WKRC West Kent Rose Croix
Under Charter From The Supreme Council 33° for England & Wales and its Districts & Chapters Overseas
MEMBERSHIP
What are the qualifications for membership?
“The Order is open to all Master Masons, of all faiths, who will be of at least six months standing at the time of their ‘Perfection’ ceremony”.
As the Royal Arch draws on themes from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), so the 18° draws upon various books of the New Testament, but you no longer have to be a Christian in order to join: the Order is now open to all Master Masons who will be of at least six months’ standing at the time of their ‘Perfection’, as the joining ceremony is known. The ritual uses the life and teachings of Jesus to illustrate masonic virtues, which Christians will recognise as the basis of their own faith, but these virtues are shared by all the major world religions and the teachings are of contemporary relevance to all, regardless of their faith.
Most Rose Croix chapters meet only three times a year, so membership is not a significant addition to your current masonic commitments, and the dues are among the lowest of any masonic Order.
The regalia of the 18° consists only of a beautiful collar and jewel.
To find out more, please complete the form on the contact us page or contact Adrian Wagstaff, District Recorder – District of West Kent, and he will be delighted to give you further details.
HISTORY
The ‘Rose Croix’ Degree is the 18th of a series of 33 degrees, originating in France and which in 1801 were formed into the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. When these degrees were developed in the 18th century, their members were Christian even though many of their themes, as in Craft Masonry, dealt with the pre-Christian era and had no connection with Christianity.
The Supreme Council 33° for England and Wales and its Districts and Chapters Overseas controls the Ancient and Accepted Rite (the word Scottish did not appear in its patent) within its jurisdiction.
The Rose Croix ceremony (the ceremony of Perfection) is the only ceremony which can be worked in full by a Chapter. The first three degrees of Craft Masonry are accepted by The Supreme Council for England and Wales as the equivalents of the first three degrees of the Ancient & Accepted Rite and the intervening degrees from the 4° to the 17° (known as the Intermediate Degrees) are conferred by name. The first 18° ritual originated with a Frenchman named Willermoz and is dated 1765. It has a wholly New Testament theme and is influenced by the legends of the descendants of the builders of the Temple at Jerusalem taking refuge in a mountain in Scotland called Heredom.
When the Crusades began many masons joined the Crusades but on their return from the Holy Land dispersed and spread Masonry throughout the world. Several of the degrees of the Ancient & Accepted Rite include parts of this story.
The Rose Croix degree is first recorded in England in about 1770. The Knights Templar degrees were starting in England at about the same time and eventually the Rose Croix degree took its place as the final or ‘Ne Plus Ultra’ degree of the English Knights Templar encampments. After 1845 however Rose Croix Chapters gradually moved to their present position as the 18° of the Ancient & Accepted Rite.
The ceremony, which seeks the Perfection of humanity’s virtues in Faith, Hope and Charity, is an immensely thought provoking, impressive and beautiful ceremony which instils a warmth of Brotherly love on which the whole Masonic movement is founded.
