18th Degree: Knight Rose Croix

Transcripts, Chapter Markers and Show Notes for all episodes are available from our website - WayOfTheHermit.com.

This episode delves into the capstone Degree of the "Chapter of Rose Croix", which  reveals the "Secret of the Reconciliation of Opposites". David and Gene discuss the three "apartments" or scenes that the candidate is taken through in the "Ritual of the Degree". The first apartment, "The Dark Chamber", represents a world in chaos under the tyranny of evil, where the "Sacred Word" is lost. The second apartment, referred to as the "Dark Side", is likened to depictions of hell in various religious texts. The final apartment represents the Universe, freed from the tyranny of evil and filled with the true Light that flows from the Supreme Deity.

This degree is described as one of the most philosophical and practical degrees in Freemasonry. It encourages introspection and presents the enigma of the universe: the question of opposites, and reconciliation of sin and wrong, and pain and suffering, with the theory of the unbounded and unwearying beneficence of God. The Degree both reveals and conceals one of the great secrets of Alchemy, and then unfolds the knowledge required preparatory to receiving the Royal Secret.

This series on the Scottish Rite uses the following primary sources (which you are encouraged to read as well):

• Albert Pike's Morals and Dogma: Annotated Edition
• Scottish Rite Ritual Monitor & Guide
• A Bridge to Light

Diagrams

• Knight Rose Croix - Eagle
• Knight Rose Croix - Pelican
• Tree of Life

Overview

• 01:14 Introduction
• 01:35 Ritual Setting
• 06:01 Purpose of the Degree
• 09:06 Morals and Dogma
• 10:26 The Enigma of Good and Evil
• 13:24 The Supreme Being
• 13:49 The Word or Logos
• 16:27 A Religion of Light
• 17:11 Light and Shadow
• 18:51 The Glory of the Heavens
• 20:44 The Dark Side of Doubt
• 23:05 The Human Instinct
• 27:18 The True Word
• 29:28 Double-Sided Regalia
• 30:00 The Rosy Cross
• 31:06 The Eagle and The Pelican
• 32:23 Crowned Compasses
• 32:55 The Tetractys
• 33:47 Conclusions

Links

• Scottish Rite Ritual Monitor & Guide (Amazon)
• A Bridge to Light (Amazon)
• Histoire Critique du Gnosticisme (Amazon)
• Jesus (Wikipedia)
• William Blake's illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy (Tate Museum )
• C. G. Jung and the Alchemical Renewal (Gnosis.org)
• Logos (Wikipedia)
• Gnosticism (Wikipedia)
• The Shape of Light: Hayakal al-Nur (Amazon)
• Tree of Life (Wikipedia)
• Tetractys (Wikipedia)