THE ceremony known as ‘Passing the veils,’ forming part of the Royal Arch rite from some time rather late in the eighteenth century, probably had a Christian origin, and was the vogue only during the period when the Royal Arch itself was largely a Christian degree. With the de‑Christianizing of the degree following, firstly, the 爽nion’ of the Grand Chapters in 1817 and, secondly, the drastic revision in 1835, the ceremony of the veils rapidly disappeared from English masonry. Where we still find it worked ‑ for instance, in Bristol ‑ it offers itself more as a revival than as a survival, as explained more fully later in this section. How the ceremonial came to be adopted is quite unknown, but its inspiration may well have been a decidedly Christian Craft working in one or more of the early lodges. The passing of the veils symbolizes the enlightenment that comes with Masonic progression, but originally, it might well be, the veils were the emblem of the mysterious veil that was rent in twain when the crucified Saviour passed through it. In an old Lancashire Craft lecture of the possible date of about 1800 the Veil of the Temple “signified the Son of God, Jesus Christ, hanging upon the Altar of the Cross, as the true. veil between God and us, shadowing with His wounds and precious blood, the multitude of our offences, that so we might be made acceptable to the Father.” A catechism on these lines was probably worked in a lodge or lodges in which the Craft and the Royal Arch ceremonials had become curiously interwoven and both of them marked by strong local influences. We should not care to rule out the possibility that the veils also had an alchemical interpretation. The Rev. Dr J. R. Cleland, a Provincial Grand Chaplain, has said that the entire object of the alchemic art “is the uncovering of the inner faculty of insight and wisdom and the removal of the veils intervening between the mind and dividing it from its hidden, divine root.” We know also that the veils have been thought to be a symbol of the sufferings of the Jews in returning from exile.
The veils, in the early ceremonials, were generally three in number, but at an early date a fourth was added in some localities, and we know that the American chapters of to‑day largely work a four‑veil ceremony. The Bristol Chapter uses four veils. Josephus, the first‑century Jewish historian,
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unduly forced the symbolism of the veils in saying that they were composed of four things which declared the four elements: the fine linen signified the earth because the flax grows out of the earth; the purple signified the sea because the colour is dyed by the blood of a sea shellfish; the blue is fit to signify the air; and the scarlet will naturally signify fire.
It has been assumed at times that the ceremony of passing the veils goes back to possibly the earliest period of the Royal Arch. Curiously, however, the records do not support the assumption, unless, however, the ceremony was known over quite a period as the Super Excellent or the High Excellent Degree, a possibility which some Masonic authors appear to admit and which is lent support by George S. Draffen’s statement that the Scottish Excellent Master Degree “is frequently known as the passing of the veils.” If in some lodges either the Excellent or the Super Excellent Degree was actually the passing of the veils, then, of course, it was worked at quite an early date. There is an impression (known to have been shared by J. Heron Lepper) that the veils ceremony was originally an entirely separate ritual, and this impression, if well founded, would strengthen the inference that the veils ceremony in early days was a separate degree with its own name, such, for example, as the Super Excellent, but the matter is highly controversial.
Most, however, of the particular references to the passing the veils come towards the end of the eighteenth century or the beginning of the nineteenth. Thus we know that the Union Waterloo Chapter, No. 13, at Gravesend had three Grand Masters of the Veils in 1819 and also, about that date, had Captains of the Third, Second, and First Veils respectively, as had many other chapters. There are certainly more references in the early nineteenth century than there are in the late eighteenth. In 1841 George Claret, who was thoroughly acquainted with the masonry of the early years of the century, said that the ceremony of passing the veils took place soon after the Obligation, but was not much known or practised in London, although, he adds, it was always given in the 羨ntients’ chapters before the Craft Union in 1813.
The veils ceremonial continued well into the nineteenth century, and in Lancashire, for example, it was often conferred in Prince Edwin Chapter, No. 128, Bury, until 1867; a letter to the Grand Scribe E., asking if they were in order in giving the veils, said that they had worked the ceremony “from 1803:” In an earlier page we mention that a ritual printed as late as 1881 includes notes on the ceremony; earlier printed rituals referred to it, but generally in such a way as to suggest that the ceremony was losing its vogue. In 1833 in the Chapter of Concord, Bolton, a Candidate paid 11s. 10d. for “Vails” and 5s. 6d. for “Rods,” the latter, we believe, having reference to a feature of the veils ceremony.
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The ceremonial as worked in the 1820 period was much as follows, subject to variation in details: The Candidate was prepared with a blindfold, his knees bared, his feet slipshod, with a cable‑tow round his waist. Three Sojourners acted as the guardians of the veils. The Junior Scribe conducted the Candidate, and gave four knocks at the door of the First Veil. The Candidate was admitted by giving the Past Master’s word and sign. Scripture reading was from Exodus iii, 1‑6, referring to the burning bush, following which the thirteenth and fourteenth verses of the same chapter were read, including the words “I am that I am.” At the second veil the Candidate gave a password already received and met the emblems of the Serpent and Aaron’s Rod, and the relevant Scripture (Exodus iv) was read. Suitably entrusted, he was now enabled to pass the Guard of the Third Veil; here the Scripture reading, from Exodus iv, told of the miracles of the leprous hand and of the water poured upon the dry land and turning into blood. He now heard the words “Holiness to the Lord,” and was shown the Ark of the Covenant containing the tables of stone, the pot of manna, the table of shew‑bread, the burning incense, and the candlestick with seven branches, and was now qualified to enter as a Sojourner and Candidate for Exaltation. During the veils ceremonies he received passwords and signs enabling him to pass the successive veils and finally to present himself as a Sojourner.
It is accepted that the ceremonial, while retaining its main features, varied considerably in its details from district to district and even from chapter to chapter.
The Veils Ceremony in Bristol
The Royal Arch was worked in Bristol at an early date not only by the 羨ntients,’ but by the 閃oderns,’ the latter in a Craft lodge meeting at the Crown Inn, Christmas Street, Bristol, which, as already said, is thought to provide the earliest minute relating to the Royal Arch Degree in England, for on Sunday evening, August 13, 1758, two Brethren were “raised to the degree of Royal Arch Masons,” further minutes revealing that four other meetings of the same kind took place, always on Sunday evenings, during the next twelve months. In another Bristol 閃oderns’ lodge four Brethren took the degree in 1766. The Lodge of Hospitality was founded in Bristol in 1769, and almost immediately its members obtained a charter for a new chapter, the Chapter of Charity, No. 9, upon the register of the Grand Chapter and for many years the only chapter in the province. When the two Grand Chapters united, No. 9 became formally attached to the Royal Sussex Lodge of Hospitality, with which it had been and still is closely associated. It is now No. 187.
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While it is well known that the veils ceremonial is worked in the Bristol chapters, the reader must understand that the claim (not made by Bristol) that it is a true and uninterrupted survival of an eighteenth‑century custom needs to be regarded with care. The facts were thoroughly investigated by Sir Ernest Cook, Grand Superintendent, who subsequently published a pamphlet, from which it appears that in the later years of the nineteenth century the Beaufort Chapter of Bristol, which had been founded not earlier than 1846, worked the verbal part of the veils ceremony, but did not use the veils themselves, and nobody could give information about them. Their introduction or reintroduction early in the years of the present century was due to Sir Ernest Cook and other enthusiasts. Up to about 1902 the Candidate was told that the ceremony should be performed in a room in which the veils were suspended, but following that date real veils were brought into use and have added remarkable interest and colour to the ceremony. While in Ireland, Scotland, and some parts of America the veils are customarily suspended in the chapter‑room itself, in Bristol they hang in an adjoining chapel. Sir Ernest discovered that there were no references to the veils in minutes of any of the older Bristol chapters, but in 1890, when he himself was, exalted, it was the practice in the Beaufort Chapter, No. 103, for the M.E.Z. to direct the Principal Sojourner to withdraw “and put the Candidate through the Ceremony of Passing the Veils.” The work “was done almost exactly as at present, but there were no Veils.” Sir Edward Letchworth, the Grand Scribe E. (in office from 1892 to 1917), confessed that he knew nothing about them, and could not say whether they were in use in any English chapter. Sir Ernest and a friend visited Ireland, and, although they could not during their stay find a chapter using them, they were able to get some vague information, as, a result of which they had three veils: made and hung in the anteroom of the Beaufort Chapter, their example being quickly copied by other Bristol chapters. In 1929 they became convinced that there ought to be a fourth veil, and this they added. From this account, on the authority of a careful investigator, it must be concluded that the ceremony as now worked in Bristol is not an uninterrupted survival of an eighteenth‑century practice, It is understood that in Bristol, the chapter having been opened, and the Candidate elected, the, Principal Sojourner, his assistants, and the Director of Ceremonies retire with some members and there work the veils ceremonial‑always before and separate from the actual Exaltation, the point being made that passing the veils is not really part of the Exaltation ceremony. There is no truth in the idea held in some quarters that Bristol has been given special permission to retain the veils ceremony.
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The Irish Ceremony of the Veils
In the Irish ceremony as customarily observed the chapter‑room is divided by curtains or veils, beyond which the Companions sit together in the East. There are four veils: the first is blue, denoting friendship; the second purple, denoting unity and concord, the symbolism being based on the union of blue and scarlet, producing purple; the third scarlet, denoting fervency and zeal, truly typical of Royal Arch masonry; the fourth white, denoting purity, and beyond which sit the three Principal Officers of the chapter. In front of the white veil is the Royal Arch Captain, whose duty is to prevent anyone from entering the council chamber without permission. Before each of the other veils is a Captain of the Veil, whose duty is to allow none to pass except those duly qualified by a password. Partieular Scripture readings apply to each veil ceremony, as explained in the account of the old English ceremony, the three parts of the ceremonial being based upon episodes in the life of the great Lawgiver, Moses. The Candidate is one of three, the number being made up by Companions.
The Scottish Ceremony of the Veils
It is to be noted that, whereas in Ireland any English visitors are permitted to be present throughout the whole ceremony of working the veils, in Scotland, on the other hand, the English visitor, unless he is a Mark mason, cannot be present. The ceremonial follows the traditional lines, but its history seems to be linked with the old Excellent Master’s Degree, a point that has already been referred to. The passing of the veils is an integral part of the Scottish Royal Arch, and is conferred only upon Candidates for Exaltation. The Excellent Master Degree (the veils) and the Mark Degree (if the Candidate is not already a Mark mason) and the Royal Arch Degree are all covered by one fee. In general the Veils and the Royal Arch are conferred at the same meeting, and if the Candidate is not a Mark mason, the Mark Degree also is given, but in short form. It is the inclusion of the Mark Degree that creates difficulties for the English visitor, who, if not a Mark mason, cannot be present from the beginning of the ceremonies, for normal practice is to open the chapter in the Royal Arch, to adjourn to the Mark Degree, to close the Mark Degree, and then open a lodge of Excellent Masters (for the passing of the veils). There is a chair degree for all degrees of the Royal Arch rite in Scotland, except for the Excellent Master Degree, whose presiding officer is addressed as “Right Worshipful and Excellent Master” and his two wardens as “Worshipful and Excellent Wardens.”
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The Veils Ceremonial in America and other Countries
In such a large country as the United States, where the affairs of Royal Arch masonry are administered by nearly fifty separate Grand Chapters, it is inevitable that some diversities in custom and practice must occur, but in general the Royal Arch ceremony includes a highly elaborated passing of the veils, which seems to be based on an old Irish ceremony. There are four veils, as in the Irish system, and the episodes are as already described, although towards the end of the ceremonial the Candidate may be given the signet of truth, a finger ring bearing a circle enclosing a triangle. The officers guarding the veils may wear a robe and cap of the colour of their veil and may be armed with a drawn sword.
The veils ceremonial is still worked in parts of Canada (Quebec, Montreal, and other places) and in certain of the Australian chapters. In some of the chapters in Victoria, Australia, it is regarded as a desirable preliminary to the Royal Arch ceremony, but is of a permissive character. Apparently the ceremony is sometimes worked not as part of the.Exaltation ceremony, but for the purpose of exemplifying the symbolic lessons which grew up around the ceremony of the veils in the early days. Where accommodation permits the veils are suspended in an anteroom.