Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

KNIGHT
KNIGHT 403
to the charms of this enchanting scene, in the
midst of which the Hierophant communicated
to the candidate the modes of recognition
peculiar to the Order . (Clavel, Hist. Pitt.,
115-7 .)
The Order had but a brief existence . In
1784, F . B. von Grossing invented, in Germany,
an Order bearing a similar name, but
its duration was as ephemeral as that of the
French one.
Knight of the Rosy and Triple Cross .
(Chevalier de la Rose et Triple Croix .) A degree
in the Archives of the Lodge of Saint
Louis des Anais Reunis at Calais .
Knight of the Rosy Cross . See Royal
Order of Scotland .
Knight of the Round Table. (Chevalier
de la Table ronde .) A degree in the Archives
of the Lodge of Saint Louis des Amis Reunis
at Calais.
Knight of the Round Table of King
Arthur. (Chevalier de la Table ronde du Roi
Arthur.) 1 . Thory (ActaLat . i, 341) says that
this is a degree of the Primitive Rite ; but
neither Dr. Mackey nor the Rev. A . F. A .
Woodford (Kenning's Masonic Cyclopcedia)
has been able to trace the degree . Dr.
Mackey says that he has seen the manuscript
of a degree of this name written many years
ago, which was in the possession of Bro.
C . W . Moore, of Boston. It was an honorary
degree, and referred to the poetic legend of
King Arthur and his knights .
Knight of the Royal Ax . (Chevalier de
la royale Hache .) The Twenty-second Degree
of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite,
called also Prince of Libanus, or Lebanon . It
was instituted to record the memorable services
rendered to Masonry by the "mighty
cedars of Lebanon ." The legend of the degree
informs us that the Sidonians were employed
in cutting cedars on Mount Libanus or Lebanon
for the construction of Noah's ark .
Their descendants subsequently cut cedars
from the same place for the ark of the covenant
; and the descendants of these were again
employed in the same offices, and in the
same place, in obtaining materials for building
Solomon's Temple . Lastly, Zerubbabel emloyed
them in cutting the cedars of Lebanon
por the use of the second Temple . This celebrated
nation formed colleges on Mount Lebanon,
and in their labors always adored the
Great Architect of the Universe . No doubt
this last sentence refers to the Druses, that
secret sect of Theists who still reside upon
Mount Lebanon and in the adjacent parts of
Syria and Palestine, and whose mysterious
ceremonies have attracted so much of the
curiosity of Eastern travelers .
The apron of the Knights of the Royal Ax
is white, lined and bordered with purple. On
it is painted a round table, on which are laid
several architectural plans . On the flap is a
three-headed serpent . The jewel is a golden
ax, having on the handle and blade the initials
of several personages illustrious in the
history of Masonry. The places of meeting
in this degree are called "Colleges ." This de-
gree is especially interesting to the Masonic
scholar in consequence of its evident reference
to the mystical association of the Druses,
whose connection with the Templars at the
time of the Crusades forms a yet to be investigated
episode in the history of Freemasonry.
Knight of the Sacred Mountain . (Chevalier
de la Montagne Sacree .) A degree in the
Archives of the Lodge of Saint'Louis des Amis
Reunis at Calais .
Knight of the Sanctuary . (Chevalier
du Sanctuaire.) The Eleventh Degree of the
Rite of the East according to the collection of
Fustier.
Knight of the Sepulcher . The Sixth
Degree of the system of the Grand Lodge
Royal York at Berlin .
Knight of the South . (Chevalier du Sud.)
The Eighth Degree of the Swedish Rite, better
known as the Favorite of St . John .
Knight of the Star . (Chevalier de l'Etoile.)
A degree in the collection of Pyron .
Knight of the Sun . (Chevalier du Soleil.)
The Twenty-eighth Degree of the Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite, called also Prince of
the Sun, Prince Adept, and Key of Masonry,
or Chaos Disentangled . It is a Kabbalistic
and Hermetic degree, and its instructions
and symbols are full of the Kabbala and Alchemy.
Thus, one of its favorite words is Stibium,
which, with the Hermetic Philosophers,
meant the primal matter of all things . The
principal officers are Father Adam and
Brother Truth, allegorizing in the old rituals
the search of Man after Truth . The other
officers are named after the seven chief angels,
and the brethren are called Sylphs, or, in the
American ritual, Aralim or Heroes . The jewel
is a golden sun, having on its reverse a hemisphere
with the six northern signs of the zodiac .
There is but one light in the Lodge, which
shines through a globe of glass .
This degree is not confined to the Scottish
Rite, but is found sometimes with a different
name, but with the same Hermetic design,
more or less developed in other Rites . Ragon,
with whom Delaunay and Chemin-Dupontes
concur, says that it is not, like many of the
high degrees, a mere modern invention, but
that it is of the highest antiquity ; and was, in
fact, the last degree of the ancient initiations
teaching, under an Hermetic appearance, the
doctrines of natural religion, which formed an
essential part of the Mysteries . But Ragon
must here evidently refer to the general, philosophic
design rather than to the particular
organization of the degree . Thory (Acts Lat.,
i ., 339), with more plausibility, ascribes its invention
as a Masonic degree to Pernetty, the
founder of the Hermetic Rite . Of all the high
degrees, it is, perhaps, the most important and
the most interesting to the scholar who desires
to investigate the true secret of the Order.
Its old catechisms, now unfortunately too
much neglected, are full of suggestive thoughts,
and in its modern ritual, for which we are indebted
to the inventive genius of Bro . Albert
Pike, it is by far the most learned and
philosophical of the Scottish degrees .