Ventura Valley Scottish Rite
Degrees 4th - 32nd
on the following pages are from the book,
" A Bridge to Light" by Ill. Rex R. Hutchens, 33°.
Copyright 1988, 1995, 2006 by the
Supreme Council of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry,
Southern Jurisdiction of the USA.
Chapter of Rose Croix
17th Degree - Knight of the East and West
The apron is of yellow silk, lined and edged with crimson; the colors are emblematic of the dawn. Its triangular shape is symbolic of the Deity in His first three emanations. In the center is a gold Tetractys formed of 10 Hebrew Yods. They represent the ten Sephiroth (or manifestations of Deity) on the Tree of Life in the Kabalah.
The order is a broad, white watered
ribbon, worn from the right to the left. It is crossed by a black one
of equal width, worn from left to right. The jewel is suspended
from the latter. The two colors are symbolic of the two principles of
good and evil as explained in the dualist doctrines of Zoroaster and
Manes.
The jewel is a heptagonal (seven-sided)
medal, half gold and half silver or mother of pearl. These two colors
are emblems of the sun and moon, themselves symbols of the Egyptian
deities Osiris and Isis, who represent the generative and productive
powers of nature, illustrated in Masonic Symbolism by the columns
Jachin and Boaz as the active and passive forces manifested in nature (Morals
and Dogma, p. 202). On one side are engraved, at the angles,
the same letters as are on the capitals of the columns in the ceremony
and possessing the same meaning, that of the last seven of the
Sephiroth of the Kabalah. A star is over each. In the center, on the
same side, is a lamb, lying on a book with seven seals, on which seals
are, respectively, the same letters, though shown in this
representation as the Roman equivalents. On the reverse side are two
crossed swords, points upward; their hilts rest on an even balance. In
the corners are the initials in Greek of the names of the Seven
Churches (Revelation 2 and 3).
DUTIES
To work, to reflect and to pray.
To hope, to trust and to believe.
To teach the truths that are hidden in allegories and concealed in the
symbols of Freemasonry.
LESSONS
An army of martyrs have offered up their lives to prove their faith or
benefit mankind.
FOR REFLECTION
Can Masonry teach religion without being a religion?
What is the meaning of the vacant chair in the ceremony?
IMPORTANT SYMBOLS
The East, the West, John the Baptist, the colors of the rainbow, the
candidate, the number seven, the vacant chair.