The Allied Masonic Degrees - Degrees of Significance

Transcription

1 The Allied Masonic Degrees - Degrees of Significance In the First of Two Articles, Matthew Christmas Considers the Order of the Allied Masonic Degrees Of the many extra-craft degrees, those five controlled by the Grand Council of the Order of the Allied Masonic Degrees are probably the least known: one has to be a Mark Master and a Royal Arch Mason to be eligible and this double qualification will exclude many. There are also fewer private Allied Councils than there are lodges, or equivalent bodies, for the much larger orders of Mark and Royal Ark Mariners and even of smaller orders, such as the Royal and Select Masters. The other aspect which can deter is that the degrees under Grand Council do not relate specifically to each other. Someone recently described them to me as a bunch of rather secondary degrees which no-one else really wanted and which should have been allowed to die out. He is not a member of this Order and could not be more wrong! While these degrees do not belong in a sequence, all five contain masonically significant elements, with two of them being of great ritual importance. Why Allied Degrees? The Grand Lodge of the Antients, formed in 1751, allowed its lodges to work virtually any masonic degree. The rituals of this great variety of degrees were not in any sense uniform. In the remoter parts of England, not least Lancashire and Yorkshire, in towns like Newcastle and Rochdale and in villages such as Bottoms, particular variations seem to have emerged; ports such as Bristol and Plymouth also developed their own unique workings, as Bristol s impressive Camp of Baldwyn still testifies, practising inter alia degrees which are now conferred nowhere else. Furthermore, many of the earliest travelling military lodges were warranted by the Antients and facilitated the spread of what we consider the additional degrees both to and from the continent and America. The latter years of the Eighteenth Century and the first half of the Nineteenth were masonically rich, but utterly chaotic. However, regular organisation of the many degrees soon commenced. In 1791 the Knights Templar came together and in 1793 Thomas Dunckerley also organised the degree of Royal Ark Mariner, although in 1871 it came under the permanent supervision

2 of the Mark at last saw the unification of the Antients and the Moderns (the premier Grand Lodge of 1717) into the United Grand Lodge and in 1817 Supreme Grand Chapter was established to rule over the Royal Arch. In 1845 the Supreme Council 33º was constituted, 1856 saw the formation of the Grand Mark Lodge and the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters was warranted in The degrees of the Allied came together and underwent a variety of reorganisations, not least with respect to the Order of the Secret Monitor and to the Order of Holy Wisdom (Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests). In 1923 Grand Council gave up its claim to the Knight Templar Priest degrees and in 1931 released its disputed control of the Secret Monitor. From 1879/1880 the Grand Council of the AMD formally came into being, at first controlling just four degrees. The new Grand Council s purpose was twofold: to regularise what those involved at the time regarded as significant degrees outside the nationally recognised bodies, as well as to prevent the spread of those seen as less worthy. Today, the Order of the Allied Masonic Degrees controls five degrees in over 150 councils all over the world. St Lawrence the Martyr While candidates can take four of the degrees in any order there really is no connection between them, nor any sense of philosophical progression one to another, each being complete and discreet the first degree has to be that of St Lawrence the Martyr. It is in this degree that all business of an Allied Council is conducted and it is from a Lodge of St Lawrence that a Board of Installed Masters qualifies the Master to rule over all five degrees. St Lawrence became of importance in Christendom after Philip II of Spain won his great battle of St Quentin against the French on 10th August 1557, the saint s feast day. In gratitude he named his new palace-monastery, built near Madrid in the very centre of Spain, El Escorial. This translates as the Place of Ashes' in reverent allusion to St Lawrence s martyrdom, with the gridiron, his symbol, everywhere displayed. The gridiron, not surprisingly, is the jewel of the masonic degree. However, whilst the central character of the degree s lecture is an early Christian saint, this is not a Christian Degree in any sense. The Allied Degrees are open to masons of all faiths. Prayers are offered to the Great Disposer of All and the Volume of Sacred Law is opened at the Old Testament. St Lawrence is honoured for his example, not for his specific beliefs: the degree teaches fortitude and humility. What is really important about St Lawrence the Martyr is its possible link with our operative predecessors. Some form of this degree has been worked in England for over 200 years,

3 principally in Yorkshire and Lancashire. While claims made by some that it has medieval origins are currently unsubstantiated, it may well be that the present version is a perpetuation of an operative degree. Moreover, the ritual suggests that the secrets of the degree, as featured in the opening of the lodge, would have been of use by Operative Masons in proving themselves as they travelled around, distinguishing them from the increasing number of Speculative Freemasons. If so, this makes the degree of considerable historical importance as a link with our operative past and worth preserving for that alone. Grand Tilers of Solomon The full title of this degree is Grand Tilers of Solomon, or Masons Elect of Twenty- Seven. The provenance of the degree is clearly established from the USA, hence the American spelling of Tyler. It did not join the Allied Degrees until 1893 when it was conferred on the then Grand Master, the Earl of Euston. It is very similar in character to the Select Master degree of the Cryptic series and relates the legend of the accidental intrusion of a mason into the Secret Vault beneath the Temple. The central characters represent Solomon, Hiram and Hiram Abif. The jewel s ribbon is adorned with their crowns and a dagger held to strike, characteristic of the ceremony. This degree also has much in common with the degree of Intimate Secretary, the 6 of the Ancient and Accepted Rite. For reasons of this similarity to other degrees, the Grand Tilers of Solomon has often been rather overlooked. However, the degree in its Allied form specifically teaches the mason admitted a Grand Tiler not to judge hastily of a man s motives, nor to blame others for his own carelessness, as well as to acknowledge his own mistakes and accept the consequences. In addition, one might well profitably speculate at a deeper meaning for the preservation of three such similar ceremonies. These tyling degrees may well emphasise the importance of preventing those involved in mystical as well as the need properly to prepare the candidate before embarking on an initiation ritual. Knights of Constantinople All too frequently, one hears talk of Side Degrees. In addition to the questionable suggestion that these are somewhat less significant than the Craft, the description is simply wrong for these additional degrees. However, the Knights of Constantinople is a genuine side-degree in that it was originally conferred by one brother taking another aside, probably after a meeting in another degree. Its origin is uncertain, but the emphasis in its ritual on the equality of all men before God suggests an origin in the North of England, before it

4 appeared in America, via Scotland, where it was being worked by Like St Lawrence the Martyr, the operative flavour is also clear. Set in the courtyard of the palace of the Roman Emperor Constantine in the Fourth Century AD, the degree is somewhat quirky, quite humorous and can be noisy! Some masons find it rather silly and therefore see it as rather trivial, but many others appreciate the serious message as to humility which it contains: that true greatness is not to be found in rank and fortune, but rather in nobility of character and in a willingness to acknowledge that in others of whatever station in life. It is not who a man is, but what he does that is important. How ironic that masons of all people need to be constantly reminded of that most simple message. Matthew Christmas joined the Order of the Allied Masonic Degrees in Rose and Lily Council No. 15 in He is currently a member of Dinas Council No. 140 in the Severn District. The next article will examine the two remaining Allied Degrees, the Red Cross of Babylon and the Holy Order of Grand High Priest. THE PLYMOUTH COUNCILS In the nineteenth century Plymouth was the headquarters of the Sovereign Grand Council of the Knights of Constantinople under the direction of a Secretary General. This was, and remains for members of the three Plymouth Councils, a Christian Order. In 1910 they became part of the Allied Masonic Degrees but on the condition that members retained their distinctive regalia and their Christian Degrees. They are the only Councils which retain aprons. Keith Jackson Reviews the Red Cross of Babylon and the Holy Order of the Grand High Priest The Grand Council of the Order of Allied Masonic Degrees now controls five degrees which are beyond the Craft. In Freemasonry Today, Issue No. 21, we looked at three, St Lawrence the Martyr, the Grand Tilers of Solomon and the Knights of Constantinople. There remain two, very important degrees, for us to consider.

5 The Red Cross of Babylon This was one of the four initial ceremonies over which the Grand Council assumed immediate control upon its formation in 1879 and is generally accepted to be of such antiquity as having had a positive influence upon the formation of the Holy Royal Arch as practiced in England today. The tragic drama portrayed in the Master Mason s degree appears to have stimulated most compilers of rites that emerged during the Eighteenth century to devise a chain of allegorical narratives which related to the construction of the second Temple and subsequent events. The Continental Rite of Perfection, which was erected at the Chapter of Clermont, France, in 1754, incorporated a series of such ceremonies and it is upon these the Red Cross of Babylon is based. The ceremony is of a most profound and mystical nature consisting of three parts. It commences in a Royal Arch Council in Jerusalem where the Prelate presides over extensive readings from the Book of Ezra and concludes at the Tribunal in Babylon of the Persian King Darius I. These two major scenes are linked by a short but important episode where the candidate is actually required to cross the bridge over a figurative river - either the Jordan or the Euphrates. This imagery of crossing the bridge is a traditional feature to be found in all major religions of the world: most faiths embody symbolic references to the crossing of the gulf between life and death - the prospect of rebirth in the promised land, the link between what man perceives and that which is beyond his perception, the covenant between the Creator and the people as revealed to the Israelites. There is evidence that several Lodges in the late 1700 s worked a knightly grade of passing the bridge. This appears to have had a similar content to the degree of Knight of the Eagle which was conferred in the Chapter of Clermont, a degree later known as Knight of the Sword and then as Knight of the Red Cross of Palestine. A similar degree is now controlled by the Baldwyn Rite at Bristol under the title Knights of the East, Sword and Eagle. The Red Cross of Babylon is similar in some respects to the 15th, 16th and 17th degrees of the Ancient & Accepted Rite which also do not include the Holy Royal Arch. In Scotland while the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter controls the The Babylonish Pass, subordinate Chapters are empowered to confer The Degrees of Captivity under an additional Charter although the constituent degrees of, Knight of the Sword, Knight of the East, and Knight of the East and West, differ quite considerably from the English version. In Ireland the degree was revived in 1925 by the Dublin based Grand Council of Knight Masons. In the United States of America and Canada most jurisdictions confer an almost

6 identical degree prior to Installation of a Knight Templar, which is known as Companion of the Red Cross, a distinction employed to remedy the incongruity between an Hebraic degree and one of Knighthood. The legend of the Red Cross of Babylon is framed around the character of Zerubbabel who travels to the Court of Darius seeking the return of the sacred vessels looted from the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC. His subsequent experience has an allusion to the judgement of the soul when his fidelity is put to the test by the King; yet his integrity is verified by his steadfastness and the episode closes with an intricate debate - recorded in the Book of Esdras - which establishes the divine attribute of Truth. The ceremony culminates with the candidate receiving the Accolade ; he is later invested with a green sash, and then decorated with the jewel of the Order, which comprises a seven pointed gold star, having a green enamelled centre, bearing crossed swords in gold, suspended from a green silk ribbon. The observance of a unique custom also exists within the degree which provides for an optional banquet to be held, replete with formal toasts, prior to the closing of the Council. That this degree in its various forms has been interpolated into so many rites or series of degrees would indicate that the ritual itself embodies certain invaluable lessons which have consequently merited widespread adoption. It is a ceremony that provides an important extension to that of the Holy Royal Arch as practiced in England but unfortunately is only open to those seekers after knowledge who hold the necessary qualifications of Mark and Royal Arch Mason and further, who ultimately gain admission into the Order of the Allied Masonic Degrees. The Holy Order of Grand High Priest This is another of the original four ceremonies that were controlled under the Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees. In terms of ritualistic excellence the Grand High Priest can justly be regarded as the summit of Allied Masonry in England, and has always been designated as an Order rather than a Degree. The ceremony is undoubtedly very old and is asserted to be an amalgamation of two separate degrees derived from the High Grades which were invented on the Continent during the mid-eighteenth century. This particular French version found its way to Ireland where by 1780 it had become widespread. From there, it was carried to Scotland and to certain Antient Lodges in the North-West of England where brethren were admitted under

7 the authority of their Craft warrant. In addition, a similar but different version was transmitted to Newcastle around this time and was conferred as a Priesthood of the Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests, a tradition that has been observed without interruption since The Grand High Priest also spread rapidly throughout the United States, where the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons soon became aware of the popularity of this new ceremony. While it subsequently gave approval to the ritual it did not seek to assume control but permitted each jurisdiction to develop the degree independently, under the title of the Order of Priesthood. From 1828 many States regarded it as an optional degree which was conferred at a Grand Convention upon those who had presided over a subordinate Royal Arch Chapter. In some, a candidate was anointed as High Priest prior to installation into the First Chair; in others, it became an essential qualification for election to that Chair. Originally the Grand Council in England would not permit any brother to be received into the Order unless he was an Installed Principal of a Royal Arch Chapter but in 1934 this restriction was removed. However, as this degree is not controlled by the Grand Council of Allied Masonic Degrees of USA, a member of the Order in England who is not an Installed Principal will find that he is not qualified to attend a Council of High Priests working in the USA. The commencement of the ceremony is framed around the person of Melchizedek, a mysterious figure whose ancestry and posterity is unknown, who is described as King of Salem, and Priest of the Most High God. Melchizedek appears in person only once in the Old Testament - Genesis 14 - where he meets and blesses Abram following his return from the Battle of the Kings and brings forth bread and wine to celebrate Abram s victory who, in recognition of Melchizedek s authority gives him tithes of the booty. The enactment of this striking drama takes place adjacent to, or within, the tent of the Canaanite Priest-King. However, the logical flow of the narrative is curiously interrupted when the postulant is transported forward in time by some nine hundred years to the final scenario, where he is solemnly consecrated as an High Priest, in a similar manner to that of Aaron - Exodus 29. Within a regular Convention of this Holy Order, the central figure is that of the President, representing Melchizedek. He is clothed in a white surplice over which is worn the breastplate while he has a plain mitre upon his head. The Breastplate, called in Hebrew the breastplate of Judgement, was a piece of embroidered cloth of gold, purple, scarlet and fine white twined linen about nine inches square, doubled to form a pouch, which held

8 twelve precious stones. These stones were arranged in four rows of three, and had the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraved on them to remind the High Priest how dear to his heart should be those tribes. The two other assisting officers, the Vice-President and the Chaplain, wear robes of scarlet and light blue respectively, while the Companions wear a jewel on the left breast, comprising a gold mitre superimposed upon an equilateral triangle of gold, suspended from a red ribbon. While the Holy Order of Grand High Priest may demonstrate to the academic the suggested fusion of two originally separate degrees, the resultant ceremony is outstanding and exhibits a level of ritualistic achievement that is quite unique. It is a narrative that pre-dates the legend of the Holy Royal Arch as practised in England yet it is of such a solemn and spiritual nature that it has a profound effect upon all who are received into its circle and commands the utmost admiration from devotees of ritual. Admission to the Order of the Allied Masonic Degrees has statutory conditions, that of being a Mark as well as a Royal Arch Mason. For the brother who is in possession of these requirements, his admission to this Holy Order is an experience of such magnitude that it cannot fail to stimulate him to an elevated realm of masonic thought. He will be left in no doubt that he has been called for high duties in life - both as a mason and a man.