Other masonic tenants
The Horowhenua Chapter of the Royal Arch
There are three degrees in Royal Arch Masonry which must be attained. This is in addition to the three degrees in Freemasonry. They are the Mark Master Degree followed by the Excellent Master Degree with the third being: The Royal Arch Degree.
The Royal Arch is part and parcel of Freemasonry as defined in the 18th century Constitutions where it stated that there are three degrees in Masonry including the Royal Arch.
The degree called the Royal Arch continues the story of the Craft Masonry third degree where the masonic word is lost. It is found during the Royal Arch degree which is an allegory of our journey through life by facing difficulties and dangers and discovering more about your personal development as a person.
To get to this important degree you will have to have successfully completed your three degrees in Craft Masonry and undergo two further degrees. One is the fourth degree in New Zealand freemasonry known as the Mark Degree where a particularly important piece of stone masonry is made, lost and then found; the next is the fifth degree in which you become an Excellent Master undertaking an allegorical journey through life experiencing situations of trust, reliability and assiduity.
Finally you arrive at the sixth and final degree of New Zealand Freemasonry and experience dangers, difficulties and the joy of discovering the long lost word of a Mason for which you receive your fitting reward among your companions.
This completes the Masonic story and gives you the confidence of knowing you have the whole story of the Masonic word and Masonic secrets.
This information is provided by:
Right Excellent Companion Dr George Allan Past Grand Lecturer, 1st Principle Horowhenua Chapter No. 63 on the role of Supreme Grand Chapter of New Zealand
The Monckton Chapter of Rose Croix
The Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry for New Zealand, known as Rose Croix, is an Order of Freemasonry as old as the Craft itself. The Order is governed by the Supreme Council 33° for New Zealand and its degrees are specifically Christian. There are other Supreme Councils around the world, for example, The Supreme Council for Scotland and the Supreme Councils for England and Wales, Australia, Northern and Southern United States to name a few.
All Supreme Councils throughout the world operate under the Grand Constitutions of 1786 which were promulgated under the titular direction of Frederick the Great who ruler Prussia from 1740 to 1786 difference.
ESTABLISHMENT OF A CHAPTER IN THE HOROWHENUA
In 1936, several of the Brethren living in Levin and Otaki convened a meeting of interested Brethren in the Masonic Temple to discuss the formation of a Rose Croix Chapter for this District.
A meeting was called to discuss the establishment of a Chapter to serve the district between Palmerston North and Wellington, and the probable cost of establishing and maintaining a Rose Croix Chapter.
THE NAME ‘MONCKTON’
At a meeting held on the first day of December 1936, it was reported that the Governor General, His Excellency, Most Ill. Bro. Viscount Galway, 330, Grand Marshall, had graciously approved of his family name ‘Monckton’ to be used as the name of the new Chapter.
As a result of that meeting, 31 of those attending signed a petition to form a new Chapter and this was presented to the Grand Inspector General with the request that the Monckton Chapter be consecrated in February 1937 and that the day of meeting to be the last Saturday in the month of February, May, August and November.
The date in February was not convenient to His Excellency, the Governor General, owing to a prior engagement, so the service of constituting and consecrating the Monckton Chapter was held on Saturday, 3 April 1937 and has now operated continually for 87 years.
THE DEGREES OF THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE
The first three degrees are deemed to be equivalent to the first three degrees of the Craft. The Intermediate degrees, the 4th to the 17th, are conferred on a candidate by name prior to the ceremony of the 18th degree and continue the stories of the Hiramic legend, following Hiram’s death which may be a surprise and of interest to a Master Mason. The degree of the Rose Croix of Heredom, the 18th, is the last of the degrees of the Rite that can be conferred by a Chapter.
TO JOIN THE ORDER
I. A candidate must be a Master Mason and be in good standing with the Craft, either current or unattached.
II. He must have received his three Craft degrees in a Masonic Lodge authorised in the Rules of the Supreme Council.
III. He must profess the Trinitarian Christian Faith. He will be required, prior to any formal consideration of his candidature, to sign a declaration to this effect.
Rose Croix Masonry is also commonly described as ‘The Perfection of Masonry’ a title which is well merited. Thus, the members of the Rose Croix are inheritors of a special Order, belonging to a unique community, who practise the highest ideals which will assist in maintaining and progressing both individual and societal standards
If you have a desire for further advancement in Masonic knowledge, friendship and to explore Freemasonry within a Christian setting, the Order of the Rose Croix offers you those rewards.
PROMINENT MEMBERS
A number of past and current members of Monckton Chapter have achieved high office within the Order. R. Ill. Bro. R. A. Ashley 33 became the Inspector General for the Ruapehu-Hawkes Bay District in 2004 for a period of five years. R. Ill. Bro. Ashley 33 appointed Ill. Bro. J. G. Taylor 30 as his District Grand Director of Ceremonies and Ill. Bro. E. W. G. Green 30 as his District Recorder.
M. Ill. Bro. J. G. Sharp 33 was appointed as District Grand Director of Ceremonies for the District in 2009 for a five year term and was then elevated to the position of Inspector General for the Ruapehu-Hawkes Bay District in 2014 for a further 5 year term. He was appointed a member of Supreme Council, the Order’s governing body in 2020 and currently remains on that Council for an indefinite period.
Royal Order of Scotland Chapter
The Royal Order of Scotland is one the most historic Orders within Freemasonry and can trace it regal roots back over 700 years to Robert the Bruce.
That royal connection originates with Robert the Bruce, who is said to have conferred knighthoods on a group of Freemasons who assisted him in his victory over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Those knights are recognised as the first members of the Royal Order of Scotland.
The Royal Order of Scotland is a global Order that initially spread throughout France, during the mid to late 18th century before receding just as quickly, perhaps as a result of the persecution of Freemasons. However, by the middle of the 19th century it had a foundation to start to grow again.
The Order’s oldest existing Provincial Grand Lodge was formed around this time in Sweden. In a masonic building in Stockholm, a Tower of Refreshment was uncovered that is used in awarding one of the two degrees of the Order and used as proof of the longstanding connection between Sweden and the Royal Order of Scotland.
For more information on the Royal Order of Scotland, please contact Provincial Grand Secretary, Provincial Grand Lodge of New Zealand Central by emailing to ROS-pglnzcentral@proton.me
The Allied Masonic Degrees
The first Grand Lodge of England was set up in 1717, with 4 Lodges initially, but by 8 years later, there were 64 Lodges on the list.
With the growth in the Craft, came the invention of new degrees. In France particularly, the Lodge members applied themselves to the formulation of rituals based on biblical or historical events, folk lore and possibly even other less likely sources.
In England, Craft Lodges, despite the hostility of the original Grand Lodge, joined the leaning towards the practice of non-Craft work. One writer estimated that between the early 1700s and 1800, there were no less than 1200 degrees invented. However, the number which survived more than one performance were almost infinitesimal. Those which survived, and are still practised today succeeded in clothing their basic incident with a convincing connection with Masonry or with a moral in accordance with masonic teachings.
By the late 1800’s ‘Grand Bodies’ had been formed to take control of the few remaining degrees that were being worked. With the exception of a few ‘orphan’ degrees, the transformation was now complete.
Some of these were:
St Lawrence, the Martyr. Originally titled St Laurence the Martyr, it is asserted that the degree was being worked in Lancashire and Yorkshire from the 1750s.
The Grand Tilers of Solomon also known as Masons Elect of twenty-Seven. A degree named ‘Select Masters of Twenty-seven’ was worked in America in 1761, and Carlile (1825).
Grand High Priest. A quite complicated origin, with evidence of portions of the ritual interlocking with other degrees in America, France, England, Ireland, and Austria. It (or a form of it) was worked in Antient Lodges in England (making it post 1751).
The Red Cross of Babylon. This degree’s similarity to the Red cross ritual of Scottish and New Zealand Royal Arch, and to the 15th to the 17th degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite give a clue to its derivation in the 1750s. This is reinforced by a claim that an Antient Lodge in Sunderland was working an important element of the degree in 1755.
Knights of Constantinople. The earliest documented evidence shows that this was being worked in America in 1831.
On Saturday 9th August 1879, a meeting was held at Alexandra palace, London, and the Council of Side Degrees was established. This title was short lived, and was superseded by The Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees.
The new body had issued its first warrant by 1 January 1880.
NEW ZEALAND COUNCILS
Zealandia Council No 19, located at Port Chalmers seems to have been issued a warrant on 10 May 1887. However, not much happened and the Council was declared dormant in 1920.
5 brethren flew to Sydney and took all 5 degrees at a marathon session at St Leonard’s Council No 60, NSW on 24 July 1970. On their return, they got to work and sorted out all the arrangements, necessary for the consecration of New Zealand Council No 69 which took place on 22 March 1971, and marked the return of the Allied Masonic Degrees to New Zealand.
Taradale Council No 81 followed soon after and was consecrated on 15 May 1976.
Very shortly afterwards, Palmerston North Council No 83 was consecrated on 11 September 1976.
One of the members of Taradale was Bro Oswald Jackson who was instrumental in forming the West Coast Council No 95 which was consecrated in Greymouth on 10 November 1979.
The Order in New Zealand grew in numbers, and on 15 May 1989, Waikato Council No 121 was consecrated in Hamilton. At the same time, the Division of New Zealand was created.
And on 17 February, 1996, the warrant for Zealandia Council No 141 was re- issued.
The 6 Councils still exist in New Zealand, and the current District Grand Prefect for New Zealand is Right Worshipful Brother Bryce Smith of Wanganui.
While there are other different Masonic Order such as the Knights Templar, they are based in Palmerston North and do not use the Horowhenua Masonic Centre.
OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT FREEMASONS
Information is available about Freemasonry on the following links: