8 THE MASONIC HIGH GRADES
In a previous article we saw that Masonic initiation comprises three successive phases, and that there can thus be only three grades, representing these three phases; from this it would seem to follow that the systems of high grades are completely useless, at least in theory, since in their entirety the rituals of the three symbolic grades describe the complete cycle of initiation. However, since Masonic initiation is in fact symbolic, it produces Masons who are only symbols of true Masons, simply outlining for them the course of the steps they must take in order to arrive at real initiation. It is this goal that, at least originally, was the aim of the various systems of high grades, which seem to have been instituted precisely in order to realize in practice the Great Work that symbolic Masonry teaches in theory.
It must be recognized, however, that very few of these systems actually achieve their proposed goal; in most cases, one meets with points of incoherence, lacunae, and superfluities, and the initiatic value of certain rituals appears quite meager, especially when compared to that of the symbolic grades. These failings are all the more conspicuous the greater number of degrees the system contains, and if such is already the case with the Scottish Rites of 25 and 33 degrees, what of those Rites having 90, 97, or even 120 degrees? This multiplicity of degrees is all the more useless in that one is obliged to confer them successively. In the eighteenth century everyone wanted to invent a system for himself, always, of course, grafted onto symbolic Masonry, merely elaborating the fundamental principles thereof, which were all too often interpreted in accordance
with the author's personal conceptions, as is the case with nearly all the Hermetic, Kabbalistic, and philosophical Rites, as well as with the Orders of Knighthood and Illuminism. This is what gave birth to the tremendous diversity of rites, many of which were never written down, and it is virtually impossible to untangle the history of them all. Everyone who has tried to find order in this chaos has had to give it up, or for whatever reasons has at least preferred to give more or less fanciful and sometimes even completely fabulous explanations for the origins of the high grades.
We shall not relate here all the so-called historical assertions we have come across in the writings of various authors; but what is in any case certain is that contrary to the frequent claim, the knight Ramses was in no way the inventor of the high grades, and if he was responsible for them, he was so only indirectly, those who conceived of the Scottish Rite having been inspired by a speech he gave in 1737, in which he linked Masonry both to the Mysteries of antiquity and, more recently, to the religious and military Orders of the Middle Ages. But Ramses is no more the author of the rituals of the Scottish grades than Elias Ashmole is of the symbolic grades, to mention another widely held opinion, shared by Ragon and other historians.
Elias Ashmole, a learned antiquarian and an adept of Hermeticism and secret disciplines then in vogue, was received as a Mason on October 16, 1646 at Warrington, a small town in Lancaster County. He returned to the lodge after thirty-five years, on March 11, 1682, for the second and last time in his life, as he himself bears witness in his journal, which he kept daily with scrupulous meticulousness. [1]
We do not think, moreover, that initiatic rituals in general can be considered the work of one or more particular individuals, but that they came together progressively through a process it would be impossible for us to describe, since it defies definition. Those of some of the more insignificant high grades, by contrast, present all the characteristics of a contrived and artificial composition, pieced
together by an individual mentality. Without dwelling further on considerations of no great interest, it will suffice to envisage the various systems as so many manifestations of the creative tendency of men not content with pure theory, but who, in wishing to pass to the practical, all too often forget that real initiation must necessarily be in large part personal.
We have simply wished to say here what we think of the institution of high grades and their reason for being. We consider them of an incontestable practical utility, but on condition-a condition that is unfortunately but rarely realized, especially today-that they truly fulfill the goal for which they were created. For that, it would be necessary for the Lodges of these high grades to be reserved for philosophical and metaphysical studies, which are overly neglected in symbolic Lodges. One should never forget the initiatic character of Masonry, which latter, whatever has been said, is not and cannot be either a political club or an association of mutual support. Doubtless, it is not possible to communicate that which is in its essence inexpressible, which is why true secrets are their own defense against indiscretion; but one can at least provide keys that will allow each to obtain real initiation through his own efforts and personal meditation, and, following the constant Tradition and practice of initiatic Temples and Colleges of every age and every country, one can also place those who aspire to initiation in the most favorable conditions for its realization, and furnish them with that aid without which it would be nearly impossible for them to attain this realization. We shall not pursue this subject further, judging that we have said enough to give a glimpse of what the Masonic high grades could be if, instead of wishing to suppress them altogether, one were to make of them true initiatic centers, charged with transmitting esoteric science and preserving in its integrity the sacred store of orthodox tradition, one and universal.