The Higher Degrees Handbook, Wisdom Ancient
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THE HIGHER DEGREES HANDBOOK
by J.S.M. Ward
PREFACE.
In attempting to give an outline sketch of the various degrees in Freemasonry in a book of
his description, I am faced by many difficulties, not the least of which is how to write in an
interesting way about degrees, which many of my readers have not taken, without giving
way more than is permissible.
One of my reasons for writing this book is to encourage Brethren to take these “Advanced
degrees.” We still meet Brethren who say that there is nothing beyond the Craft worth
taking. As one who has taken all the degrees for which he is qualified, I can state from
personal experience that, with one or two small exceptions, practically all the degrees are
of the greatest value.
Of course, my readers must bear in mind that a Brother gets out of Masonry in proportion
to what he brings into it. If he approaches it with a keen intellectual mind, based on a
reasonable amount of study of the meaning of symbolism, he naturally will learn far more
than if he approaches it merely from the point of view of a man who knows a good dinner
when he eats one, and cares nothing about the meaning of the ceremonies which take place
in the Lodge Room.
In conclusion I must express my indebtedness to Messrs. Toye & Co. for the loan of the
blocks which illustrate this book.
J.S.M.W.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1. Historical Survey
Chapter 2. The Mark Degree.............10
Chapter 3. The Holy Royal Arch.........17
Chapter 4. The Cryptic Degrees.........28
Chapter 5. The Allied Degrees .........35
Chapter 6. The Ancient and Accepted Rite........................43
Chapter 7. The Royal Order of Scotland..54
Chapter 8. The Knights Templar and Knights of Malta.............66
Chapter 9. The Remaining Degrees........78
Conclusion........................... 83
CHAPTER 1.
HISTORICAL SURVEY.
The early history of the so-called “Higher Degrees” is even more obscure than that of the
Craft, and in consequence a tendency has grown up to regard them as “Manufactured”
during the 18
th
century.
In my opinion this is too hasty a conclusion, for some of these degrees at any rate bear
every evidence of antiquity, and contain that wisdom which has been handed down from
generation to generation.
The third degree clearly foreshadows a subsequent degree, wherein the lost s...s will be
finally recovered, in fact without such a degree the whole of the Craft ceremonies would be
meaningless. Moreover, as we shall show later, the most important Higher Degrees use
Sns. of great antiquity, which have been clearly handed down from ancient days in
precisely the same way as have our Craft Sns., of which full evidence has been given in the
History Handbook. There is also documentary evidence to show that the legends of some of
these degrees were well known by our medieval ancestors, and actually incorporated in the
Ancient Charges. As, for example, the two pillars which were set up before the flood,
survived that deluge, and were subsequently re-discovered by masons. This legend forms
the theme of the 13
th
degree of the A. and A. Rite which is called the Royal Arch of Enoch.
The earliest printed references to any of the Higher Degrees are to the Royal Arch in 1741,
and to the Royal Order of Scotland in 1743, when it was in such a vigorous state of health
that it had a Provincial Grand Lodge in London, with at least two Chapters under its
control.
The Higher Degrees appear to fall into three main groups:-(1) Those that extend the story
of the Craft; (2) Those which purport to restore the lost S..s; and (3) The Chivalric Degrees.
With regard to the first group two tendencies seem to have been at work during the 18
th
century. The one being to cut out of the Craft various parts of the legend, and the other
being to enlarge certain incidents referred to in the Craft stories, add picturesque detail, and
evolve out of them a new degree. My own conviction is that the root matter of nearly all
the Higher Degrees comes from traditions and legends cherished by our medieval
predecessors.
There is no doubt that all our rituals, the Craft included, underwent considerable revision
during the 18
th
century. In the case of the Craft Degrees a considerable amount of excision
was necessitated by the alteration of the clause in the constitution which changed Masonry
from a Christian to a non-Christian basis. This process of excision of all Christian
references was not completed until the time of the Treaty of Union, in 1813, and one
example for England will suffice. Dunckley, in the second half of the 18
th
century,
declared that the “Blazing Star” meant the star at Bethlehem which guided the wise men to
the infant Christ. In Scotland to this day there still survives a distinct reference to the
Christ in the Craft Degrees, for the V.S.L. is opened by the D.C. with a quotation from the
opening verse of the gospel of St. John, - “In the beginning was the Word,” - whilst the
Lodge is closed with the following quotation from the same source, “And the Word was
with God.” Now this clearly indicates the existence of a Christian explanation of the lost
S..s which, though no longer countenanced in the Craft Degrees in England, survives in
such degrees as the Rose Croix.
We thus see that anything Christian was eliminated from the lower degrees, and this
explains the probable origin of some of the Higher Degrees. At the same time, the general
style of our Craft Rituals has been altered. Apparently in early days the actual part taken
by the candidate during the ceremony was comparatively small, and the bulk of the work
consisted of lectures, some parts being by question and answer, while other parts contained
various legends connected with the Order. Gradually the tendency arose to make the
candidate take a more active and dramatic part in the ceremony, and in order to do this
legends and incidents which did not immediately connect with the main theme began to be
dropped. These parts were prized by the older members, and rather than see them perish
they made them into side Degrees, nor are we justified in assuming that they invented the
Sn..s to go with these degrees. In the Royal Order of Scotland to-day the bulk of the
ceremony consists of questions and answers put by the M. to the Wardens, and include the
giving of S..ns at certain points in the catechism, which S..ns, however, are not specifically
taught to the candidate. No doubt when similar portions were cut out and became Christian
degrees the Sns. went with them, and naturally became tests to prove that a Brother had
taken this new Side Degree, which was nevertheless in reality very ancient.
A characteristic example of a degree which has been cut out of an existing craft degree is
the Mark, which was almost certainly part of the ceremony of a F.C., although no doubt it
has been amplified since it started on its independent career. On the other hand some of the
intermediate degrees of the A. and A Rite, such as the Knights Elect of Nine, are merely
amplifications of incidents dismissed in a few words in the Craft ceremony. The Knights
Elect of Nine relates in dramatic form the apprehension of one of the criminals.
To an entirely different order belong degrees like the Royal Arch, the Royal Order of
Scotland, and the Rose Croix. Each of these in its own way claims to be the completing
degree, in which the lost s..s are discovered. The explanation in the case of the last two is
Christian, in the case of the R.A. non-Christian, whilst their survival indicates the existence
of two diametrically opposed traditions. The Christian Degrees represent the solution put
forward in Medieval times, whereas the R.A., though now overlaid with Jewish matter
taken from the O.T. in the 18
th
century, has still within it traces of a tradition which goes
right back to pre-Christian times, and clearly comes in part from Egypt, and in part from
India.
The third group claim to carry on the teaching of the Chivalric Orders of the Middle Ages,
and contain evidence of a mystical tradition which was not entirely orthodox. A
characteristic example of these degrees is the Knights Templar.
With regard to these Chivalric Degrees, it may at first sight appear difficult to justify the
claim of a building guild to be linked in any way with the proudest Order of Chivalry
known to exist in the Middle Ages, but those who hastily brush away this tradition ignore
certain salient features of the Templar organization. The Templars contained at least three
sections, or sub-orders, within their ranks, i.e., the Knights themselves, the Templar Priests,
and the so-called Serving Brethren, among whom were m any Masons.
When the Order was suppressed thousands of Knights escaped the general persecution, and
simply disappeared from history. How did they do it, and what became of them? The most
reasonable explanation is that they disguised themselves as Serving Brothers and Lay
Brothers of the Temple, and were shielded by these humbler members of their own Order,
who entirely escaped persecution. I have gone into this question at great length in
“Freemasonry and the Ancient Gods,” and will therefore content myself by saying here that
there was undoubtedly a link between Masonry and the Templars, which is quite sufficient
to explain a partial survival of Templar Rites among the Masonic Brotherhood. The
Templars certainly had a mystical teaching very similar to that enshrined in Freemasonry,
and traces of it can still be detected in the present rituals of the Masonic Knights Templar,
despite the fact that they have been considerably revised in the last half century .
CHAPTER 2. THE MARK DEGREE.
Those of my readers who have already studied the first three Handbooks of this series will
realize that the true S..s of a M.M. are not restored to them. The real S.. which was lost
was comprehension of the Nature of God, and our Third Degree quite clearly indicates that,
despite popular beliefs, we shall not be able to comprehend God as soon as we are dead.
The Craft degrees, in short, take us through birth, life and death, and shadow forth the
Creative, Preservative and Destructive sides of the Deity. The majority of the other degrees
either deal with what befalls a man after death, or else endeavor to explain, or fill in,
certain gaps in that historic narrative which is the allegorical basis of the Craft Degrees.
The Mark degree in part belongs to the latter group, and is in reality the completion of the
Second Degree. Unquestionably a Brother should receive his Mark when he becomes a
F.C., and the degree itself still shows strong operative influence.
It is ruled by Mark Grand Lodge, which meets and has its offices at the Temple in Great
Queen Street, next door to the Connaught Rooms. All who love the Higher Degrees owe a
debt of gratitude to Mark Grand Lodge, which has acted as Fairy Godmother to many of
the Higher Degrees which were left stranded after the Treaty of Union in 1813. Indeed, in
many cases it has more or less taken them under its wing, and in consequence we shall
have to refer again and again to the fact that the Grand Body which rules a particular
degree has its Head Quarters at “Mark Mason’s Hall.”
The Mark Degree has its own regalia and a special jewel, and perhaps our younger
Brethren will be glad of the warning that, with the exception of the R.A., no jewels of the
Higher Degree may be worn in a Craft Lodge.
The jewel of the Mark Degree consists of a keystone, made usually of white cornelian, on
which are engraved certain mystic letters, the meaning of which are revealed to members of
the Degree. It is suspended from a blue and red ribbon. The aprons and collars are also
made of blue and red silk.
The teaching of this Degree is largely an amplification of the Second, and tells of education
and reward for labor. It also contains a dramatic warning against attempting to obtain
wages to which we are not justly entitled, and there is a Messianic hint in the fact “That the
stone which the builders rejected has become the headstone of the corner.” Incidentally the
stone is a keystone, hence the origin of the jewel of the degree.
Several facts lead us to suspect that at one time the Degree may have been more
pronouncedly Christian than it is to-day. We know that it was flourishing as far back as
1760 in Lodges attached to the Ancients, who were unquestionably strongly pro-Christian.
The legend as now given relates to a period in the building of the Temple previous to the
tragedy, although there is abundant evidence to show that as late as the time of the
formation of Mark Grand Lodge, 1856, many Mark Lodges in the North had a somewhat
similar legend to that now used, but associated it with the second Temple instead of with
the first.
Mark therefore, is, or should be, really part of our Craft system, and in Scotland Craft
Lodges still have the power to confer it, and constantly do so. In that country it is a
necessary qualification for the Excellent Master which itself is an essential qualification for
the Royal Arch. We shall refer to the Excellent Master more fully when we come to the
Royal Arch, but it is desirable to point out that in Scotland Royal Arch Chapters also have
the right to confer the Mark Degree, if a candidate has not already taken it in his Craft
Lodge.
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