COUNCIL OF DELIBERATION

ORIENT OF KOREA

Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Prince Hall Affiliation

Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A

 

 

COLLEGE OF FREEMASONRY

 

Crowns and Their Significance

 

The Supreme Council has set forth a rule for the correct wearing of the crown. When wearing the crown it shall be considered to be a part of the apparel of the wearer and shall not be removed.

 

At the presentation of the flag, the crown shall remain in place, and the members shall stand at attention with the right hand over the heart.

 

During prayer the crown is held in the left hand and placed over the heart.

 

The wearing of crown is considered proper at United Supreme Council Sessions, regularly scheduled meetings, Maundy Thursday services, Easter celebrations, and other official Scottish Rite functions.

 

The Sovereign Grand Commander is the highest ranking officer of the United Supreme Council and the chief executive and judicial officer of the Rite within this Supreme Council’s Jurisdiction.  He is the representative of The Supreme Council when that Body is not in session and is invested with general powers of supervision and administration everywhere within its Jurisdiction.  The crown for the Sovereign Grand Commander is violet in color and features a gold band. On the front is the symbol of his office, a Cross of Salem with crosslets.

The purple crown is that of an elected officer of our United Supreme Council in the Southern Jurisdiction, PHA. The crown is purple in color and features a gold band. On the front is the symbol of a Cross of Patriarchal with crosslets.

 

Rings and Badges of the Scottish Rite

 

 

Possibly the most recognized (and certainly misunderstood) Masonic honor is the

Thirty-Third Degree of the Scottish Rite. The ring is a triple band of gold, either

plain or with a triangular plate of gold enclosing the numerals 33.

 

 

Central to the ritual of the 14°, Perfect Elu, is the presentation of a ring, worn

by Scottish Rite Masons from the 14° through the 32°. It is a plain gold band with

an equilateral triangular plate enclosing the Hebrew letter yud, the initial letter of

Yahweh - the Tetragrammaton - the ineffable name of God. Engraved on the inside

is the Latin motto, "Virtus Junxit Mors Non Separabit" (Whom virtue unites, death

will not separate). "The circular shape of the ring symbolizes unending commitment and loyalty, just as it does in a marriage. The triangular plate and the letter signify that the commitment is to the Deity."

A Thirty-Second Degree Mason, Master of the Royal Secret, is identified with the jewel of the Degree. The Teutonic Cross was probably adopted because the Grand Constitutions of 1786 were believed to be authored by the Prussian King, Frederick the Great, and the Teutonic Knights were the preeminent German order of knighthood. The laurel wreath is the ancient symbol of victory and triumph, and it is used throughout Scottish Rite Regalia. Here it can signify the triumph of attaining the Royal Secret.

Jewel of an “Active Member” of the United Supreme Council

 

The jewel, suspended from a purple ribbon, has very distinctive details. "The basis of the jewel is a Teutonic Cross. On that is a nine-pointed star, composed of three gold triangles, interlaced. The design also forms nine small triangles, and in each of these is one of the letters "S.A.P.I.E.N.T.I.A.", the Latin word for wisdom. A sword extends from the lower part of the left side of the jewel to the upper part of the right side. Crossing that is a "Hand of Justice".

 

This forms a scepter, terminating in a carving of a hand. On top of the cross, triangles, crossed sword, and Hand of Justice is a circular plate, and on the plate is a shield with a crowned double-headed eagle. To the right of the eagle is a balance and to the left is a Square and Compasses. Around the design is the Latin words Ordo ab Chao, Order out of Chaos, enclosed by two serpents, each biting its tail."

 

The Teutonic Cross continues to remind us of the German origins of the Grand Constitutions of 1786.

 

The double-headed eagle looking to the East and West may be from the coat of arms of Germany or from a French ancestor organization of the Scottish Rite, the Emperors of the East and West. Its crown signifies that the Thirty-third Degree is the administrative Degree of the Rite, and this symbolism of proper administration is continued with the sword of strength, the hand of justice, and the scales in balance.

 

 

The three three-sided figures remind us of 33, the number of this Degree, while Sapientia indicates the symbolic achievement required for this recognition.

 

MOTTOS OF THE SCOTTISH RITE

 

Latin phrases familiar to Scottish Rite Masons:

 

"Deus Meumque Jus"--God and My Right

"Spes Mea in Deo Est"--My Hope is in God

"Laborare Est Orare"--To Work is to Worship

"Ordo ab Chao"--Order out of Chaos

"Fiat Lux et Lux Fit"--Let there be Light and there is Light

"Lux e Tenebris"--Light out of Darkness

"Virtus Junxit Mors Non Separabit" (Whom virtue unites, death will not separate).

 

THE CROSSES USED IN THE SCOTTISH RITE

 

CROSS OF SALEM
Called also the Pontifical Cross, because it is borne before the Pope. It is a cross, the upright piece being crossed by three lines, the upper and lower shorter than the middle one. It is the insignia of the Grand Master and Past Grand Masters of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States. The same cross placed on a slant is the insignia of the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

 

CROSS, PATRIARCHAL

A cross, the upright piece being twice crossed the upper arms shorter than the lower. It is so called because it is borne before a Patriarch in the Roman Church.
It is the insignia of the officers of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States. The same cross placed on a slant is the insignia of all possessors of the Thirty-third Degree in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

 

CROSS, TEUTONIC

The cross formerly worn by the Teutonic Knights. It is described in heraldry as "a cross potent, sable (or black), charged with another cross double potent or (or gald), and surcharged with an escutcheon argent (or silver), bearing a double-headed eagle sable (or black).” It has been adopted as the jewel of the Kadosh of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in the United States, but the original jewel of the degree was a Latin or Passion Cross.

 

CROSS, SAINT ANDREW'S

A saltier or cross whose decussation or crossing of the arms is in the form of the letter X. Said to be the form of cross on which Saint Andrew suffered martyrdom. As he is the patron saint of Scotland, the Saint Andrew's cross forms a part of the jewel of the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, which is "a star set with brilliants having in the centre a field azure (blue), charged with Saint Andrew on the cross, gold this is pendant from the upper band of the collar, while from the lower band is pendant the jewel proper, the Compasses extended, with the Square and Segment of a Circle of 90°; the points of the Compasses resting on the Segment, and in the centre, the Sun between the Square and Compasses.'' The Saint Andrew's cross is also the jewel of the Twenty-ninth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, or Grand Scottish Knight of Saint Andrew.

 

The Teutonic Cross or in heraldry, the Potent Cross

Teutonic Cross

Comprised of four Tau Crosses, this form of cross was assigned to the knights of the Teutonic (Germanic) Order, founded by Emperor Henry VI as a hospital order in 1191, similar to the Templars and Hospitallers. By 1198, they became a religious military order of crusaders, first fighting in the Holy Land and later in Prussia and Lithuania. The order secured high status for themselves, but this ebbed in the 15th century.

 

It was finally broken up by Napoleon in 1809 who gave the order's main assets to his allies of the Confederation of the Rhine.

 

Their founder, Henry VI, was physically not a very imposing character, but he made up for this with his strong diplomatic skills - and a strong army. In addition to being the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry was King of Germany and was later crowned King of Sicily. It was from here that 60,000 soldiers rode off as knights to join the Third Crusade.

 

The knights didn't spend all their time killing people however; they also guarded Christian pilgrims who visited a tented hospital at the city of Acre. From this, the Teutonic Order was established, and the knights worked alongside the other two Jerusalem orders - the Templars and the Hospitallers. Pope Innocent III granted the Teutonic Knights the honor of wearing a white habit with a black cross. The knights conquered Acre, which probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but here again we see the futility of war, since the Muslims reclaimed the city about 100 years later.

 

In the thirteenth century, they turned their attention to attacking pagans in Prussia. Following that conquest, Germans and Poles settled which started a two-hundred-year process of Germanising this part of Eastern Europe.

 

Today, the order has its main presence in Vienna as a Catholic hospital order. (There is also a Protestant branch in The Netherlands. See also Protestant Church in the Netherlands Cross.) It still retains knights to this day, who must pay for the privilege, and they control several schools and hospitals. In emergencies such as war, they forgo their predecessor's sword-wielding and rampaging ways and provide an ambulance service, thus returning to their original role as hospitallers.

 

The emblem adopted by the Teutonic Knights as they rampaged into Russia. A similar cross is that worn by the Knights of Malta, which has swallow-tailed arms.