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Progressive Steps / Degrees IV through XXXIII - part 1 of 2

Progressive Steps in Masonry Degrees IV through XXXIII

A Ritualistic Commentary:

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel." Ezra 4:1.

An account of the 'adversaries' may be found in verses 7, 8 and 9. Judah, meaning 'the praise of the Lord,' was the eldest and Benjamin, 'son of the right hand,' was the youngest son of Jacob. After the other tribes seceded these two became heirs to Jerusalem, Temple and the Mosaic traditions.

To Judah was assigned a territory fifty miles longand forty miles wide, between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, while jamin received the land extending from the Jordan to withith five miles west of Jerusalem, twenty-six miles in length and twelve in width."

QUOTATIONS FROM ALBERT PIKE'S BOOK ON "MORALS AND DOGMA" Relating to The Degrees of THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE

IV SECRET MASTER:

"Masonry is a succession of allegories, the mere vehicles of great lessons in morality and philosophy. You will more fully appreciate its spirit, its object, its purposes, as you advance in the different Degrees, which you will find to constitute a great, complete, and harmonious system.

"You have taken the first step over its threshold, the first step toward the inner sanctuary and heart of the temple. You are in the path that leads up the slope of the mountain of Truth; and it depends upon your secrecy, obedience, and fidelity, whether you will advance or remain stationary."

V PERFECT MASTER:

"The Master Khurum was an industrious and an honest man. What he was employed to do he did diligently, and he did it well and faithfully. He received no wages that were not his due. Industry and honesty are the virtues peculiarly inculcated in this Degree."

VI INTIMATE SECRETARY:

"You are especially taught in this Degree to be zealous and faithful; to be disinterested and benevolent; and to act the peacemaker in case of dissensions, disputes, and quarrels among the brethren.

"Duty is the moral magnetism which controls and guides the true Mason's course over the tumultuous seas of life."

VII PROVOST AND JUDGE:

"The lesson which this Degree inculcates is JUSTICE, in decision and judgment, and in our intercourse and dealing with other men.

"In a country where trial by jury is known, every intelligent man is liable to be called on to act as a judge, either of fact alone, or of fact and law mingled; and to assume the heavy responsibilities which belong to that character.

"Those who are invested with the power of judgment should judge the causes of all persons uprightly and impartially, without any personal consideration of the power of the mighty, or the bribe of the rich, or the needs of the poor."

VIII INTENDANT OF THE BUILDING:

"In this Degree you have been taught the important lesson, that none are entitled to advance in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, who have not by study and application made themselves familiar with Masonic learning and jurisprudence. The Oegrees of this Rite are not for those who are content with the mere work and ceremonies, and do not seek to explore the mines of wisdom that lie buried beneath the surface."

IX ELECT OF THE NINE:

(Elu of the Nine)

"Originally created to reward fidelity, obedience, and devotion, this Degree was consecrated to bravery, devoredness, and patriotism; and your obligation has made known to you the duties which you have assumed. They are summed up in the simple mandate:

Protect the oppressed against the oppressor; and devote yourself to honor and interest of your Country."

X ILLUSTRIOUS ELECT OF THE FIFTEEN:

(Elu of the Fifteen)

"This Degree is devoted to the same objects as those of the Elu Nine; and also to the cause of Toleration and Liberality adainst Fanaticism and Persecution, political and religious; and to that Education, Instruction, and Enlightenment against Error, Barbarism, and Ignorance. To these objects you have irrevocably and forever devoted your hand, your heart, and your intellect; and whenever your presence a Chapter of this Degree is opened, you will be [unk] solemnly reminded of your vows here taken at the altar."

XI SUBLIME ELECT OF THE TWELVE OR PRINCE AMETH:

(Elu of the Twelve)

"The duties of a Prince Ameth are, to be earnest, true, reliable and sincere; to protect the people against illegal impositions and actions; to contend for their political rights, and to see, all as he may or can, that those bear the burdens who reap the benefits of the Government.

"You are to be true unto all men.

"You are to be frank and sincere in all things.

"You are to be earnest in doing whatever it is your duty to do.

"And no man must repent that he has relied upon your resolve your profession, or your word."

XII GRAND MASTER ARCHITECT:

(Master Architect)

"The great duties that are inculcated by the lessons taught the working instruments of a Grand Master Architect, demanding so much of us, and taking for granted the capacity to perform that faithfully and fully, bring us at once to reflect upon the dignity human nature, and the vast powers and capacities of the human soul; and to that theme we invite your attention in this Degree. Let us begin to rise from earth toward the Stars."

XIII ROYAL ARCH OF SOLOMON:

"Whether the legend and history of this Degree are historically true, or but an allegory, containing in itself a deeper truth and profounder meaning, we shall not now debate. If it be but a legendary myth, you must find out for yourself what it means. It is contain that the word which the Hebrews are not now permitted to pronounce was in common use by Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Jacob, Rebecca, and even among tribes foreign to the Hebrews, before the time of Moses; and that it recurs a hundred times in the lyric effusions of David and other Hebrew poets.

"We know that for many centuries the Hebrews have been forbidden to pronouncee the Sacred Name; tha; wherever it occurs, that have for ages read the word Adonai instead."

XIV GRAND SELECT, PERFECT, AND SUBLImE MASON:

(Perfect Elu.)

"It is for each individual Mason to discover the secret of Masonry, by reflection upon its symhols and a wise consideration and analysis of what is said and done in the work. Masonry does not inculcate her truths. She states them, once and briefly; or hints them, perhaps darkly; or interposes a cloud between them and eyes that would be dazzled by them. 'Seek and ye shall find' knowledge and the truth.

"The practical object of Masonry is the physical and moral amelioration and the intellectual and spiritual improvement of individuals and society. Neither can be effected, except by the dissemination of truth."

XV KNIGHT OF THE EAST OR OF THE SWORD:

(Knight of the East, of the Sword, or of the Eagle.)

"This Degree, like all others in Masonry, is symbolical. Based upon historical truth and authentic tradition, it is still an allegory. The leading lesson of this Degree is Fidelity to obligation, and Constancy and Perseverance under difficulties and discouragement.

"Masonry is engaged in her crusade, against ignorance, intolerance, fanaticism, superstition, uncharitableness, and error."

XVI PRINCE OF JERUSALEM:

"We no longer expect to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem. To us it has become but a symbol. To us the whole world is God's Temple, as is every upright heart. To establish all over the world the New Law and Reign of Love, Peace, Charity, and Toleration, is to build that Temple, most acceptable to God, in erecting which Masonry is now engaged. No longer needing to repair to Jerusalem to worship, nor to offer up sacrifices and shed blood to propitiate the Deity, man may make the woods and mountains his Churches and Temples, and worship God with a devout gratitude and with works of charity and baneficence to his fellow-men. Wherever the humble and contrite heart silently offers up its adoration, under the overarching trees, in the open, level meadows, on the hill-side, in the glen, or in the city's swarming street; there is God's House and the New Jerusalem."

XVII KNIGHT OF THE EAST AND WEST:

"This is the first of the Philosophical Degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; and the beginning of a course of instruction which will fully unveil to you-the heart and inner mysteries of Masonry. Do not despair because you have often seemed on the point of attaining the inmost light, and have as often been disappointed. In all time, truth has been hidden under symbols, and often under a succession of allegories; where veil after veil had to be penetrated before the true Light was reached, and the essential truth stood revealed. The: Human Light is but an imperfect reflection of a ray of the Infinite and Divine."

XVIII KNIGHT ROSE CROIX:

(Prince Rose Crois)

"Each of us makes such applications to his own faith and creed, of the symbols and ceremonies of this Degree, as seems to him proper. With these special interpretations we have here nothing to do. Like the legend of the Master Khurum, in which some see figured the condemnation and sufferings of Christ; others those of the unfortunate Grand Master of the Templars; others those of the first Charles, King of England; and others still the annual descent of the sun at the winter Solstice to the regions of darkness, the basis of many an ancient legend; so the ceremonies of this Degree receive different explanations; each interpreting them for himself, and not being offended at the interpretation of others."

XIX GRAND PONTIFF:

"The true Mason labors for the benefit of those who are to come after him, and for the advancement and improvement of his rite. That is a poor ambition which contents itself within the limits of single life. All men who deserve to live, desire to survive the funerals, and to live afterward in the good that they have given mankind, rather than in the fading character written in men's memories. Most men desire to leave some work behind them that will outlast their own day and brief generation. That is an instintive impulse, given by God, and often found in the rudest human heart the surest proof of the soul's immortality, and of the fundamental difference between man and the wisest brutes. To plant the truth that, after we are dead, shall shelter our children, is as natural to love the shade of those our fathers planted. The rudest unlettered husbandman, painfully conscious of his own inferiority, the poor widowed mother, giving her life-blood to those who pay only the work of her needle, will toil and stint themselves to educate their child, that he may take a higher station in the world than that -Ñand of such are the world's greatest benefactors.

"In his influences that survive him, man becomes immortal before the general resurrection. The Spartan mother, who, giving her son his shield, said, 'WITH IT, OR UPON IT!' afterward she took the government of Lacedaemon with the legislation of Lycurgus for she too made a law, that lived after her; and she inspired the Spartan soldiery that afterward demolished the walls of Athens and aided Alexander to conquer the Orient."

XX GRAND MASTER OF ALL SYMBOLIC LODGES:

"The true Mason is a practical Philosopher, who under religious emblems, in all ages adopted by wisdom, builds upon plans trained by nature and reason the moral edifice of knowledge. He ou find, in the symmetrical relation of all the parts of this ra edifice, the principle and rule of all his duties, the source of pleasures. He improves his moral nature, becomes a better man, finds in the reunion of virtuous men, assembled with pure the means of multiplying his acts of baneficence. Masonr Philosophy, with being one and the same thing, have the san ject, and propose to themselves the same end, the worship Grand Architect of the Universe, acquaintance and familiarit: the wonders of nature, and the happiness of humanity attair the constant practice of all the virtues."

XXI NOACHTATE, OR PRUSSIAN KNIGHT:

"You are especially charged in this Degree to be modest and humble, and not vain-glorious nor filled with self-conceit. Be not wiser in your own opinion than Deity, nor find fault with His works nor endeavor to improve upon what He has done. Be modest also in your intercourse with your fellows, and slow to entertain evil thoughts of them, and reluctant to ascribe to them evil intectives. A thousand presses, flooding the country with their ever evanesent leaves, are busily and incessantly engaged in maligning the motives and conduct of men and parties, and in making one man think worswe of another; while, alas, scarcely one is found that ever, even, accidentally, labors to make man think better of his fellow.

"Slander and calumny were never so insolently licentious in any country as they are this day in yours. The most retiring dispositionc the most unobtrusive demeanor, is no shield against their poisoned arrows. The most eminent public service only makes their vituperation and invective more eager and more unscrupulous, when he who has done such service presents himself as a candidate for the people's suff§rages."

XXII KNIGHT OF THE ROYAL AXE OR PRINCE OF LIBANUS:

"Sympathy with the great laboring classes, respect for labor itself, and resolution to do some good work in our day and generation, these are the lessons of this Degree, and they are purely Masonic. Masonry has made a workkng-man and his associates the Heroes of her principal legend, and himself the companion of Kings. The idea is as simple and true as it is sublime. From first to last, Masonry is work. It venerates the GrandArchitect of the Universe. It commemorates the building of a Temple. Its principle emblems are the Working tools of Masons and Artisans. It preserves the name of the first worker in brass and iron as one of its pass-words. When the Brethren meet together, they are at labor. The Master is the overseer who sets the craft to work and gives them proper instruction. Masonry is the apotheosis of Work.

"It is the hands of brave, forgotten men that have made this great, populous, cultivated world a world for us. It is all work, and forgotten work. The real conquerors, creators, and eternal proprietors of every great and civilized land are all the heroic souls that ever were in it, each in his degree: all the men that ever felled a forest-tree or drained a marsh, or contrived a wise scheme, or did or said a true or valiant thing therein Genuine work alone, done faithfully, is eternal, even as the Almighty Founder and World-builder Himself.

(end of part 1)