The Rose Croix Degrees – Our Masonic Responsibility

The Feast of Tishrei, which we celebrate today, coincides with the Jewish Holiday of Sukkot. It is a joyous, 7-day occasion. At the evening meal of each of the first six nights, the patriarchs and foundational prophets of the Jewish people are symbolically welcomed as guests. Each morning, a “Hoshana” (salvation) prayer is added to the liturgy. The seventh day begins by welcoming in such a manner King David, the archetypal ancestor of the Moshiach (Messiah). This day is Hoshana Raba, the day of limitless salvation, in which the Jewish liturgy is concentrated upon the theme of redemption.

        As this year’s Orator for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Rose Croix, it seems fitting on this occasion that I attempt a brief analysis of the archetype of the redeemer in the Rose Croix Degrees.

        The archetype of the Moshiach appears in all four of the Rose Croix degrees. In the 15^th Degree, Hananiah and Zerubabel engage in the building of the temple. Zerubabel presents to us the archetype of Moshiach in the form of a drama, in which he recovers the lost vessels of the Temple at Jerusalem in his quest to rebuild it. In the Sukkot liturgical “Hoshanot”, the Temple, the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, is referred to as the Foundation Stone.

        The 16^th degree is succinctly described by the following prophesy from the Book of Zechariah (3:8-10):

Listen, now, O, Joshua, the Kohen Gadol: you and your companions who are sitting before you, for they are men worthy of a miracle—for behold, I am bringing My servant, Tzemach (the flourishing one). For behold, the (foundation) stone that I have placed before Joshua—seven eyes toward one stone; behold I am engraving its adornment—the word of Hashem, Master of     Legions—and I will remove the iniquity of the land on one day. On that day—the word of Hashem, Master of Legions—each man will invite his fellow beneath the vine and beneath the fig tree.

            The Jewish scholar Onkelos, who translated the Biblical Canon into Aramaic, interpreted “Tzemach” (flourishing) to mean the Moshiach. Other sages said the word referred to Zerubabel. Here again we see the symbolism of the foundation stone, and we see a strange reference to the number seven, and possibly to the Sabbath Day, so prominently featured in the 18^th degree, where we are presented with the “temple of true philosophy” and the philosopher’s stone, and prompted to investigate for ourselves the religious significance of the number 7.

        The 17^th degree begins with the scene at which King Herod orders the execution of the John the Baptist. The incident is recorded by the historian Josephus, but the greater spiritual context is somewhat abridged by the opening scene of the degree. Herod’s father was among many who had been forced by Hyrcanus the Hasmonean to convert to Judaism. Thus, Herod’s confusion about his own beliefs as presented in the opening scene of the 17^th degree is one which undoubtedly owed to his historical circumstances, and which casts the Messianic implications of his order to execute John the Baptist in a far broader light; it is not merely a depiction of a soul corrupted by vice and power, but of a clash of civilizations and of an overall obfuscation, or constriction, of what could possibly be thought in the collective consciousness of that society. This confusion is the impetus for the apocalyptic vision which drives the rest of the degree, and it lies at the heart of the philosophical discussion that begins the 18^th degree.

        In the 28^th Chapter of Morals and Dogma, Ill. Bro. Albert Pike begins a lengthy survey of the whole history of philosophical approaches to religion, with the following observation: “God made man in His own likeness…He communicated to him a knowledge of the nature of his Creator, and of the pure, primitive, undefiled religion. The peculiar and distinctive excellence and real essence of the primitive man, and his true nature and destiny, consisted in his likeness to God. He stamped His own image upon man’s soul. That image has been, in the breast of every individual man and of mankind in general, greatly altered, impaired, and defaced; but its old, half-obliterated characters are still to be found on all the pages of primitive history; and the impress, not entirely effaced, every reflecting mind may discover in its own interior (pg. 598 original pagination, 713 in the De Hoyos Annotated Version).

        Pike continues, “Science with her many instruments, Astronomy, particularly, with her telescope, Physics with the microscope, and Chemistry with its analyses and combinations, have greatly enlarged our ideas of the Deity, by discovering to us the vast extent of the Universe in both directions, its star-systems and its invisible swarms of minutest animal life; by acquainting us with the new and wonderful Force or Substance we call Electricity, apparently a link between Matter and Spirit: and still the Deity only becomes more incomprehensible to us than ever, and we find that in our speculations we but reproduce over and over again the Ancient Thought” (pg. 697, 811 in De Hoyos).

        While it may seem that there is a sentiment of futility expressed here, I suggest that it is nothing of the sort. Rather, it is a hint that the nature and importance of our thought and discovery can be much more powerful than we are conditioned to realize. It is only the profane context within which we habitually experience our own lives that causes us to believe that our knowledge is futile.

        In his blog post, “Adam and the Mashiach Within” (April 11, 2024, https://www.mayimachronim.com/page/11/), Rabbi Efraim Palvanov argues that the Kabbalastic “universes” of creation—production, formation, creation, and emanation—parallel the stages of development of the redemption of the human being. At the level of production is the sacrifice of one’s automatic beliefs and habits.

        At the level of formation is ostracism. When a person begins to individuate and access transcendental parts of his personality, he will necessarily meet with resistance from those who surround him, who do not want to make the same sacrifices that he has made, and who will therefore seek to marginalize his work.

        At the level of creation is death. This is the concept of a renaissance. One is freed from the baggage of falsehood and error that defined his previous self, and becomes a new person living a meaningful life, where every action is considered purposefully.

        At the level of emanation, one becomes connected to God in such a way that every thought and action he has carries spiritual force.

        Beyond these is the level of Adam Kadmon at which the soul transcends time and space and realizes eternity.

        This development, which is presented in copious detail and challenging language in the 27^th degree and in the 28^th Chapter of Morals and Dogma, is acted out in dramatic fashion in the Rose Croix degrees, and its symbolism is set forth most completely in the 18^th degree, accompanied only by brief hints as to the true depth of their intended impact. The allusion of the sign of recognition of the 18^th  degree to the hermetic saying, “As above, so below” most nearly approximates the point I want to make here, which is that the Moshiach is not simply back there, on the faded pages of an old book, nor is He out there, at some distant, unimaginable point in the future; he is in here, in the hearts of all of the men in this room and in our great fraternity.

        I’d like to close with a reminder that we are the heirs and guardians of a body of incredibly powerful and important knowledge for humankind. We have been fortunate, you and I, to have found ourselves now living in the heart of one of the most powerful States in the history of civilizations, at the heights of undoubtedly the most economically just and prosperous era ever known to mankind. We may take this for granted, or even disparage it as worthless if we proceed under the illusion that, if we have not earned it for ourselves, it is of limited value to us. This would be a catastrophic error. With great power comes great responsibility. We have been born on third base. We must get home. Let us not be discouraged or confused by the projection and lies which accompany the many crimes we see perpetrated in our midst. The truth is closer to us than it may seem. For each other, for the brotherhood of man, let us complete our mission now!