Allegiance         The Bodies of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, sitting in the Valley of Bakersfield, Orient of California, acknowledge the authority of and yield allegiance to The Supreme Council (Mother Council of the World) of Inspectors General Knights Commanders of the House of the Temple of Solomon of the Thirty-Third and Last Degree, of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction, of the United States of America.

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Lodge of Perfection Degree Descriptions

The Degree description  below is reprinted with the permission of the Scottish Rite Journal.

Twelfth Degree

Master Architect

The Tools Of The Trade

Jim Tresner, 33°, Grand Cross

Photo: Oil painting by Bro. Robert H. White, 32°

The Twelfth Degree (right) begins the climb of the Scottish Rite Mason into the reaches of philosophy, as opposed to the emphasis on morality typical of the earlier Scottish Rite Degrees. In order to accomplish this, Pike takes us straight back to Blue Lodge symbolism with the traditional colors of blue, white, and gold. The blue with which the apron is lined and bordered, the blue of the cordon, and the gold of the apron's fringe are colors whose Blue Lodge symbolism is too well-known to discuss here.

The jewel is seven-sided, with a five-pointed star, enclosed in a semi-circle, in each vertex. The center shows an equilateral triangle formed by the arcs of circles. Thus, with the triangle, the shape of the stars and the shape of the jewel, we have the numbers 3, 5, and 7. The reverse of the jewel (pictured on the sheet above the apron on the facing page) shows the five orders of architecture, the three types of compasses, a plain scale, a parallel, a ruler, a sector, and a slide rule. It is interesting to note that all the instruments shown are instruments of calculation and creation. The instruments of testing which play so large a part in the Blue Lodge Degrees—the plumb, square, and level—are absent. This is because we are now moving away from the operative and fully into the speculative or philosophical aspects of Freemasonry. The instruments are emblems, of course, of the ethical duties of man and the duties he owes to himself—to study, to learn, to develop, and especially to think. Only then can a Freemason be a Master Architect.

The Scottish Rite Journal - June 1999

Jim Tresner
is Director of the Masonic Leadership Institute and Editor of The Oklahoma Mason. A frequent contributor to the Scottish Rite Journal and its book review editor, Illustrious Brother Tresner is also a volunteer writer for The Oklahoma Scottish Rite Mason and a video script consultant for the National Masonic Renewal Committee. He is the Director of the Thirty-third Degree Conferral Team and Director of Work at the Guthrie Scottish Rite Temple in Guthrie, Oklahoma, as well as a life member of the Scottish Rite Research Society, author of the popular anecdotal biography Albert Pike, The Man Beyond the Monument, and a member of the steering committee of the Masonic Information Center. Ill. Tresner was awarded the Grand Cross, the Scottish Rite's highest honor, during the Supreme Council's October 1997 Biennial Session. 

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The Scottish Rite Creed

The cause of human progress our cause, the enfranchisement of human thought is our supreme wish, the freedom of human conscience is our mission, and the guarantee of equal rights to all people everywhere, the end of our contention.

Deus Meumque Jus -  GOD AND MY RIGHT.                 Fiat Lux - LET THERE BE LIGHT.                In Deo Fiducia Nostra - OUR TRUST IS IN GOD                 Lux a Tenebris - LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS.                          Spes mea in Deo est. - MY HOPE IS IN GOD.                Virtus junxit, mors non separabit - WHOM VIRTUE HAS UNITED, DEATH SHALL NOT SEPARATE.              

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