[6] SRIA Colleges can be found in England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Wales, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Hungary, and India.

In addition to the ceremonial work within colleges, each Frater is encouraged to research, present, and discuss, papers covering a range of topics, including but not limited to Symbolism, Alchemy, Artificial Intelligence, philosophy, Esotericism, Spirituality, and Mysticism.

[7] The society has a rare collection of 400 year old Rosicrucian books, letters and manuscripts, which are on loan to the Library and Museum of Freemasonry in Freemasons Hall, home of the United Grand Lodge of England.

It bases its teachings on those found in the Fama and Confessio Fraternitatis published in the early 17th century in Germany, along with other similar publications from the same time such as the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz.

The society was founded in 1867, derived from a pre-existing Rosicrucian 'non-Masonic' order in Scotland (which bore no relation to the similarly named Societas Rosicruciana in Scotia, which was a later creation), following the admission of William James Hughan and Robert Wentworth Little.

[10] Little was a clerk and cashier of the General Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England, William Henry White.

[14] The society requires that all aspirants for membership apply from the ranks of subscribing Master Masons[1] of a Grand Lodge in amity with United Grand Lodge of England[15] to declare a belief in the fundamental principles of the Trinitarian Christian faith and offers assistance to all its members in working out the great problems of nature and science.

In Canada and the United States, this order forms part of the Allied Masonic Degrees, but remains invite only.

In 1888, three members of SRIA formed the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which removed the restriction on membership, allowing non-Christians, non-Freemasons, and women to join.