Qadosh - Grand Elect Knight Kadosh (30°).

We now devote space to the 30th degree. There are four apartments for this degree. We shall give the ritual, in part, as we have it in Blanchard, with any material from Words, and other sources which are relevant.

The openings and closings are not necessary for the moment. While the 29° is left to contemplate, the 30° Ceremony is being prepared.

II. FIRST APARTMENT
a. Candidate is seated in chair facing a mausoleum, which has on top a coffin bearing a knight. Below it are three skulls ~~ the Pope (Clement V), Jacques Burgundus Molensis, and Philip the Fair. He is told to reflect on the scene before him. He is goaded into proceeding with the ordeals. The Knight in the coffin rises up and asks him his wish, etc.

b. Candidate is charged to destroy the papal skull and the king's skull. First Oath is administered ~~ Punish Crime, Protect Innocence.

a. Blue tapestry. Knight concealed behind drapes. Grand Pontiff in white robe, veil, beard, hair; holding vase of perfume with spoon. Two incense altars.

d. Second Oath ~~ to Help Brethren at peril of one's own life.The lecture quoted below is taken from the Ritual. Now, we shall interrupt the ritual in progress in order that we may present some comments. The first two points of the ceremony lead the Candidate in, step by step, to the inner bosom of the Order. The 30° really is the Crown of the AASR. At least, it is the Crown of all the High Grade systems of Masonry based upon the Scottish theme. The three remaining degrees being administrative, are like unto three separate orders themselves. The mystery of extermination, loss, suffering, as a result of that loss; the idea of a replacement of simple, primitive truth, the personal revelation as opposed to the mass, or bogus, revelation<21> as a means of crowd control; and the eventual recovering of that loss ~~~ these are the principal mysteries associated with Kadosh. Kadosh, for reasons to be enumerated in this Book Two. The 15° we saw had a secret allusion to the Benjaminites. Also, as Pike saw it, to the destruction of the Temple as a result of bad blood caused by the battle that went wrong and caused the Orders to try and destroy each other.

This list accounts for nearly 3,200 years of world history. In viewing the address by the Grand Pontiff, we see not only the pure Gnosis, but the Hermetica, and in our own time DNA, the Big Bang, the Atom. People who have not realized Atomic Consciousness will not be able to relate to this, but we can assure everybody that this is exactly what the Grand Architect is. This is the Prima Materia. The Candidate is first to adore the martyred master (JBM), who really represents all of them; then to smash the skulls of tyranny and superstition; then to vow to restore the primitive truth. Then the hermetic lecture. Then we get to the third ordeal.

In this we are brought into the "Areopagus" where seven "free judges" robed in black with hoods, are located. The Candidate is accused of being anti-masonic, of being an impostor, of being too conservative and closed-minded. For this, he is denied further advancement until he can offer a profession of faith ~~ religious, political, etc. He is conducted to one of the previous rooms where he must sit and write the profession on paper. It is then brought before the tribunal and accepted. He takes the third oath, is sent on his way.

This is called "The Senate". This is where the Initiation takes place. We apologize for the crudeness with which we have run through all of this ritual, perhaps one of the finest in the whole series. We did not want to give away the whole store, as it were, and realize, that owing to the condition the ritual is in, in the source material, it would be necessary to rewrite it, and give it the structure it requires. Also, expert drawings are a must. This should be done by all truly concerned Masons who care for and respect the Traditions, before they are lost forever.

Here is the Mausoleum of JBM:

In the front are two goblets, plus the funereal urn of JBM, plus the crown and the tiara.

The Candidate is brought in, made to swear never to reveal what he's seen, etc. Then comes the story of the Order, destruction, and the real purposes of Divine Justice rather than vulgar conceptions of vigilante vengeance.

Then comes the Ladder Rite. First, the Hebrew Names are explained; then the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences (see Legenda 30°).Prayer before the funeral urn.

Candidate's hand on silver skull. Bread distributed, then wine is passed. The Crown represents Hypocrisy and Tyranny. It is thrown upon the floor and trampled upon:

The Tiara, representing Imposture and the like, is similarly trampled upon and condemned. The Candidate also tramples upon these.

Conferral of Degree. Signs, words, tokens. Candidate conducted to seat of honor in the East. Knight of Eloquence delivers the discourse, which is partly from the Legenda.

This, then, is the Qadosh. We would use the 30° lecture from Morals and Dogma, in the first part of the Fourth Point. The Ladder Rite, as per the Necronomicon, and the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences from the Legenda. Then the 4th Oath, then the Communion. Then the trampling.

The First Part is reminiscent of the 5°; the Second Part, the 19°; the Third Part, the 21°; and the Fourth Part, the 30°; proper. Also, it is the Answer to the 18°, and conveys in practice the theoretical doctrines of the 17°, 23°-28°. It is the Ne Plus Ultra of Freemasonry, period. What lies above and beyond, as in the Rite of Memphis, is higher still, but for the most part, inaccessible today.

The Qadosh tradition, then, is to consecrate Warrior-Priests: Warrior-Monks, like the original Templars were supposed to be, but, in the end, turned out not being, due to internecine strife. From the original priesthood of the S.'. S.'., in Nubia, Ethiopia, and points south and east, in the lands of Enki's sons, to the Qadosh Fathers, and the Ophites; ultimately to the Johannite Gnostic Tradition, which this degree embodies, and on, through the centuries: a long twisting Serpent ~~~ Le Serpent Rouge, to the secret sects of Mesopotamia and Syria, to the secret sects of Sicily and Southern France, to the Knights Templars, and the Prieuré de Sion, to the Rose-Croix, the Freemasons, and the Illuminati, to our own times. This is Qadosh, Holiness.

It is patently absurd to give any credibility to the words of those who have absolutely no knowledge of things truly holy, as so many do, when they believe a "Reverend" Holley, or a Pat Robertson, or anyone else who bangs that same woeful drum. In fact, it is to be a party to the willful and planned duping of society. This is the crime usually levelled at the "Liberal Media" (so-called) by the sole arbiters of truth ~~~ the Conservatives. Yet, it is in these reactionary Conservative circles that the most damage to society is done ~~~ damage to society's Spiritual and Cultural Heritage.

To tell readers and listeners that Qadosh is a Satanic Degree is to willfully lie to the people one is responsible for informing. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. The ritual does not deny Christ, it does not deny the Living One, it does not deny God Almighty. On the contrary, it affirms these. What it denies is papal sovereignty and royal license, the usurpation of power by despots, tyranny, superstition, sectarian fanaticism, bigotry, stupidity, in short, IGNORANCE, which gives all of these evils a reason to exist. Spiritual slavery is perhaps the greatest evil that exists today. Beneath this, all other evils form the pyramid. Spiritual slavery is the apex. All roads lead to and from it, when we are speaking of society's evils. Overpopulation, poverty, crime, sickness, misery, hatred, political corruption, pollution, all of these are to be seen as having as their root-cause, their Prima Materia, spiritual slavery. Is this not what the Buddha meant, when he delivered the Four Noble Truths to humankind?

The "Good Book" says a lot of things which nobody wants to explain, or discuss. We could fill a book with discussions of these. Suffice it to say, Man is not subject to the vengeful God of Jealousy of the Old Testament; man is not subject to the hierarchy of ministers ~~ priests, cardinals, bishops, popes, emperors who rule without just cause. Man is subject to himself. The private, personal revelation, the secret discourse with one's inner being, the reflection of the Mind of God into the Mind of Man, this IT IS WHICH SO MANY OF OUR KINDRED have gone to rack, stake, gallows, guillotine, prison to defend and uphold. This is not an excuse for license, it is a charge to act responsibly. We each have this lifetime, do we want to do it all over, or do we want to finish the Labor set before us in the Lodge of Life, this time, so we can go on to Refreshment next time?

<F19>Jeremy L. Cross, Cross' Templars' Chart(New York: A.S. Barnes & Co., 4th Ed. 1857 e.v.) Supplement, pp. 85-86. Cross, it might be worth noting, was a Cerneau Mason. BACK.

<F20>"You have already been informed that among the Knights Kadosh truth and reality take the place of symbols, and even now your sagacity will partly raise the curtain which cannot be entirely removed until you have sustained new trials. In all the preceding degrees you must have observed that the object of Scots Masonry is to overthrow all kinds of superstition, and that by admitting in her bosom on the terms of the strictest equality, the members of all religions, of all creeds, and of all countries, without any distinction whatever, she has, and indeed can have, but ONE single object, and THAT IS TO RESTORE TO THE GRAND ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE; TO THE COMMON FATHER OF THE HUMAN RACE THOSE WHO ARE LOST IN THE MAZE OF IMPOSTURES, INVENTED FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ENSLAVING THEM. The Knights Kadosh recognize no particular religion; and for that reason we demand of you nothing more than to worship God. And whatever may be the religious forms imposed upon you by superstition at a period of your life when you were incapable of discerning truth from falsehood, we do not even require you to relinquish them. Time and study alone can enlighten you. But remember that you will never be a true mason unless you repudiate for ever all superstitions and prejudices.

"However, until then, you will own that we have required of you nothing more than to acknowledge with us the sole, the only certain and undoubted point admitted as such by all the human race without exception[n..b. except atheists!]. We mean the existence of a first great cause, whom we call God Almighty. [n.b.El-Shaddai, or possibly El-Elyon...see The Code of the Eternal, part 2. Forthcoming, circa 2001-2.] Repeat then with me the usual oath of all who wish to proceed further and kneel before the altar of truth." BACK.

<F21>Cf. The X Files, 1997-8 e.v. Season, episodes 1 and 2 "Redux", where Kritschgau explains to Mulder the use of Bogus Revelation as a Cold War tactic. This series presents many truths, veiled as good entertainment! We shall miss it. Bogus Revelation is the entire modus operandi of the Cold War. And, by extension back in time, the sole basis of the Church's raison d'etre. BACK.

2b. Grand Elect Knight Kadosh (30°) ~~ schema of rituals and additional explanations.

B. Grand Elect Knight Kadosh (30°)