Isn't it about time...
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2025 8:50 amNow that the Craft and Royal Arch are now officially one journey, isn't it about time that the Act of Union of 1813 Fudge is reviewed?
That Act of Union recognised the Supreme Order of the Royal Arch as part of "pure, antient masonry", the wording in the United Grand Lodge of England's Book of Constitutions that "...pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees and no more, viz. those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft, and the Master Mason including the Supreme Order of the Royal Arch"... meanwhile the degrees of Mark Man and Mark Master were pushed to the side; and likewise, the Excellent Master degree (Passing the Veils) was rationalised out, and is now only available to Royal and Select Masters.
In both regards, UGLE is an outlier - pretty much every other constitution requires the Mark and Excellent Master degrees before Exaltation - and both the Mark and Excellent Master degrees leave their tendrils in the current Royal Arch ceremony...
So isn't it about time that the 1813 Fudge is reviewed, and Mark (and the EM degree) are restored to their rightful places as the 4th and 6th Regular Steps (I'll disregard the Past Master degree), with the Royal Arch the 7th step, as practiced everywhere else in the world?
That Act of Union recognised the Supreme Order of the Royal Arch as part of "pure, antient masonry", the wording in the United Grand Lodge of England's Book of Constitutions that "...pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees and no more, viz. those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft, and the Master Mason including the Supreme Order of the Royal Arch"... meanwhile the degrees of Mark Man and Mark Master were pushed to the side; and likewise, the Excellent Master degree (Passing the Veils) was rationalised out, and is now only available to Royal and Select Masters.
In both regards, UGLE is an outlier - pretty much every other constitution requires the Mark and Excellent Master degrees before Exaltation - and both the Mark and Excellent Master degrees leave their tendrils in the current Royal Arch ceremony...
So isn't it about time that the 1813 Fudge is reviewed, and Mark (and the EM degree) are restored to their rightful places as the 4th and 6th Regular Steps (I'll disregard the Past Master degree), with the Royal Arch the 7th step, as practiced everywhere else in the world?