Thursday, April 12, 2012

Order of the Silver Trowel


In addition to the Order of the High Priesthood and other organizations meeting today, another one was the Order of the Silver Trowel and as Illustrious Master of my Council of Cryptic Masons, I was inducted into this Order.

A well-respected Companion and one of the few Scotsman in Idaho conferred the degree and did just an amazing job at it. He has done this degree for the past 41 years!

The Order of the Silver Trowel, or also known as Thrice Illustrious Master, is a degree conferred upon those who are serving or have served as Illustrious Master for a Council of Cryptic Masons.

The degree gets a name from the jewel of the degree (see below).  The order is also known by the name of the Order of Anointed Kings. The degree consists of two sections - the candidate representing young King Solomon in both sections. In the first section, the candidate learns of the conspiracy by his half-brother Adonijah, to wrest the throne by cunning from Solomon. He also learns of his mother (Bathsheba) interceding with the aged and ailing King David to prevent this. After securing David's approval, Solomon is symbolically conducted to Gihon by Benaiah where he is duly obligated, anointed, and hailed as King by Nathan, the Prophet, and Zadok, the High Priest. In the second section, the newly anointed King is brought before his father, David, who, in his dying moments, instructs him in moral wisdom and counsels him to govern uprightly and to serve the Lord with all his strength. Upon Solomon's assent, the King expires.

The officers of this degree are:
Thrice Illustrious Master
Thrice Illustrious Senior Warden
Thrice Illustrious Junior Warden
Thrice Illustrious Recorder
Thrice Illustrious Treasurer
Thrice Illustrious Steward
Thrice Illustrious Sentinel

References

1. Cryptic Rite Degrees. (n.d.). Retrieved from Adoniram Council #2, Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of Ontario: http://www.adoniram-council-2.masonic-lodge.ca/?pageId=31323035g79f5564e3fd1242b8060633db9a9e16c

2. Hill Jr., Luther A. (n.d.). Order of the Silver Trowel. Retrieved from Grand York Rite Bodies of Tennessee: http://www.tngrandyorkrite.org/index.php?chapters=Y&page=OST

3. O'Brien, R. (n.d.). The Degree of the Silver Trowel. Retrieved from Royal & Select Masters, District Grand Council of Southern India: http://www.rsmsi.in/Download_articles/The%20Degree%20of%20the%20Silver%20Trowel.pdf 

4. Order of the Silver Trowel. (n.d.). Retrieved from Most Illustrious Grand Council of Mississippi: http://msgrandcouncil.org/documents/Order%20of%20the%20Silver%20Trowel.pdf 

5. Price, W. W. (2008, May). The York Rite of Freemasonry. The Working Tools magazine, p. 54.

3 comments:

  1. I am curious, is this Order along with the High Priesthood pretty regular in all jurisdictions or does it vary? I have heard no mention of it in Texas (though I have yet to ask) as well as reading Mackey's telling of the High Priesthood in his Book of the Chapter (though I do not recall hearing of the silver trowel in his Cryptic Masonry book).

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    Replies
    1. I found a fellow brother in search for light. #1084

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  2. I keep busy with the Silver Trowel from day to day.

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