Lodge of Perfection Degree Descriptions

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

Sixth Degree

Intimate Secretary

Jim Tresner, 33°, Grand Cross
Guthrie, Oklahoma

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

The story of the Sixth Degree goes like this: King Hiram was not having a good day. Word had just reached him in Tyre of the death of the Master Architect. He set forth in haste to Jerusalem. As he was passing through some desolate country, one of his courtiers informed him that the ruined towns they saw were the ones King Solomon was giving to him. Incensed that he was receiving poor instead of rich territories—and not really thinking—he stormed into Solomon’s audience chamber. Then, just as he was hitting his stride in telling Solomon what he thought of him, he found someone hiding and appearing to spy. It was more than an absolute monarch ought to be called upon to bear.

King Hiram was wrong, of course. He judged quickly and from appearances. Solomon tactfully refrained from pointing out that Hiram looked like a fool. Instead, Solomon, acting the part of the peacemaker, allowed the monarch of Tyre to recover his dignity and then resolved the problem.

The apron of the Sixth Degree is white lambskin, bordered with crimson. The crimson is a symbol of zeal. And the Degree both commends zeal as a virtue and warns against intemperate zeal, represented by the impetuosity and rashness of King Hiram.

On the body of the apron are the Phoenician letters B.N.S., initials of the words Berith, Neder, Shelemoth, meaning, Covenant, Vow, and Perfection. The two letters in the center spell the Divine Name, Yah. On the flap is a triangle, and the triangle repeats in the jewel of the Degree. The jewel is formed from the Tetractys (see page 33 of A Bridge to Light by Ill. Rex R. Hutchens, 33°, Grand Cross) and contains the triple delta. The deltas contain the symbols for the sun, the moon, and mercury, or the sun, moon, and Master of the Lodge. Remember that in Blue Lodge symbolism, the Master is assumed to be a combination of the sun and moon, being a balanced man by virtue of possessing all characteristics in proper equilibrium.

The essential theme of the Sixth Degree is that duty is to be performed not mean-spiritedly but with zeal, just as life is to be lived with zest. But always there must be balance. And it further teaches the great lesson that we are always to be slow in judgment and quick to act as peacemakers.

The Scottish Rite Journal - November 1996

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.