The Legend of Book T and Christian Rosenkruetz
It is alleged by the masters of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn that their order directly descends from the more ancient order of the Rosy Cross or Rosicrucian Order. Built upon the legend that one Fratre Christian Rosenkreutz had been initiated into the ancient mysteries and had died with his knowledge. Being as he had founded a small following upon his teachings, his order followers secured his belongings and his body in a specially crafted tomb. Later, upon discovery of this tomb, certain knights had learned his secrets as they were all cryptically retained in various objects and scrolls that were found with his skeleton. Included among these items, said to be on the chest of the skeleton and hugged by his crossed arms - signifying perhaps that this was a most cherished item in the tomb, was a book emblazoned with a golden “T” on it. This is what is known as “Book T” and is one of the many works available in the libraries of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
It is thus written in the Adeptus Minor Ritual: Thus, then, did Frater N. N. and his companions, having moved aside the Circular Altar, and having raised the brazen plate or lid of the Pastos, discover the body of our Founder, with all the ornaments and insignia as here shown before you. Upon his breast was the Book T, a scroll explaining in full the mystic Tarot; at the end of which was written a brief paragraph concerning Christian Rosenkreutz, beneath which the earlier Fratres had inscribed their names.
The legend of Rosenkreutz death is said to have taken place in the 13th Century, and thus makes itself as old or even older than any known copy of a tarot card history has ever discovered. Some will believe that in fact, Christian Rosenkreutz is the one source of the ancient tarot out of the circles of the initiated and into the hands of the profane. He kept with him the secrets to their real meanings and traditions, and allowed the vulgar to handle them as they wished, and upon his death - his followers, having not had these traditions fully deciphered to them as yet, abandoned his articles to the grave along with his body. It would be a full century later when Templar Knights, who had traveled the very same Muslim and Jewish lands that had been were Fratre Rosenkreutz had learned his workings, would return to Europe with his legends and discover the location of his tomb and open its secrets. After one hundred twenty years of silence, the tarot was found to be alive again. Book T, as found among the Golden Dawn Manuscripts, is believed to be that very same teaching upon which all the foundations of the Order’s rituals, dress, and magick are based. It is indeed the true meaning of the Tarot.
I will write more on the topic soon, including some wonderful experimentation and discovery I have made regarding the great value of Book T.