It is said of this cross that it is made of spiritual gold and that each Brother wears it upon his breast. It bears the 

alchemical symbols of salt, sulphur, and mercury; also a star of the planets; and around it are the four words 

FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, and PATIENCE. The double-headed eagle, or Phœnix, subtly foreshadows the ultimate 

androgynous state of the human creature. Rosicrucian alchemy was not concerned with metals alone. Man’s own 

body was the alchemical laboratory, and none could reach Rosicrucian adeptship until he had performed the 

supreme experiment of transmutation by changing the base metals of ignorance into the pure gold of wisdom and 

understanding.