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Lodge for slackness in executing the rituals he had “cut down” (seeming to imply “from
masonic originals”). In the course of it he shows the effect he intended his rituals to
have, suggesting that the Minerval degree (0°)—a dialogue based on a prisoner being
brought before Saladin at his desert encampment—did not have to take place in a
lodge setting and that they should be more adventurous in interpreting these rites:
… you have not succeeded in putting on even the Minerval degree in such a way that it
will stand out as a landmark in the life of anyone who goes through it. This is particularly
irritating to me because you have an actual desert conveniently handy [the Mojave—
Ed]. You ought to warn the candidate when you accept him that he must expect to be
summoned for initiation at any hour of the day or night. He should then be called
probably after sunset and driven out as far as you can reasonably manage to the desert,
which he should reach by the time that it is thoroughly dark. He should then be seized,
blindfolded and bound by the Black Guard who are conducting him—rather roughly
than otherwise—to the tent in front of which the Saladin is seated behind an altar with
The Book of the Law and other necessaries of the ritual.
This is only a rough idea of the sort of thing, but you have got to impress the man. If
you don’t the whole business becomes foolishness. Then when you get on to the First
Degree, if he has been rightly initiated, he ought to be prepared for further strokes where
he feels it most. The well must be properly constructed; it is no good having a grotesque
makeshift. I hear that in some cases officers have actually read their parts in the ritual,
which is absolutely disgraceful. You have no idea how much time and trouble it gives me
to cut down those rituals so that it would be reasonably possible for men to learn them by
heart under modern conditions. If you compare these rituals with those of Freemasonry
you should all be ashamed of yourselves. Consider the long and dreary lectures that they
all had to get absolutely by heart and I am sure that the discipline in Masonic Lodges is
such that the whole of my life I have never known an officer even to falter.
Now the Fifth Degree is a most complicated and expensive rite. I do not think you
could get the furniture for less than $500; perhaps the way prices are nowadays $1,000
might be nearer. But the Minerval can be put on without any great expense, provided
there is somebody with a car, and my advice is to get this polished up to the point of
perfection.
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