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Lodge of Perfection - 4th through 14th o

These degrees, the 4th through 14th, are called Ineffable Degrees because their principal purpose is the investigation and contemplation of the ineffable name of Deity.  Following each of degrees listed below we have provided a brief statement of the moral teachings found within its lecture.

4th degree - Secret Master: Your first steps into our sanctuary are duty, reflection and study. They teach us to honor those relationships to God, family, country, Masonry. The apron is white and black, with a letter "Z" and all-seeing eye. The jewel is an ivory key with the letter "Z" on the wards.  The lessons of the 4 o  are secrecy, obedience, and fidelity. 5th degree - Perfect Master: The degree teaches that honesty and trustworthiness is the cornerstone of the foundation of Masonic honor. This virtue should be in all of our undertakings. The apron is white and green, with a cubic stone and a Hebrew YOD. The jewel is a compass open on a segment of a circle, to an angle of sixty degrees.  The lessons of the 5 o  are Honesty, Sincerity, and good Faith.  6th degree - Intimate Secretary: In this degree we should learn duty, charity and toleration. We are told to reshape ourselves and our thinking into charity, self-control, and success. Be a peacemaker. The apron is white and red, with Hebrew letters YOD HEH in the center, and a small triangle containing the Hebrew letters (clockwise from top) BETH, NUN, and SHIN. The jewel is a gold triangle with the same three letters inscribed.  7th degree - Provost and Judge: We learn that impartial justice protect person, property, happiness and reputation. These degrees teach us to judge with patience and impartially. The apron is white, edged with red, with a key and five rosettes. The jewel is a golden key.  8th degree - Intendant of the Building: We should strive for perfection by using the great principles of "God's inherent love, charity, morality and kindness". The apron is white, with red and green, with a balance, a five-pointed star, and a triangle with the Hebrew letters BETH (for Ben-khurim), YOU (for Jakinah), and ALEPH (for Achar). The jewel is a gold triangle with the same three letters.  9th degree - Elu of the Nine (Elected Knight of the Nine):  Scottish Rite virtues are at the very heart of this degree, truth, candor and generosity. We should use these to shape our lives and conduct. The apron is white, lined with black, and sprinkled with blood, with an arm holding a dagger, and a severed head held by the hair. The jewel is a dagger, hilt of gold and blade of silver.  10th degree - Elu of the Fifteen (Illustrious Elect of the Fifteen): This degree teaches toleration of others. Everyone has the right to his own political or spiritual views. The apron is white, with a black flap, and with three arch-shaped gates -- over each a head on a spike. The jewel is a dagger as in the previous degree.  11th degree - Elu of the Twelve (Sublime Knight Elect of the Twelve): This degree teaches sympathy. We should sympathetic to our brother masons and to all mankind as well. The apron is white, lined with black, with a flaming heart in the center. The jewel is a dagger suspended from a black cordon inscribed with the words "Vincere aut Mori," the pledge "that you will rather die than betray the cause of the people, or be overcome through your own fear or fault."  12th degree - Master Architect: This degree teaches faith in moral and virtues and in God. "Life is what each man makes of it; the optimist turns a trial into a blessing. The apron is white, lined with blue and gold (symbolizing the Craft degrees), with a protractor, plain scale, sector, and compasses. The jewel is a gold triangle, with a Hebrew ALEPH on the obverse and the five types of columns on the reverse.  13th degree - Royal Arch of Solomon (Knight of the Ninth Arch): This degree teaches liberty in our mind and our hearts, motivated by duty and honor. The apron is purple, bordered with white, and with the "Enochian delta" (hexagram with inscribed Tetragrammation) in the center. The jewel is a gold triangle with the Enochian delta on the reverse, and a scene showing two men lowering a third into a newly-discovered subterranean vault, on the obverse.  14th degree - Perfect Elu (Grand Elect, Perfect and Sublime Mason): In the degree we learn to reflect and look into ourselves. We should strive to be true to ourselves and our God. The apron is white silk, bordered in gold, with the Ineffable Delta in the Center. The jewel is a quadrant (compass open to ninety degrees) topped by a crown, and with a nine-pointed star on the obverse, and a five-pointed blazing star (with the Tetragrammaton) on the reverse. The compass is opened on a segment of a circle, inscribed with the numbers 3, 5, 7, 9. 

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