Secrets and Practices of the Freemasons: Sacred Mysteries, Rituals and Symbols Revealed - Jean-Louis de Biasi 2011

Lodge of Perfection
Practice of The Individual Rituals of The High Degrees

As we saw in the last chapter, each degree develops a specific myth and story. Some are connected, others not. Some are using myths from the Bible. In others, the rituals seems more connected to the Ancient Mysteries, like Mithraism, Eleusian, etc. These higher degrees can be seen as developing and deepening the three first degrees, which are complete in themselves.

These myths are performed in the Masonic lodges, chapters, councils, or consistories as initiatic rituals. This is an important process that allows the candidate to receive a deep experience of the hidden meanings. Of course, these rituals contain lectures, and other more theatrical elements. Participation in these symbolic and maybe sacred ceremonies one helps to go further in one’s understanding of the Craft. They are opportunities to progress in the moral and symbolic explanations of the Masonic way.

These rituals are generally used in groups. However, the most important of them have an esoteric structure, which is able to be used privately in order to integrate this spiritual process. Most of the time this framework is hidden. It can be seen in a useful way only with the help of the Hermetic principles I already explained. So don’t worry if in some cases you don’t recognize the progression. Undoubtedly, you will be able to see it clearly and immediately with the ritual work. The intention of these esoteric individual practices has never been to replace the group’s ritual. The purpose is always to create a strong link between the initiate and the egregore of the Scottish Rite with the opportunity to improve this relationship with the heart of the system. With this help, the connection will be stronger for the betterment of the initiate, the Scottish Rite, and humanity.

The Royal Arch of Solomon (13th Degree)

The 13th degree of the Scottish Rite may be linked with the 14th degree that uses the same Qabalistic principles. This degree also has many symbols in common with the Royal Arch high degrees.[1]

the individual practice

Prepare your sacred space for the individual practice just as you did for the Masonic meditation (Chapter Six).

On your altar, place the representation of the Hermetic Tree of Life. You will find this drawing in the appendix.

You will need ten tealight candles. Place one candle on each of the circles. The circles represent the ten spheres (Sephiroth) of the Hermetic Tree of Life. Incense is optional.

Put the symbol of the degree (a triangle with the letter Yod at its center) on the east side of your altar or on the eastern wall. (See the illustration next to this text). If you have an apron or collar of this degree, you may wear them.

When everything is ready, sit down on your chair and relax for a while. Remain in this position for a few moments, breathing quietly, with your eyes closed or slightly closed. Be attentive to your breathing; listen to your breath flow in and out. Watch your chest rise and fall. Remain quiet, breathing gently in and out. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Continue relaxing for a while.

Maintain your state of relaxation. Make sure you are comfortably seated, and that your back is as straight as possible. Place your hands flat on your thighs. Continue your rhythmic breathing. Light the candle that is closest to the east, in the upper circle. Sit down with your hands on your thighs and meditate. When you feel that the time is right (five minutes maximum), open your eyes and look at the symbolic representations of the Qabalistic Tree. Remaining completely relaxed, simply look at this diagram without focusing on any particular thought.

Put your right forefinger very close to the easternmost candle (candle number 1 in the chart below). Exclaim the sacred word. (See the list of sacred names in the table below. They are numbered according to the candle they are to be used with. Note that you will not light any more candles at this juncture).

Move your right forefinger close to the candle at the center of the second circle and pronounce the second word. Repeat this sequence for the other eight circles.

Meditate for a few moments. Relax and listen to the sound of your own breathing. After breathing quietly for a little while, visualize a triangle of gold, engraved with the four sacred letters of the divine name (the Tetragrammaton) directly in front of you:

Yod (), He (), Vav (), He ()

Listen to the sound of your breath as it flows in and out, while you continue to focus your attention on these four letters.

When you feel ready, light each of the candles in ascending order, as explained in the chart below. Each time you light a candle, you must pronounce (or vibrate) the corresponding sacred word, which is on the right side of the chart. You will do the same for the ten spheres.

Meditate until you feel ready to continue. Breathe deeply, rhythmically, and empty your mind.

Now imagine that you are standing in front of an altar of white marble that is two cubits high. On the top of this altar you see a triangle of agate engraved with the four letters of the Tetragrammaton (described above). Contemplate this jewel until you feel ready to continue, and then cease all visualizations.

Imagine that you are looking up at the sky. Visualize the starry arch of the heavens as the ceiling of your temple. The vast expanse of this starry arch is the vaulted ceiling that surmounts all beneath it. This is the first veil. Maintain this visualization and pronounce the words:

Eïn Soph Aor

Visualize yourself penetrating the veil. Continue your journey across this starry expanse, on to the next veil. When you are directly in front of it, pronounce the words:

Eïn Soph

Imagine yourself penetrating this veil. Continue on until you reach the third veil. When you are directly in front of it, pronounce the word:

Eïn

Imagine that you are now floating in a vault of empty and silent space. Your respiration is the only thing that connects you to your physical body. Meditate on this feeling and experience for as long as you like. When you feel your concentration on this experience decreasing, bring your attention to the sensations of your body and open your eyes.

Take the candle snuffer and extinguish the candles in the order shown in the chart below. When you extinguish a candle, pronounce the word and visualize the color associated with this sphere (see table below). Take your time moving through this sequence, gradually progressing from one sphere to the next. The duration of your stay at one sphere may differ from your stay at the next sphere. This is normal and it is a good indication of the work you are doing. This work is connected to your spiritual and invisible bodies, and different aspects of your spiritual and physical bodies need a different amount of time to accomplish the necessary work.

When all the candles are extinguished, breathe deeply and meditate briefly with your eyes closed. Begin to enjoy this darkness, recognizing it as benevolent. You realize that there is an eternal flame inside you. This inner light can never be extinguished. Enjoy the sensation of your breathing gently in and out; listen to your heartbeat; experience all the sensations emanating from your physical body.

When you feel finished enjoying this inner peace, pronounce the sacred names in ascending order, as indicated in the table below. As you pronounce the name, visualize the associated color.

After you have completed the pronunciation of the ten sacred words, relax for a few moments. When you feel ready to begin the closing, remove the candles and the representation of the Qabalistic Tree. Use your notebook to record your feelings, comments, and any ideas you received during this ritual.

the symbolic story of this degree

It might be interesting for you to know the myth that is related to this degree. The information in this myth will help you to understand the relationship of some of the history of the world with the individual practice of this degree.

A long time after the deaths of Hiram, Solomon the King of Jerusalem, and all the people of their generation; after the armies of Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem; after they had razed the Temple to the ground and taken the survivors into captivity; when the mountain of Zion was no more than an arid desert where a few skeletal goats grazed, three travelers arrived one morning, riding their camels. They were magi, initiates from Babylon, and members of the universal priesthood, who came to this place on a pilgrimage, to explore the ruins of the ancient sanctuary.

After a frugal meal, these pilgrims began to walk around this devastated place. The ancient walls and columns that had fallen on the ground helped them to imagine the borders of the Temple. They started to look more closely at the engravings on the capitals, and to examine some of the stones that were strewn about, trying to find special inscriptions and symbols.

As they were searching under an overturned wall in the middle of a huge network of brambles, they discovered a hole in the ground. The hole was located in the southeast corner of the Temple. They immediately began to clear away the brambles around this opening. After a period of work, the eldest, who appeared to be their leader, lay down on his stomach and peered into the hole.

Figure 39: Structure of the well in the Royal Arch

Degree in the Scottish Rite

It was midday, the Sun shone at its zenith, and its rays of light penetrated almost vertically into the well. The magus saw something that looked like a shiny object at the bottom of the well. He called his companions to check this glimmer of light reflecting up from the earth. As the elder had done, they, too, laid down and looked. Undoubtedly, something was sparkling beneath them, flashing with fire like a sacred jewel. The three pilgrims decided one of them should go down into the well. To make a rope so the chosen member could climb down, they undid their belts, linked them together, and threw one end into the well. Two of them then held one end of this leather rope, helping the third to climb down into what now seemed like a very dark cave. Their leader disappeared into the shadows.

Using his hands and feet, the magus rappelled into the depths of the cave. As he progressed, he noticed that the wall was divided into several cylinders or columns that were each made of stones of many different colors. The dimension of these different stones was around a cubit each in height. When he finally reached the floor of the well, he realized that there were ten rings. He looked around at the floor. At the center of this circular floor, he saw what he recognized as the jewel of Hiram. Picking it up, he looked at it more closely and saw with a flood of emotion that the holy sacred name was engraved in it. As a perfected initiate, he recognized this sacred word. In order to prevent his companions from seeing this word (because they had not yet received the full initiation necessary), he placed the jewel on his chest, with the engraved side touching his skin, thus hiding the engraved side, as had Master Hiram.

He looked around and saw a gap in the wall that seemed large enough to walk through. He entered, stumbling in the darkness like a blind man. His hands touched a surface that he imagined was made of bronze. He moved back and called his companions to help him climb out of the well.

Seeing the jewel on the chest of their chief, both magi bowed to him, guessing that he had just received an important initiation. He explained to them what he had seen and spoke about the bronze door. They thought that a holy mystery was connected with this place and decided that all of them would climb down into the well.

They put one end of the rope made of the three belts under a flat stone near the well. On this stone, the word Jachin was engraved. They rolled a broken column over to the other side. The word Boaz was engraved on this column.

Two of the men made a sacred fire by rolling a stick of hard wood between their hands. The stick was set into a hole one of them had made in a soft piece of wood. Tinder was set around the wood. When the friction of this action on the wood caused sparks to ignite the tinder, they blew on it to increase the flame. Meanwhile, the third man lit one of the three torches of resin they had brought with them, and used it to scare away any wild animals near the mouth of the well. Next, each of the torches was successively ignited with the sacred fire. Each magus, holding a torch in his hand, used the rope to descend to the bottom of the well.

Once there with their chief, they entered the hall and made their way to the bronze door. The old magus raised his torch and attentively examined the door. At its center, he saw a raised pattern that looked like a royal crown. A circle of twenty-two points surrounded the crown.

The magus closed his eyes and meditated deeply on this image for some time. Opening his eyes, he looked at the door and pronounced the word Malkuth. Suddenly the door opened.

The explorers were standing in front of a staircase that led down into the earth. They began to descend, counting the stairs as they went. After three stairs, they encountered a triangular floor. On their left, they saw another staircase. They continued to progress in this fashion, and, after five stairs, found themselves on another triangular floor, of the same form and dimensions as the first. Another staircase appeared on their right, where they noticed seven steps continuing down into the earth.

Having crossed the third floor, they next descended nine stairs where they stopped in front of a second bronze door.

The old initiate took a look at it and saw that there was also a raised pattern on this door. It was composed of a right angle set in stone at the center of circle formed by twenty-two points. He vibrated the word Yesod and the door opened.

The magi entered into a large vaulted circular space. On the walls, nine lines were engraved that formed rays from the center of the vault to the outer edge of the circular floor. They looked around to see if there was another door, but they were unable to find anything. Looking more carefully between the lines, the old initiate saw a new gate in the darkness of the cave and the symbol of a shining sun at the center of a circle of twenty-two points. Powerfully, he pronounced the word Hod and the door opened onto a second room. Successively, the explorers crossed through five other hidden doors, always discovering another crypt beyond each new door.

On one of these doors, there was a wonderful engraving of a moon, and thereafter, the head of lion, a soft and gracious curve, a ruler, a scroll of the law, an eye, and, finally, a royal crown.

At every door the wise initiate successively pronounced the words Netzach, Tiphareth, Geburah, Chesed, Binah, Chokmah, and Kether. When they entered the ninth arch, the magi stopped—surprised, dazzled, and scared. The other passages had been dark. By contrast, this place was brilliantly lit. At the center of the ninth arch, there were three candleholders with candles in them, each eleven cubits high. Each candle had three branches. These lamps, which must have burnt for all the intervening centuries since the destruction of the holy Temple, shone with a wonderful brightness. They illuminated the entire area with a soft yet intense light, revealing all the details of its marvelous architecture. The vault was carved directly into the rock.

The pilgrims extinguished their torches, setting them by the door. They removed their shoes, as one does in a holy place, and then they moved forward, bowing nine times toward the colossal candles.

At the base of the triangle formed by the three candelabra rose a cubic altar two cubits high, made of white marble. On the right side, near the summit of the triangle, the tools of the Craft were represented in gold: the ruler, the compass, the square, the level, the trowel, and the mallet. On the left side, there were geometric symbols: the triangle, the square, the five-pointed star, and the cube. On the right side, numbers were engraved: 27, 125, 343, 729, and 1331. Finally, on the remaining side, the symbolic Acacia was represented. On top of this altar, a stone of agate was set. Its dimensions were three palms wide. At its base, the letters of the word Adonaï were engraved in gold.

Both the younger magi bowed before the name of God. But the elder initiate raised his head and said to them: “It is now time for you to receive the last teaching. This initiation will transform you into perfect initiates. You must remember that this name is also a vain symbol, which does not express the concept of supreme understanding.”

Figure 40: The Tetragrammaton

Holding the stone of agate in his two hands, he turned round to face to his companions and said to them: “Behold! The supreme understanding is here. You stand at the center of this understanding.”

The followers spelled out the letters of the words that make up the Tetragrammaton, Yod, Heh, Waw, Heh, and began to open their mouths to pronounce the final word. But the old initiate stopped them, saying: “Silence! This is the ineffable word, which must not be pronounced.”

Then he put the stone of agate on the altar, took the jewel of Master Hiram from his chest, and showed them that the same signs were also engraved on it. “Now you must know,” said the Master, “that it was not Solomon who created this hypogeum, nor did he create the other eight rooms, nor is it he who hides the sacred stone. This holy symbol was put here by Enoch, the first of all initiates, the master initiator, who did not die, but survives in all his spiritual sons. Enoch lived a long time before Solomon, even before the flood. Nobody knows when the first eight arches were built, nor when this one was dug directly in the rock.”

However, the new grand initiates were looking all around this room, eager to understand the secrets and sacred teachings of this place. They walked up to a carefully hidden door, on which they saw the symbol of a broken vase. They called their master and said to him: “Open this door for us. There must be another new mystery behind it.”

“No,” he answered them, “we should not open this door. There is a mystery there, but it is a terrible mystery, the mystery of death.”

“Aha,” they said. “You want to hide something from us, to keep it for yourself. But we want to know everything. We will open this door ourselves.” They started to pronounce all the words that they had heard from the mouth of their master. As these words had no effect, they began to pronounce all the words they could remember. These, too, had no effect. Just when they were about to give up, one of them said, “We cannot continue like this ad infinitum.” He spoke one more word.

At the sound of this word, En Soph (in Hebrew), the door opened violently and the two new initiates were knocked across the floor. A howling wind blew in the arch and the magical lamps were blown out. The master rushed to the door, calling to his followers to help. They ran to him and united their efforts to close the door again. The door did not close, and the lights did not relight.

The young magi stood in the deepest darkness, impossible to imagine. They heard the voice of their master saying: “Alas, this terrible event, the consequence of your imprudence, was written of long ago. Now we are all at a terrible risk of perishing in these unknown, underground caverns. Let us try to leave this place. We must cross the eight arches and go back up through the well by which we came down. We must form a chain with our hands in order to make it safely to the exit. We must search for the gate in every room until we arrive at the foot of the staircase of twenty-four stairs. Let us hope that we will reach it in safety.”

They began the tedious and frightening journey back. Hour after hour they toiled in fearful unity toward their goal. They were filled with fear at every step, struggling to find their way. At last, they arrived in front of the staircase of twenty-four stairs. They climbed slowly upward by counting nine, seven, five, and three until they stepped out, once again at the bottom of the well. It was midnight. The stars shone in the firmament. The rope of belts was still there.

Before they began the climb to freedom, the master showed his companions the circle of the sky created by the edges of the well. He said to them: “The ten circles we saw in this well also represent the arcs of the staircase. This last circle corresponds to the number 11, where the wind of disaster blew. It is the infinite sky, the lights we can never hold in our hands.”

The three initiates climbed up out of the well. They once again rolled the column from its place, without seeing the word Boaz that was carved on it. They detached their belts and, without exchanging a word, began a deep, silent meditation under the starry sky. In the middle of this nocturnal silence, they rode their camels back to Babylon.

Figure 41: Representation of the Rose-Cross symbol in a plate from Kunrath