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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Council of Kadosh, Degree Descriptions

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

Twenty-eighth Degree

Knight Of The Sun, Or Prince Adept

Jim Tresner, 33°, Grand Cross
P.O. Box 70, Guthrie, Oklahoma 73044-0070

Original oil painting by Robert H. White, 32°

For many Brethren, this Degree is the most difficult, the "hardest to wrap your mind around," of the entire Degree system of the Scottish Rite. Yet, the regalia seems simple enough. There is a pure white lambskin apron with no edging or ornamentation, with the exception of an interlaced pentagram traced in vermilion in the center of the apron. The collar of the Degree is of white watered silk, without ornamentation except for an eye, painted in gold on the right side. Not all of the jewels are shown in the painting on the facing page to illustrate the Degree. The jewel of the presiding officer is a gold sun, hung from a gold chain worn around the neck. When the jewel is turned over, it shows the heavens with the signs of the zodiac from Taurus to Libra. The other officers wear a seven-pointed star of gold. The remaining Brethren wear a five-pointed star of gold. This pentagram, of course, is the symbol for mankind. Both white and gold represent purity-the white represents that which has never been impure and which is, therefore, not only pure but innocent. Gold represents that which has been made pure by refining. The gold represents the person who has become pure by being tried and refined over and over again. The eye represents the Deity, Who is aware of everything and from Whom nothing is hidden.

There are many other symbols in the 28°, which do not happen to appear in the regalia. You can find them in color in Appendix III on symbols in Vested in Glory: The Regalia of the Scottish Rite. Note especially the Worm Ouroboros (the dragon holding his own tail in his teeth, which is shown here), the Ancient of Days (a.k.a. the Macroprosopus), the Seal of Solomon, the microcosm, and the triangle of red, white, and green sides.

It simply is not possible to give an explanation of the Degree in detail here. The section in Morals and Dogma which Pike devotes to the Twenty-eighth Degree is 219 pages. But we can list some of the most important ideas presented in the Degree and encourage you to think deeply upon their meanings.

  • The soul of man is immortal-this life is only a point in the center of eternity.

  • The visual is a manifestation of the invisible.

  • Love and wisdom are to be valued above all else.

  • What is above is like what is below.

  • Nature continually points to God, reflecting His power and wisdom.

  • There is no death, only change.

  • Our life is a quest, a seeking.

By seeking and questing, we find a life.

The Scottish Rite Journal - January 2003

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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