Archive for November, 2011
The Knights Templar were officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church around 1129, the Order became a favored charity throughout Christendom, and grew rapidly in membership and power. Dressed in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, the Knights Templar were among the most skilled fighting units of the crusades] Non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom innovating financial techniques that were an early form of banking. The finest Knights Templar rings available can be found at Fox Jewelry. An example of a Knights Templar ring can be found in the online store.
The Knights Templars’ existence was tied closely to the Crusades. When the Holy Land was lost,
support for the Order faded. Rumors about the Templars’ secret initiation
ceremony created mistrust, and King Phillip IV of France who was deeply in debt
to the Order, took advantage of the situation. In 1307, many of the Order’s
members in France were arrested, tortured into giving erroneous confessions,
and then were burned at the stake. Under
pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V broke up the Order in 1312. Portugal was the only European country where the Knight
Templars were not persecuted and arrested. An example of the ring worn by the Knights Templar is shown in the category Knights Templar Rings.
Recently several Grand Lodges have reintroduced an old tradition, that of accepting a Lewis into the Craft. A Lewis is the son of a Mason who may be admitted in to the Craft upon his 18th birthday. Once he is maded a Master Mason the individual is entitled to wear the Master Mason Ring.
There is ample evidence that the Past Master Degree was worked in America in the last half of the 18th Century. The first reference to what was probably the Past Master Degree is the working of the Excellent Degree in St. Andrew’s Royal Arch Lodge on August of 1769 in Boston. It is an honor to wear the Past Master Ring.
The Past Master Degree in Masonry is an honorary degree. It is more closely associated with sumbolic than capitular Masonry. It is primarily a necessary or rational degree, containing little of the deep sumbolism of the Mark Master and Royal Arch Degrees. The recipients of this degree are caled Virtual Past Masters, while those who receive the degree prior to their installation as Worshipful Master are called Actual Past Masters. Once becoming a Past Master, the recipient is entitled to wear a Past Master Ring.