The Degree of Royal Master

  

    One of the most beautiful degrees in American Rite Freemasonry is that of the Royal Master, first of the degrees of the Cryptic Rite.  In the review section of the proceedings of the Grand Council of Missouri is to be found this description of the degree and its symbolism.

   

   Far too little attention has been given by students of Freemasonry to the first of the degrees conferred in the Council of Royal and Select Masters.  We refer to the degree of Royal Master, a degree which is essential to a proper understanding of Ancient Craft Masonry and its symbolism.

   A candidate for the degree of Royal Master may be regarded as a Fellowcraft in search of Divine Truth, who, having received the necessary preceding degrees believes that he is, of right, entitled to a full enlightenment in the Masonic mysteries by receiving the secrets of a Master Mason.

   There seems to be several opinions as to why the name Royal Master is used.  Some are of the opinion that it is derived from the name of the traditional Masonic patron, Solomon, King of Israel, who, with Hiram, King of Tyre, is said to have established this substitute for the Master Mason degree.  Others are of the opinion that the title is given to those who have acquired a true knowledge of the WORD, and have thereby become Masters – indeed Royal Masters – for the true Freemason is a King, not of a material kingdom but a Kingdom of Love, Love for fellow-man, that Love that will bring the universal brotherhood.

   For many years there has appeared in some of the Council rituals a reference to a “Royal Vault.”  This wording has now, by act of the General Grand Council, been changed to “Secret Vault.”  Although the Secret Vault was constructed by two individuals who might have been termed “Royal,” yet many others were engaged in its construction according to Masonic tradition.

   There is a most interesting comparison which is overlooked by many of those receiving the degree.  Let it be remembered that the degree antedates, chronologically at least, the degree of Master Mason.  In the degree of Royal Master the attempt to acquire the word of the Master is based upon reason; those who attempt to acquire knowledge have marshalled together facts upon which to base their demand.  In this instance, while the actual word is never given, yet an explanation was offered which should have been satisfactory – and which apparently was.  Reason was given why the word was not then available.  No details were given, but these were unnecessary; the mere statement there had been an agreement among the possessors of the Word was satisfying.

   In another instance, in another degree of the Rite, a similar demand was made.  Reason had no part in this demand.  Force was the impelling power.  Force is never successful unless accompanied by Reason; hence the failure to accomplish the purpose of securing a thing to which the workers were not entitled.  By their own acts they had proved themselves unworthy of the thing which they desired most to acquire!

   Freemasonry teaches the doctrine of Immortality.  It believes that if a Man die, he shall live again.  The Freemason cannot believe that this present life is all there is of existence.  He, therefore, looks upon Death as a Gate – a place of Entrance – a final initiation into the Mysteries of Life – a place where he shall acquire a true knowledge of Truth as manifested by the Eternal Father.

   The degree of Royal Master dwells upon the subject of death and attempts to impress upon the mind of every candidate the importance of laboring here on this earth so that he may be worthy to enter the Great Lodge to which we are all hastening.

   “Death is a theme not lightly to be broached by those who are subject to its powers” – that is the central theme of the degree.  Since Death terminates the labors of a Man, it is essential that we should labor to accomplish our work before Eternity sets in.  Others may follow after us, but what they may do will not affect those who have passed on.

   Truth, ever elusive, may be lost.  History proves that, yet through the ages, men in various parts of the world have labored in its behalf and have preserved it for the benefit of the world.  Truth may be buried in the dust of the ages, but the true initiation by Death will discover and bring to Light the Truth Eternal, the object of every Freemason’s search.

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   Tradition tells us that one of the last acts of a great Masonic martyr was to receive the work of a highly trained craftsman, known as Adoniram; to Adoniram had been assigned the work of fabricating some of the furniture for the sanctum sanctorum.  Most of this equipment had already been made and placed.  On a certain evening, Adoniram brought up for the inspection of the Chief Architect of the Temple, a beautiful piece of work which entitled its maker to the commendation of all who saw it.  Yet, it apparently had no particular place assigned to it in the sanctum sanctorum, and none seemed to be able to understand its import.  It consisted of three candlesticks arranged in some sort of a triangular position.  King Solomon is said to have recognized the symbolic importance of the work at once, immediately declaring this piece of work should be placed about the altar, and that thereafter, in all Masonic Lodges, a similar arrangement should be made of the candlesticks, symbolizing the three essential attributes of Deity, Omniscience, Omnipresence, and Omnipotence.
   
   And thus it is to this day.

   The Equilateral Triangle is the most perfect of figures and has been so regarded from the earliest times.  Each side is the same length; each angle is the same.  In ancient times it was a character used to identify the Deity.  In Freemasonry, the stations of the three principal officers of a Lodge form a triangle.

   The broken Equilateral Triangle is quite generally used as the emblem of the Council.  Symbolically, the three great exemplars constituted a Masonic Triangle and the removal of one by death destroyed the unity of the group – hence the remaining two were represented by a broken triangle.

   And there has been much argument over what constitutes a broken triangle.  In some jurisdictions the whole side of the triangle has been removed, which leaves not a triangle, but two lines forming an angle; imagination has to be called in to have a broken triangle.  The fact that the side, which has been removed, represented one who had been wrenched by Death from the figure, should, in some manner, show that figure was formerly a three sided one and not just an angle.  After all, only the spiritual body disappeared; the physical body remained and to our mind and notion, this may be best represented by removing a portion of the third side of the triangle.

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   To the Royal Master, duly initiated, Death is the Alpha and Omega of Human Life.  Or should we say the Omega and Alpha?  Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet; Omega is the last.  Biblical references (Isaiah) mention both Alpha and Omega, which are translated as “the first and the last,” the “beginning and the ending.”

   And so, to us, Death is the “ending” of the Present Life (the Omega), and the “beginning” of the Future Life (the Alpha).

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   If you enjoyed the ritualistic work of the Royal Master degree, you will certainly appreciate the explanatory lecture which constitutes one of the most instructive lectures in Freemasonry, dealing not only with the traditions of the degree but with the furniture of the Sanctum Sanctorum; even the Scriptures quoted in one of the sections of the degree have to do with the manufacture of the Holy Vessels of the Temple

    

   A careful study of the degree is earnestly recommended to all Freemasons.  As we have said before, it deserves more attention as a degree of the Ancient Craft than has been give it.

(Reprinted from The Royal Arch Mason, Volume IV, Number 3, September 1952, pages 69 through 71)