combination of the ancient secret tradition handed down from the patriarchs through the philosophers of Greece and of the first Cabala of the Jews.
The "Grand Legend" of Rosicrucianism rests, however, on no historical evidence; there is, in fact, not the least reason to suppose that any such person as Christian Rosenkreutz ever existed. The Illuminatus von Knigge in the eighteenth century asserted that:
It is now recognized amongst enlightened men that no real Rosicrucians have existed, but that the whole of what is contained in the *Fama* and the *Universal Reformation of the World* [another Rosicrucian pamphlet which appeared in the same year] was only a subtle allegory of Valentine Andrea, of which afterwards partly deceivers (such as the Jesuits) and partly visionaries made use in order to realize this dream.<sup></sup>
What, then, was the origin of the name Rose-Cross? According to one Rosicrucian tradition, the word "Rose" does not derive from the flower depicted on the Rosicrucian cross, but from the Latin word ros, signifying "dew," which was supposed to be the most powerful solvent of gold, whilst crux, the cross, was the chemical hieroglyphic for "light." It is said that the Rosicrucians