Lodge
of Perfection Degree Descriptions
The Degree
description below is reprinted with the permission of the
Scottish Rite Journal.
Eleventh Degree
Elu Of The Twelve, A Heart Aflame
Jim Tresner, 33°, Grand
Cross
Photo: Oil
painting by Bro. Robert H. White, 32°
The 11th Degree apron (right) is white, lined
and bordered in black, and with a black flap. As before, black
represents those negative qualities typified by ignorance, error, and
intolerance. White represents purity of life and intention. On the
apron is a flaming heart, a symbol repeated on the cordon. The flaming
heart represents zeal and devotedness, especially the zeal and
devotedness of those who, throughout the world's history, have
sacrificed themselves for the good of their country or mankind.
On the cordon, above the heart, are the words Vincere aut Mori,
"Conquer or Die."
The jewel is a sword of gold. It represents
truth. The allusion is to Hebrews 4:12, "Truth is sharper than any
two-edged sword."
All these emblems point to devotedness,
activity, zeal—and they can be a little uncomfortable. After
all, we're told to "keep our cool," to "chill out," to "relax and go
with the flow."
And here is the Scottish Rite saying "be
committed," "care deeply and passionately," "fight against the
current." It's the difference between a comfortable life and a
productive life. And the sad truth is that the productive life is
seldom comfortable.
The Degree teaches that the Scottish Rite
Mason must be actively involved in the government of his
nation. Unjust taxes, governmental bureaucracies more concerned with
self-perpetuation than with service, creeping limitations on the
freedom of the people—in the name of expediency, or of
conformity, or of "the greater good"—are not new. They have
been recorded in virtually every government from antiquity to today. If
we are truly to be the champions of the people (as the Rite calls upon
us to be), we must be concerned with every miscarriage of justice,
every unreasonable limitation of liberty, every arbitrary act of court
or state house or capital.
Our special concern must be for those who do
not have easy access to the courts, nor the ear of those in power, nor
influence with city hall. Their very powerlessness creates a binding
obligation on every Mason of the Rite. It would be far easier, and far
more comfortable, to "chill out."
But our duty is to be aflame.
The Scottish Rite Journal
- May 1999
Jim Tresner
is Director of the Masonic Leadership Institute and Editor of The
Oklahoma Mason. A frequent contributor to the Scottish Rite Journal and
its book review editor, Illustrious Brother Tresner is also a volunteer
writer for The Oklahoma Scottish Rite Mason and a video script
consultant for the National Masonic Renewal Committee. He is the
Director of the Thirty-third Degree Conferral Team and Director of Work
at the Guthrie Scottish Rite Temple in Guthrie, Oklahoma, as well as a
life member of the Scottish Rite Research Society, author of the
popular anecdotal biography Albert Pike, The Man Beyond the Monument,
and a member of the steering committee of the Masonic Information
Center. Ill. Tresner was awarded the Grand Cross, the Scottish Rite's
highest honor, during the Supreme Council's October 1997 Biennial
Session.
