The Magic of the Mark
A degree with a character all of its own, open to every Master Mason.
The Mark takes its name from the symbol a stonemason once cut into his work, a mark still found carved into the cathedrals and great buildings of England. The Degree of Mark Master Mason is open to every Master Mason, and in Surrey it has long been known as the friendly degree.
The ritual is drawn from the building of King Solomon's Temple and turns on a single verse of Psalm 118: the stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner. From that line the Order takes its character. Persistence in adversity, and the belief that what is dismissed today may prove essential tomorrow.
Who can join
The Mark is open to every Master Mason of four weeks standing or more. Brethren in Surrey are usually introduced through a lodge near them, or, more often than people expect, simply by getting in touch and asking.
A brief history
The Mark stretches back some four hundred years. A minute of 1599 from the Lodge of Edinburgh, Mary's Chapel, records brethren signing their names alongside their personal marks. The earliest English working of the Degree is recorded in 1769, in the Chapter of Friendship at Portsmouth. The Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of England and Wales was founded on 23 June 1856 and remains the governing body today.
When the two English Grand Lodges united in 1813 they declared that pure ancient Masonry consisted of the three Craft degrees, including the Holy Royal Arch, and no more. The Mark was left to its own devices. It carried on regardless, worked unofficially in Craft lodges and Royal Arch chapters, until its own Grand Lodge was formed in 1856. The Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland, and most other constitutions, still treat the Mark as part of pure Freemasonry and require it before the Royal Arch.
In Surrey the Order has been worked for more than 150 years, in thirty-nine lodges across the Province. Today the Mark is the third largest Masonic Order in England and Wales, after the Craft and the Royal Arch.
What the Degree teaches
The Mark is often described as completing the Second Degree, much as the Royal Arch completes the Third. That undersells it. The ceremony of Advancement is as long as the Third Degree and puts the candidate at its centre: an ambitious craftsman at the building of the Temple whose work is first rejected and at last recognised. It has drama and humour, and it leaves each Brother to draw his own meaning from it.
Brethren give many reasons for taking the Mark. It deepens what a Mason already knows of the Craft, and it teaches practical lessons about life in a way that is a pleasure to receive. It is also the qualification for the Royal Ark Mariner, the Royal and Select Masters and the Allied Masonic Degrees.
The Province
Surrey Mark is led by the Provincial Grand Master, R.W. Bro. John French, with his Deputy and two Assistant Provincial Grand Masters. Meet the Provincial Executive and this year's officers, or see where and when the lodges meet.
Closely related and worked under the same Provincial structure: the Royal Ark Mariner.
“The experience of Advancement is memorable, sincere, enjoyable, and, for many, refreshingly relaxed whilst still carrying a deep and lasting message. It leaves an impression that stays with us long after the ceremony itself.”
John V. C. French · Provincial Grand Master of Surrey Mark
Mark Regalia
The Mark apron is of white kid, bordered in light blue and crimson. The breast jewel takes the form of a keystone and carries the mallet and chisel that are the tools of the Order. At advancement each Brother chooses his own personal mark, in the spirit of the operative stonemasons whose work first gave the Degree its name. A Mark penny travels with him as the coin in which his wages are paid.
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The ceremony of advancement
The ceremony comes in two parts. A Brother is first acknowledged as a Mark Man, then advanced as a Mark Master Mason. The working is more accessible than the Craft degrees, with the brethren in the temple carrying much of the night around the candidate.
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