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The real purpose of this degree is
to teach the true Nature of God. It is an allegory and
a dramatic representation of the Great Initiation of
the true mystic and represents the Beatific Vision,
the ultimate goal at which he aims. This Vision is the
comprehension of the Nature of God within him and the
Sublume Union which always exists between Man and God,
although, until he has achieved it, he realises it not.
It is indeed the at-one-ment (Aikya) of the Jivatma
and the Paramathma.
The three Craft degrees clearly correspond
with the birth, life and death of man. The Third Degree
does not give any clear idea or indication of Resurrection.
The qualifications of a Candidate for
exaltation in the Chapter is that he must at least be
a Master Mason. In the third degree of the Craft, the
Master Mason was raised from the grave, after a figurative
death, but he did not get the gunlne secrets, for these
can only be acquired after real death ; and so instead
of returning to the World as does the Master Mason in
the Royal Arch, he arrives on the Spirit Plane and is
therefore prepared primarily, as he was in the M.M.
Degree, but is not restored to his personal comforts.
The examination of the Candidate before
the ceremony of exaltation has a symbolic meaning. After
death a man's past life rises before him for judgement.
In like manner, the earnest seeker, at this stage in
the mystic quest, reviews in his mind's eye, his past
life and particularly those parts of it which cover
his Spiritual Evolution. The person who tests him is
the Principal sojourner, who represents Conscience.
The Principal Sojourner is regarded as a official candidate,
experiencing the same experiences as does the real candidate
; and is accompanied by a shadow, represented by the
Assistant Sojourner. In passing it may be pointed out
that the three Sojourners, the Principal and Assistant
Sojourners, are the Shadows of the Three Principals,
who represent the Triune Nature of God. It is for this
reason that they sit together, for God, although a Trinity,
is a Unity. The three Sojourners represent Man, i.e.,
body, Soul and Spirit. The second Assistant Sojourner
represents the Body and therefore is of no importance
at all. The 1st Assistant Sojourner represents the Spirit
and does all the important work in the quest, for it
is the Spirit, the Divine Spark within us, which really
leads us to the conception of God, for the simple reason
that it is Divine, a shadow of a Spark from the Supreme
Being and it is this Spark alone, which justifies the
thought that we are immortal.
In the preparation of the Candidate,
the Principal Sojournher meets and interrogates the
Candidate alone, outside the door of the Chapter, because
it is the Spirit speaking through the voice of Conscience,
on his past life. The Candidate receives in turn a pass
word, which means M.P.H.F. me, which links up with the
past and points onwards to the future. By this the Conscience
says that God is so Merciful that, aware of our frailties
and our struggles to overcome them, He grants us Mercy.
The Door of the R. A. Chapter represents
the Gateway of Heaven, whether it is regarded as the
Heaven whither, in due course, we hope to ascend after
our mortal life is ended, or that internal Heaven which
lies hidden within a Man's Heart. The knocks emphasise
the fact the Body, Soul and Spirit are now one and so
correspond with the Trinity in the Unity of God.
The Principals and other Companions
are seated in Council and represents the Sanhedrim.
The Principal Sojourner and Candidate have been journeying
from the mundane world towards Heaven, having passed
three veils i.e. the physical World, the World of the
Soul and the World of the Spirit, The formless and Divine
Spark knocks with R.A. knocks outside the Gate of Heaven.
The Candidate, representing the spiritualised
body, stands between Spirit and Soul. The circumambulation
is significant. This journey symbolises the return of
the Spirit to God, whose emblem is the Circle; and since
the Circle is an infinity which has no beginning or
end, it shows that by entering therein, the Spirit In
Mans is established for ever and achieves immortality.
The Candidate is not in this Degree
led but is figuratively pulled, by P.S. Indicating that
the Divine Spark draws the Soul and Spiritual (Ethereal)
Body (Sukshmasarira) After it, going upto God.
The Seven steps summarises the conquest
by the Candidate of the elements in his nature. The
Seven steps represents the Seven Planets. The Twelve
Standards of the Tribes represents the Twelve Signs
of the Zodiac. The Vault is a Vault of Heaven and is
the Emblem of God. The Circle made by the Candidate
in darkness before he descends into the Vault indicates
the journey of the Sun thrugh the Twelve Signs of Zodiac
represented by the Twelve Banners, though in fact the
Candidate is not aware of it. Thus without the knowledge
of the Candidate, each sign which is part of God casts
its influence on Man, in quest for the Spirit or in
other words, God unseen by Man is purging and cleaning
his Spirit, symbolised by the Sun. As soon as the hoodwink
is removed, the Candidate sees the Twelve signs and
realises how the process of cleaning him was done by
the attributes of God and he sees them as beautiful
and resplendent influences, which will aid and assess
him on his further journey.
In passing it may be pointed out that
in astrology there are only seven main planets viz.,
Sun, (Surya), Moon (Chandra) Mars (Kuja) Mercury (Budha),
Jupiter (Guru), Venus (Sukra) and Saturn (Sani). Apart
from the seven main planets, there are two shadowy planets
viz. Rahu and Kethu. The Sun is in the centre and as
it passes through the zodiac draws with it the planets;
and the Sun, Moon and the elements represent Man and
his attributes. The Sun is the Spirit, the Divine Spark
reflected by the Light of the Spirit. Mars smbolic energy
which represents anger and desires on a Lower Plane
and also represents force courage. Mercury represents
intellectual faculty. Jupiter represents material judgement
and discriminatory faculties. Venus represents Love
and Human Desires. Saturn represents critical faculties
and makes Man gain experience.
The first three steps represent Mars
or aspirations, Mercury or reason and Jupiter, or balanced
Judgement. The next two represent Venus or Divine Love
and Saturn represent the man's fortitude. The Sun, the
sixth step represents the Divine Spirit within us. The
Moon, the seventh, represents our Soul which unites
within it all the five characteristics and yet is a
reflection of the Divine Spirit itself.
We are now symbolically about to descend
into the Vault, the Underworld, the mystic Hell we are
lowered by means of a symbolic rope which again brings
to mind the use of a rope, as a symbol of Divine; Grace.
It is the P.S. or Divine Spark which lowers us into
the vault pointing out that though surrounded by darkness,
we are not abandoned. Though Body and Soul have descended
into the Innerecesses, the candidate sees nothing. The
candidate can hear and therefore respon to the words
of the Divine Message. Thus this representative of the
fact that we are penetrating deep into our own hidden
nature and we have delved inwards beyonds the needs
of the Body and even of the Soul (the two coping stones).
But our own efforts cannot enable into enter into the
secret hidden chamber of the Spirit. The portion of
the scripture that is read deals with God's Wisdom and
leads us to turn to His revealed Word - the Scroll or
Parchment. But, without the Divine Light to guide us
we are unable to read. Thus though we may be able to
read it through our physical eyes, we cannot comprehend
its inner meaning without that Divine Light which is
from above.
Then follows the obligation. We are
now about to enter into the symbolism of ascension and
to penetrate the profound mystery of the nature of God.
We have by the help of God's Grace and His revealed
world successfully passed through that period of doubt
and difficulty. Out of the darkness of the Vault, we
heard the Divine Voice calling us and His arm has drawn
us forth into the Light. This new obligation seals our
lips to the inner nature of God. When Light is restored
to the candidate, he sees the twelve signs of the zodiac
as a beautiful emblem of God's Divine Teaching and at
the very centre, he sees, though he knows it not, the
Divine name. Thus it is at the very beginning of his
ascent towards the mystical Triple Tau, a Symbol of
the Triune Nature of Man.
The P.S. symbolizing the Divine Spark
descends into the dark vault of Man's innermost anture
and discovers that it is God himself who manifests in
us. But for the Divinity within us our physical bodies
cannot exist in the mundane world, which itself is a
manifestation of God. It would be seen that when a man
dies, his body disintegrates for the reason that the
Divine Spark - the Spirit - has with drawn from the
Body and returns back into the formless void from which
it came. This is just like the smile, when the pot containing
the river water breaks or distinergrates, the river
water joins the river, losing its form and merging with
he river. This also represents that God manifested in
creation is not the whole God and God the unmanifest
is represented by the Principals. Therefore after the
mystical resurrection, Man must be sent into the vold
or the Ocean itself in order to comprehend the nature
of the Supreme Being.
The questions of Z and the reply of
P. S. Point out that the seekers of Truth are sons of
God, the King of Kings. The reply of the strangers,
"any position to which etc." implies humility,
which is only part of the knowledge of God. IN the beginning
of the narrative of P.S. We find a reference to the
disco very of a pair of Pillars which represents the
Gate o Heaven. Further this and the six pair of Pillars
referred to in the narrative represents Gate of Heaven.
Further this and the six pair of Pillars referred to
the narrative represents the seven veils through which
the ascending soul must pass before it reaches the Throne
of God. In the Jewish and Christian teachings the Seven
Heavens are referred to and the Hindu also recognises
Seven Worlds or Lokas above. This also refers to the
seven stages of Man in the Spiritual Evolution. The
main life line is the link which connects the Divine
Spark in Man with the Supreme Being. The two lesser
life lines represents the Body and the Soul. It would
be noted that there is no link of the Body and Soul
iwth the Supreme being. The reference that the P. S.
Signal with his left hand for more liberty, represents
that the Soul is the means of Inter-communication between
the spiritual and the material world and is the link
whereby the Spirit in Man is enabled to transmit to
the body is discoveries in the realm of the Spirit,
while in the physical world the body alone enables us
to communicate our discoveries to our fellow mortals.
Thus it must be noted that the Body has an Important
role to play in the communication of the secrets to
other fellowmen and instruct them in their ascension
to Heavenly abode.
The significance of the sentence discovered
on the parchment correlates with the opening verse of
the Gospel according to St. John, "In the beginning
there was Light and the Light which lighteth every man
who cometh into the World."
The hour when this happened is midday,
This correspondence to the same hour that H.A.B. met
with his tragic experience and it is at this hour that
the genuine secrets of a Master Mason was lost.
The object discovered is a plate of
gold placed on a double cube stone. The Triangle represents
the Triune Nature of God. The Circle is the emblem of
infinity and this lies E. G. within a square (on the
top of the altar), the emblem of Matter. The whole symbol
indicates that Man like God is triune in Nature, is
immortal, eternal and divine, although his Body is material.
The whole represents Chakra of the Hindu.
The candidate starts from the north-west
corner in darkness, the pre-natal darkness of physical
and also of spiritual birth. He is entrusted with the
secrets at the north-east corner.
Thus the Royal Arch is at once the
foundation and the keystone of the whole Masonic structure.
The Royal Arch is not another degree and might be called
another Order. Whereas E. A., F.C., and M. M. are called
degrees conferred by the same set of Officers, the R.
A. is given by an entirely separate Body with officers
whose names do not correspond to Craft Officers.
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