Chapter of Rose
Croix, Degree Descriptions
The Degree
description below is reprinted with the permission of the Scottish Rite
Journal.
Fifteenth
Degree
Knight
Of The East, Of The Sword, Or Of The Eagle
Jim Tresner, 33°, Grand
Cross
Photo: Oil
painting by Bro. Robert H. White, 32°
Green
predominates in the regalia of the Fifteenth Degree. The cordon is of
green watered silk. The apron is lined and bordered in green, and the
regalia includes green kid gloves and a green plume in a black,
broad-brimmed hat (photo right). Green symbolizes the immortality of
the human soul and the transcendent nature of Masonry.
The apron
is red velvet. On the flap of the apron is a head upon two crossed
swords. The image represents the duty of the Scottish Rite Mason to
oppose and defeat arbitrary limitations on intellectual, spiritual, and
political freedom. On the apron are three triangles, one inside the
other, formed of chains with triangular links. They represent the three
great limitations on or enemies of the human
intellect—tyranny, privilege, and superstition. Those three
enemies of humanity are opposed by the three great virtues, represented
by the three nested gold triangles on the jewel of the Degree. The
triangles represent liberty, fraternity, and equality as well as law,
order, and subordination.
The
regalia also includes a sash, edged and fringed with gold. At the end
of the sash is embroidered an arched bridge on which are the letters
L.D.P. The original meaning of the letters is Liberté
de Passer (Liberty of Passage) and Pike adds Liberté
de Penser (Liberty of Thought). To be true and complete,
liberty must include both the body and the mind—one must be
free to move, to do, and to think.
That
liberty must be fought for, and the battle is not always obvious. It's
clear in those rare instances, such as World War II, where political
aggression and abominable disregard of humanity are blatant. But
impositions on liberty are seldom so obvious. They frequently disguise
themselves in noble-sounding motives. A school board removes Romeo
and Juliet, or The Wizard of Oz, or Huckleberry
Finn from the school library because they offend one group or
another. (And isn't it noble not to give offense?) An employer attempts
to control the activities of its employees outside the workplace.
(Surely it's a noble thing to preserve the "right image"?) A state
passes legislation to make people do "what's good for them." (Because,
left to their own devices, they would do what they wanted, not what's
best.) Few things seem so typical of society as its desire to take
decisions out of the hands of individuals. But if a man cannot make
meaningful decisions, he is not free.
From the
sash hangs a silver trowel, symbolic of the legend that the operative
masons who rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem worked with a trowel in one
hand and a sword in the other. It is, as well, a powerful warning that
we must always be ready to defend what has already been built, even as
we try to build further.
Two great
lessons are taught by the Degree. The first is that liberty is achieved
slowly and by painful steps. It comes no more quickly than a nation or
an individual is ready for it. Even then, it is a constant struggle to
maintain it. The second is that honor and integrity are absolute, not
relative or convenient. The world has often approved of dishonorable
acts. Governments have even required dishonorable acts (consider the
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850). The Mason must hold himself to a higher
standard.
It's
interesting to speculate as to why the Temple of Zerubbabel enters into
the Scottish Rite system. After all, the story of the building of the
Temple is complete—the symbolism that the building of the
Temple represents the building both of our individual lives and of the
society around us has played out nicely. Why this intrusion of the
Second Temple? It may be merely a matter of moving us forward through
history. But Pike was seldom concerned with chronology in the
Degrees—his pattern of organization was mythic, not
chronological.
Perhaps
the purpose is to warn us that, no matter how carefully and skillfully
we build, nor how holy or altruistic our intention, we are still
building in the world, and the world has a habit of tearing down what
others build. It may be a warning that the task of building our lives
is never simple and straightforward. There are setbacks. Each of us can
experience frustration and emotional exhaustion. Each of us may have
all our plans changed by forces we cannot foresee or control. More than
once, we may have to start building again from the ground up. The death
of a loved one, changing economic conditions, wars, even our own
continuing maturation and growing insight may send us back to the
drawing board.
But we
have the assurance that we can always rebuild. In the words of the
American poet Oliver Wendell Holmes from "The Chambered Nautilus,"
"Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul." And we can build better
than before.
The
Scottish Rite Journal - March 2000
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.
