Ceremony for the degree of Knight or Sage of the Phoenix, 53°
Dit Amerikaanse rituaal dateert uit de tweede helft van de negentiende eeuw.
In the pre-1800 degree the work was thus: In the centre of the Room a chafing
dish, and a brazier full of fire. On the table, or floor, various symbols, and
amongst them a Phoenix, surrounded by a serpent with its tail in its mouth.
There is an Obligation of Secrecy, and the Master says: This
brazier is intended to teach you that fire (of course the Logoic fire, or
Serpent fire) is the principle of all things, and the great agent of nature, and
imparts action to all bodies. From this agent man receives life, with the power
of thinking.
This Serpent, forming a circle, is an emblem of eternity, which is without
either beginning or end. It has the property of renewing its skin, and thus
figures the destruction and renewal of nature, which appears to weaken and even
perish at certain epochs; but which only grows old to renew its youth, and
prepare itself for new revolutions.
The Phoenix is a still more natural exposition of the succession and the
perpetuation of this principle in nature. Mythology has represented the bird as
reviving from its own ashes, emblemising how all things earthly will continue to
be reborn from itself.
To this may be added that it symbolised the cycle of the Star Sirius or
Sothis of 1461 years. Marconis summarizes it: Conferences thus: study of Nature;
properties of things; knowledge of created beings; science of Astronomy.
Sign: represent examination, as if through telescope.
Touch: join left hands, and point to Serius, or Sothis, with right index
finger.
Password: as last.
Secret Word: Phoenix (symbol of Sothis)
Battery: * ** ** ******
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Jewel and Symbol: a triangle on which is a Phoenix.