Subscribe"Men and women who do not know anything of the structure of Masonry, nor the meanings of its Degrees, will still remember that their father or grandfather had - and was proud of having - the 32°. At the same time, they do not know what a Degree is or the significance of the number 32.I suspect the number references a "degree". Googling the phrase "degree mason ring" resuts in this.
A Degree is a play, a type of didactic theatre which became popular in the Middle Age in Europe. It was primarily used to teach stories from the Bible to a populace which could not read. A nearly universal use of theatre, this type of play is found in ancient China, India, and Egypt as well as in Greece and Rome. You see it in the shadow puppets of Ceylon as well as in the storyteller's stalls of Baghdad.
In Masonry, the person receives a Degree-sometimes by observing it as it is performed, sometimes by participating in the action himself. When a man has received the three Degrees of the Blue Lodge, he is a Master Mason. When he has received the 4° through the 32° in the Scottish Rite, he is called a 32° Mason, or a Master of the Royal Secret.
But why do we have a Degree system at all, and is a 32° Mason a "higher level" Mason than one who stops at the Master Mason Degree? As with so many things, it depends on what we mean.
In one very real sense, there is no Degree higher than the Third Degree, the Master Mason Degree. When you have that Degree, you are a full-fledged Mason-and you will never be "more of a Mason" than you are the night you receive the Third Degree. But, on the other hand, Masons who have taken the so-called "Higher Degrees" have had an opportunity to watch more Degree work from more Masonic traditions. In addition, they have had the opportunity to talk with others about the different symbols and allegories presented in these plays. The Master Mason Degree has been compared to the high school diploma in Masonry. It has often been said that the Scottish Rite is the "college" or "university" course in Freemasonry. Being a 32° Mason doesn't mean that you are somehow more of a Brother than a member who holds the 3°. It does mean that you have had the opportunity to learn much more. The 32° Mason may not be "better," but he is, generally, more knowledgeable about Masonry.
What do the Degrees teach and how do they teach it? First of all (and this isn't just splitting hairs), the Degrees do not teach - they give the person the chance to learn. The difference is important. Except at a very surface level, the Degrees do not attempt to teach specific lessons. Instead, they give parallel examples from earlier cultures, they raise questions, they challenge us to think. Freemasonry, in each of its branches, is a journey of self-discovery and self-development. Its purpose is to help us become more fully ourselves. We have all known people who were self-confident without being arrogant, who were generous without being condescending, who were willing to learn from us and willing to share their information with us, who understand love and honor and compassion and duty and joy, and who live out that understanding from day to day. Masonry tells us that is the natural and normal condition of man. Freemasonry tries to help us develop ourselves into that kind of person.
How does it "teach"? Primarily by symbol and allegory, because those are the most effective teaching tools known. You remember from your own school days that you learned better when the teacher made it possible for you to figure things out on your own than when she or he gave you a list of facts to memorize. An allegory is a story in which another story is "hidden," not to make it secret, but to make it a more effective learning tool.
Take the story of the three little pigs, for example. The story seems to be about three pigs who build their houses from different materials, only one of which stands up against the attack of the wolf. But we are not intended to leave it there. Instead we are supposed to think about it. Why do the pigs build from different materials? What does it really mean that the first pig builds its house of straw (cabbages, in the original)? What does a house symbolize? Obviously, protection against the elements and danger as well as the assurance of comfort and security.
Perhaps building a house of straw means taking the easy way out of things, just doing the minimum required. Maybe the story tells us that when real trouble comes to us, a life built that way just won't work. While the allegories which form the Degrees of the Scottish Rite are richer and more complex than that-the process is the same.
This process of learning, of self-development, is not always comfortable. We confront beliefs and attitudes in the symbols of the Degrees which are negative, and we have to ask ourselves if those negative elements are in our own lives, too. We watch the characters in the 21° believe false rumor and nearly do terrible injustice because of that. Seeing this, we have to ask ourselves if we have been willing to believe and pass on scandal (or even worse, to pass it on without even believing it, just because it made a good story). We see people dispense justice too quickly and without all the facts, and we have to ask ourselves if we always get the facts in making decisions or if we react on the basis of prejudice or ignorance.
But even when the lesson are uncomfortable, they are important. We are given the chance to warn ourselves about the future and inventory our actions in the present. The images are a powerful and potent today as they have been for 200 years. We learn by Degrees.
And so, the young man's pride in his grandfather's 32° is justified and reasonable. Yours should be as well. As a 32° Scottish Rite Mason, a Master of the Royal Secret, you have made the commitment to self-development. You have decided that man does not live by bread alone, but that such things as honor and integrity are as necessary for survival as is food. You have decided that it is cowardly to live without values and more than cowardly to try to avoid the consequences of your own actions.
You have accepted the duty to help make the lives of others better and happier. You have shouldered the burden and the glory of Scottish Rite Freemasonry.
You are a 32° Mason!"
1904. David A. Smalley received first section of the Third Degree in Chicago. The lodge was not permitted to reassemble because of strict regulation resulting from the fire in the Iroquois Theater. Two weeks later the second section was conferred on him. During the intervening period, he was a two and a half degree Mason.This oddity appears again in Masonic Trivia -
On June 27, 1921, Mystic Lodge #21 of Red Bank, NJ, conferred half od the third degree on brother Lyman C. Van when the power went out. He didn't receive the rest of the degree for several weeks, making him, for a time, a "two and a half degree" Mason.This could be something codified in a subsociety.
"Now, using hints and clues left by Brown in interviews, on his website, and on the cover of The Da Vinci Code, Greg Taylor takes readers on an unprecedented tour of the new book before it is even released."I have e-mailed Mr. Taylor to see if he has insight into this symbolism.
"I have discovered a coin; i believe it may be what is known as a 'chapter penny'. On the obverse it bears the legend "They received every man a penny" and a thistle, on the reverse, "St Andrews Millitary No. 668" and "TKSHTWSS" in a circle (if that is the correct order...)Also, there are references to a group of Freemasons (and formerly of Knights Templar) called 'The Order of Knights of St. Andrew' or 'of the Thistle'. So, who knows? We'll likely not nail down the ring's symbolism or meaning. Nonetheless, I'm learning some stuff today.
Any information you could give as to what on earth it was for, what the letters signify etc i would greatly appreciate.
"In ancient times your Chapter Penny was your most valued possession. It was given as a token of credit when services or money was borrowed and not returned until the debt was fully repaid. It was the 'mark' of a man's integrity to keep his word. Very similar to having a credit card in today's world. In its Masonic use, the penny is simply a symbol of the reward of faithful labor. In the parable read in the Mark Degree a penny is the amount given to each of the laborers in the vineyard for his day's labors. This was also the chief silver coin of the Romans from the beginning of the coinage of the city to the earliest part of the third century. Indeed, the name continued to be employed in the coinage of the Continental States, which imitated that of the Byzantine Empire, and was adopted by the Anglo-Saxons."*
"An explosive new book published today reveals to the public for the first time the practices and bizarre initiation rites of the mysterious brotherhood, the Royal Arch Purple Order. Entitled Behind Closed Doors, it has been written by a former member of the order, 33-year-old Co Down man Paul Malcomson....In the book, Mr Malcomson describes the inauguration ceremony as follows: ‘The oath-bound Royal Arch Purple aspirant is prepared for initiation in typically Masonic manner, by being stripped of much of his clothes. ‘He is divested of his coat and vest, collar and tie, shoes and socks. One shoe is then placed on the candidate's left bare foot, and the legs of his trousers rolled up above the knee, his left breast being bare. ‘The candidate is then blindfolded and a piece of purple ribbon is fastened to the front of the candidate's shirt or other garment. ‘Clearly, the Arch Purple initiate by participating in such a ceremony is aligning himself with those initiated into the mysteries throughout the centuries."
"The Royal Arch Purple Degree (3rd degree) is based on the original theme of the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. The 2 1/2 reminds us of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh who, although their inheritance was assured on the other side of Jordan advanced in the vanguard of the army when crossing the river to assist their brethren to secure the Promised Land." *So, as a betting man ... I'll go with the ring signifying the Scottish gent as being a member of the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland. He has attained The Royal Arch Purple Degree (3rd degree) and can wear the '2 1/2' emblem. He is part of a religious fraternal organization which is " officially forbidden" in Ireland. Initiation into the order involves "bizarre initiation rites" which likely had their origins in Freemasonry.
"[Before you all get tied up on the Masons, I should advise that the symbolgy is of the Orange Lodge not the Masons.The Masons are cousins of the Orange Lodge and share many similarities. It is the '2 1/2' that gives it away. Many Orangemen wear a small pin on their label to that affect. 'IGIMT' does mean 'In God Is My Trust.' In Lodge, this inscription is front and centre. All references are of Old Testament origin. If you do a word search of a site that will allow for Bible usage, check out each symbol in the English equivalent. The fact that "he" had certain specific symbols on his stone, signify his having attainted at least the Royal Purple Marksman's degree.] '2 1/2' The Royal Arch Purple Degree (3rd degree) is based on the original theme of the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. The 2 1/2 reminds us of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh who, although their inheritance was assured on the other side of Jordan advanced in the vanguard of the army when crossing the river to assist their brethren to secure the Promised Land."*
"American Orangemen take an active role in the work of the Council. A Past Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of the USA, Brother Frederick E. Stewart, Jr., was the President of the World Orange Council for the 1997 - 2000 term."*
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"The Loyal Orange Institution originated in Ireland in 1795, as a fraternal society among the Protestants of County Armagh. Named in honor of King William III of England, Prince of Orange, lodges were established in most Protestant centers of Ireland by 1800, England and Canada by 1808, and among Ulster immigrants in New York City by 1867. Rapid growth in the society led to the establishment of a Grand Lodge for the United States in 1870. By 1873 there were 100 lodges claiming a national membership of 10,000, growing to 364 lodges and 30,000 members by 1914.
...The Orange Hall and Library Association of the City of Philadelphia was organized in 1884, among members of the local lodges of the Loyal Orange Institution. A few years later members revised name to the Orange Hall Association of Philadelphia."*
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"Rising Star Lodge No. 537, Loyal Orange Institution of the U.S., located at Petaluma, CA."*
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"The United States is the only country outside the former British Commonwealth Nations in which the organization has an existence. It was established in the United States on August 12, 1868 and a Grand Lodge of the Loyal Orange Institution for the Unites States was organized in 1870. In the United States, the LOI's objectives are to promote civil and religious liberty and loyalty to the United States. In this regard, parallels have been drawn between the Loyal Orange Institution of the United States and other patriotic orders, including the American Protective Association, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and the Patriotic Order of Sons of America. In fact, the LOI on at least one occasion (1895) met in a congress with these other orders at Washington, D.C., where the participants adopted a political platform advocating restricted immigration and legislation against certain alleged tendencies of the Roman Catholic church: Notice of this platform was communicated to both houses of the U.S. Congress and to the leaders of the Democratic and Republican Parties. (The Cyclopaedia of Fraternities, Albert C. Stevens, p. 308 (Hamilton Printing and Publishing Co., New York: 1899). The Royal Black Institution controls eleven degrees: Royal Black, Royal Scarlet, Royal Mark, Apron and Royal Blue, Royal White, Royal Green, Royal Gold, Star and Garter, Scarlet Arrow, Link and Chain, and Red Cross. In California an Orangeman is to be proud of the Protestant tradition, to advocate the continued separation between church and state, and to support secular public schools and freedom of religion. According to Californian Jim Dougan, a Past Grand Master of the LOI and member of Rising Star Lodge No. 537, "We don't have animosity toward Catholics here." The Orange Lodges sometimes paid sick and death benefits, but never made this feature conspicuous. (Thoughts for the Occasion: Fraternal and Benevolent - A Reference Manual, Franklin Noble, p. 567 (E.B. Treat & Co., New York: 1905).
The ritual of the LOI is based on biblical teachings. While religious in nature, the LOI, like other fraternities, is not a religion nor does it hold itself out as a substitute for organized religion. In 1795, there was only one degree, that of Orangeman, to which the Purple Degree was added in 1796 and later Markman. These were supplemented with the Heroine of Jericho, formerly conferred in the United States as a 'side degree' for Royal Arch Masons and their wives, but which was since anulled. The fifth degree was the Scarlet Degree. (The Cyclopaedia of Fraternities, Albert C. Stevens, p. 308 (Hamilton Printing and Publishing Co., New York: 1899). It is believed that these degrees have been reduced to two: Orangeman and Royal Arch Purple Marksman. "*
Hi Eric,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Personally, I've never heard of it (I'm not a Mason by the way), although it sounded Masonic so I asked an extremely knowledgeable friend (on these matters) about it. He said there is a certain type of Protestant Masonry which uses the 2 and a half symbolism, but he couldn't remember the name of the actual order. So I think you're on the right track with that. Sorry I can't offer more help.
Hope you enjoy my book!
Kind regards,
Greg
posted by oh pollo! at 7:18 AM on July 20, 2007