CLAUSEN’S COMMENTARIES

ON
MORALS AND DOGMA
by
Henry C. Clausen, 330
Sovereign Grand Commander

0
/
MEup~jQUE

THE SUPREME CoUNCIL, ANCiENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE

330,

OF FREEMASONRY
SOUTHERN JURISDICTION, U.S.A
1976
 PERFECT ELU
FOURTEENTH DEGREE

Summary:
We now reach the point of reflection, of consideration, and
of analysis. Each must discover for himself the Secrets
contained in our symbols and in what has been said and
done in the work. We press on toward the unattainable, yet
more nearly approaching perfect truth. God has given each
of us work to do and duties to perform in the progress of
the great plan for enlightenment and growth. In this plan
there are sorrows and trials that are designed to purify and
strengthen our souls. It cannot be true that these are visited
upon us for sadistic or cruel purposes. Ultimate good in
accordance with merciful and wise divine guidance must
result. Our future well-being depends upon how we per-
form in this life. Hence, we should so live that death will
hold no terror for us. Instead, there will be a release from
our earthly trials into spiritual realms above.
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Commentary:
This is the last of the so-called Ineffable Degrees. It
relates to the Ineffable Word we have discussed in some of
the preceding degrees. According to legend, the three
Grand Masters met in a vault under the Holy of Holies of
the Temple. When one of them was slain, the two others
agreed not to meet there again until they had selected a
replacement and, until such time, they would not make
known the Secret Word. When the Master Architect and
the two Intendants of the Building discovered and deli-
vered to Solomon the Cube of Agate, the two Kings depo-
sited this in the secret vault and permitted the three
craftsmen to be present and made known to them the
pronunciation of the Ineffable Word. Thus, they created a
new Order, styled Grand Elect, Perfect and Sublime
Mason or, as we call it, Perfect Elu. The two Kings and
three craftsmen were the first members.
The esoteric meaning of our Scottish Rite Degrees is
not definitively interpreted. You may do this for yourself.
Secrets are hidden from all but the discerning few and are
revealed only through fuller and deeper study. For exam-
ple, in ancient mythology a square is the symbol of the
material and principle; a cube, the symbol of the material PI~te—Perfect Eh~. Fourteenth Degxee
man. A triangle is the symbol of Deity and, by association,
The guardians of the Ineffable Word.
of all things divine and of the spiritual. Hence, a triangle
within a square, or upon the face of a cube which appears
similar, symbolizes the divine within the material.
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 The pattern of the ancient mysteries called for recep- FOURTEENTH
tion in three steps: purification, initiation and il[umination; DEGREE
hence, perfection.
Baptism does not belong exclusively to Christianity.
Instead, as a symbol of purification it was a rite of religious
initiation thousands of years before Christ. The vows of a
Perfect Elu are assumed after baptism and symbolic purifi-
cation. Then there is a partaking of bread, the ancient
Hebrew pledge of brotherhood, and of the wine, symbol of
wisdom and of knowledge. This also is a reminder that
hospitality is a true Masonic virtue and that each of us owes
to his Brother kind services, graceful courtesies, and
prompt and cheerful assistance and relief. Thereafter,
there is Investiture with the Ring of the Fourleenth Degree,
and with the Apron, Collar and Jewel. Then the Sacred
Word is explained, communicated and demonstrated.
The history of this Degree concludes the reference to
the First Temple. When this was finished, the builders
acquired immortal honor and their Order became estab-
lished and regulated. New members were admitted solely
on merit. But sad to say, King Solomon in his advancing
years grew deaf to the voice of the Lord and became irregu-
lar in his conduct to the point of profaning the three pur-
poses of the Temple, offering to Moloch the incense which
should be offered only to the living God. The people,
copying the vices and follies of their King, became proud
and idolatrous.
Sorely grieved at this result, the Perfect Elus grew
This inspired others, the great and the good men of virtue
afraid that this apostasy would end in dreadful consequ-
and religion, to seek initiation into the mysteries.
ences. As punishment for the defection, God caused
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, to take vengeance on The symbolism and teachings of our Scottish Rite
the King of Israel. A Babylonian army entered Judah with come to us from across the centuries. They go deep into
fire and sword, sacked the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the ancient ages, thousands of years before the medieval
Temple and carried the people captive to Babylon. In later cathedral builders. Some detractors doubt this and would
years the attempt to free the Holy Land from oppression mark our origins no farther back than the 18th century.
led to assistance from virtuous progenitors of Masons who But, we learn from Ecclesiastes “there is no new thing
displayed valor and fortitude in so pious an undertaking. under the sun.” Long before Archimedes was born, the

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ancients of Egypt applied the lever, the screw and the
wedge in building their monumental tombs and temp[es
and great pyramids. Centuries before Galileo, the intellec-
tuals of Central America understood the focusing of lenses
in tubes for telescopes. And, according to Aristophanes,
there were stores at Athens in his day, 440 B.C., that sold
microscopes known as “burning spheres~” Four thousand
years before Christ was born at Beth[ehem, the priests of
temples understood the art of vitrifying and molding mag-
nificent specimens of glass, including marvelous gem im-
itations worthy of the best we can produce today. As far
back as the eye can penetrate, these ancients were profi-
cientin the fields of iron and bronze, tools, weaving, music
and drama, architecture and sculpture, clocks and dials,
medicine and surgery.
Twelve centuries before Christ, Amenemhat III built
the mighty Labyrinth of Egypt with over 3,000 chambers,
many of which bore mystic symbols. Herodotus, the his-
torian, considered this more marvelous than the Pyramids, CHAPTER OF ROSE CROIX
both of which he had seen. The immense ruins of Karnak, a
city within a city, part of the site of ancient Thebes, show
4
that the Cathedral of Notre Dame might stand in one of the
4
halls and not touch the ceiling. In Siam and Cambodia
there are amazing examples of ancient architecture and
sculpture, including that in Nagon-Wat. Thus the era of
Osiris, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Orpheus, Moses,
Pythagoras and Jesus covers a historical span of great buil-
ders who used symbology as the language of the elect.
Today in Central Park, New York City, there is an
obelisk from Alexandria, Egypt. In its foundation, dated 22
B.C., there were found the following: trowel, [ead plum-
met, rough rectangular stone, pure white cubical stone,
stone trying square, stone with a serpent border, stone
showing the ancient Egyptian cubical gauge, and some
hieroglyphics similar to triangles drawn upon our trestle-
boards.

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