The Degree Rituals The Supreme Council, 33 ... - Scottish Rite, NMJ
The Degree Rituals The Supreme Council, 33 ... - Scottish Rite, NMJ
The Degree Rituals The Supreme Council, 33 ... - Scottish Rite, NMJ
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Degree</strong> <strong>Rituals</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong> 1980 tentative ritual, however, was quickly overtaken by events and<br />
never was issued. Since 1974, the Committee on <strong>Rituals</strong> had been working<br />
by fits and starts toward a major realignment of degree rituals. <strong>The</strong> plan entailed<br />
a transfer of rituals based on Old Testament themes from the Consistory<br />
to the Lodge of Perfection. By the early 1980’s the realignment was becoming<br />
a reality. <strong>The</strong> proposal was formally approved by the <strong>Supreme</strong> <strong>Council</strong> in<br />
1985, and in 1986 the 9° became the first Lodge of Perfection ritual to be<br />
withdrawn and replaced by a degree ritual transferred from the Consistory.<br />
Any doubts about the moral lessons to be derived from the traditional ritual<br />
of the 9° were more than addressed by its transplanted replacement, the<br />
tentative ritual of 1986. <strong>The</strong> new 9° ritual featured a dramatic allegory that<br />
had originated as the literary handiwork of Ill. John Lloyd Thomas, <strong>33</strong>°, later<br />
an Active Member for New York and a member of the Committee on <strong>Rituals</strong>,<br />
that had been adopted by the <strong>Supreme</strong> <strong>Council</strong> in 1909 as the ritual of the<br />
24°. <strong>The</strong> allegory, consisting of a single, albeit lengthy scene, depicted a fictitious<br />
event at the dedication of the Temple, an assembly of representatives<br />
of many religions summoned by King Solomon. After a discussion of many<br />
views on the nature of God, disrupted by a voice of skepticism, the dramatic<br />
action climaxed with an expression of spiritual unity inspired by a moving<br />
plea for a universal faith of service to humanity. “God is best served by those<br />
who best serve their fellow men.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> tentative ritual was subsequently confirmed as the 9° Ritual of 1992.<br />
Although the substance of the ritual did not provoke criticism, its presentation<br />
did pose casting and scheduling difficulties for Lodges of Perfection. This<br />
was taken into consideration in the following decade when the ritual was next<br />
reviewed and revised.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 2003 revision was primarily the work of Ill. C. DeForrest Trexler,<br />
<strong>33</strong>°, Active Member for Pennsylvania and chairman of the Committee on Ritualistic<br />
Matters. It deleted the brief ceremonial section in conformity to the<br />
policy adopted by the <strong>Supreme</strong> <strong>Council</strong> in 1995, although much dialogue<br />
from the ceremonial was incorporated in a relatively long prologue to set the<br />
background for the allegory. More significant were changes in the allegory.<br />
In addition to extensive stylistic revisions in the dialogue, the essential cast<br />
was reduced by a third, including two of the eight representatives of foreign<br />
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