According to the unfounded info from Wikipedia:
This order shares many similarities with the order in this manga.
Small difference seems to be magic instead of alchemy.
You can see the magic circle practically comes from the cross.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Cross
Though this wiki article says:
The Rosicrucian Fellowship and kindred groups of rosicrucianists, promulgating an Esoteric Christian viewpoint, hold that the Rosicrucian Brotherhood was founded in the early 14th century, or between the 13th and 14th centuries,[6] as an Invisible College of mystic sages, by a highly evolved entity having the symbolic name of Christian Rosenkreuz.
That seems to be the inspiration for the subject of this manga.
Edited by Delcatsifron, 24 June 2012 - 07:37 AM.