Degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
4. Secret Master
5. Perfect Master
6. Intimate Secretary
7. Provost and Judge
8. Intendant of Buildings
9. Master Elect of Nine
10. Master Elect of Fifteen
11. Sublime Master Elected
12. Grand Master Architect
13. Royal Arch of Enoch
14. Grand Elect, Perfect and Sublime Master Mason
15. Knight of the East or Sword
16. Prince of Jerusalem
17. Knights of the East and West
18. Knight of the Rose-Croix de Heredom
19. Grand Pontiff
20. Grand Master of all Symbolic Lodges
21. Noachite or Prussian Knight
22. Knight of the Royal Axe
23. Chief of the Tabernacle
24. Prince of the Tabernacle
25. Knight of the Brazen Serpent
26. Prince of Mercy
27 Commander of the Temple
28. Knight of the Sun
29. Knight of St Andrew, or Patriarch of the Crusades
30. Knight Kadosh
31. Grand Inspector Commander
32. Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.
33. Inspector-General
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GRAND MASTER ARCHITECT
The Twelfth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and the Ninth
Degree of the Ineffable Series
ARGUMENT
The degree of Grand Master Architect is alleged to have been established
as a school of instruction for the more advanced workmen of the Temple, to
assure uniformity in work, vigour in its prosecution, and to reward those
more eminent in science and skill. The degree partakes of a scientific nature,
in which the rule. of architecture and the connection of the liberal arts
with Masonry are dwelt upon, and portions of the Fellow Craft or Companion
degree are amplified and extensively illustrated. This grade requires of
the neophyte that he be thoroughly qualified intellectually and morally,
to be admitted, and instructs him that virtue is as necessary as talents
to every Grand Master Architect.
THE CHAPTER-ITS DECORATIONS, ETC
Bodies of this degree are styled Chapters. The hangings are white strewed
with crimson flames.
Behind the Master, in the East, are five columns, each of a different order
of architecture: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite.
In the North is painted the North Star, and a little below it the seven stars
of the Great Bear. In the East, behind the columns, is a luminous star,
representing the morning star rising in the East.
Upon the altar, which is in the centre of the room and covered with a black
cloth with tears, are the Great Lights, Book of the Constitutions, and on
it, all the contents of a case of mathematical instruments.
The Chapter is lighted by three great lights, one in the East, one in the
West, and one in the South.
Over the columns, in the East, hangs a triangle, enclosing the word of the
degree.
OFFICERS, TITLES, ETC
The same as in the three preceding degrees.
CLOTHING, ORNAMENTS, JEWEL, ETC
The apron is white, lined and bordered with blue, and fringed with gold.
On it are painted or embroidered a protractor on the flap, and in the middle
a plain scale, a sector, and the compasses, so arranged as to form a triangle.
The cordon is a broad blue watered ribbon, worn from the left shoulder to
the right hip.
The jewel is a triangle of gold: on each angle, on one side, is a star enclosed
by a semicircle. In the centre, on the same side, is an equilateral triangle,
formed by arcs of circles, in the centre of which is a letter N. On the reverse
side are five columns, of the different orders of architecture, with the
initial letter of the proper order below each, in old English letters, arranged
from left to right, Tusean, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite. Above
these columns are a sector and a slide-rule; below them, the three kinds
of compasses, the plain scale, and parallel ruler; and between the second
and third, and third and fourth columns, are the letters R.: B.:
In front of each brother is a small table, and on it a case of instruments,
with paper and other articles for drafting.
The age of a Grand Master Architect is the square of 3 x 5, or 45 years.
Battery -*****-**
OPENING
In the Opening, the following explanations of the instruments of a Grand
Master Architect are given:
Q. What are the instruments of a Grand Master Architect?
A. The different compasses, the parallel ruler, the protractor, the plain
scale, the sector and the slide rule.
Q. What lesson do the different compasses teach us?
A. That life and time constitute but a point in the centre of eternity; while
the circle of God's attributes is infinity.
Q. What lesson does the parallel ruler teach us?
A. That we should be consistent, firm, unwavering, and of that equanimity
of mind and temper which befits a Mason.
Q. What lesson does the protractor teach us?
A. That we should be upright and sincere, frank in all our dealings, moderate
in our professions, and exact and punctual in performance.
Q. What lesson does the plain scale teach us?
A. That we live not only for ourselves, but for others, so as in just and
proper measure to serve our. selves, our families, our friends, our neighbours,
and our country.
Q. What lesson does the sector teach us?
A. That we should multiply our good deeds, divide that which we can spare
of our substance among those who need it more than we, and extract the good
that is intended to benefit and bless us from the reverses and calamities
of life.
Q. What lesson does the slide-rule teach us?
A. That we should strive to grasp and solve the great problem presented by
the Universe and involved in our existence; to know and understand the lofty
truths of Philosophy, and to communicate freely of our knowledge unto others.
Q. Where were you received and made a Grand Master Architect?
A. In a place representing the Chamber of Designs, assigned to the Master
Khurum in King Solomon's Temple.
RECEPTION
J.: G.: W.: A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of
understanding will attain unto wise counsels; to understand a proverb, and
the interpretation; the word of the sages and their obscure sayings.
J.: G.: W.: Wisdom preventeth them that covet her, so that she first showeth
herself unto them. He that awaketh to seek her shall not labour; for he shall
find her sitting at his door. The Lord giveth wisdom; out of his mouth come
knowledge and understanding.
J.: G.: W.: When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant
unto thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, and understanding shall keep
thee, and thou shalt understand righteousness, judgment, equity, and every
good path.
S.: G.: W.: I wished, and understanding was given me; and I called upon God,
and the spirit of wisdom came upon me, and I preferred her before kingdoms
and thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in comparison to her. The Lord by
wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
S.: G.: W.: Get wisdom! Exalt her, and she shall promote thee; she shall
bring thee to honour when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thy head
an ornament of grace; a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
T.: P.: No evil can overcome wisdom. She glorifieth her nobility by being
conversant with God, and the Lord of all things loveth her. For it is she
that teacheth knowledge of God and is the expounder of His works.
T.: P.: She knoweth things past, and judgeth things to come. She knoweth
the subtleties of speeches, and the solutions of arguments; she knoweth signs.
and wonders before they be done, and the events of times and ages. By means
of her we shall, have immortality.
LECTURE
It is the true Masonic Light. He who obeys the Masonic law shall find it.
The degree which you seek was first conferred upon Adoniram, the son of Abda,
when he was appointed Chief Architect of the Temple, and as such the successor
of the Master Hiram after having been for a time the chief of the five Intendants
of the Building, and after his skill and science as an architect had been
thoroughly tested, and he found to be superior to the other four Intendants.
It was but the ceremony of his investiture with that office. Afterward it
became an honorary degree, conferred first upon the other Intendants, and
then upon the Elus, as a mark of honour and distinction. As he advanced,
the ancient Freemason ceased to work with the instruments of the labourer
the square, the level, the plumb, and the trowel, and assumed those of the
Architect and Geometrician. As he advanced, also, he passed from that branch
of geometry and mathematics which occupies itself with the earth, its surface
and the things, that belong to it, with right lines and angles, and all the
figures formed thereby, to the mathematics of the heavens and the spheres.
We no longer occupy ourselves with geometry and mathematics as sciences,
nor expect of our initiates a knowledge of their problems, or even of their
terms. To us the instruments of the geometrician, and all the figures, plane
and spherical, drawn by these instruments, have a symbolical meaning. By
means of the morality of Masonry, we advance toward its philosophy, and every
degree is a step in that direction. If you would succeed to the rank held
by Adoniram,. you must assume the obligation which it imposes.
INVESTMENT
T.: P.: I invest you with the apron, collar, and jewel of this degree. Their
colours white and blue, will remind you of what is commonly called symbolic
Masonry, or the Blue degrees, - the foundation, but not the completion and
perfection of Masonry. Upon the apron and jewel you see the five orders of
Architecture, and the instruments of a Grand Master Architect; the symbolic
meaning of which you have yet to learn. I now present you with the instruments
with which a Grand Master Architect works. Listen, and you shall learn their
uses, and of what they are the symbols to us in this degree.
T.: P.: Such are the instruments of a Grand Master Architect, and such the
lessons which they teach us. Forget not that you have solemnly sworn to practise
all the virtues which they symbolically teach; for thus only can you deserve,
how proudly so ever you may wear the title of a Grand Master Architect.
HISTORY
The history of this degree is brief, as its ceremonies are simple. After
the murderers of the Master Hiram Abif had been discovered, apprehended,
tried, and punished, his monument and mausoleum completed, and the matters
which concerned the revenue of the realm provided for, King Solomon, to assure
uniformity of work and vigour in its prosecution, and to reward the superior
and eminent science and skill of Adoniram.. the son of Abda, appointed him
to be chief Architect of the. Temple, with the title of Grand Master Architect,
and invested him with that office, as sole successor and representative of
the deceased Master Hiram Abif, and at the same time made him Grand Master
of Masons and the Masonic peer of and King Hiram of Tyre Afterward the title
conferred upon other Princes of the Jewish Court as an honorarium, and thus
the degree became established. You have heard what are the lessons taught
by the working instruments of a Grand Master Architect, and I shall not now
enlarge upon those lessons. The great duties which they inculcate demand
much of us, and take for granted our capacity to perform them fully. We hope
that we are not mistaken in believing that you possess that capacity, and
in expecting that you will be always be found equal to the task which you
thus have thus imposed upon yourself.
CLOSING
S.: G.: W.:. The sun has set, and the evening star has risen.
T.: P.: The hour of rest has arrived. Give notice to the Grand Masters that
this Chapter of Grand Master Architects is about to be closed, that they
may aid in so doing.
S.: G.: W.: Brethren in the North, the Thrice Potent Grand Master is about
to close this Chapter of Grand Master Architects, and desires your assistance
since the hour of rest has arrived.
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