Copyrighted © 2017, Orient of California, all rights reserved
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.
Copyrighted © 2017, Orient of California, all rights reserved