|
|
||||
|
DUTY: Rebuild the Masonic temple of liberty, equality and fraternity in the souls of men and of nations.
FOR REFLECTION: Is equality the basis of all freedom?
IMPORTANT SYMBOLS: Bridge with letters L.D.P., the colors green, white and red, the trowel and the sword.
|
The Fifteenth Degree Knight of the East, of the Sword or of the Eagle ~Summary ~
This degree teaches that it is not possible to keep people in slavery once they know the value of liberty and can decide for themselves how to define it. Likewise, it is not possible to defeat Masonry by attacking it; for we are building the Temple of liberty, equality, and fraternity in the souls of men and nations. |
|||
|
The cordon of a Knight of the East is a broad, green watered ribbon, worn as a baldric, from the left to right, without a jewel. |
Also among the clothing of this degree is a broad sash of white watered silk edged on the upper side and fringed with gold on the lower. It is worn around the waist with the ends hanging down on the left side. On one end there is a gold arched bridge with the letters L.D.P. over the arch. Suspended from the right side is a small silver trowel. |
|||
|
The apron is crimson velvet. On the flap is an embroidered gold bleeding head over crossed swords. In the center are three nested gold triangles formed from chains with triangular links. These represent the chains on the human intellect; tyranny, superstition and privilege. The velvet signifies that the honors of Masonry are more precious than the gift of kings.
|
The jewel is three nested triangles of gold. In the center are two crossed swords, points upward, the hilts resting on the base of the inner triangle. The nested triangles symbolize liberty, equality and fraternity; and also law, order and subordination. The crossed swords, truth and justice. |
|||
|
|
There are additional decorations peculiar to this degree: green kid gloves and a black broad-brimmed hat with green plume. Green, the dominant symbolic color, represents here the immortality of the human soul and even of Masonry itself. As you may recall in the 3rd Degree of the Symbolic Lodge, Fellowcrafts' present themselves before King Solomon clad in white gloves. White gloves are also worn in the 14th Degree of the Scottish Rite. In both instances, they are a symbol of innocence, cleanliness of mind, heart and soul. |
|||
|
"We have now reached the portal of a new allegory with an even more elaborate symbolism than previous degrees, for here we begin the Masonic allegory of the Second Temple. The people of Israel, having followed Solomon into the worship of lesser gods, find themselves abandoned by the Lord. Taken as captives and slaves into Babylon, they serve a period of retribution longer even than their wanderings in the wilderness following their flight from Egypt. under Moses which lasted 40 years. The Babylonian captivity lasted 70 years. This number is represented in the age of a Knight of the East -- ten weeks of days, or 70 days. There comes into the small group of people of Israel a type of Perfect Elu, Zerubbabel, a Prince of Israel, who beseeches the Babylonian monarch, Cyrus, to free his people and allow them to rebuild the city and the House of the Lord. The alternate names of this degree -- Knight of the Sword and Knight of the Eagle -- attest to its long and varied history and inclusion in the many Rite of Freemasonry. The title, Knight of the Sword, alludes to the legend that the Freemasons, in building the Second Temple, worked with the trowel in one hand and the sword in the other (Nehemiah 4:17 17-18). The other name, Knight of the Eagle, is based on the symbolic meaning of the eagle in this degree-- liberty." (A Bridge to Light, pp. 118-119) |
||||
