This is the ninth e-newsletter published by the Committees on Education of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons and Grand Council of Cryptic Masons of Oklahoma. We continue our format as in our first eight issues.

Each month we will be exploring a topic which we hope will be of interest to Royal Arch and Cryptic Masons. We will begin each issue with an outline of an educational presentation appropriate for a Chapter or Council stated meeting.

This will be followed by monitorial and encyclopedic instruction complementing the meeting lesson, which members may peruse at their leisure. Also included in each issue will be additional articles, videos, and links to even more information about that month’s topic.

For our ninth issue, we have chosen to explore the Origins and Symbolism of the Mark Master degree. For our suggested educational presentation, we have chosen a lesson on that portion of the Mark Master degree that involves the “Origins and Symbolism.” And we have turned to Albert Mackey for our monitorial and encyclopedic instruction.

We continue our exploration with an article by Robert G. Davis entitled “Some Musings on the Degree of Mark Master.” The history of the Mark Master degree is explained, particularly from a Scottish perspective, in two videos by noted Masonic scholar Robert L.D. Cooper. And we conclude with links to even more information about this month’s topic.

So that’s it for our ninth issue. We hope that it is enough to maintain your interest for the month. For our next issue in November, we will again explore one of the Council degrees. We will return to the Chapter degrees in December.