The Degree Rituals The Supreme Council, 33 ... - Scottish Rite, NMJ

26 The Degree Rituals
Who Serves God Best? — The Ninth Degree
The ritual of the 9°, as it appeared in the Francken Manuscript, followed
the usual pattern of early Scottish Rite rituals — a ceremonial opening and
reception, the obligation and investiture, and a long explanatory lecture. The
theme was derived from the Hiramic legend exemplified in the symbolic
lodge, in particular, the murder of Hiram Abif and the ensuing pursuit of the
assassins. The lesson was a forbidding admonition on vengeance and the
breach of an obligation.
Subsequent rituals made various refinements on the Francken ritual, including
a dramatization of the selection by lot of nine craftsmen who were to
pursue the assassins; hence the title of the degree, “Master Elect of Nine.”
(Pike’s variation on this was “Knight Elu of Nine.”) Such was the form of the
ritual of 1871, the first to be approved by the Supreme Council for the 9°
after the Union of 1867. It remained substantially unchanged for nearly a century,
until the first of a succession of tentative rituals was introduced in 1965.
The criticism written in 1943 by McIlyar Lichliter was but one expression
of dissatisfaction with the rituals of the 9° and 10°, both of which were based
on the same theme, pursuit of the assassins of Hiram Abif. In addition to the
issue whether this theme provided an appropriate basis for the moral lessons
to be exemplified in two degrees of the Scottish Rite, the version of the Hiramic
legend portrayed in the degree ritual was at variance with that exemplified
in the symbolic lodge, despite the fact that the latter was part of the
experience of every Freemason and the very reason why the legend was the
theme of the two rituals.
Consequently, over a period of 15 years commencing in 1965, three successive
tentative rituals were prepared for both the 9° and the 10°. The primary
author of these efforts was Ill. William H. Cantwell, 33°, Active
Member for Delaware, a member, and for a time chairman, of the Committee
on Rituals. The culmination of Cantwell’s work was a combination ritual for
the 9° and 10°, the tentative ritual of 1980. This was a logical step, as for
many years it had been customary to present both degree rituals in conjunction
as a continuous performance.