Degrees of the Scottish Rite: 10° and 11°

These were the only degrees I missed when I went through them all.    I am happy I could make them up right away.    The message about values of freedom of religion and thought are basic values that formed our unique Country.   We need to get back to the Founders' basics if we don't want to be left in the dust of history before our time.

Degrees of the Scottish Rite:


10° - Elu of the Fifteen (Illustrious Elect of the Fifteen) This degree teaches us to be tolerant and respect the opinions of others. Freedoms of political and spiritual ideologies should be shared by all. The apron of the 10th Degree is white, with a black flap with three arch-shaped gates, over each a head on a spike. The jewel of this degree is a dagger as in the 9th Degree. The duties are enlightenment of soul and mind, vigilance, tolerance and being on guard for fanaticism and persecution.

11° - Elu of the Twelve (Sublime Knight Elect of the Twelve) This degree teaches sympathy. We should be compassionate to our brother Masons and to all mankind as well. The apron of the 11th Degree is white, lined with black, with a flaming heart in the center. The jewel is a dagger suspended from a black cordon inscribed with the words "Vincere aut Mori" the pledge "that you will rather die than betray the cause of the people, or be overcome through your own fear or fault". The duties are to be earnest, true, reliable and champion of the people.

China's Three Great Religions and their Teachers

As China become more affluent, My hope is that it returns to its heritage and great traditions. It will help free their people and the occupied minorities.

China's Three Great Religions and their Teachers:


 " Albert Pike, has said in his Morals and Dogma (page 277) about Buddha and Confucius. According to him, Buddha was "the first Masonic Legislator whose memory is preserved to us by history," and he "called to the

Priesthood all men, without distinction of caste, who felt themselves inspired by God to instruct men." He declared (pages 277 and 278 ) that this Buddhist Priesthood "recognized the existence of a single uncreated God, in whose bosom everything grows, is developed and transformed," and the "worship of this God reposed upon the obedience of all the beings He created."


"According to Albert Pike (page 616), Confucius "forbade making images or representations of the Deity. He attached no idea of personality to Him; but considered Him as a Power or Principle, pervading all Nature." The doctrine of Confucius, according to Pike (page 169), was stated in the Chinese Ethics as being "simple, and easy to be understood," consisting "solely in being upright of heart, and loving our neighbour as we love ourself."

Urizen: The Grand Architect Of the Universe.

By William Blake

Shaquille O'neal, Freemason

His fellow sports commentatiors harrasse Shaq about his ring.

When asked what it is he replies: 

"The Ring of my profession."

Degrees of the Scottish Rite: 31° - Inspector Inquisitor

I have been lucky to be the Principle Candidate for the 7°, 28° and last night the 31°. Someone said early on, "This is a great degree, but they just keep getting begtter and better."   I was skeptical, but I've found that they were right.

Degrees of the Scottish Rite: Consistory

The Consistory Degrees are very different from each other in form and content.  The 31° reveals the dynamic relationship that has existed for centuries between human law as a means of achieving justice, and divine justice as an ideal.

"Where Freemasonry flourishes, there will be found the highest type of citizenship and the best standard of living." - Albert Pike

31° - Inspector Inquisitor  In this degree the apprentice learns prayerful self-examination. The mistakes today should not be committed tomorrow. Simply, the daily look at ones self to learn to live with the future. No apron is worn in the Supreme Tribunal, but the traditional apron displayed is of pure white lambskin with a Teutonic Cross of black and silver embroidered upon the flap. The jewel is a silver Teutonic cross. The jewel is suspended from a white collar, with a gold triangle with a "31" inside it. The duty is to judge yourself in the same light as you judge others, considering both actions and motives.

Huston Smith and the Primordial Tradition

I had the good fortune to hear Prof. Huston Smith speak, back in the '80s.    Like Albert Pike, he is interested in foundation or primordial religion.
Huston Smith and the Primordial Tradition

Huston Smith and the Primordial Tradition
Four Levels of Reality
The Great Chain of Being begins with the Source and proceeds through emanationist through various stages of manifestation, down to matter and non-being.  Thus Reality is described in terms of a specific structure.  The accounts of different traditional and pre-modern esoteric and exoteric cosmologies are similar enough for it to be possible to present a single account embracing all of them
Such a unified account has already been presented, at least on a basic level, by one contemporary scholar of comparative religion  Professor Huston Smith (formerly of Syracuse University, N.Y.), who (in his books  Forgotten Truth and  Beyond the Post-Modern Mind) refers to four levels, which pertain to bioth the microcosm (the individual) and the macrocosm (the universe and reality as a whole):

Read entire article here: Huston Smith and the Primordial Tradition

George Washington with His Favorite Dog, Dutchess.

Preparing  To Lay The Cornerstone Of The Capital.