Ancient Toltec Rite
Ritual of Installation of Officers
Preceding the ceremony of installation, the Installing officer and a
Temporary Mistress of the Ceremonies are selected. The elected officers are
seated in the southwest section of the room, in regular order as they will be
taken to their respective places
1926
It is the duty of the temporary Mistress of Ceremonies to marshal them into
formation and at the proper time, escort them to their respective places.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: Lady Secretary you will read aloud, the names of
those who have been exalted by election and appointment to the position of
officers for the ensuing year.
Knight and Ladies: You have heard these names, you know them well,—are
there any among you who will not willingly follow where they lead, or who will
not pledge them your fealty and support? If so, speak now, and do not by future
word, or act, break the covenant of consent that you will now make if you remain
silent.
Lady …, I do now appoint you to act as Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies for
this installation, and direct you to arrange the various officers immediately
behind the altar in the form of a cross, with the Knight Commander elect, and
the Lady Superior elect, at the apex of the cross.
Music.
LADY MISTRESS OF THE CEREMONIES: Knight Commander, the officers
elect and appointive are in proper order, with Sir Knight … and Lady … at
the apex of the cross.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: The cross, has always had a potent signification
to the human race. It has symbolized the universe, because its arms were
pointing toward infinity and in every direction. To the ancient Toltecs, it
symbolized the North wind, the South wind, the East wind and the West wind, each
idealized as sentient beings, with mighty wings, who, supporting the sky upon
their uplifted arms, kept the human race from destruction, and by the beating of
their pinions, caused the winds whose names they bore. We find their inscription
of the cross in the well known Swastica, but, more perfectly to our conception,
in the wondrous sculptured cross at Palenque.
As they symbolized and venerated the cross, the emblem that we hold the most
sacred, and take as a symbol of our order, it is but meet and fitting that you,
the officers who are to represent us, should be arranged to form a cross,
symbolizing by that act, that you are a unit, in working for, and upholding the
principles that unite us into one holy band, a band who will hold the cross
before us in our walk through the mists and the uncharted wilderness of our
earthly life.
Knight Commander elect, upon you will devolve the duties of directing the
course of our council for the coming year. Do not enter lightly upon your
mission. We lean upon your guidance, as the pilgrim leans upon his staff, and
should you fail us, with those words of wisdom and of kindness that we expect,
we will be indeed like the pilgrim with a broken staff, only able lamely and
haltingly to gain the goal.
Your virtues are well known to us, and we ask you to carry them out before
the world, that those not of us, may say of you, "He is an honorable and
righteous man; just, kind, considerate, of unquestioned integrity of character,
patriotic and philanthropic. He practices the virtues that he proclaims. If the
Toltec Rite be composed of such as he, it is an honor to belong to it."
Do you promise us that you will preside with justice, will be courteous to
subordinates, and will uphold the principles of our order?
Answer.
That you will not allow the secret work of our order to become known to the
profane, but will jealously guard the same; that our obligation, and our means
of recognition, shall not become the property of the uninitiated?
Answer.
That you will hold all the officers under you to a strict accounting for
their various duties, as well as zealously and faithfully performing your own?
Answer.
Your promises have been heard by us, and also they are now written in letters
that neither time nor eternity can ever erase. Letters that are beyond our
present ken, but, be assured they will still hold over you, inexorable as fate,
when the universe has ceased to exist.
Lady Superior elect, the Ancient Toltecs traced their lineage, not through
their fathers, as we do, but through their mothers. We, the modern Toltecs,
trace the history of our order through the administrations of our Ladys
Superior. They are the symbolic mothers of the order.
How fitting then, that you as the active Mother of this Council, should
minister to us, should watch over us, pray for us, and keep us from the inviting
paths of error, that radiate on every hand from the course which we should
pursue.
Do not enter upon your duties with the vain conceit that your labor is but to
sit in the East and follow out the ritual. You will find your duties do not
cease with the stroke of the gavel, but rather that they do but then begin.
We are expecting you to minister to your distressed sisters and brothers,
cloak their shortcomings with motherly charity, and to act ever and always as
that highest example of human attainment, a lady; a lady of the Holy Cross.
If it is in this spirit that you approach your office and undertake the
duties devolving upon you, we, on our part, pledge you our hearty support and
co-operation, and that we will endeavor to make your work as light as the
importance of your office will permit.
Do you now promise to uphold the principles and tenets of the Ancient Toltec
Rite and assume the duties and responsibilities of Lady Superior of our Council?
Answer.
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, you will now conduct our Knight Commander
elect and our Lady Superior elect, to the East.
Music
The Knight Commander and Lady Superior are escorted to the East, when the
installing officer greets them and seats them, the Knight Commander at the right
of the Lady Superior.
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, you will now present the Lady Ciencia elect.
LADY MISTRESS OF THE CEREMONIES: Knight Commander, Lady … stands
before the altar, prepared for installation as Lady Ciencia.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: To the Ancient Toltecs the plains extended in
unmeasured distance, vast, boundless, and unknown. Sad was the fate of those who
trusted themselves there, without careful instruction and preparation; as
starvation, and thirst, with madness as their boon companion, were always at
their side, on those trackless deserts.
But our ancient brethren did compass these forbidding lands, did find their
way to go and across them. They learned to read the face of the wilderness and
see a thousand things, where the unlearned could see but desolation and
destruction. So they gained knowledge, and knowledge, steadily advancing, became
Science—Ciencia.
You as Lady Ciencia, are to preside over the plane of the West. To give, with
kindly courtesy, to those who do not know the pathway through the trackless
waste, such instruction and guidance as will lead them steadily toward the East;
the direction from which light comes to a darkened world.
Your duties are many, and are both written and unwritten, but are necessarily
subservient to the presiding officers in the East.
Do you promise to fulfill them to the best of your ability, and to labor for
the good of our order?
Answer.
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, you will conduct the Lady Ciencia elect to
the North.
Music
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, you will present the Lady Natura elect.
LADY MISTRESS OF THE CEREMONIES: Knight Commander, Lady … stands
before the altar, prepared for installation as Lady Natura.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: To the primitive man, nature presented an
undecipherable enigma. On every hand were unknown processes, and unknown
principles,—he found about him things that were harmful, and others that were
good; he learned to avoid the one, and turn to his use the other, and so he
gained in knowledge.
You are to typify Nature in the plane of the South and to act in conjunction
with Science, typified here as Lady Ciencia, in instructing those who seek
admission among us, in the path that they should follow, if they are to reach
the source of light, of knowledge, and of joy.
Do you undertake these duties?
Answer.
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, you will conduct the Lady Natura elect, to
the South.
Music
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, you will now present the Lady Secretary
elect and the Lady Treasurer elect, at the altar.
LADY MISTRESS OF THE CEREMONIES: Knight Commander, Ladies … and
… stand before the altar, prepared for installation as Secretary and
Treasurer.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: Lady Secretary, as our ancient brethren
inscribed with obsidian tools, and with infinite patience, upon flattened
stones, a record of events that were of the most importance to them, so to you
is entrusted the duty of perpetuating in writing, the things that are of most
importance to us as an order.
You duties are many and varied and are enumerated in our Constitution and
By-laws. It is for you to inform yourself of them and to perform them to the
best of your ability. Do you promise to do this?
Answer.
Lady Treasurer, since man has existed as a thinking being, there have been
things that he prized, one above another, those things that he prized the
highest, were treasures. With the advance of organized society, some one was set
apart to guard and care for the things most precious, that they might be ever at
hand in time of need.
You have been elected to perform this duty for us, as the guardian of our
funds. These we expect you to guard jealously, to account for accurately and
faithfully. Do you promise to do this? Answer.
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, you will conduct the Lady Secretary elect
and the Lady Treasurer elect to their stations.
Music.
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, you will present the appointed Musician, at
the altar.
LADY MISTRESS OF THE CEREMONIES: Knight Commander, (Lady or Sir
Knight) … stands before the altar, prepared for installation as Musician.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: The rippling of murmuring waves upon the
beaches, the wind sighing through the palm trees, the laughter of little
children, the muffled roar of the waterfall, the thunder of the breakers on the
rocky shore, the sigh of love, the wail of anguish, the cry of despair, the
halting step of age and the sprightliness of youth, the tenderness of
motherhood, the wild roar of the tornado, the stalwartness of manhood and the
purity of truth, woven together, with the warp and woof of tone, tempered with
the shuttle of time, lightened and shaded with the soul of an artist, makes that
heavenborn fabric known as music.
The Olympian Gods had Orpheus, "whose harp was strung with poets’
sinews, the touch whereof would melt both steel and stones." We have our
musician upon whom devolves the duty of bringing to our Council the rhythm and
harmony that goes so far in perfecting the spirit of our work. To this most
important station you have been appointed. Do you accept?
Answer.
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, you will conduct the Lady (or Sir Knight)
Musician to her (or his) station.
Music.
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, you will now present those appointed to be
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, Lady Associate Mistress of the Ceremonies, the
Sir Knight Orator, the Lady Guardian and the Sir Knight Sentinel at the altar.
LADY MISTRESS OF THE CEREMONIES: Knight Commander, Lady …, Lady
…, Sir Knight …, Lady …, and Sir Knight … stand before the altar,
prepared for installation as Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, Lady Associate
Mistress of the Ceremonies, Knight Orator, Lady Guardian, and Knight Sentinel.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: It is not needful that I here rehearse to you
your various duties, you are each and all subservient to the presiding officers,
and we feel, that in your hands, the functions and duties of your various
offices will be well and graciously attended to, and carried out.
Your work, and the effects that you impress upon our candidates, are vital to
the very life of our order. See that you do them well.
Do you promise to endeavor to the best of your several abilities so to do?
Answer.
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, you will conduct these officers to their
various stations.
Music.
Lady Mistress of the ceremonies, you will now present the appointed Lady
Chaplain.
LADY MISTRESS OF THE CEREMONIES: Knight Commander, (Lady or Sir
Knight) … stands before the altar, prepared for installation as Chaplain.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: Not because your office is esteemed the least,
but because it is the greatest, has your installation been left until the last.
Our earliest brethren had learned to adore the Diety, and to His honor and
glory, they erected the greatest of their temples and raised the most enduring
of their monuments. In token of the acceptance of your sacred trust you will now
lead the Council in Divine worship. * * *.
CHAPLAIN: To thee, Almighty Father of the Universe, we bow and,
humbly beseeching, pray that Thou will cast the rays of Thy unceasing love upon
this Council; will guide, guard and protect it, its officers and members, and
help us to help our fellow men.
Thou hast heard the promises made to us; these promises were also made to
Thee. Guard Thou the footsteps of those who made them, that they may not grow
faint, nor fall weary by the wayside.
Enlighten, strengthen, and upbuild our beloved Order, that it may become a
potent power for good, for us, and for all mankind.
Keep thou Thy watchful eyes, ever upon us and our sacred cross always before
us.
Bless, prosper, guide and protect us, we most humbly pray, and Thine shall be
the glory forever, Amen.
ALL PRESENT: Amen.
KNIGHT COMMANDER, *: Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies, you will
conduct the Lady Chaplain to her station.
Music.
Lady Mistress of the Ceremonies have all the officers elect and appointed
been attended to their stations?
LADY MISTRESS OF THE CEREMONIES: They have.
* * *. Sir Knight Commander I present to you the gavel of office
and in the name and under the authority of the Grand Council of the Ancient
Toltec Rite, I now proclaim the officers of … Council Number …, duly and
legally installed for the ensuing year. Let us all take heed and obey.