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

44 The Degree Rituals
Supreme Council withdrew the “Herod Allegory” and restored the traditional
17° ritual that it had superseded only 15 years earlier.
Thirty years passed. Then, the Valleys were heard from again, this time expressing
discontent that Rose Croix Chapters, in contrast to the other Scottish
Rite Bodies, could present only what amounted to a single degree. The restored
17° ritual, of course, had resumed its old place as but a prelude to the
18°. In response, the “Herod Allegory” was resurrected and, beginning in
1989, was rewritten several times over the course of the next five years to
address the production drawbacks that previously had discouraged its presentation
and to reinforce its connection with the 18°. The first draft was the
work of Ill. Theodore E. Torok, 33°, a member of the Valley of Trenton (Central
Jersey) and a consultant to the Committee on Rituals. 6 Subsequent drafts
were prepared by Ill. Richard W. Parker, 33°, Active Member for Vermont, a
member and later chairman of the Committee.
Finally, the modified “Herod Allegory” returned as the 17° Tentative Ritual
of 1994, for the second time displacing the traditional ritual of the 17°.
The tentative ritual later was approved as the 17° Ritual of 2002. The new ritual
ended with the sealing of the Book of Life, thus creating a link to the
ritual of the 18°. Instructions published with the ritual expressly permitted
individual Valleys to adjust the size of the cast to conform to stage capacity,
provided there were sufficient actors to make the scene realistic. The ritual
was to be dramatized as a single scene, thereby eliminating the need for scene
changes and multiple sets.
A further revision of the “Herod Allegory,” approved a few years later as
the 17° Ritual of 2007, removed the ceremonial section in conformity with the
policy adopted by the Supreme Council in 1995. A number of wording
changes were made in the prologue and the allegory mostly stylistic in nature.
A few superfluous passages were deleted as was the unlikely intention of the
Essenes “to visit the schools of philosophy in Greece and Rome.”
Many elements of the present 18° ritual, “Knight of Rose Croix,” were
present in the Francken Manuscript. These included the symbolism of the
6 Ill. Brother Torok’s talents as a dramatist were evidenced by his popular Masonic theme
play December’s Rose, published by the Masonic Service Association in 1988 for presentation
to Masonic and non-Masonic audiences.