This past Saturday, the Scottish Rite Masons of California gathered in San Francisco for one of the most prestigious events in our Masonic calendar—the 2025 Honours Ceremony, celebrating those Brethren who have been appointed to receive the Knight Commander of the Court of Honour (KCCH) and the Thirty-Third Degree, Inspector General Honorary, the highest recognition within the Southern Jurisdiction.

The symbol is older than the Golden Fleece or the Roman Eagle, to borrow from the description of another Masonic item—the lambskin apron. It is a distinctive symbol of power, one dating back more than two millennia before the building of King Solomon’s Temple, and a distinctive symbol that has held its aura for 50 centuries over three continents.

In Freemasonry, harmony is more than a pleasant ideal—it is a foundational principle, vital to the life and health of the Lodge - and, in Scottish Rite Masonry, the Valley Bodies.