Bakersfield Scottish Rite Bodies 13th Degree

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.

Thirteenth Degree

The Royal Arch Of Solomon

Jim Tresner, 33°, Grand Cross
PO Box 70, Guthrie, Oklahoma 73044–0070

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

The apron of Thirteenth Degree is crimson, red with an a mixture of blue, symbolizing zeal with a spiritual dimension. On the apron is the rayed triangle, the emblem of Deity and Light. In the center is an ancient form of the Hebrew letter yod, meaning Deity. The cordon is purple, blue with an admixture of red, again representing spirit with an element of zeal.

The jewel is circular. On the front are the initials of Latin words, which translate "In the reign of Solomon, wisest of Kings, Adoniram, Joabert, and Satolkin found under the ruins the most precious treasure." The letters surround an engraving of two men lowering a third into an underground vault. On the reverse of the jewel, the rayed triangle is repeated. The figures and words relate to the legend of the Degree, which tells how, during the building of the Temple of Solomon, three workers discovered the vaults constructed long before by Enoch, containing a cube of agate into the surface of which he had placed a triangular plate of gold emblazoned with the Name of God.

An important message of the Degree is that it is easy for the Name of God to be lost; that is, it is easy for the impulse to seek God to turn aside into superstition, fear, or temporary concerns. The Degree’s use of the Name of God to symbolize a person’s understanding of God and the relationship between himself and his Creator warns us that we must not allow ourselves to construct false idols in the place of Deity. We must not, in other words, make a god of money, or social position, or political expediency, or anything else.

The great promise of the Degree is that when a person truly begins to experience his own spirituality, when one discovers the luminous pedestal with the cube of agate and the triangle of gold, a personal transformation takes place. We start to become different people—richer in spirit, more compassionate, more truly human.

But it is an active search—zeal with a touch of spirituality, spirituality with a touch of zeal—that never ends as we grow closer to Deity in mind, heart, and spirit.

The Scottish Rite Journal - August 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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