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

The Degree Rituals
The Twenty-third “Four Chaplains” Degree
It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the ritual of the 23° was
recorded in any surviving form. It had been mentioned by Jean Frederick
Doszedardski in 1805 as one of the French “Philosophical Grades,” under
the title “Chief of the Tabernacle.” However, no indication of its content was
given. Killian Van Rensselaer’s 1845 manuscript provided signs and passwords
for the degree but nothing further.
As was the case with several other Scottish Rite degrees, the writing of a
complete ritual for the 23° apparently had to await the creative pen of Albert
Pike, who gave no indication of his source. Pike gave the ritual a mosaic setting
consistent with the traditional title of the degree, the Tabernacle in the
Wilderness. The ritual was presided over by Aaron, as “Most Excellent High
Priest,” assisted by two of his sons as Wardens. The form of the ritual was traditional
with an opening, reception, examination, obligation, a series of ten
charges, and concluding with a long investiture and lecture interpreting the
symbolism of the ritual. The Pike ritual was adopted by this jurisdiction after
the Union of 1867 and continued in use for more than 40 years.
Early in 1907, Ill. John Lloyd Thomas, 33°, later Active Member for New
York and a member of the Committee on Rituals, met with the committee
and submitted for their consideration a proposed new ritual for the 23°. Using
the setting of the Pike ritual, Thomas proposed a dramatization of the Old
Testament story of the sons of Aaron, who neglected their duty to tend the sacred
fire in the Tabernacle. In 1908, a modified form of the Thomas proposal
was approved by the Supreme Council, replacing the Pike ritual. Subject to
minor revisions made in 1930, the ritual of 1908 remained the ritual of the 23°
for the next 80 years.
In 1985, the Supreme Council approved a recommendation by the Committee
on Rituals to transfer degree rituals based on Old Testament themes
from the Consistory to the Lodge of Perfection. This decision, of course, impacted
the 23°. Before the plan could be implemented, however, an acceptable
new ritual had to be available to replace each ritual transferred from a Consistory
degree.
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