The Mark Degree and the Holy Royal Arch are the most widely subscribed degrees outside the Craft. All Master Masons are eligible to join either or both.The Mark degree can be traced back to 1769 in England, though there is evidence of a form of it being worked much earlier in Scotland. During the late 18th century it was worked in many Craft Lodges, but became dissociated from the Craft in 1813 when the Ancient and Modern Grand Lodges merged to form the United Grand Lodge of England. The United Grand Lodge retained the Royal Arch, but the Mark was not forgotten and a separate Mark Grand Lodge was formed in 1856 to administer the degree through separately constituted Mark Lodges. This remains the current position, and the Mark Grand Master is HRH Prince Michael of Kent – the brother of our Craft Grand Master. The headquarters of the Mark Grand Lodge is in St James Street, London.
The reforms precipitated by the union of the old Grand Lodges did not affect Scottish Masonry where the Mark degree may still be worked in Craft Lodges, many of which routinely open in the Mark once a year. In Scotland, but not in England, the degree is a necessary precedent to exultation into the Royal Arch, and as such may also be worked by Scottish Royal Arch Chapters.
The single ceremony is a fusion of two degrees, both firmly based around the Second Degree of Craft Masonry, and which extend the spectrum of qualifications earned by the Fellow Craft Masons. In the ceremony, the candidate is first created a Mark Man, then advanced to become a Mark Master. The ‘mark’ in question represents a unique identification mark which the mason was allowed to engrave in order to identify his work. Modern Mark Masons are given their own mark during the ceremony and this is recorded with their name in the records at Mark Masons Hall. The principal officers of the Lodge are those of a Craft Lodge, but the characters they represent are different and reflect the operative rather than the speculative side of Masonry. Four additional officers – a Junior, Senior and Master Overseer and a Registrar of Marks – complete the line-up.
The degree occurs while the construction of Solomon’s Temple is in full swing. The emblem of the degree is a keystone, and this is a central article in the ritual which is carried forward into the narrative of the Royal Arch. The degree teaches that we should not dismiss as worthless that which is outside our understanding, and emphasises the pitfalls of acting in ignorance, even with honest intentions. The central message is one of contemplation of human strengths and weaknesses.