Chapter of Rose
Croix, Degree Descriptions
The Degree
description below is reprinted with the permission of the Scottish Rite
Journal.
Seventeenth
Degree
Knight
Of The East And West
Jim Tresner,
33°, Grand Cross
PO
Box 70, Guthrie, Oklahoma 73044–0070
Photo: Oil
painting by Bro. Robert H. White, 32°
It depends
to some extent on how it is presented, but this can be one of the most
powerful and profound of the Degrees
of the Rite. Here we encounter raw spiritual energy in the words of the
Book of Revelations, and we begin to glimpse the spiritual power which
is available to every man and woman who decides to be open to it and to
become a power for good.
The apron
(right) reverses the colors of the 16°, with the body of the
apron being yellow (dawn and breaking light) and the trim of red (zeal
and faith). Both the apron body and the flap are triangular, symbol of
the Deity. The body of the apron is decorated with the Tetractys,
formed of 10 Yuds (a character of the Hebrew alphabet and the first
letter of the Tetragammaton). They are symbolic of the ten
manifestations of God (Sephiroth) found on the Tree of Life of the
Kabbalah and, thus, symbolic of God's action in the creation and
maintenance of the universe.
There are
two cordons, one of black and one of white, which are worn from
shoulder to hip, the white from right to left and the black from left
to right. They symbolize duality—night-day, male-female,
mercy-severity, etc.—just as do Jachin and Boaz. The fact
that they cross each other suggests the union of opposites or
equilibrium.
The
crossing of the cordons relates to another possible symbolism. In
crossing, they form an X, a shape also known as the Cross of St.
Andrew. It is an ancient symbol for change or transformation, probably
deriving from that point in the heavens at which the celestial equator
crosses the plane of the ecliptic. The shape is seen in ancient
painting and statuary, associated with time and change, and came to
represent transformation in much the same way the circle came to
symbolize stability.
And change
or transformation is a major theme of the 17°, precursor to the
18° as its central character, John the Baptist, was precursor
to the central (if unseen) character of the 18°, Jesus of
Nazareth.
Thus the
crossed cordons may serve as a symbolic alert to the theme of
transformation—in this case the transformation of vital but
unrefined spiritual power into the focused spirituality of the Law of
Love.
The jewel
of the Degree is a heptagonal (seven-sided) medal, made half of gold
and half of silver or mother of pearl. The combination symbolizes the
sun and the moon, Osiris and Isis, the power which creates and the
power which nurtures—again, the same symbolism as in Jachin
and Boaz.
In the
center on the front is an engraving of a lamb resting on a book with
seven seals. On each seal is an initial of the name of one of the last
seven Sephiroth, and in the angles of the jewel the initials are
repeated. It should be noted that this book with seven seals is not the
Bible's Book of Seven Seals, which only Christ was worthy to open. But
it's important to remember that this Degree, which features John the
Baptist as a major character, immediately precedes the Eighteenth
Degree in which the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth are prominent and
the New Law of Love is announced. As John the Baptist was seen as a
precursor to Jesus of Nazareth, so the front of the jewel is a signal
that this Degree concerns itself with the raw spirituality preached by
John, which is to be refined and focused in the teachings of the
Nazarene.
The back
of the jewel is a balance scale in equipoise. On the pans rest the
hilts of two swords which cross. They thus from a Cross of St. Andrew,
symbol of change and transformation long associated in medieval and
renaissance art with the coming of the Messiah "who shall make all
things new." This Degree, then, provides a sort of spiritual jolt or
jump start in preparation for the transformation, refinement, and
redefinition which is to come.
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.
