13° Royal Arch of Enoch

Prologue

The drapes in this degree are alternately red and white, symbolising the approach to Perfection. In the East in the centre is a triple triangle in gold with a rising sun in the centre of the triangle. There are nine lights corresponding to the nine knocks of the degree. There is no VSL in this degree, the Ineffable Name referred to on the cube of agate and elsewhere in the ritual suffices. The candidate represents Stolkin.

The Mason has so far progressed as to have been advanced from physical labour to intellectual design. Having mastered material things and being purified he is now qualified for spiritual knowledge. He is now in a position somewhat comparable to that of an Apprentice passing to a Fellowcraft. If he is to attain the true light, he must seek its source. Even as the Fellowcraft discovers the Sacred Symbol in the centre of the building, so the Grand Master Architect in the Twelfth degree must look beyond the symbol for the reality.

A symbol might be likened to a window through which one has seen a glorious vista, but which is now obscured, either by the devout encrusting it with ornamentation or the neglectful allowing it to become soiled, so that in either case the essential vision can only be partially seen. Yet many will still come and gaze at the symbol mistaking it for the vision. So with our symbol of true light, it is buried deep in the centre of the building and can become obscured either by material riches or with the dust of neglect.

The search must be renewed. By the use of his intellectual faculties the Mason knows the location. But since the true light is unbearable to the imperfectly prepared, the source of that light has been securely sealed from the eyes of the unworthy. Our seeker must therefore remove all the rubble and penetrate vault after vault until he at last reaches illumination. During the search in darkness he has not been delving blindly. Signs of the concealment are discovered. But old legends indicate the path and eventually the Seeker is rewarded by the discovery of the Ineffable Name. Even now however, can only a substituted Name be communicated.
Discovery is only partial and there yet remains more to be done.

Epilogue to 13°

Our seeker has been rewarded by the discovery of the Ineffable Name and has again renewed his vows of Love, Honour and Duty. But even now only substituted names can be communicated, the true pronunciation cannot be revealed, he must do more. He is told that this is the Sacred and Ineffable Name of He who has all the attributes of that Supreme Being whom he desires to know and with Whom he must be at one. He must learn that the real essential is not to be able to pronounce the Word, but to be the Word.

To attain Perfection means that one is able, if only for the briefest moment, to be at one with the Almighty. Only the Perfect can be merged in Perfection, and can return only for the briefest moment in this world of time, yet in reality in eternity, to its source.

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