Discussion for the 8th degree:
“Good evening, brethren. Welcome to the discussion of the 8th degree. In this degree you witnessed King Solomon and his court trying to come to grips with the loss of the master builder Hiram Abiff.
Starting with a quote from Morals and Dogma, by Albert Pike – “In this Degree you have been taught the important lesson, that none are entitled to advance in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, who have not by study and application made themselves familiar with Masonic learning and jurisprudence. The Degrees of this Rite are not for those who are content with the mere work and ceremonies, and do not seek to explore the mines of wisdom that lie buried beneath the surface. You still advance toward the Light, toward that star, blazing in the distance, which is an emblem of the Divine Truth, given by God to the first men, and preserved amid all the vicissitudes of ages in the traditions and teachings of Masonry. How far you will advance, depends upon yourself alone. Here, as everywhere in the world, Darkness struggles with Light, and clouds and shadows intervene between you and the Truth.”
Now with the preceding paragraph in mind, traditionally, Charity and Benevolence have been the key lessons of this degree. As we all know, educating the orphan, comforting the sick and aged, and healing the distressed are duties to all Freemasons. In its present form, the ritual of this degree tells how labor temporarily ceased on the Temple of Solomon after the death of the Grand Master Hiram Abiff. In order to move forward, King Solomon appointed five superintendents – one for each of the departments of architecture. The current prologue of the degree also emphasizes that M&D lesson that only ability, perseverance, and dedication can lead to advancement in the Craft.
The lessons of Charity and Benevolence are taught to the prospective superintendents as part of their instruction. These are specifically related to the responsibility of those who commission employment to those who are employed. These are quite blunt in their criticism of those who might exploit their workers.
One has to ask the question as to what Albert Pike’s intentions were regarding this degree. That’s not an un-useful question about any of the degrees, as in some he conceals in allegory and others he is plain and straightforward. In the 8th, he is quite plain, in the 9/10th to come, not so much. (More about that next week!) In general, Pike seems to have been a very astute as well as a deep-thinking individual, and to get a true perspective on Pike’s mindset and outlook we probably ought to have a separate class of instruction at some point.
Albert Pike was composing these degrees in the late 1860’s and early 1870’s, a time of considerable change in society. The American Civil War had just concluded, and the country was beginning the industrial age that would run for the next hundred or so years. The Confederate South was a shambles, immigration was increasing, and the military demobilization and the freeing of the slaves meant that labor was cheap and easy to come by, i.e., easy to exploit. At the same time Karl Marx was writing Das Kapital, with what I would say coming to an entirely different conclusion. Marx believed that the privileged class was incapable of charity and benevolence, leading him to the conclusion that the workers must seize the means of production, by force if necessary, in order to benefit from it. In Marx’s view, profit was derived from what he considered as unpaid wages, or value created by work that was not given to the workers. As the workers began to realize this, they would insist on more of a share, which became Marx’s tendency of the rate of profit to fall. This inherent unfairness of the capitalist system would cause it ultimately to fail. Pike states here and in other degrees (particularly the 22nd, Master of Libanus) that mutual respect between worker and employer as well as charity and benevolence coupled with justice and fairness will allow the system to continue, with much happier results for all.
Notwithstanding these lessons, as with many of the Scottish Rite degrees, there are other lessons to be learned as well.
“For me, one of these is the importance of preparation for the future. Furthermore, as the majority of the degrees of the Southern Jurisdiction Scottish Rite are set in ancient times, it is easy to get the impression that the degrees and their themes have little if any relevance to today’s issues and problems.”
From Ill. Bro. Chris Hodapp, 33°, (NMJ) website:
The Southern Jurisdiction has largely kept to the degree rituals (with modification over the years) penned by Albert Pike in the 1800s. These are predominantly based upon biblical-era or medieval stories, drawing their inspiration from antiquity.
In contrast, the Scottish Rite Northern Jurisdiction has long had a maxim, that its degrees should be constantly changing to remain timely and relevant to be effective lessons for its members.
The NMJ has done some updating of the degrees. For instance, the 20th degree, Master Ad Vitam, tells a story about George Washington; the 23rd, Knight of Valor, recounts the Four Chaplains from WWII; the 24th, Brother of the Forest, has a Native American theme; the 25th degree, Master of Achievement, is about Benjamin Franklin; and the 26th degree, Prince of Mercy, concerns Abraham Lincoln.
Notwithstanding, “updating” or not, nothing could be further from the truth. In this particular degree, the situation in which the King and his senior officers find themselves is as current today as it was almost three millennia ago. The loss of the master builder has greater implications than merely the loss of a talented individual that will be difficult to replace. King Solomon has relied on Hiram the W.S. for much more than his expertise in building. He has been the go-between between the king and the building craft, or in more modern terms, the interface between the management team and the staff. The communication of the operation’s corporate goals and philosophy to the staff has to this point greatly depended on HA’s personnel skills. In a modern sense, HA has been the human resource manager as well as the chief engineer on this project, the building of Solomon’s Temple to the GAOTU.
“In a present day corporation or company, the unexpected loss of a senior officer can be a disaster that can have a tremendously negative impact on a company’s operation. The loss of multiple officers can be a catastrophe. This is a reason why many companies do not permit senior members of their management to travel together, for fear that an accident might effectively behead the company’s management. For instance, during the President’s state-of-the-union address one of the cabinet members is purposely absent, to make sure that at least one person in the line of succession would be able to continue the government at the federal level if some catastrophe occurred to the other Cabinet members during the speech. The organization’s work must continue, its philosophy absolutely must continue, in order that its plans must be fulfilled. If the organization does not have the ability to adapt to its new situation, the changes in how it performs will be significant, and perhaps even lethal to its operations.
“To make further comparison with the ancient and the modern, one wonders what would have happened to the Craft had the ruffians surprised either KS or HKT as well as the master builder that day in the Temple. The ramifications would have been tremendous, possibly world-altering. The Temple might not been completed and the traditions associated with it had not survived the event. These days perhaps the company might have gone out of business, or experienced great changes in its corporate philosophy, such that the consequences would be very serious indeed. I can give you about an example of a company that, about thirty years ago, lost almost all of its board of directors and senior officers in a plane crash. It never really recovered its original corporate philosophy. It is possible that you already know about this firm, or you may ask me at some point after the degree this evening. Nonetheless, even without the details this example is very sobering. There are other examples of this, but the lesson is the same: Those who fail to plan for the future plan to have a future of failure.
“In the degree, you discovered that HA had put in place what would be called these days a DRP, a disaster recovery plan, a business continuity plan. In this way he had planned for a future for which he knew there was a distinct possibility that he would not be present. His advance planning and training of his subordinates ensured that the Temple would be completed as planned, and that the critical elements of his philosophy that had so far guided the Craft would continue well after he was gone. He believed that his approach to management was essential to his success of the enterprise, and so became one of the key elements of his continuity plan. There was a very brief mention of the secret vault that was being prepared, of which you will hear more in the following degrees. This planning for the future is a lesson that we should all take to heart. We do not know neither how long we will be on this stage, nor when someone might be trying to come to grips with our absence.
“The best gifts that we can give future generations of the craft are proper preparations for the future. If we expect that the fraternity is to continue on, and to continue on in the way in which it was given to us by our predecessors, we must make those preparations now. Our legacy to those in the future will be what we make of the Fraternity now.
“In answer to the common question of the ‘60s and ‘70’s, ‘Is this relevant?’ I answer, ‘Absolutely.’ My brethren, let the discussion begin.
Illustrious Bro. Steve Gatton, 33°, 2016 director of the 8th degree.
