著的 Aureum Vellus oder Goldenes Vliess。
Henrichus Neuhusius在1618年的Pia et Utilissima Admonitio de Fratribus Rosae Crucis中宣稱那些玫瑰十字會員因為歐洲的局勢不穩（三十年戰爭隨後發生）而前往東方。1710年的Samuel Ritcher及後來的René Guénon（1886—1951）在他們的一些著作中也表達了同一意見，不過Arthur Edward Waite（1857—1942）則不同意此點。在原有的玫瑰十字會員離開後，一些自認是玫瑰十字會的新社團出現，它們建基於神秘學傳統及從玫瑰十字會的謎團得到靈感，不過可能只有少數與真正的玫瑰十字教團有任何共通處。
標誌含義
從Geheime Figuren報Rosenkreuzer。
The rose is a yonic symbol associated with generation, fecundity, and purity.
The fact that flowers blossom by unfolding has caused them to be chosen as symbolic of spiritual unfoldment.
事實上，通過開展鮮花盛開，令他們成為精神的展現自有其象徵性的選擇。
The red color of the rose refers to the blood of Christ, and the golden heart concealed within the midst of the flower corresponds to the spiritual gold concealed within the human nature.
在玫瑰紅色指的是基督的血，和金心內花中間隱藏對應的精神黃金人性內隱蔽。
The number of its petals being ten is also a subtle reminder of the perfect Pythagorean number.
The rose symbolizes the heart, and the heart has always been accepted by Christians as emblematic of the virtues of love and compassion, as well as of the nature of Christ--the personification of these virtues.
玫瑰象徵著心，心一直為接受的愛和同情象徵基督徒的美德，以及基督的性質-這些美德的化身。
The rose as a religious emblem is of great antiquity.
玫瑰作為宗教標誌，是有著悠久的歷史。
It was accepted by the Greeks as the symbol of the sunrise, or of the coming of dawn.
這是接受作為日出，或象徵希臘人黎明的到來。
In his Metamorphosis, or Golden Ass, Apuleius, turned into a donkey because of his foolishness, regained his human shape by eating a sacred rose given to him by the Egyptian priests.
Godfrey Higgins believes that the word Rosicrucian is not derived from the flower but from the word Ros , which means dew.
戈弗雷希金斯認為，這個詞玫瑰十字會是不是從花，而是來自羅斯一詞，這意味著露水。
It is also interesting to note that the word Ras means wisdom, while Rus is translated concealment.
這也是有趣的是，這個詞拉斯手段的智慧，而羅斯被翻譯隱瞞。
Doubtless all of these meanings have contributed to Rosicrucian symbolism.
毫無疑問，這些意義，都造成玫瑰十字會的象徵意義。
AE Waite holds with Godfrey Higgins that the process of forming the Philosopher's Stone with the aid of dew is the secret concealed within the name Rosicrucian.
懷特認為，聲發射的形成與露水援助魔法石過程是在名字玫瑰十字會隱藏的秘密與戈弗雷希金斯。
It is possible that the dew referred to is a mysterious substance within the human brain, closely resembling the description given by alchemists of the dew which, falling from heaven, redeemed the earth.
很可能的露水所指的是在人腦神秘物質，極為相似的有哪些，從天上下降，贖回地球露水鍊金術士的描述。
The cross is symbolic of the human body, and the two symbols together--the rose on the cross--signify that the soul of man is crucified upon the body, where it is held by three nails.
It is probable that Rosicrucian symbolism is a perpetuation of the secret tenets of the Egyptian Hermes, and that the Society of Unknown Philosophers is the true link connecting modern Masonry, with its mass of symbols, to ancient Egyptian Hermeticism, the source of that symbolism.
In his Doctrine and Literature of the Kabalah , AE Waite makes this important observation: "There are certain indications which point to a possible connection between Masonry and Rosicrucianism, and this, if admitted, would constitute the first link in its connection with the past. The evidence is, however, inconclusive, or at least unextricated. Freemasonry per se, in spite of the affinity with mysticism which I have just mentioned, has never exhibited any mystic character, nor has it a clear notion how it came by its symbols."
按Jean Pierre Bayard的說法，兩個從玫瑰十字會取得靈感的共濟會 rites在18世紀末出現。一個是Rectified Scottish Rite，在中歐盛行。另一個是Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite，最初在法國實施，它的第18級稱為Knight of the Rose Croix。
Christopher McIntosh 推測羅伯特·弗拉德可能曾加入共濟會，Arthur Edward Waite 推測弗拉德可能把一些來自玫瑰十字會的影響引進共濟會，不過沒有證據支持這些推測。Robert Vanloo宣稱17世紀早期的玫瑰十字會主義對盎格魯—撒克遜的共濟會有相當大的影響。Hans Schick 從夸美紐斯（1592-1670）有關玫瑰十字會的著作中找到新生的英格蘭共濟會的理想，當時總會所還未誕生。夸美紐斯在1641年曾到過英格蘭。
展有關的共濟會的許多人被懷疑是玫瑰十字會，有的，如羅伯特弗拉德的情況，甚至寫了這個組織的防禦能力。
Frank C. Higgins, a modern Masonic symbolist, writes: "Doctor Ashmole, a member of this fraternity [Rosicrucian], is revered by Masons as one of the founders of the first Grand Lodge in London."
The Encyclopædia Britannica notes that Elias Ashmole was initiated into the Freemasonic Order in 1646, and further states that he was "the first gentleman, or amateur, to be 'accepted'."
On this same subject, Papus, in his Tarot of the Bohemians , has written: "We must not forger that the Rosicrucians were the Initiators of Leibnitz, and the founders of actual Freemasonry through Ashmole."
If the founders of Freemasonry were initiated into the Great Arcanum of Egypt--and the symbolism of modern Masonry would indicate that such was the case--then it is reasonable to suppose that they secured their information from a society whose existence they admitted and which was duly qualified to teach them these symbols and allegories.
One theory concerning the two Orders is to the effect that Freemasonry was an outgrowth of Rosicrucianism; in other words, that the "Unknown Philosophers" became known through an organization which they created to serve them in the material world.
The story goes on to relate that the Rosicrucian adepts became dissatisfied with their progeny and silently withdrew from the Masonic hierarchy, leaving behind their symbolism and allegories, but carrying away the keys by which the locked symbols could be made to give tip their secret meanings.
Speculators have gone so far as to state that, in their opinion, modern Freemasonry has completely absorbed Rosicrucianism and succeeded it as the world's greatest secret society.
Other minds of equal learning declare that the Rosicrucian Brotherhood still exists, preserving its individuality as the result of having withdrawn from the Masonic Order.
同學習其他頭腦宣布玫瑰十字兄弟依然存在，維護其作為在從共濟會下令收回的結果個性。
鍊金術士
玫瑰十字：Alchemy and Divine Sciences of Healing & of the Stars
鍊金術士在自己的實驗室使用materia prima工作，及使用一種叫athanor的熔爐及其它工具。在「靈性鍊金術」[1]，materia prima 是人類的靈魂，而 athanor 是人類的身體及靈體（subtle body）。後者維持 the life of the most dense one 及確保與靈魂的聯繫。人類自身的存在就是實驗室，靈魂可以學習完善自身，達致從邪惡及缺陷（the vile metal）轉變為美德及品質。
The eastern sacred text 《加德奧義書》 refers in Chapter 5, Verse 9, that 有些靈魂根據其功業而投胎重生，but others go into "the motionless" (Sanskrit word "STHANU", meaning "pillar"); allegedly the same concept is claimed to be found in the Bible (Book of Revelation) that mentions: "Him that overcometh, I will make a pillar in the house of my God, thence he shall no more go out." 不過正統的基督教聖經學者對此有異議，並且反對把聖經的象徵代表與神秘學說作任何形式的聯繫。玫瑰十字會員 interpret both references with the meaning that 當人類達至完美時，就可以不受轉世束縛，留在看不見的世界為提升其他生命形體而作工。這也是神秘學人士提出的另一個概念闡釋。
駐地
According to a widely accepted tradition, the headquarters of the Rosicrucian Order is near Carlsbad, in Austria (see Doctor Franz Hartmann).
Another version has it that a mysterious school, resembling in general principles the Rosicrucian Fraternity, which calls itself "The Bohemian Brothers," still maintains its individuality in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) of Germany.
One thing is certain: with the rise of Freemasonry, the Rosicrucian Order in Europe practically disappeared, and notwithstanding existing statements to the contrary, it is certain that the 18th degree (commonly known as the Rose-Croix) perpetuates many of the symbols of the Rosicrucian Fire Alchemists.
