The Allied Masonic Degrees: History and Structure
In the early 19th century, most “additional” Masonic degrees worked in England operated under warrants granted by the Antients, who maintained that Craft Warrants permitted Lodges to confer any Masonic degree for which they had knowledgeable members. Following the formation of the United Grand Lodge, these degrees were gradually organized into distinct Orders, each with its own governing body.
By the late 1800s, numerous unrelated degrees—unaffiliated with any Grand Body—were still being practiced across the country. In the 1870s, the Grand Secretaries of the Craft, Mark, and Ancient and Accepted Rite agreed to establish the Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees in England and Wales and the Colonies and Dependencies of the British Crown, headquartered at Mark Masons’ Hall.
A key resolution was that no new Masonic body could be legally established in England without the approval of the governing bodies of the Knights Templar, the Ancient and Accepted Rite, the Mark Masters, the Red Cross of Constantine, the Royal and Select Masters, and the new Grand Council. Any such approved body would fall under the Grand Council’s jurisdiction. Thus, the Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees of England and Wales and Districts, and Councils Overseas was born.
Constitution of the Grand Council
Formally constituted in 1880, the Grand Council was designed to oversee Lodges of various Orders that lacked central authority and were not regulated by other governing bodies. Initially, it assumed control over the degrees of Grand High Priest, St. Lawrence the Martyr, the Red Cross of Babylon, and Knights of Constantinople.
By 1897, the Grand Tilers of Solomon, a degree of the Secret Monitor, and the Order of Holy Wisdom (Knight Templar Priest grades) had also been incorporated. However, in 1923, the Grand College of Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests of England was established in Newcastle, prompting the Allied Grand Council to relinquish authority over those degrees. By 1931, it had also withdrawn from overseeing the Secret Monitor degree, allowing private Councils to confer the remaining degrees independently.
The Order Today
For Master Masons who have been Exalted into the Holy Royal Arch and Advanced into Mark Masonry, further opportunities for Masonic exploration await. Among the most fascinating is the Allied Masonic Degrees, a collection of five diverse and engaging ceremonies.
Membership in this welcoming and intellectually enriching Order requires either a single breast jewel or a composite jewel upon the completion of the degrees. The initial working degree, St. Lawrence the Martyr, forms the cornerstone of the Order, as all regular Council business is conducted within its structure.
The Ceremonies
St Lawrence the Martyr
The Degree was designed to commemorate the martyrdom of the Saint in Rome in the middle of the third century AD, and teaches the lessons of fortitude and humility.
It is recorded that the Degree has been worked in its present form for over two centuries in Lancashire and Yorkshire. It’s been suggested that it was originally a piece of old Operative ritual, intended to distinguish a genuine Craftsman from the “new-fangled” Speculatives when they started to join Craft Lodges.
The Degree of St Lawrence the Martyr is the administrative Degree of a Council. The Master of a Council is elected in a Lodge of St Lawrence, it is the only Installation Ceremony practiced in the Order, and thus becomes the Master of the Council. At every meeting of a Council a Lodge of St Lawrence must be opened and closed. A Lodge or Council of any of the other four Degrees is opened and closed only when the Ceremony of Admission in that Degree is worked. The Officers are the same as for a Craft Lodge
Knight of Constantinople
This is a real “side” Degree, in that many years ago, it was customary for one Brother to confer it on another; he would, for example, take him aside at the end of a Lodge meeting, administer a simple obligation and entrust him with the secrets.
The origin of the Degree is not known, but from the strong flavour of Operative influence in the ritual it may be supposed that it arose during the transition from Operative to Speculative Masonry. It is known to have been worked in America in 1831 and may have been taken there by a military Lodge.
The Degree teaches the useful lessons of humility and universal equality.
Grand Tilers of Solomon
This Degree has a legend similar to that of the Cryptic Degree of Select Master, but with interesting variations, in particular with respect to the period of the occurrences. It has also much in common with the Degree of Intimate Secretary (6° of the Ancient and Accepted Rite).
It is known to have been worked in the USA since about 1761 but has not been traced with certainty as having been worked in England before 1893. The Degree warns of the great danger of carelessness and of hasty judgment and teaches the importance of careful tiling.
The Lodge represents a vaulted chamber in the bowels of the earth beneath the site of King Solomon’s Temple. A candidate in this Degree is said to be “admitted into the Degree of Masons Elect of Twenty-Seven and created a Grand Tiler of Solomon”.
The Red Cross of Babylon
The Degree was one of the four Ceremonies which the Grand Council originally took under its control. This, the most profoundly mystical of the Allied Masonic Degrees, is of considerable antiquity. Its three Parts or Points have descended from three of the degrees of Rites worked in the mid-eighteenth century.
The Degree has a complicated, but interesting, history and seems to be linked to many other Degrees in differing Constitutions.
The Degree of the Red Cross of Babylon teaches us to keep inviolate our Masonic secrets and to withstand all temptations to reveal them, however profitable those temptations may be. It emphasises the importance of Fidelity, Integrity, and Truth. It is symbolic of the passage of an upright man from struggles overtime in this world to well-earned honour in the next.
The Holy Order of Grand High Priest
The Holy Order of Grand High Priest, which has been worked extensively in Lancashire and Yorkshire and various other parts of England under the banner of certain Antient Lodges, was one of the four ceremonies which the Grand Council then took under its control. Both in this country and in the US it has always been designated an “Order”; that title, instead of Degree, has been preserved. Almost everywhere the Order has been closely associated with Royal Arch Masonry. Under the original Constitutions of the Grand Council, no Brother could be admitted to the Order unless he was an Installed Principal of a Royal Arch Chapter. This limitation was removed in 1934 to any Royal Arch Mason. Members of the Order, whether or not Installed Principals, are still designated “Excellent Companions”.
The Order carries members to a high realm of Masonic thought. The Companion who is admitted to it is left in no doubt that he is set apart for high duties and responsibilities in life, both as a Mason and as a man. He is taught that, to carry them out, he is called upon to dedicate himself to the service of the Most High God and also to that of his fellow-men.
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