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Cherubim

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In York Rite Masonry, we are introduced to the presence of Cherubim and their importance to our Masonic Ritual. The part of Masonic Ritual where the presence of Cherubim is most prominent is when we do the circumambulations in the Royal Master Degree where the Cherubim (if enough members are present) greet the candidate and the Conductor of the Council as they make their way around the Council. The first mention of Cherubim in York Rite Masonry is during the Super Excellent Master Degree during the dedication of the Temple after the Keystone is lowered into place. The Ark is placed into the completed Temple and upon the Ark are Cherubim indicating the presence of God. When we do the opening of the Royal Arch Degree, the Captain of the Host mentions the Masters of the Veils are guards of the Veils. He mentions that on the veils are representative of the four tribes of Israel, Judah, Ephraim, Ruben and Dan an on each banner is delineated a lion, an ox, a man and an eagle. This is the are...
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Two Knights on One Horse

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Two Knights on One Horse; A secret hidden in plain sight. By SK Ray Hayward REPGC, KCT. If you’ve read any books on the Knights Templar, you probably come across the image of two knights riding on the same horse. To the casual observer, it’s odd that two fully armored knights would ride the same horse, unless it was in an extreme case. According to legend,  Hugues de Payens  (the first Grand-Master of the Templars) and Godfrey were so poor that between the two of them they had only one horse, and this gave rise to the famous image on  the seal of the Templars , of two men riding a single horse.  In Templar history, we find that that image is the seal of the 6 th Grandmaster of the Knights Templar, Bertrand de Blanquefort. The grandmasters and officers all had seals to affix to documents in addition to their signature. The seals were tied with ribbon to the bottom of a document, probably vellum, and then a ball of hot wax was poured on the ribbon, and the seal would ...
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Harvest

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The fields grow ripe with amber waves of grain. An unseasonably blessed cool spell in the midst of July entices my mind with autumnal thoughts. And retail shelves, having cleared the hurdle of Independence Day, now begin to bedeck themselves with Halloween. August welcomes Lammastide, the “Loaf-Mass,” when the firstfruits of the wheat reaping would be ground into flour and baked into bread, then gathered at the altar for a blessing to be brought back home. The Dog Days aren’t yet done, but the harvest has begun. And to my heart, at least, that makes all the difference. I am a melancholic creature, a devotee of fall. Blame it on my mother, who made every holiday magical, none more so than the Hallowtide and Christmas. Our whole house would transform to match the turning of the seasons, the colors and scents and spices and sounds—when ghosts and witches, elves and saints, populated my imagination, wonders given form and flesh. I suppose I’ve always been a little mystic. I suppose I’ve al...
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Reflections from the 2025 Grand York Rite Session

There’s a quiet power in gathering. When Companions from across the state and beyond come together, it doesn’t just fill a room—it recharges a tradition. The 2025 Grand York Rite Session was just such a moment: a chance to reaffirm our commitments, share in fellowship, and look ahead with clarity and hope. This year’s session was a testament to the strength of our unity. While each body—Chapter, Council, and Commandery—has its own character, the message was clear: the York Rite works best when we move as one. The Grand Chapter emphasized the importance of education—not just in the esoteric sense, but in bringing clarity to our Companions. We discussed how Grand Chapter is partnering more deliberately with Blue Lodges to revitalize local Chapters. There's a renewed effort to remove barriers, make degrees more accessible, and reengage lost Companions. As one speaker aptly put it, “No one shows up for a boring business meeting. But they'll show up for a good meal, solid educatio...
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Operative and Speculative Knights Templar

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By S.K. Ray Hayward REPGC, KCT Sir Knights, in our Craft, we learn that there are two kinds of Masons, operative, those who can build with stone, and speculative, those who take the stone builders art and use it as a base for their spiritual growth and self-knowledge. In the commandery we have two kinds of Knights Templar, the historical and the speculative. Historical Knights Templar were the crusader knights who fought in the holy land and established castles and commanderies around Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. Speculative Knights Templar are those people who take the moral and spiritual aspect of the historical Templars and apply them to lead a fuller, more meaningful life. The seal of the 6 th Grandmaster of the historical Knights Templar, Bertrand de Blanchefort, shows two knights riding on one horse. Some people say that was to point out the extreme poverty of the early members of the Order. History tells us that they were anything but poor, coming from some of the most weal...
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Xanadu

I’ve had a poem stuck in my head of late: Samuel Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan,” with its evocative opening lines. In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. The poet claimed to have dreamt it all up in an opium-induced slumber, after having read a description of Xanadu, the summer palace of the Mongol Emperor of China. Upon waking, he sought to commit his vision to paper. Alas, an unexpected interruption derailed his train of thought, such that he could not recall the bulk of it once he had returned—or so he claimed. The resultant incomplete fragment he shared privately with friends for nearly 20 years, before eventually publishing it in 1816. I won’t reproduce it here in its entirety, when it’s easy enough to find online [ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43991/kubla-khan ]. Suffice to say that “Kubla Khan” consists of three stanzas. The first describes Xanadu, with its fortified...
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Santa Fe Sunshine

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Betsy Arakawa and Gene Hackman at the Academy Awards in 1989. Credit...Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch/IPX, via AP Please, each Sir Knight & Companion, be cognizant of our keepers, our bonds with others, our care takers, our care givers, we all have them to what extent we need them. Please raise awareness where you notice gaps or a vacuum perhaps due to a recent change in status or situation that may be challenging to communicate. Be aware of the lifelines in your families lives or an unplanned lack thereof. Renew the spirit of being neighborly, remain aware, vigilant and communicative, and flexible. ----------------------------------------------------------- There is a memorable portraiture of Mr. Gene Hackman’s ancient Science, Rhetoric, that parallels how we live as Mason’s. Nurturing a small town group of basketball players in “Hoosiers”, we see the emotional influence upon youth being subjected to big city venues, akin to realizing ourselves, all can relate to the feeling of being ...
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