Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar
Priests
Degree of Knight of the North
1996/2015
Compilers Note: Both this ceremony and the Degree of Knight of
the South are
"teaching" degrees whereby the Candidate learns of the life of
Christ
and both theological and theosophical philosophy. Meetings are
held in Chambers
with the following Officers, Knight Masters of the North, South,
East and West,
(Knights of the Points), a Knight Conductor of Novices and a
Knight Warden whose
post is out with the door. No qualification for admission to the
two degrees is
mentioned although the Novice must be a Knight of some Order as
he is referred
to as a Knight Companion and the content of the rituals would
suggest that the
ceremonies would only be open to experienced Freemasons, Knights
wear a plain
white mantle and a cap of the same colour to which is attached a
red rose. The
four Knights of the Points each carry a short rod decorated with
four, three,
two and one silver ring respectively. (Representing the number
of knocks given
by the bearer.) In this degree the Knight of the North is the
senior. The major
parts of the ritual are read from prepared scrolls (or folders)
and those
undertaking the reading may find that doing so from a standing
position adds to
the ceremony.
The Knights of the Points sit behind pedestals at the compass
points. There
should be a chair facing each point, where the Novice is seated
during each
reading. The altar faces North with a kneeling cushion in the
South. The altar
should be covered with a white cloth and upon it shall be a
Bible, a single
white candle in a holder, a crucifix, a sheathed sword and a
single red rose in
a small vase. At the entrance to the chamber, there should be a
small table on
which is a small basin and a towel. A white sash or cordon is
required for the
candidate.
Opening
KMN: ****.
KMS: ***.
KMW: **.
KME: *.
KMN: Knights we are well met. Knight Master of the
South, attend
the Altar. KMS opens the VSL at the Acts
Chap. I,
lights the candle and unsheathes the sword. The VSL should face
the Novice with
the crucifix on the right of the VSL and the sword on the left
with the hilt at
the North.
KMN: I now declare this
Chamber of
Enlightenment duly opened ****
Knight
Conductor of Novices, prepare and present the Novice.
KCN retires and brings in the Novice without alarm. He causes
the Novice to
wash his hands in the vessel and then dry his hands on the
towel. When this is
done a plain white cordon or sash is placed over the Novice's
right shoulder,
falling on the left hip. The KCN then advances the Novice one or
two paces into
the Chamber, and then addresses him thus:
KCN: Knight Companion,
hitherto you
have been taught in the Craft, that the North is a place of Masonic
darkness; I
say to you now that this is only so for those who cannot comprehend.
With your
entrance into this Chamber of Enlightenment you will soon leam that
a Knight of
the North receives knowledge usually withheld from those not thus
advanced. On
your admission further into this Chamber, whenever you are asked
what you
desire, you will reply - "Enlightenment concerning the ancient
writings of
the Prophets and due knowledge concerning the present Philosophy. "
This
may be written on a card for the ease of the Novice. The KCN and
the Novice
advance into the body of the Chamber and proceed to the pedestal
of the KME,
where the Novice is instructed to rap *.
KME: Who comes here and what is our desire?
NOV, prompted by the KCN or reading from a card: A
Knight
Companion seeking Enlightenment concerning the ancient writings of
the Prophets
and due knowledge concerning the present Philosophy.
KME stands and KCN causes the Novice to sit on the seat
provided.
KME: Then listen well to the ancient writ. Lifts
scroll and reads: And when he was twelve years old
they brought him
to Jerusalem and when the feast was over, they returned. But the
Lord Jesus
continued behind in the Temple among the doctors and elders, the
leamed of
Israel; to whom he proposed several questions and also answers; For
he said unto
them. Whose son is the Messiah? They answered, the son of David: Why
then, said
he, does he in the spirit call him Lord? When he saith, The Lord
said to my
Lord, Sit thou at my right hand 'till I have made thine enemies thy
footstool.
Then a certain Rabbi asked him, Hast thou read books? Jesus
answered, he had
read both books and the things which were contained in books. And he
explained
to them the books of the law, the precepts and statutes and the
mysteries which
are contained in the hooks of the Prophets, things which the mind of
no creature
could reach. Then saith the Rabbi, I have never yet seen or heard of
such
knowledge. What do you think will become of this boy?
Then a certain astronomer who was also present, asked the Lord Jesus
whether
be had studied astronomy? The Lord Jesus replied and told him of the
number of
spheres and heavenly bodies, as to their triangulation, square and
sextile
aspect, their progressive and retrograde motion, their size and
several
prognostications and other things which the reason of men had never
discovered.
There was also among their number a philosopher, well skilled in
physic and
natural philosophy, who asked of the Lord Jesus whether he had
studied physic?
Jesus replied and explained to him, physics and metaphysics. Also
those things
which were both above and below the realm of nature. The nature of
the corporeal
body, its humours and their effects. Also the numbers of its
members, and bones,
arteries, veins and nerves, the several constitutions of the body
when cold and
moist or when hot and dry and the tendencies of them. Concerning the
metaphysical, be discussed the Forms of Plato, Socrates' discourse
on the Soul
and how it operated within the body, its sensations and faculties.
The science
of Archimedes and the writings of Aristotle concerning government.
The faculty
concerned with speaking, anger, desire and the composition of human
emotions and
their dissolution and other concepts of the metaphysic, the
understanding of
which, no other creature had ever achieved. Then the philosopher
stood and
worshipped the Lord Jesus and said, O Lord Jesus, from hence forth I
will be thy
disciple and servant.
While these several discourses were occurring, Mary the mother of
Jesus
entered, having spent three days with her husband Joseph, in search
of their
son. When Mary saw Jesus seated among these doctors, in his turn
proposing
questions to them and also giving his answers, she said unto him, My
son, why
hast thou done this by us? Behold I and thy father have been at
great pains in
seeking thee. Jesus replied, Why did ye seek me thus? Did you not
know that thus
I must be employed in the house of my father? But they understood
him not. Then
the doctors asked of Mary whether this was her son and she said it
was, they
replied, O fortunate woman that hath borne such a son.
And thus he returned with his parents to Nazareth and obeyed them in
all
things. And his mother kept all these things in her mind and the
Lord Jesus grew
in both stature and wisdom and found favour with God and Man.
Knight Companion, pass now to the West.
KCN raises the Novice and proceed to the pedestal of the KMW and
instructs
him to rap, ** *.
KMW: Who comes here and what is your desire? Novice
reads from the card as, before. KMW stands and says:
Then listen
again to the ancient writ. Novice is again
seated while
the scrolls are read.: Now from this time Jesus
began to conceal his
miracles and secret works and gave himself unto the study of the
law, 'till he
reached the end of his thirtieth year at which time his Father
publicly owned
him at the River Jordan, sending down his word from heaven saying,
this is my
beloved son in whom I am well pleased. The Holy Ghost was also
present in the
form of a dove. This is he who we worship with all reverence because
he gave us
life and being, and brought us from our mother's womb. Who, for the
sake of all
mankind, took a human body and hath redeemed us, so that he might
embrace us
with everlasting mercy and show his free, great and bountiful grace
and goodness
to us. To Him be glory and praise and power and dominion from
henceforth and for
evermore, Amen.
Knight Companion, pass now to the South.
KCN raises the Novice and proceeds to the pedestal of the KMS,
and instructs
him to rap *** ** *.
KMS: Who comes here and what is your desire?
Novice reads from the card as before. KMS stands and says:
Then
listen again to the ancient writ. Novice
is again
seated white the scrolls are read: Then Pilate left
Jesus in the hall
of his palace and went unto the Jews and said, I find no not one
fault in Jesus
and the Jews cried unto Pilate, but he says that he can destroy the
Temple of
God and within three days build it up again. And Pilate spoke unto
them again,
What sort of Temple is that of which he speaks, and the Jews cried
out, That
which Solomon was forty six years in the building he would destroy
and in just
three days erect again. And Pilate said unto them, l am innocent of
the blood of
this man, do ye look to it? The Jews said unto him, his blood shall
be on our
hands and that of our children.
Then Pilate called together the elders and scribes, priests and
Levites and
said unto them privately, Do not act thus, I have found nothing in
your charge
to be against this Jesus, concerning his healing of sick persons and
the
breaking of the Sabbath, to be worthy of death. But the priests and
Levites
replied unto Pilate, by the life of Caesar, if anyone be a
blasphemer then he is
worthy of death, and this man has blasphemed against our God. Then
Pilate
commanded that the Jews leave the hall and again called Jesus to him
saying,
What shall I do with thee? Jesus replied, Do according to what is
written.
Pilate said unto him, and how is it written and Jesus said, Moses
and the
Prophets have prophesied as to my suffering and resurrection. The
Jews hearing
of this were provoked and said unto Pilate, why will thou any longer
hear the
blasphemy of this man? Pilate said unto them, If these words seem to
you
blasphemy, then you must bring him unto your court and try him
according to your
laws. The Jews replied to Pilate, Our law saith he shall be obliged
to receive
nine and thirty stripes but after this manner, if he shall blaspheme
again,
against the Lord our God, then he shall be stoned. Pilate saith, It
is not fit
that he be crucified, let him only be whipped and sent away. But
when the
governor looked upon the people that were present and the Jews, he
saw many of
them in tears and he said unto the chief priests of the Jews, All
the people do
not desire his death. The elders of the Jews answered to Pilate, We
and all the
people carne hither for that very purpose, that he should die.
Pilate saith unto
them, Why should he die? They said unto him, because he declares
himself to be
the Son of God and a King.
KMS: Knight Companion,
Pass on to the
North.
KCN raises the Novice and proceeds to the pedestal of the KMN,
where he is
instructed to rap **** *** ** *.
KMN: Who comes here and
what is
yow-desire?
Novice reads from the card as before. KMN stands and says:
Then listen again to the ancient writ. Novice is
again seated white the scrolls are read: But
Nicodemus, a certain
Jew, stood before the governor and said, I entreat thee O righteous
judge, that
thou would favour me with the liberty of speaking a few words.
Pilate said unto
him, Speak on. Nicodemus said, I spake to the elders of the Jews and
the scribes
and the priests and the Levites and all the multitude of the Jews in
their
assembly, What is it ye would do with this man who wrought many
useful and
glorious miracles, such as no man on earth has ever wrought before,
nor will
ever work. Let him go and do him no harm, if he cometh from God his
miracles
will continue, if from men, they will come to naught. Thus Moses,
when he was
sent by God into Egypt, wrought the miracles which God commanded
him, before
Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and though the magicians of that country,
Jennes and
Jambres, wrought by their magic the same miracles which Moses did,
yet they
could not work all which he did. And the miracles which the
magicians wrought
were not of God, as ye know O Scribes and Pharisees, but they that
wrought them
perished and all who believed them also. And now let this man go for
the very
miracles for which ye accuse him, are from God and he is not worthy
of death.
The Jews then said to Nicodemus, Art thou become his disciple and
making
speeches in his favour? Nicodemus said unto them, Is the governor
become his
disciple also, and does he make speeches for him? Did not Caesar
place him in
that high post? When the Jews heard this they trembled and gnashed
their teeth
at Nicodemus and said unto him, Mayest thou receive his doctrine for
truth and
have thy lot with Christ? And he said, in truth, my lot is with him,
as ye have
said.
KMN to the Novice: My
Knight
Companion, will you also have thy lot with Christ?
NOV: I will.
KMN: Then approach the
High Altar and
assume the Vow of this Order.
The KCN conducts the Novice to the altar on which there is a
Crucifix. He
kneels on both knees and places bath hands on the base of the
Crucifix. The Vow
is written on a small card and at the appropriate time he is
told to read from
it. The KMN gives * and all rise.
KCN to the Novice: Worthy
Novice,
you will now recite the Vow which lies before you.
NOV reading from card: I,
... Christian
name only, in the name of Jesus the Crucified and the
risen Lord of
All, kneeling in the presence of this Body of Knights of the North,
do solemnly
vow that I will ever remember that Nicodemus accepted the doctrines
of Jesus
Christ and cast his lot with Him, even as now, so do I. I also vow
that I will
at all times obey the dictates of my inner heart and promote the
religion of the
Christ, advocate fellowship and support the New Law. Cand.
rises and all sit.
KMN: Having assumed
this Vow, you are
now prepared to hear the New Philosophy of the World. Listen now,
concerning
Charity and Giving.
Once again the lessons of the points are read from prepared
scrolls or
manuscripts but on the passings in this section, the Knights of
the Points
remain seated white reading.
KMN: You give little of
yourself when
you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that
you truly
give. For what are your possessions but things that you keep and
guard, fearing
that you may need them tomorrow? What shall tomorrow bring to the
overly prudent
dog that buries his bones in the trackless sands as he follows
pilgrims to the
Holy City? And what is fear of need but fear itself? Is it not dread
of thirst
when your well is full, that makes thirst unquenchable? There are
those who give
little of the much that they have and they give for recognition and
such is
their poor spirit in the giving that it makes their gifts
unwholesome. There are
also those who have little but give it all. They are the believers
in life and
their coffers are never empty. There are those who give with joy and
that joy is
their reward and there are those who give with pain and that pain is
their
baptism. And there are those who give and do not know pain in
giving, nor do
they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue. They give, as in
yonder
valley, the myrtle freely breathes its fragrance into the air.
Through the hands
of such as these, God speaks, and from behind their eyes, He smiles
upon the
Earth.
It bodes well to give when asked but it is better to give without
the asking,
through understanding. And to the open handed, the search for one
who shall
receive is joy greater than giving. And is there ought you would
withhold? All
you have, shall someday be lost to you, therefore give now, that the
seasons of
giving may belong to you and not your inheritors. You may say, I
would give but
only to the deserving. The trees of your orchard say not so, neither
the flocks
in your pastures. They give that they may live, for to withhold is
to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and nights, is worthy of
receiving
all else from you. And he who has deserved to drink from the great
river of
life, deserves to fill his cup in your little stream. And what
desert greater
shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the
confidence, nay, the
charity of giving and receiving. And who are you to expect that
other men should
rend their bosoms and unveil their pride, that you may see their
worth when
naked and unabashed? Ensure first that you yourself deserve to be a
giver and an
instrument of giving. For in truth it is life that gives unto life,
while you
may deem yourself a giver, are hut a mere witness.
And you receivers, and we are all receivers, assume no weight of
gratitude,
lest you lay dependence not upon yourself but him who gives. Rather
rise
together with the giver, respectful of that which is given. For to
be
overmindful of your debt is to doubt the charity and generosity of
the giver,
who has as his Mother the freehearted Earth and God as his Father.
Knight
Companion, Pass on to the South. Does so.
KMS: Listen now concerning work and labour. Reading
given as before.
You work that you may keep pace with the Earth and the soul of the
Earth. For
to be idle is to become a stranger to the seasons and to step out of
life's
procession that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the
infinite.
When you work you are as a flute, through which the whispering of
the laboured
hours turns to music. Which of you would be a reed, which without
the flute,
remains dumb and silent, while all others sing together in choral
unison. Always
you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune but
I say unto
you that when you work you fulfill a part of Earth's furthest dream
such as was
assigned to you when that dream was born. And in keeping yourself
with labour
you are in truth loving life and to love life through labour is to
be one with
life's innermost secrets.
But, if you in your pain, call birth an affliction and the support
of the
flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but
the sweat of
your brow will wash away that which is written. You have also been
told that
life is darkness and in your weariness you echo what is said by the
weary and I
say that life is indeed darkness save when there is an urge and that
all urges
are blind except when there is work and all work is empty save when
there is
love and when you work with love, you bind yourself to yourself and
to one
another and to God.
And what is to work with love? It is to weave the cloth with threads
drawn
from the heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth. It
is to build
a house with affection even as if your beloved were to dwell in that
house. It
is to sew seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even
as if your
beloved were to eat the fruits of your labours. It is to charge all
things you
fashion with a breath of your own spirit and to know that all the
blessed dead
are attending about you and watching.
Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in your sleep, he who
works in
marble and finds the shape of his own in the stone, is nobler than
he who tills
the soil. And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on canvas in the
likeness of
man, is more than he who makes the sandals for ow· feet. But I say,
not in
sleep but in the full wakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks
not more
gently to the giant oaks that it does to the least of all the blades
of grass it
caresses and that he alone who turns the voice of the wind into the
sweetest of
songs through bis own loving, is surely the greatest of men. Work is
love made
visible and if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it
is better
that you leave you work and sit before the temple and seek alms of
those who
work for joy. For, if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a
bitter loaf
that satisfies but half of a man's hunger, and if you grudge the
crushing of the
grapes, your grudge distills a poison in the wine. If you sing as an
angel but
love not the singing, you muffle the ears of men to the voices of
the day and
the night. Knight Companion. Pass on to the West. Does
so.
KMW: Listen now concerning Reason and Passion. Reading
given as before.
Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield upon which your reason and
judgment
wage war with your passions and appetites. Would that I could be the
peacemaker
in your soul, that I might turn the discord and rivalry of your
elements into
oneness and melody. But how shall I accomplish this unless you
yourself be a
peacemaker, nay, the lover of all your elements? Your reason and
your passion
are the rudder and sails of your seafaring soul. If either sails or
rudder are
broken, you can but toss and drift upon the sea of Life, or else be
held at a
standstill in life. For reason ruling alone, is a force of
confinement, and
passions, if unattended, are but a flame that burns to destruction.
Therefore
let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion that it may
sing. Let
your soul direct your passions with reason, that your passion may
live through
its own daily resurrection and like the phoenix, rise above its own
ashes.
I would have you consider your judgment and your appetites even as
you would
two loved guests in your house. Surely you would not honour one
guest above the
other, for he who is more mindful of one, Loses the love and faith
of both.
Among the hills, when you sit in the shade of the white poplars,
sharing in the
peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows, then let your
heart say in
silence, God rests in Reason, and when a storm comes and mighty
winds shake the
forest and the thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the
sky, then let
your heart say in awe, God moves in Passion. Since you are but a
breath in God's
sphere and a leaf in His forest, you also should rest in reason and
move in
passion. Knight Companion, Pass lastly to the East. Does
so.
KME: Listen finally, concerning our Philosophy on
Buildings for
Freemasons are interested in their symbolism. Reading
given as before.
Build of your own imagination, a shelter in the wilderness where you
build a
house within the city walls. For even as you have home comings in
your twilight,
so has the wandering spirit of youth, been ever distant and alone.
Your house is
your larger body, it grows in the sun and sleeps in the stillness of
the night
and it is not dreamless, for in dreaming does it not leave the
crowded and dusty
city for a cool grove or hilltop? Would that I could gather houses
into my hand
and like a sower, scatter them in forest and meadow, would it be
that the
valleys were your streets and the green paths your alleys that you
might seek
one another through pleasant vineyards and come with the fragrance
of nature
upon your garments, But these things are not yet to be. In their
fear, your
forefathers gathered too near together and that fear shall endure,
for longer
shall the city walls separate your hearths from your fields. And
tell me, what
do you have in these houses? What do you guard with fastened doors?
Do you have
peace, that quiet urge that reveals your power? Do you have
remembrances, those
glimmering arches that span the summits of the mind? Have you
beauty, that
essence which leads the heart from things fashioned from wood and
stone to the
holy mountain? Tell me, have you these things in your houses? Or,
have you only
comfort and the lust for comfort, that stealthy desire that enters
the house as
a guest and then becomes the host and finally the master? The need
for comfort
vanquishes you with hook and scourge and makes puppets of your
genuine desires.
Though its tendrils be of silk, its heart is of iron. It lulls you
to sleep only
to stand by your body and jeer at the dignity of the flesh, It makes
a mockery
of your senses of speech and thought and lays them in confusion in a
bed of
thistledown like fragile vessels. Truly, the lust for comfort kills
the passions
of the soul and then walks with a knowing smile in the funeral
procession.
But you, children of space, you who are the restless at rest, you
shall not
be trapped nor beaten down. Your house shall not be as an anchor but
as a mast.
It shall not be an insidious glistening film that prevents clear
sight of things
but an eyelid that protects the seeing eye. you shall not fold your
wings that
you may pass through the narrow doors of pride and vanity, nor shall
you bend
your heads that they may not strike the beams of avarice. Nor fear
to breath for
fear of knocking down the walls of pretense. You shall not dwell in
tombs made
by the dead for the living and though of magnificence and splendour,
your house
shall not hold secrets nor harbour longings. For that which is
boundless in you,
abides in the mansion in the sky, whose door is the morning mist,
whose windows
are songs and whose walls are the darkness of night. This, my Knight
Companion,
completes your enlightenment within this Chamber; pass now to the
ruler of the
host, the Knight Master of the North, for the accolade. Done.
KCN: My Knight
Companion, you have
received the instructions of the Chamber of Enlightenment, you have
learned that
the North is NOT a place of darkness, you have heard the ancient
knowledge and
the new philosophy and you have taken your Vow.
KCN: Let the Novice be
escorted to
the Altar and made to kneel upon his left knee.
KCN does so and all rise without direction. The KMN leaves his
pedestal and
takes the sword in his right hand. He wields the sword over the
altar: I
now, by virtue of the high powers in me vested, dub sword
on the right shoulder and
create sword
on the left shoulder you,
a Knight of
the North, enlightened and informed concerning our sacred mysteries.
Arise Sir
Knight ….
The sign of the Order is made by pointing with your left hand, first
to the
South and then to the North. Those
standing in the
South will first point downwards, while those standing in the
North will point
downwards secondly. Those standing in the East and West will
point to the other
cardinal points in turn. The
Sacred Word
is NICODEMUS to whom the Order is dedicated. Wear this rose upon
your sash. It
is a symbol of secrecy, therefore what you have learned here is
under the rose
or sub rosa and must remain so.
The Pass Word is ENLIGHTENMENT.
You may now be seated among the Knights. The
KMN
returns to his pedestal then the KCN conducts the new Kt. to a
vacant place in
the North and then resumes his station.
If a Meeting of Knights of the South is now to be convened, the
KMS assumes
control, if not then:
Closing
KMN: Knights of the
North, to your
knees. The Knights of the Points rise,
step from behind
their pedestals and take one step to the right. As they do so
the remaining
Knights rise and when all are standing the KCN says Kneel. All
do so together,
kneeling upon the left knee.
KMN: Join with me in
reciting the
Lord's Prayer.
Done, after which the KCN says: Arise.
After all have risen, the Knights of the Points assume their
pedestals and
having done so, all sit together.
KMN: ****.
KMS: ***.
KMW: **.
KME: *.
KMN: Knights of the North, you are dismissed.
Home