From Latin, it translates into English as "Red Rose and Cross of Gold." The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was composed of three orders. The outer order, what most people know, was the Golden Dawn per se. It was a teaching order and not a magickal order. The second, or inner, order of the GD was the R.R. et A.C. Although all members who achieved the grade of Adeptus Minor and above became members of the second order, it seems there may have been two branches: one for those who showed no magickal aptitude and was strictly ceremonial, and a second, hidden even from the others, that actually did practice ritual and ceremonial magick. A third level of the Order, known as the A.A., was only for people who had crossed the veil and were no longer physically alive, although with their magickal skills it is assumed they could take human (or other) form to better communicate from the spiritual planes.