33 & Beyond: The Royal Art of Freemasonry (2017) - full transcript

(Tricoast Worldwide tone)

(slow tempo melancholy music)

(mid tempo piano)

- I became a Freemason because

I was obsessed with understanding

what death was at a very young age.

I was born in Spain.

My mother worked for the government

and my father was in the Air Force.

It was pretty soon when
we moved to New York

that my parents got divorced,



and then my mother
remarried to my step-father.

As I grew up my step-dad became

the prominent figure in my life.

He was my hockey coach, I
played ice hockey for 13 years.

On December 26th, 1991,
I was 14 years old.

It was the night after Christmas

and my step-father died of a heart attack.

After my dad has died,
I really was looking

for an answer for why this happens.

It sent me on this journey to understand

what this was, why it happens,

and then what happens after you die,

is there something, is
there not something?

Part of what this story's about is



the quest of going as deep
as you can into the unknown.

- So as the story starts, we have

some very peculiar questions.

The fundamental message of masonry is

truly man's pursuit of
communion with his creator.

And masonry is a very unique and ancient

age old repository of wisdom and knowledge

that has been preserved through the ages

and gives a whole new perspective

to the man looking to
understand who he is,

where he has come from,
what he is to be doing,

and his ultimate direction.

Masonry provides all of the tools

for a man to think about that,

and to come to grips
with who he really is.

If you can think, you're probably

a good prospect for masonry.

If you can't think, it's probably better

to follow the 10 steps to salivation

that most folks ascribe to.

Masonry is not for those folks.

- Freemasonry has been a part of my life

since the day I was born.

Generations of my family have been masons.

It's not been continuous.

If memory serves, we can count back

to a seventh generation Freemason.

My father's a Freemason, my
grandfather's a Freemason,

my great grandfather was a Freemason.

I don't think I really

understood it until I
was much older in life.

Frankly, I'm not even sure
that I fully understand it now.

I think that's one of the
beauties of Freemasonry

is that it's not something you're going to

necessarily be taught in a day.

It's a lifelong commitment and a journey.

Frankly, there are some
men who enter Freemasonry

and don't continue.

There were thoughts that I
would be one of those men

because I joined Freemasonry
at a relatively young age

and didn't come back for five years,

until I met some guys
from a lodge where I'm

a Past Master of now, and I just,

as soon as I met these guys, I'm like

these are the dudes that
I want to hang out with,

and that was it, that was
really a turning point

and after five years from
becoming an Entered Apprentice

I said duh, it's time to continue.

From that point forward
for seven, eight years,

I was there every week.

- Freemasonry of course is
traditionally thought of

as the world's oldest and
largest fraternity for men.

A true statement, it is a fraternity,

it has always been a fraternity.

It has been an organization that promotes

the interests of men, or
at least traditionally.

That was its purpose.

There's a lot of theories of origin

about the fraternity, and it in fact

has been around for so many years

we're not real sure where we came from,

but the most popular theory of origin

and the theory that is
supported by most Masonic

scholarship today is that we evolved from

the builder's guilds, the operative

Freemasons of the Middle Ages.

- It's a means by which men
can coordinate with men,

can have fellowship with them,

but it's really much much more than that.

It's a means by which you
discover your own identity.

It's a process in which
you learn who you are

and gain some idea of what you're

supposed to be doing in the universe.

- Freemasonry is not
a secret organization,

but it is an organization that has certain

modes of recognition, ways in which masons

make themselves known to one another

that we keep confidential.

Indeed, the whole
ceremony of receiving that

and being exposed to the basic
principles of Freemasonry

we also keep confidential.

We keep these things confidential because

they heighten the experience
of becoming a mason.

They are essentially
based on the working tools

and technics of the operative masons.

Freemasonry is not really
an intellectual exercise

as much as it is an emotional, spiritual

and experiential exercise.

- I ended up moving to London
for a short period of time.

I studied abroad there.

One day, I got a little too drunk

and I ended up getting lost and
just wondering around London

and I ended up on Great Queen Street

and I saw this building
when I turned around.

I'd never really seen a
building that looked like that,

it was very very unique.

I remember above the
doors of the building,

high above the doors there were these

two symbols and they were the symbols of

the square and compass, the
symbols of the Freemasons.

I would try to find
anything that I could about

what the building was and
then I found out okay,

it's for this group called the Freemasons

and then I started
reading different authors

Masonic authors like
Mackey, and Albert Pike,

and different scholars and
essays, anything I could find.

The more I read about
masonry, the more interested

I became in it because not only

did it have the same types of principles

and philosophies that I
was already interested in,

but some of the men that
had passed through masonry's

doors were pretty big
idols of mine like Mozart,

Voltaire, and Benjamin
Franklin, George Washington.

Some of the greatest minds

from human history had
been a part of this.

I thought to myself, there has to be

something to this if
all of these geniuses,

if all of these great men
have been a part of this,

this society, there's
definitely something to it.

What really resonated with
me is that Freemasonry

believes that all men are created equal.

- In masonry, one of the
important parts of the mythos

is the widow's son, and it so turns out

that I actually am indeed a widow's son,

my father passed when I was young.

I was at my mom's house going through

just a bunch of junk she
had and I found this mug,

and this mug was full of pencils

and it had the double headed eagle on it

and it said Scottish Rite Spring Formal

and through my studies, I
recognized that as a Masonic sign.

It didn't say masonry, it didn't
have a square and compass,

but I knew that the Scottish Rite was

one of the branches of masonry and I

was like whoa, this is really cool.

I went to my mother and I asked her,

"Mom, why do you have this mug?

"Where did you get this from?"

and she said, "Oh, that was
one of your dad's mason cups."

I go, "What are you talking about?"

She goes, "Your dad was a mason and we

"went to this spring formal
for the Scottish Rite,

"and they gave that to us."

And I was just blown away.

It's like something had
led me to that moment

to affirm what I'd always felt inside.

It felt like a whole
world opened up to me then

because I was still
one of the uninitiated.

I was one that still thought you had to be

part of a bloodline or
part of a legacy per se

to become a mason and I had tingles

all over myself because I felt like

oh wow, I actually qualify to
belong to this secret order,

this mysterious group, this is part of me.

That only inspired me to do more research,

to actually start looking into lodges

in my hometown of Boston, Texas.

- Primarily I was intrigued because

of the overlap between Freemasonry,

other secret societies,
and ancient mystery cults.

My big thing was ancient Egypt

so that led to my study
of the phenomenon of

mystery cults and secret societies

and their inspiration from Greek

and Roman and also Egyptian
style secret societies.

- In Jamaica's a little bit interesting

because I grew up in a
community called Oxford Spring

and within the community's
little bit rural

and so a lot of the folks are not aware

of Freemasonry as it were, but,

they would see rituals being done,

especially at funerals and
they wonder what this is,

and so a lot of folks would recognize this

as oh, the blackheart man, because they

were all dressed in black and white.

I started understanding that masonry

was really nothing more
than a brotherhood,

but at the time because
they were referring

to these men as the blackheart men,

you thought these men were dangerous men,

men who were diabolic in their nature

and who wanted to really
dominant, take over,

and control everything, but
that was not really the case.

Good thing is I grew
with a man who understood

the nature of what masonry's all about

and they exhibit those type of attributes

and I was one of those persons who

learned from him, understood many things

where masonry was concerned,
but he still did not tell me

the whole spectrum so I became

interested in learning about it myself.

- If you don't know a mason
and you want to become a mason,

it's a simple search of the internet.

You can find a local lodge.

- Most guys petition the lodge because

there's something inside them,

whether it was stimulated by their dad,

or by their grandfather,
or by their neighbor,

or their great uncle Joe, it's immaterial.

The fact of the matter
is is that most guys

are stimulated to seek the lodge

and knock upon its door because

there is a yearning within them.

Now they may not
cognitively recognize this,

it may not be in their
conscious awareness,

but they know, they have a feeling,

there's a drive that pushes them

toward the door of the lodge.

- Once you have gone through the process

of getting to know a lodge, you are then

essentially given a
application if you so request,

and you fill out the application,

you let them know that you're
not an atheist or a felon

essentially, that you are of legal age,

and once the application is put in,

it's voted on in lodge.

- There has to be a
unanimous vote in the lodge,

that way no one is coming in that

someone might have an issue with.

They might look at another lodge.

We want our guys who are interested

to really meet the brothers of the lodge.

We think it's gonna
create a longer lasting

connection because you have just a better

understanding of who everybody is and

if you're gonna jive with them.

- To become a mason you must
believe in a supreme being,

however you might define that,

and you must also believe
in a future existence.

Again, however you might define that.

- Freemasons believe that there
is an inherent need in men,

to be initiated into manhood.

There needs to be a set of
moral and ethical guidelines

that teach a man what the
journey of mature masculinity is.

To take a young man from
sort of the impetuosity

of youth to the mature masculine soul.

- Joesph Campbell among others talks about

the enormous importance of initiation.

He talks about the fact that for women,

it's not necessary because
nature tells a woman

unmistakably when she is no longer a girl,

when she is a woman, it's dramatic,

it's powerful, it's inescapable.

Men don't become fully
autonomous adult males

without some form of initiation.

For many it's the military
or some other organization

like that but if you
go way back in history,

in every society which we have record,

there's been a necessary moment,

a necessary point in
which the man goes through

a ceremony, a ritual, an understanding

which divides his life and he talks

about things which happen before

and things which happened after.

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(flick)

- Even a little bit of light
can dispel much darkness.

Brethren.

The soul passes to a point
in the Masonic journey

when our minds were first about to behold

the light of Freemasonry,
before the light,

there was a sound that commanded.

In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth,

and the earth was void and without thorn,

and darkness was upon
the face of the deep.

And God said, "Let there be light."

Think about it.

We're talking big bang.
(dramatic explosion)

Creation, the beginning
of becoming a Freemason.

The first injunction upon all creation

and upon us as newly initiated masons

let there be light.

Brethren, I submit to you that these words

are the purpose of life and the foundation

of all that we were meant
to do as men and as masons.

- The Blue Lodge is considered your

first experience in Freemasonry and that

consists of three degrees,
the Entered Apprentice Degree,

which is the First Degree,
the Fellow Craft Degree,

which is the Second Degree,
and the Master Mason Degree

which is the Third Degree.

Once you have completed
those three degrees,

you are considered a Master Mason.

- Still to this day the
First Degree of Masonry,

the Entered Apprentice is one of the most

beautiful things I've ever
experienced in my life.

It feels like almost like
you're a new planet being born,

but you're in a state of darkness,

like you're revolving in this orbit,

because you're literally
traveling in the lodge

in an orbital fashion, you're not going

in a specific square
pattern, or you're not

going in a triangle, you're like orbiting.

It felt like, like I was,

like I had been born into this new life

and I knew everything from
my life up to that point

but I couldn't see and I was
in this whole other realm.

- It is meant to be
profound and transformative.

It is definitely a basic understanding

of the principles of Freemasonry.

I think in terms of being the candidate,

it might be overwhelming because it

may be your first experience
with that type of activity,

but it is definitely meant to
be an eye opening experience.

- When I was about to do my First Degree,

I really didn't know what to expect.

It was a transition of rebirth basically.

It was something that was a new and unique

part of my life at that point.

It was various stimuli coming at me

and I was traveling in an orbital fashion,

like a planet would, not
knowing what to expect

but just trying to take it all in,

and it was actually a very sort of

exciting moment for me that I knew

something different was going

to happen in my life after that.

- After you get your First Degree,

you're told in order to progress

you have to memorize a portion of

the ceremonies that you just went through.

You're given that
information in the form of

what's called a Blue Book,
it's your cipher book.

The cipher isn't written in
English, it's literally a code,

and you memorize this and
it's basically like a test

where when you go back into the lodge room

to give your proficiency,
it's called meaning

that you're proficient in understanding

the Degree that you just went through.

For some people it takes them,

it could take a month, for some
people it could take years.

It's just dependent upon
the person's schedule,

their work, how much time
they put into learning it.

It's not easy.

But it also improves the mind,

the way the mind begins to think.

You memorize your cipher
for your First Degree,

you go back to lodge,
you recapitulate that

for your proficiency and
then you're scheduled

for your Second Degree which
is the Fellow Craft Degree.

- The Second Degree is kind
of looked at as emblematic of

period of growth in your life,

and there's a big focus on learning

and improving the mind by studying.

Looking at things like
arithmetic, or geometry,

astronomy,

music,

grammar, logic, rhetoric.

These are concepts and areas of study that

really help make people more well rounded.

- A lot of the rituals and
ceremonies in Freemasonry

take place around King Solomon's Temple.

- King Solomon's Temple
is the grand metaphor

that unites all of us,
and sort of represents

the journey we're going
through in the Three Degrees.

The First Degree being sort
of the porch of the temple,

the Second Degree being
the middle chamber,

and then the Third Degree
being the inner chamber,

you know, the holy of holys,

the secrets of secrets to be
had at the end of the journey.

- One of the most beautiful
aspects of the Fellow Craft

Degree is what's called the
Winding Staircase Lecture

and it talks about how these
different sets of stairs

going up this winding staircase

instruct on different things like beauty,

strength, and wisdom, and the five senses

and the seven liberal arts and sciences,

and the main focus that
comes to the forefront

of the Second Degree is
the study of geometry.

- Freemasonry, of course,
is based on geometry

and we refer to it as the symbol

of the harmony of the universe.

So if the harmony of the universe
is the work of the divine,

which we could refer to as the logos,

in geometry is the symbol of that work,

then on the principle
of hypostasis, geometry

is the symbol of the supreme being.

- Looking at the celestial gallery,

you can see that there's the hand of

the great architect in the sky.

I think about the
heavens, I think about the

celestial globe, I think
about the constellations,

and I kind of think about
this larger body of patterns,

beautiful geometric patterns in the sky,

sort of reflecting as above so below.

- So you complete the Fellow Craft Degree

and similar to the First Degree you then

have to memorize a portion
of the lecture of the Degree,

and then at that point you're ready

to be raised to Master Mason.

- So after the Second Degree
you have the Third Degree,

and that's what I say is when a mason

becomes a made man within the fraternity.

It is the ultimate
transformative experience.

It is the end of the
journey as far as Blue Lodge

Masonry becomes, and it
is when, after you have

persevered through the Degree,
you have all the rights

and benefits possible to you
as a mason in the fraternity.

- The Third Degree is

it's one of my favorite Degrees.

It is kind of emblematic of
the twilight years in life

and I think it

it encourages the
initiate to be comfortable

with the fact that this

place, the time we have
here, is not infinite.

That we are not immortal.

Even though that's kind of a given,

when you really think about it,

it can be earth shattering when you really

sit and contemplate your mortality.

I mean there can be no

more profound an experience in my mind

than really understanding
and coming to grips

with the fact that someday you will die.

- The main lesson of
the Master Mason Degree

is that all of life is
a preparation for death

and so how are you gonna live your life

in the time that you're here?

- Of course, everything
is entirely energy.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed,

so almost by definition,
because we are energy,

there is going to be some part of us

that's going to exist beyond our death.

- We're all ultimately trying to connect

with the part of ourself that doesn't die.

We're all ultimately
trying to purify ourselves

and trying to deal with
destruction and renewal.

We are copying the book of nature

and the book of nature,
every year, she dies

and she is reborn because
that's what happens.

Winter time, spring, summer,
fall goes in seasons.

We go in seasons, so our
Degrees go in seasons,

our lives go in seasons.

- Elements of those Degrees
that I went through,

come up throughout the day in my life.

I'm always noticing things
that relate to masonry

and it's a way of living my
life, it's a code of ethics

and other masons live by those same codes.

I can meet a mason
anywhere in the world and

we might not have a lot in common,

but I know that I can go with that person

and trust them to be living
the same code of ethics

that I am myself, and there's
a certain unity there.

- So the options for a candidate,

once they have attained the Third Degree,

are a few different things.

They can stay right where
they're at in their understanding

of what they've just
experienced and try to

figure it out, they can
obviously join the line

and participate in the Blue Lodge,

they can also pursue the York Rite

and the Scottish Rite
Degrees, both of which

elaborate on what was taught
to them in the Blue Lodge

and really expand upon it
in a much larger format.

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- In Scottish Rite Masonry you have

two main jurisdictions,
you've got the Northern

jurisdiction and the
Southern jurisdiction.

The Northern jurisdiction
is relatively small

encompassing a degree of the
Northeast of the United States

and I think parts of the Northern Midwest.

Then the Southern jurisdiction
encompasses everything else

worldwide, it's a much
bigger organization.

Within the Southern jurisdiction
you have different valleys.

So you would have for
instance, in Tennessee,

we would have the Valley of Knoxville,

the Valley of Chattanooga,
the Valley of Nashville,

and the Valley of Memphis,
and such is the case

with all the different states,

and all the different regions of

the Scottish Rite worldwide.

Within the different valleys, we have

four different bodies that encompass

different parts of the Degrees,

different groups of the Degrees,

ending finally with the Consistory

which would be the 32nd Degree.

- The Supreme council rules
the entire jurisdiction,

the Southern jurisdiction and as you know

there's a Northern jurisdiction as well,

considerably smaller than
the Southern jurisdiction.

- The Supreme Council's main focus is to

add a bit of unity to what would otherwise

be a very very large
and heavy organization.

- The typical Scottish Rite Valley

is comprised of the Lodge of Perfection,

the Chapter of Rose Croix,

the Council of Kadosh, and the Consistory.

We go through each of
the Degrees that comprise

each of those individual bodies.

It's absolutely essential
that a Master Mason

going through the Scottish Rite
achieve at least the minimum

of the 14th Degree, which
allows him then to sit

in the stated meetings
where business is conducted.

So that becomes an essential part of

the Scottish Rite training, and then

obviously you want to move beyond that

and achieve the 32nd Degree,

and I suppose if you're
a really lucky guy,

you'll get the 33rd.

- I would describe the Scottish Rite

as a modern day mystery school.

The way that I like to think about it

is really, it involves a lot
of training in the virtues,

it involves a lot of training
in personal improvement,

personal transformation,
personal purifications

that are necessary so that
the parts of the self,

which are not working,
which are dysfunctional,

they're symbolized by different
characters in these dramas,

that they can be cast off and
that the true self can emerge.

- The fraternity is basically
the source of male initiation.

The Scottish Rite on the other hand

takes that to the next level.

It goes way past initiation, it assumes

that's already taken
place, and now it goes

into learning and development.

What kind of human being are you gonna be?

What is your value system going to be?

How are you going to
understand what's important?

And how are you going to understand

your relationship to the universe?

Your relationship to deity?

These are all issues that
the Scottish Rite deals with

and I think deals very effectively.

That's actually the
task of the first body.

First is called the Lodge of Perfection.

On a mundane level it pays the bills,

it's the organizational body of the Rite,

but it's quest themed,
the thing it teaches,

the thing it does is to find this original

source of who you are, and it uses

the same kind of thing
you're gonna find in

the ancient Greek traditions,
you'll find it in Maslow,

you'll find it in basic psychology,

find it in Freud, this idea of making

the journey inside and down,

and into the deepest level of your ego

where you discover the cubical stone

in the Scottish Rite, you'll discover

the material world with
the symbol of deity,

the triangle insured into it.

It tells you something about what you are

as both a divine and a mundane creature.

- This concept of perfection is

very similar to, connected to in alchemy

the process of transmutation,

the process of raising the stone.

This whole thing is about the first temple

and the concept that's really
powerful to me is secrecy

and silence, fidelity, and obedience,

those concepts, they're necessary in order

to go into the mystery school,

and it takes a lot of studying,

a lot of scratching under
the surface to understand

what it is that you've just been through,

what it is that you've just seen.

They have a sign of silence,
they have a sign of secrecy,

it's like you're entering into this thing

and you can't really shout
it from the rooftops.

Even if you tried to reveal it,

it would be impossible,
to me that's the symbolism

of the secrecy in the Fourth Degree.

- Secrecy and silence
are so important because

people need to learn how
to keep their mouths shut,

and that is a thing which we have lost.

How can you trust a man if you tell him

what's really important to you because

you need to get it dealt
with, you need to get it out,

and he goes and tells
everybody what you said?

How can you possibly ever
trust him again with anything?

Why would you?

We live in this very
strange world in which

we have decided that secrecy
is somehow a bad thing.

I'm forced to disagree, I think secrecy

is a very good thing,
a very positive thing.

It could be used for bad purposes,

there's no question about that, certainly.

But you know, I have a feeling

when they were working
out the D-Day invasion,

they didn't really want the
enemy to know the plans.

(bombs exploding)

There are things it's useful
just to keep quiet about.

One of the things that just
absolutely fascinates me,

because I do not understand
it, is this Facebook phenomena

where everybody is busy telling

everybody else everything about them.

I can not imagine that I have any friends

who are fascinated in
knowing what I had for lunch.

- The Lodge of Perfection is dealing with

the initial Degrees that
take you all the way through

essentially the same story
as the first Three Degrees,

but with considerably more detail.

There are little side vignettes to explain

some of the happenings that occur

in the first Three
Degrees, so we're really

talking about the Hiramic legend

and how that pertains
to each individual man.

That's really our fundamental pursuit.

So we can talk about these Degrees

in a sort of concrete
sense, but the real message

of masonry is tremendously
lost in that regard,

because it's really not about the

actual movements and the rituals,

it's not about the actual words,

it's about what's behind all that.

- Overall theme of the Lodge of Perfection

is this search for this cubical stone.

This lost word which is
alluded to in the Third Degree

about this word has
been lost upon the death

of the master architect
of King Solomon's Temple.

As you progress through the Degrees of the

Lodge of Perfection, the allegory of

King Solomon's Temple is expanded upon.

There is a funeral for the Master Hiram

who was murdered, there is
an anniversary of his death,

and a lot of these things play
into themes of daily life,

about letting go, and taking
the tie to grieve things,

to be able to move on, to
find the truth about things,

to be able to continue to grow.

What comes into focus there also is

how important it is to
transmit and share knowledge.

When Master Hiram would finish his work

at the end of the day
he would love talking

about the Egyptian mysteries
with these five young men

that he believed one
day could take his place

if something happened to him.

That was important that
he did that because

one of them eventually does take his place

and the work is then picked back up

and they keep building the temple.

Eventually, the assassins
that murdered the Master Hiram

are found and they're brought to justice.

So as you come to the close of the Degrees

of the Lodge of Perfection, you come

upon the 13th and 14th Degrees.

The 13th Degree is one of
the most interesting Degrees

in all of masonry to me because

the story behind the
13th Degree is about the

biblical character Enoch who received

the true name of God, and
he supposedly built these

nine vaults deep down within the earth,

vertical vaults and in the ninth vault,

he placed the true name of God there,

for future generations to discover that.

That vertical line of those
vaults represents spirituality.

So it's about going within the self

to discover the truth,
and bringing that forward

and emanating that light
out into the world.

- There's also a focus
on the nature of man

and the surroundings
that we find ourselves.

You're encouraged to not only study

but then also understand how you fit into

the natural order of things.

- If I take it out of
the realm of the literal,

out of the realm of trying to

understand everything like something that

actually happened in a year, BC,

and look within myself and say
what part of myself is Enoch?

How can I connect to that?

What do I need to cast
away to connect to that?

What purifications do
I need to do to connect

with this Enoch character
that actually lives within me?

And what is this thing that's buried in me

in the ninth vault, in my heart?

What is this thing that's buried?

If I want to search for that thing,

it might help to know where it's buried.

- In the 14th Degree,
the really fascinating

part of the story in the
Masonic allegory is that

when King Solomon was building his temple,

there were nine crypts built horizontally

underneath King Solomon's Temple.

What begins to come
into appearance here is

a very very interesting symbol.

When you take the vertical
line of the vaults

that Enoch built and
buried this divine spark

at the bottom of it, and
you take the horizontal line

of the crypts underneath
King Solomon's Temple

you begin to see the symbol of the cross,

and that's a very powerful symbol

when you look at it like that because

the crypts, the horizontal
crypts represent the earthly

and it's about progressing
through these nine arches,

these nine crypts and improving
the self through study,

through constant refinement,
through subduing our passions,

and trying to find that balance,

and as we do that we begin to also ascend

at that same time that
spiritual path upwards.

The Lodge of Perfection concludes

with the preservation
of that which was lost

and is now found again, that lost word,

that name of God as a symbol,
but that divine spark,

and it reminds me of the
verse in the Book of John,

when it says, "In the
beginning was the word,

"and the word was with
God, and the word was God."

So as you see these things
start to be revealed

and the word revealed means revel,

so one thing is revealed to you,

but it's hidden by
another thing and that's

the nature of God in a sense, is that

God will reveal one thing, and
then veil it in another way

because it's the constant
quest of the infinite

of seeking light and
seeking this knowledge.

It's a constant refinement of the self.

As we see that symbol of
the cross appear between

the vaults of Enoch and
the crypts of Solomon,

you start to understand the importance of

understanding Kabbalah as a symbol

and as a way to understand how
these things are presented.

Not as a dogma, or as a religion,

but to learn from the
symbolism and the wisdom

that that school of thought
brings into Freemasonry.

It allows us to understand the importance

of playing the peacemaker in life,

and to if we have to be the judge,

to be impartial in situations.

- The stories being told is profound.

Very influential on the
mind and the psyche,

and it brings you into a
state of understanding,

that none of the other degrees
actually brought me into.

Yes, you're looking for the lost word,

but most importantly, you're actually

discovering the word within yourself,

you're discovering who you are,

you're discovering the purpose of this,

you're recognizing that
there is a true value

underneath wanting to just be a mason.

- Uncovering the word is an allegory for

discovering yourself,
improving yourself and

understanding the mysteries of life.

- You're dealing with these
great universal secrets

and into that realm of communication

and this time outside of time.

Freemasonry basically has
preserved the best of mankind,

that's why we harken
back to ancient times,

that's why we ruminate on Greek and

Cerastrian philosophy
in the Scottish Rite.

It brings us back to these times

when mankind was searching
for these answers,

these eternal questions that we have,

and we're still doing it of course,

but it puts us in that mood
of where the ancients were.

- So one of the things
Freemasonry addressed

particularly on what were
called the Higher Degrees

such as the Scottish Rite
was to consider the journey

of manhood as the hero's quest.

We applied contemporary
mythos around the old ideas.

So what Freemasonry has become in our time

is a set of lessons that

helps a man become consciously aware

of what he's here to do.

- That's the first body, the second body

is called the Chapter of Rose Croix,

which really ought to be Rose Croix,

but I pronounce it the
other way 99% of the time,

it means rose and cross.

15th and 16th deal with
principles ethics essentially.

They deal with the question of
how do you know what's right?

Is right always right?

Is the same thing always right?

Or are right and wrong hardly defined

classifications you can deal with?

- The 15th and 16th Degrees
get into the story of

building the second temple and it

it can be looked at from a sense of

these things that we go through in life,

like this constant, again,
whether it's a career or

a marriage or friendships or family,

we have these great
things that we build up

and we have these great moments,

and then there destroyed
right in front of our eyes.

- The 17th Degree is based
on the Book of Revelation,

or takes its thematic material
from the Book of Revelation.

It, to me, is all about energy.

One of the questions
that you always have is

where does the dynamic of life come from,

where does the energy
to do things come from

and part of it obviously is purely mental,

purely emotional, spiritual.

Take your pick.

And the 17th Degree is about that,

about the power which comes
into a person when they are

doing what they should be doing,

when they are paying attention.

Then comes the 18th,

and the 18th is one of
the most beautiful Degrees

of all the Scottish Rite.

It is the Knight Rose Croix.

It is structured around

the story of Jesus of Nazareth.

Not as a redeemer, but as an example,

as an archetype because the
Scottish Rite is nonsectarian.

But it does, part of the language says,

if he were nothing more, he was surely

the ideal of the race made whole.

The great teacher, the exemplar.

And it talks about the
love and the caring.

He died in agony, not cursing humanity

but uttering blessings upon it.

That's an important set of lessons.

It sort of is

the question of what should be your model.

If you're gonna try to live
a productive useful life,

what kind of model can you find?

- The one thing that I would say is truly

the mystery of Freemasonry
is that it's love.

It's a mystical state of being.

It's little wonder that
Christ spoke about love

in a very deep and fulfilling way.

It's a love for the soul.

- One of the questions
that started this whole

story off for me about
why death existed and

why are things the way they are,

why is there darkness?

What starts to come into focus is that

it's about love.

It's not about fully comprehending
why these things exist

and it's about forgiveness.

- When I look at these Degrees,

I see all these characters in a dream,

and I see myself in much the same way

I would expect somebody
may have experienced this

in ancient times in the
ancient mystery schools

but in a modern context.

I see myself projecting
my own sense of who I am

onto these various characters,
to these various stories.

Some of them have history to them,

others are more symbolic.

I see myself going through
these transformations,

they're making me a better person.

- Those are the first two bodies.

Then the third body is
the Council of the Kadosh.

Kadosh means separate.

It's often translated as holy,

but it's holy in the sense of being

set apart from the rest of the world.

So it's not an isolationist thing, but

that which is more than the mundane world.

It explores many many
many different ideas,

but the basic theme of them is,

what kinds of things do you need to do

and what kinds of things
do you need to avoid

to live productively, to be
able to say at the end of it,

hey, I didn't do too badly?

What ideas should you hold onto?

What ideas do you need to get rid of?

Vengeance, anger?

Despotism, purinant?

All of those things are destructive,

and the Scottish Rite does try to teach

that they're not always obvious.

It's pretty clear when
somebody invades your country,

takes it over and starts issuing laws

and says you'll be killed if you don't,

that you're dealing with a dictator,

that's an easy thing to spot.

It's less easy to spot

if you find that one of your friends

is spending all of his time
trying to tell you what to do.

Or that some other person you know

is trying to substitute their

judgment of right and wrong for yours.

So dictatorship and despotism is

an easy thing to have happen, and

that's one of the things
that the right warns against,

you've got to guard yourself.

If you're going to be independent,

if you're going to be free to think,

then you got to make sure
you stay free to think.

- The Consistory, finally, is the last

of the organized pieces
of the Scottish Rite

and within the Consistory,
we find the ultimate

tying together of all the
Scottish Rite Degrees,

all the main themes that
run through them all.

Consequently, upon becoming
a 32nd Degree Scottish

Rite Mason, your title is
Master of the Royal Secret

because at this point,
you have understood,

at least you should have understood,

all of the esoteric
teachings that came before

and how they're all tied together.

- At the end of the 30 Degree,

there's a lot of symbolism of death.

At the beginning of the 31st
Degree you're in another world.

- The 31st Degree is one
of my favorite Degrees

and I think all Southern
jurisdiction Scottish Rite Masons

can agree that this is one of
the absolute greatest Degrees

within the Scottish Rite, it's a real gem.

We go to amenti, the
Egyptian Court of the Dead,

where a new soul has arrived and

must be judged by his actions.

So among some of the
chief characters we have

are Osiris and Anubis, and
Thoth, the giver of knowledge

and the giver of life to the people.

The soul makes its way
through the Court of the Dead,

and the Gods themselves
are asked to weigh in

and judge the soul's worthiness
to enter into the afterlife.

- This Degree teaches there's going to be

some uncomfortable things in it

that I will have to let go of.

It makes a point that we
have these human roles

even if they might have spiritual titles

such as Pope, or Bishop, or King,

that has been ordained by God,

that we will still die, all of us die,

and that these temporal
leaders can't crush

that human spirit if it is wise,

if it has abandoned the
follies of the world,

that there's parts of us
that just remain eternal.

- The 31st Degree catches
you when you're feeling

hey I've just about got it,

and you can be feeling just
a little self satisfied

at that point, one thing
I've survived all of them.

Then it says okay, let's
talk about what's real.

There are these series of questions

and they are questions that
sneak up behind you, for example

have you contributed to the United Way

or other nice safe charities, but walked

across the street to avoid
the bag lady who needed money?

To have done that do you dare

call yourself a charitable person?

Have you been perfectly
willing to help people

who need a hand up as long
as you don't get dirty?

Have you been so careful about your image

that you didn't care what
happened to other people?

These things are easy to have happen.

They really are.

Along with more predictable questions like

are you sure you have not tried to help

put power in hands that don't deserve it?

Or have you been nice to somebody

just because they have power and you think

you can get someplace
by being nice to them,

which is a really contemptible thing

but a very human thing to do.

It takes you through all of these because

it's saying if you are
going to know yourself

then you've got to ask these questions,

and it's fine just to
say yes, I'm charitable,

I believe in education, I
believe in free government,

and the question is how
much do you believe in that?

Are you willing to let
people disagree with you?

Are you willing to say okay I'm revolted

by every single thing you are saying

but I will absolutely
defend your right to say it?

The 32nd Degree, Master
of the Royal Secret

disappoints a lot of people,

because they come to it expecting

that the heavens are going to open,

the scroll is going to unfold

and there in letters
of fire are going to be

the 18 words that teach you
how to control the weather,

make sure crops never fail
and all the rest of it.

Low and behold, what
they end up being told is

you've known this all along.

There is nothing new that you don't know.

You know what's important,

you know what is required to
lead a good life and go do it.

Some people are just absolutely crushed.

They figure they are now
going to be among those

who are the King makers and they find out

that there are no Kings to be made.

- It's not about the external.

It's completely about the
internal and you realize

that everything else is like dualism,

a total illusion and that the oneness that

pervades everything, ourselves,

the world that we live in, the
universe our world lives in,

and everything that we can imagine,

is all tied to that same divine spark,

and that spark resides within all of us,

and upon learning that,
upon integrating that

into our souls, into our very being,

at that point we truly become

32nd Degree Scottish Rite Masons.

- Now, there's something really
important being told here.

You come to the realization
that the creator

created you and you
are the only one of you

ever to exist in this universe,

there can never be another you.

- I confer the 33rd Degree here.

As did my father before me if

we're gonna talk about tradition.

It, I think, contains one of
Pike's most beautiful writing.

I think it is just terrific stuff.

It is not new information.

Many people figure it's going to be.

Finally I'm gonna get on the 33rd.

Here's where I find out
how I control the weather,

and make Kings and all the rest of it,

and that's not the point at all.

The point is to remind you,

well there's one place where it says

Master of the Royal
Secret is what you call

somebody who's got a 32nd Degree,

and the people are taking the Degrees,

our 32nd Degree Masons, and Pike says

Master of the Royal Secret,

do you deserve that name you bear?

Are you first and foremost
among the performers of charity?

Have you learned, have you studied?

Are you sure you have not lost the key

and therefore wander up and down the halls

of this magnificent palace, thinking it is

no such great structure at all,

but only such as are
built by ordinary men?

If that is true, then the oracles of truth

are encoded in you, and
you are in name only

a Master of the Royal Secret.

Wow.

You talk about laying it out.

And he does that so often.

Another of my favorite lines is

the truths of philosophy and religion are

for most men like the sun rays

that strike upon the arctic snows.

They glitter and are reflected

but they do not penetrate and warm.

So it's a Degree that

reminds you of some of
the important things

and reminds you that there is a

connecting thread in all of humanity.

(dramatic chanting singing)

(fire crackles)

- The York Rite per se
doesn't really exist.

It's kind of an umbrella
that's used to describe

three separate and independent structures.

The Chapter of Royal Arch Masons,

The Council of Cryptic Masons,

and the Commandery of Knights Templar,

are three separate organizational bodies

that make up the York Rite.

It's the term we use
to govern all of them.

So the story that makes
up the Chapter Degrees

is primarily the story of the completion,

dedication, destruction of
the Temple of King Solomon.

Of course there's important symbolism

that carries throughout,
in particular things like

the key stone, which
is an important symbol

in the Mark Master Degree,
the Most Excellent,

and the Royal Arch Degree and further

throughout the York Rite as well

that ties all of them
together in some way,

but ultimately they are the story

of our life, death, and rebirth.

- There is an important lesson imparted

in the course of this
that number one shows

you have to surmount the confusion

and the pandemonium of everyday life,

which is in essence the course traveled

from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Think about it, Babylon is a place

of confusion, chaos, incoherence,

and Jerusalem is a city of peace.

We begin clearing away the rubble of the

First Temple of Solomon, which
is now historically in ruins.

This is essentially the rubble of our life

and the working tools in Royal Arch become

the spade and the
pick-axe and the crowbar,

used to demonstrate to the candidate

that it requires some heavy
hand tools to pry away

some of the rocks and boulders

of your own prejudice
and your own ignorance

and your own lack of understanding.

Then, they're sent off to dig
into the ruins of the temple,

and they find an opening that
leads them down into a vault.

How curious, a vault
down inside the temple

of which the rubble is
the rubble of your life.

So therefore the temple
must be your temple,

your temple, your self that
has fallen to rag and ruin

and now you have descended
down into this vault,

into the inner you and you
come up from that vault

with a variety of treasures
hidden deep within you.

These are presented to the
three stationed officers

who could easily be representing your

super conscious, your conscious mind

and your sub conscious mind.

There are four veils, each of these veils

has a banner attached
to it, then the banners

are the banners of the lion,
the ox, the eagle, and the man.

These banners are said to be emblematic of

the four principle tribes of Israel.

The principle tribes?

Yeah, the principle tribes.

Well why are they the principle tribes?

What about the other tribes?

Well, we believe there were 12 tribes

plus the Levites who tended the

Arch of the Covenant in the Sinai.

These 12 tribes are very
much like the 12 houses

of the zodiac, and these
four principle tribes

are emblemized by the
four principle tribes

of the zodiac, or four
cardinal signs of the zodiac,

they're one and the same,
four principle tribes,

four cardinal signs of the zodiac,

and they're in exactly the same place.

Then, about 2,000 years ago,
we have a new dispensation

and that dispensation is
in 326 under the reign of

Constantine called Christianity.

Christianity has a doctrine and they have

their gospels and those gospels

are represented by Mathew,
Mark, Luke, and John.

Curiously, they are represented
by the very same emblems,

the lion, the ox, the eagle, and the man.

What is it trying to tell us?

It spells the name of Yhwh, Y-H-W-H,

and it's all buried
deep within this ritual.

(dramatic music)

The Council of Cryptic Masons provides two

different Degrees, the
Royal and Select Master.

Those Degrees were borrowed
from the Scottish Rite.

In order to help explain
how we get from the lodge

of Solomon to the Second Temple that is

illustrated and demonstrated
to us in the Royal Arch,

so that becomes explanatory
of the Royal Arch.

- The Cryptic picks up on some things that

happened in Hiram Abiff's life,

you learn some more of the secrets and get

a little bit more explanation
on how things took place.

They have this undertoe of symbolism

that makes them very beautiful.

There is a Third Degree
in the Cryptic Council

and that is the Super Excellent Master

which sounds like something out

of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure,

but that's more of a dramatic presentation

and that really feels like
a Scottish Rite Degree

much more than a York Rite Degree,

and it actually dips
back into the timeframe

of the Royal Arch itself and
the destruction of the temple

and depicts some of that drama.

- I came into this looking for

a system of moral, and
esoteric instruction

that would build me into
a better version of myself

that I could then really
understand on a deeper level.

- Jacques de Molay was a Grand Master

of the Knights Templar
during the crusades.

He was actually burned at the stake.

It's less of a burn and
more of a slow roast.

They really put this
man through the ringer.

The church wanted him to give up his

so called Lieutenance and to turn over

the wealth that the Templars
had amassed and he refused.

At its core, The Order is meant to

instill that same characteristic,

to be true to your word even

when things aren't going your way.

- Many people in masonry like to

see the Knights Templars of
the Crusades in their origins.

They had a certain moral and ethical code

and we liked to incorporate many of those

codes into our ritual and Degree.

- I had the honor of
becoming a Knight Templar.

I learned secrecy, and not secrecy

that most anti masons want to pin on us as

some subversive group that's
trying to take over the world,

but the secrecy of the inner self,

and of the world, the mysteries

that need to stay what they are.

- If a mason holds to the Christian faith,

then the Order of the Temple is something

that he really should consider pursuing.

It is such a deep spiritual experience.

In masonry, we have so many opportunities

for those deep transformative experiences.

Some of them are more
intellectual than others.

Some of them are very emotional.

Some of them open up new
vistas of ways of thought

into the teachings that we have.

In the Order of Temple Degree,

you're caused to represent someone who's

joining the literal Knights Templar

and you go through the pilgrims journey in

moving from the traveler to the warrior,

to eventually the Knight's Templar.

It ties in to the Third Degree as well,

it's pretty symbolic, as you move through

the progression of masonry,
I think it's a nice capstone.

It wraps up the York
Rite Degrees really well.

- There's a huge huge
huge difference between

the York Rite and the Scottish Rite.

Even though they're
telling the same story,

little different twists here and there

but essentially the same stories.

The massive difference at
the end of the York Rite

is that the York Rite requires you to

declare an adherence to a set of dogmas.

The Scottish Rite provides
you with a myriad of

dogmas, or facets of different dogmas,

and tells you that you
are free to sort this

out for yourself, and to
form your own conclusion

about where you fit in
this sequence of dogmas.

What does this mean to you?

The York Rite says this
is what it means to you

and you must sign on the dotted line.

So there's a difference
there, one tells you

what to think, the other tells
you to think for yourself.

But they both kind of
get you to the same point

and then you have to
decide at the very end

exactly where you stand on the issues.

Very very important,
very profound experiences

for every man to undertake.

(mid tempo piano)

- What will the fraternity
be like in 100 years?

My father, my grandfathers, my uncles

were all very active in the fraternity.

I grew up, the young man
exposed to Freemasonry.

Freemasonry has changed so
much during my lifetime.

It'd be hard to predict
what it's going to be like.

But there's certain things
that have not changed.

The fact that it's a symbolic system

taught through Degrees only.

That we have a ritual
that, well it's evolved,

not that much.

I think those things will
still be here in 100 years.

Who will be a mason then?

What are some of the things that masons

might do out in the community?

Those things will evolve over time.

But, (clears throat)

would attracted combatence
in the English Civil War

til one night, they aside their disputes

in a country home and become Freemasons?

That kind of spirit, I think will live on.

- The outer trappings of Freemasonry

change through the ages.

Once our lodges were lit by candles,

once we rode horses to lodge meetings,

or came by moonlight,
nowadays we travel in cars,

we travel in planes to that.

100 years from now the external
world will have changed.

But the core values of
Freemasonry will not have changed.

The Grand Master 100 years from now

is going to need to find
ways to empower every mason

to pursue that journey which is

the heart of what Freemasonry is.

I would suggest that he not forget that

his primary job is that of a teacher.

He is to teach those around that

the principles of Freemasonry are eternal

and that the pursuit of
the journey of a Freemason

regardless of the time and
the era in which it happens,

will be a challenge because the world is

not an easy place to be
in, but a Grand Master

who is willing to help empower his lodges

and his brethren to be masons

will be doing what Freemasonry
needs 100 years from now.

- Nothing can take away
or fundamentally alter

the experience of the Masonic Degrees

and the lessons we are taught within them.

They have stayed consistent through all

evolutions of man and society
from hundreds of years ago,

and is my sincere hope that they remain

the same a hundred years from now.

- The future of
Freemasonry is in the hands

of people who aren't here yet,

and it is up to them to carry
that torch into the future.

Light has a unique
characteristic that it fills all.

I think that the seekers of that light

can make a profound impact
on others around them.

By living that example, we can really

make a change for the better.

- Where this is gonna be in
10 years, I haven't a clue.

I've given up guessing,

but I am convinced that it
is meeting a genuine need

in the human psyche, and that as long

as that's true, it's gonna be there.

It's gonna survive.

20 years ago, I kind of had my doubts,

but now, I know it's safe.

- In the future, I think
our greatest challenge

is trying to assemble guys
maybe more like myself

that are vested in trying
to help younger masons

understand who and what they really are,

and cultivate the divine
gift that is within

each and every one of us.

- Masonry really teaches us that

we're all brothers from the same creator.

People of all religious
creeds, all cultures,

we're all living as brothers.

When you understand that it really,

a person of any faith can go to the

Masonic altar and become a brother.

- It is very important
to value your brothers

and value the lessons learned,

and if you're gonna do
anything in masonry,

recognize that it's not
anything that is modern.

It has historic values
that need to be continued.

Yes, we understand that
100 years, 200 years,

things are gonna change, but
certain things must remain.

The principles of knowledge must remain.

You've got to vie for that,
you've got to search for it,

and you've got to make
sure that you respect it

because others before you certainly has

put in a lot of work, tremendous work,

and that came about simply because

persons desired to continue
this work through their craft,

through their practice,
through the brotherhood,

through friendship, and I'd admonish you

to continue to follow the trend so that

two, three hundred years after you,

the princeps and precepts still stands.

Most important.

- We have a saying in
masonry that it takes

good men and makes them better.

Naturally the question I have is

what is it making me better for?

Why am I doing this?

Am I just trying to make
myself a better person for me

so that I can feel like a better person

or so I can wear some badge
and have a good guy badge?

I don't think that's really,

where it's gonna stock.

For me it's about making
myself a better person

so I can be part of a better world.

So that the transformation that I feel,

that I achieved within myself can carry

forward through my actions into the world,

and the lives of people
around me that have no idea.

They don't have any idea that

I go and dress up and go through these

really interesting rituals and Degrees.

They might not ever know that.

- I did find that there
is without a doubt God.

That when you find God, the paradox

of finding God is that, it's
a similar paradox in masonry

which is that how do you speak of God?

You can't put it into words necessarily.

It's the same thing as far as the secrets

of masonry go too, you can't

describe it with the human tongue because

all words are are symbols for thoughts.

So it goes a lot deeper than
just what's on the surface

and that's what masonry is, it's a

mystery school that teaches
the importance of conquering

these vices and super
fluidities in our lives

so that we can align our
hearts and our minds with God

and then have communion with God

and speak with God, and
ultimately find balance

and find our way back home.

- So that when it's all said and done,

he can look back and he
can have some sense of

comfort that he has lived a good life,

he has lived an examined life,

and in the process of learning himself,

he has taught other
men how to be good men.

Our ultimate goal is to live
respected and die regretted.

(mid tempo bright piano)

(mid tempo bright piano)

(mid tempo bright piano)

(slow tempo piano)

(slow tempo piano)

(fast tempo piano)

(mid tempo bright piano)

(laughter)

- [Man] That's it.

- [Man] Dude, that looked
so ridiculous and awesome.

(laughter)

That's going in the blooper section.

(laughter)