Lodge Southern Cross #44 AF & AM
Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon

Over Masonic 1

by M.W.Bro. J. J. Miller

Clause 1, of the General Laws of the Mother Grand Lodge, the United Grand Lodge of England, reads: "By the solemn Act of Union between the two Grand Lodges of Free Masons of England in December 1813, it was 'declared and pronounced that pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees and no more, viz: those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft, and the Master Mason, including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch.' "

There Craft Masonry ends. But we have to-day a multiplicity of Masonic degrees and no end of branches of Freemasonry, and orders founded upon Masonic qualifications.    The student of Freemasonry often wonders whether it is a good thing, or whether it is detrimental to Craft Masonry, this gradual and never ending Masonic development. The Grand Lodge of Manitoba evidently sees danger ahead, for at the recent Annual Communication of that Grand Lodge the following regulation was adopted: "It shall be deemed an act of unmasonic conduct for any member of any Lodge under the Grand Jurisdiction of Manitoba, A.F. & A.M., to use his membership in Freemasonry as a basis for securing admission into or membership of any Body or Society hereafter to be formed or established in this Grand Jurisdiction which requires Freemasonry as a basis for such membership."

The Grand Lodge of England set its foot down some years ago, and gave brethren six months to sever their relationship with certain orders, or else lose their connection with Craft Masonry. The decision was brought about by the secretary of the extraneous order enquiring by letter if one of their applicants for membership was in good standing in his "blue" lodge. The secretary of the "blue" lodge sent the letter to the Grand Secretary, and in this manner the matter was brought before Grand Lodge. The Old Country is very conservative and very slow to adopt new fangled ideas; hence extraneous orders have not succeeded in England. Scotland is more susceptible to the blandishments of Masonic promoters, and some of these extraneous orders are prospering there. The United States of America is fertile soil for the propagation of new Masonic Orders. There they spring up over night, new order followed by new order in rapid succession. Canada, situated in such close proximity to the States, is liable to contagion. These extraneous orders have high ideals; the teachings are calculated to uplift, and nothing can be said against the principles they inculcate.

There are some branches of Masonry established, so-called higher orders of Masonry, such as the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Knights Templars, Royal and Select Masters, which, from long [usage], are looked upon as legitimate. The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite takes its members from the third degree of Craft Masonry, the others from the Holy Royal Arch. The degrees conferred are buttressed with sound Masonic doctrines, excepting those conferred in the Knights Templars' Preceptories, these degrees being essentially Christian, and consequently cannot be considered as in the broad Masonic category. The same narrowing down occurs in some of the higher degrees in the Scottish Rite.

The question has often been asked - Are these so-called higher orders conducive to the good of Craft Masonry? I have heard it from the lips of Masons who have passed through all these higher degrees that though they are of great help to the [thoughtful] Masonic student, providing him with succulent Masonic food for which his soul hungers, it is not good for Craft Masonry. The seeker after higher orders is prone to neglect the foundation of his Masonic structure – Craft Masonry. He becomes irregular in his attendance at his Craft lodge, and were it not for the legislation enacted by the higher orders, which insists on active membership in Craft Masonry, he would drop out altogether from membership therein. This statement applies broadly. There are outstanding instances of brethren who have taken the thirty-three degrees in the Scottish Rite, and all the degrees in the York Rite and Cryptic Rite, over fifty degrees in all, who remain loyal to and active in Craft Masonry, who are real, living and active members in their "blue" lodges. These are true Masons who recognize Craft Masonry as being the very foundation, the all-in-all of Freemasonry. But there are thousands who find it a physical impossibility to give attention to one half of the orders they have joined, and these are the men who cling to the higher orders and neglect or abandon the very foundation - the essential Craft Masonry.

Well, what are we going to do about it? Simply this - cultivate in Craft Masonry all those things that make the higher degrees attractive; make Craft Masonry attractive for itself; cultivate social development and fraternal amusement and recreation; satisfy the soul that hungers for education and mental food; in short, feed the body, soul and spirit with those good things that abound and are available. So we may turn our lodge from a manufacturing plant into a Masonic university, a recreative theatre, a social home, a fraternal college, and there will be less running around seeking the pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow.

It is not my purpose to decry the higher degrees of Freemasonry. I am one of those who have taken fifty degrees. I enjoy them all. I appreciate them all. I think they are elevating, refining, spiritual. They have led men in the right way, and kept them there. That is the whole design. The burden of my article is to enjoin brethren not “to bite off more than they can chew,” not to undertake more than they can do justice to, to be fair to themselves, but first of all to be fair to Craft Masonry - the foundation, the basis of all these other orders.

The multiplicity of orders based upon Masonic qualifications is a troublesome problem, and yet it need not be troublesome. It is possible to weed out from our Masonic acquaintances the fanatics who are ever manufacturing new orders. It is possible to discourage the use of Masonic qualifications for extraneous orders. "Water will always find its own level." The old Order will outlive all the mushroom imitations, and it will ever stand firm and .solid as the pyramids of Egypt long after all these other structures have crumbled away under the corroding influence of Time.

top

1 "The Square", R.J. Templeton, editor. p. 15-17

© 2006-2008, Lodge Southern Cross No. 44, BC&Y
Last Updated: 28 Dec, 2007/TMC