ALLIED MASONIC DEGREES FOR SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA
History The Order of the Allied Masonic Degrees consists of a collection of disparate ‘additional’ degrees, rites and Orders that were generally languishing in the 1870’s. The Grand Council in England, etc., was established in 1879, at Mark Masons Hall in London, to secure the future of this assortment of separately administered rites, and degrees previously worked under warrants of ‘Antient’ Craft lodges across the country, which held that the Craft warrant entitled the lodges to work any number of Masonic degrees. The Order also previously had control over other Masonic systems, some of which are extant today. Two such bodies included the Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests and Order of Holy Wisdom, which the Order had control of until 1897, and the Order of the Secret Monitor which remained a degree of this Order until 1931, even though a Sovereign body was established for the Secret Monitor in 1887. Aim The aim of the Order is to preserve and propagate old ‘Antient’ rituals otherwise lost to Symbolic Masonry or now subsumed within other Orders and subsequently altered over the years. This Order is therefore of particular appeal to Freemasons interested in the history of Masonic ritual or in extending their understanding of Symbolic Masonry. Organisation The Order is led by a Grand Master, supported by his Deputy and Grand Council. The subordinate Councils are organised into geographic Divisions outside Victoria, and these are led by a Grand Prefects. The Councils, which meet regularly for the admission of candidates and exposition of the
degrees, are under the direction of a Master in the principal (and administrative) degree. The ceremonial roles within the other degrees of the Order may be filled by Past Masters and other brethren, as appropriate. The Order now exists throughout Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Canada, the Bahamas, Europe and the USA. Under the Grand Council for Southern Australia, there are eight Councils meeting across Victoria, variously at Oakleigh, Preston, Kerang, Mornington, Geelong, Hamilton, Kyneton and Ardeer. In addition, this Grand Council currently administers three Councils in South Australia, and three Councils in Queensland. Most subordinate Councils meet four times a year. The Grand Council for Southern Australia has, since its independence from England, enjoyed fraternal concord with the Grand Council in England, etc., which maintains a Division in New South Wales. Qualifications The qualifications for membership are that a candidate must be a Master Mason, Mark Master Mason and a Royal Arch Mason, all in good financial standing. Degrees The five Orders that previously were separate, but now constitute the Order of the Allied Masonic Degrees under the Grand Council for Southern Australia, were styled the ‘Grand Lodge of Saint Lawrence Masons’, the ‘Ancient and Honourable Order of Knights of Constantinople’, the ‘Order of English Masters’, the ‘Order of Knights of Red Cross of Babylon’ and the ‘Holy Order of Grand High Priest’. The Grand Lodge of Saint Lawrence Masons has a suggested ‘operative’ origin (circa
Page 8
