More than meets the eye?

The title of this article might seem on the surface somewhat disrespectful, but it has been chosen to make an important point. While all the dressing-up that goes on in Freemasonry, such as in the KT, and the rolling-up of the trouser-leg at initiation - the one thing all non-masons think of when the subject of Freemasonry is raised - might seem odd to many, the thought of Freemasons wearing priestly clothing such as surplices and, worst of all, mitres (the preserve of Christian bishops and abbots) may seem offensive, doing nothing to counter the idea that Masonry is a religion. Indeed, the wearing of mitres by brethren in degrees such as the Knight Templar Priests, coupled with the impression that we are somehow pretending to be priests, can not only lead to some non-masons seeing Masonry as a separate religion, but can put off many a Freemason. Freemasonry, of course, is not a religion and does not try to be one; those in the important Degrees of Priesthood are certainly not setting themselves up as Priests and claim no sacerdotal or sacramental rights. So what is it all about?
    Ignoring the dressing up, what is important is that the Degrees of Priesthood bring us to the high realms in terms of masonic thought with candidates ritually purifying themselves and dedicating themselves to the service of the Deity. As the introduction to the ritual of Grand High Priest makes clear, “the companion who is admitted... is left in no doubt that he is set apart for high duties and responsibilities in life, both as a Mason and as a man : he is taught that, to carry them out, he is called upon to dedicate himself to the service of the Most High God and also to that of his fellow-men”.
    There are basically four Priesthood Degrees, two reserved for Trinitarian Christians and two open to all masons of all faiths. Of the latter, the least developed in terms of ritual and yet the most well known is, of course, that of the Third Principal in a Royal Arch Chapter. The candidate elected to the Third Principal’s Chair is installed as representing Joshua, the son of Josedech, the High Priest. However, despite the Holy Order of Grand High Priest being one of the most important rituals of the five Allied Masonic Degrees, it is much less well known than the role of the Third Principal, perhaps not least as candidates for GHP must be a Master Mason, a Mark Master Mason and also in the Royal Arch. This can serve to narrow the field somewhat.
    Christian Masons have the opportunity, as in all those termed ‘Christian Degrees’, to take Old Testament Masonry further and interpret it in a sense familiar to their Christian Faith. Those in the Red Cross of Constantine (RCC) who are active in their conclave will, the year before they go into the Chair, be given the degree of the Priest-Mason in preparation for the responsibilities of the Chair. There is also a separate priestly masonic order governed from York (not from Newcastle, as I erroneously stated in my first article), the Order of Holy Wisdom, better known as that of Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests (KTP). This is concerned exclusively with the sacerdotal office of dedication and service. The fact that KTP candidates must also be Knights Templar and Installed Masters in the Craft means that this degree remains regrettably relatively small.

Anointing and Consecration

As with the Degrees of Knighthood, those of Priesthood, whether Christian or not, have much in common, not least in origin. While the history of these related degrees is complex, it is the ritualistic connections which interest us here. Firstly, there is the significance of the triangle in all four degrees (as in others such as the Royal Ark Mariner), as the masonic symbol of the deity and, for the Christian mason, of the Trinitarian Faith. However, the symbolic and ritual connections go far deeper than that. In the degree of Grand High Priest, the candidate is anointed three times with oil and then three times with wine, while in the Royal Arch installation after a ritual ceremony of ablution, Joshua is anointed with oil and censed six times, before being clothed in a robe and invested with a priestly sceptre. In the Red Cross of Constantine, the Priest-Mason, referred to as Eusebius (appropriately named after one or other of two such named bishops from the time of Constantine), has a censor swung during the Prayer and the following obligation, is anointed five times and is then invested with a white garment, symbolic of innocence and purity, before being presented with a pastoral staff. In becoming a Knight Templar Priest, the candidate embarks on a journey of seven stages from Darkness to Light during which he is clothed with a white mantle and invested with the mitre of priesthood, before being anointed and consecrated.
    Thus censing, anointing and ritual clothing and investiture all precede consecration; the newly consecrated candidate is now under no illusion that he has special masonic duties to carry out. In the Order of Grand High Priest, those companions in seeking admission are described as “desiring further light in Masonry”; the newly anointed, consecrated and set-apart High Priests are exhorted to be an example to all in their service of God and Man, to the extent of succouring their enemies - true masonic brotherly love - even at the point of a sword : “as often as ye eat bread or drink wine, learn therefrom to succour, protect and defend a Companion Anointed High Priest. If he hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink; if he be naked, clothe him; if he be sick or afflicted, visit him and minister unto him; sympathise with him in his sorrows, and rejoice with him in his joys. These things do unto him, and never forsake him”. The other Priesthood Degrees demand similar service of God, an example being in the RCC’s Priest-Mason rite, where prayers call upon God to inspire the Knight-Companion with “wisdom that his actions may proclaim Thy glory” and that he will “ place upon Thine altar the incense of true piety which alone will find favour in Thy sight”.

Rituals of Significance

The KTP and GHP should be seen as more than merely degrees among many, despite the KTP being the 32nd of a 32 degree collection and the GHP being one of the five Allied Masonic Degrees. These two singular degrees, coming from the same historical route, with the one New Testament and the other Old Testament, are par excellence, masonic Orders of Priesthood. It is thus deeply ironic that Grand High Priest is grouped together with four other unconnected degrees of the Allied Masonic Degrees, three of which are, in my opinion, of little ritual worth, while the 31 Appendant Degrees joined with the KTP are merely conferred by name and amount to little more than a rag-tag collection of obsolete and obscure degrees; the best that can be said is that some of them are similar to and shadows of other degrees under separate jurisdictions. Their retention strikes me, even as an historian, as a waste of time, and worse, as a distraction from the Order of Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests. It is not surprising that so important were the two once seen by many in terms of ritual significance that GHP used to be restricted to Installed First Principals of the Royal Arch, while the KTP degree (like the Grand Elected Knight Kadosh of what became the Ancient and Accepted Rite) was referred to by some as the ‘Ne Plus Ultra’ of all Masonry; that is to say that nothing was once seen by its members as being higher.
    The KTP ceremony consists of Old and New Testament readings of great import as the candidate is conducted to seven pillars. As in the KT, Christ is invoked as Prophet, Priest and King and the candidate is reminded of the biblical idea of a white stone in which is a new name written known only to the recipient, symbolising spiritual regeneration. The GHP ceremony is also of real import, although unfortunately the degree contains a long, tedious passage read from the Bible (ie: “and the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits” - Genesis 14.10) with reference to all sorts of obscure biblical characters - Arioch, king of Ellasar; Shemeber, king of Zeboiim; Chedorlaomer, king of Elam etc. - but this should not put one off the degree and it should certainly not be allowed to obscure its thought. However, one comes away wishing that the masons who devised the degree had had a tougher editor!

A Secular Priesthood?

Before being consecrated Eusebius in the RCC, the candidate has to pledge his belief in and service to God. However, the High Prelate (Chaplain) of the Conclave then says: “Accept us, O Lord, and bless us; make of us an Holy Priesthood, a peculiar people”. It is here that we have a hint that the Degrees of Priesthood have a particular tradition in mind. Ceremonial similarities aside, in the two orders of Grand High Priest and of Knight Templar Priest, as well as that of Priest-Mason of Eusebius, candidates are masonically consecrated as priests “after the order of Melchisedec” (KTP quoting from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews).
    Spelt in a variety of ways (Melchizedek - GHP, Melchisedec - KTP, Melchisedek - RCC), Melchizedek remains a significant, but shadowy figure in the Bible of whom little is written. He is a mysterious figure who appears in person only once in three verses of Genesis as King of Salem and Priest of the High God and it is in Psalm 110 when the famous idea of being Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek is first mentioned. The name Melchizedek means King of Righteousness and Salem, of which he was King, means Peace. His greatness is illustrated, not least, by the fact that the patriarch Abraham is reported to have given him a tenth part of his spoils from war. In the New Testament, he is referred to in Hebrews as a symbol, described as being without father or mother, without descent, with neither beginning of days nor end of life, a priest continually. In the RCC Priest-Mason degree, although Melchisedek is mentioned in the ceremony, his symbolic importance for this Degree of Priesthood is, unfortunately, not explained, whereas in the GHP, each tabernacle clearly represents the encampment of Melchizedek and the Most Excellent President of the tabernacle, stands for Melchizedek himself; in the KTP, the role of Melchisedec is most important in explaining the significance of the candidate’s journey. In addition to the impressive ceremonial and ritual aspects of these Degrees of Priesthood, the figure of Melchizedek elevates these particular degrees to even higher levels of masonic philosophy. The candidates are not made priests, but are taught to live their lives in priestly service to the deity. The Degrees of Priesthood, thus, require real thought from those who take them and offer another angle for those seeking after knowledge.

110 Degrees in the Shade?

Hopefully, these four articles will have gone some little way to inform brethren as to the existence of the many degrees in addition to those of the Craft and the Royal Arch. Perhaps, more importantly, they will also have brought together the similar threads which some of these degrees contain and will have demonstrated the various philosophical approaches to Masonry’s search for truth. These articles have shown that there are many entry-points to what might be termed masonic philosophy, taking the view that many of the degrees in Freemasonry can be considered to be either concerned with the Temple of Solomon and the search for the Lost Word, or with the path towards Knighthood and its subsequent quest for Truth, or with the idea of consecrating oneself as a Freemason to the service of the Deity.
    Of course, these ideas are clearly personal ones and clearly reflect my own individual preferences for particular degrees. I make no apology that of the various Solomonic Degrees, I consider the Red Cross of Babylon to be the most profound and the Mark to be the most enjoyable. With regard to the Degrees of Priesthood analysed above, I am impressed by the message and ritual of Knight Templar Priest, whilst of the Degrees of Knighthood, that of the Rose Croix, the Knight Templar and the two Appendant Orders attached to the Red Cross of Constantine strike me as the most esoterically significant. Personally, moreover, I rate the Royal Order of Scotland the most highly of all, containing as it does so much masonic thought brought together in a unique and impressive way.
    Other masons will have very different ideas from me and I can also make no claim to speak for any of the degrees’ governing bodies. In addition, my process of classification is not ideal. Added to the constraints of space, it has forced me to omit consideration of a wide variety of rites and degrees, such as the Order of the Secret Monitor, the increasingly popular Operatives and genuine ‘side-degrees’ like the Knight of Constantinople and St. Lawrence the Martyr. There has also been no place to analyse lesser-known bodies such as the SRIA and others. I have not been able to discuss my favourite degree, the Royal Ark Mariner, which is beautiful in its simplicity; focusing as it does on the legend of Noah and the Ark, it does not fit easily into neat classifications of masonic rites. Furthermore, lack of real knowledge has prevented me saying anything of the Supreme Council degrees from 30th to 33rd and little of the CBCS. There are probably more bodies of which I have not even heard!

Conclusion

There is no doubt that when you strip away some of the expensive regalia, when you ignore the many irrelevant and frankly contrived signs which one seldom if ever uses and when you forget the actual titles (I ask you: ‘Super-Excellent Master’ - “Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It is a ‘Super-Excellent Master’”or ‘Knight of the Suspended Cross of Babylon’ or, perhaps, most remarkable of all, ‘Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret’), rather than the important degrees themselves, you will find much upon which to reflect. It is such a pity that it can be so difficult for many masons to find out about some of these orders and that with so many sovereign bodies in existence, it can cost a very great deal of money and time to join them; most annoyingly of all, it seems that some of the most profound ceremonies are those which are worked the least, which while ritualistically being understandable, serves to force many candidates to receive the degrees at one time, with only one candidate actually undergoing the ceremony proper! But there is a lot masonically out there if you wish to find it.
    The last article in the next issue will list all the degrees and give the addresses of the relevant governing bodies for those who wish to pursue their researches further.