Frequently Asked Questions

No. The Order is a fraternity of practice, not a religion or a church. It requires of its members an acknowledgement of a Supreme Principle under whatever name they find true, and beyond this it imposes no creed. Members of many faiths, and some of no conventional faith, have kept the Rule together since the foundation. The Order's symbols are drawn largely from the Christian mystical tradition in which the Grail legend arose and from the Hermetic tradition beside it; we treat them as a shared language, not as doctrines to be believed.

The Order is not a Christian body in the sense of requiring Christian belief, and it does not. Its symbolism, however, is largely drawn from the Christian mystical tradition, as is the Grail legend itself and much of the Rosicrucian and Martinist material, and members who are hostile to that symbolism are unlikely to be comfortable. Members who are devout Christians, members of other faiths and members who hold no formal religion have all found the Order a home. What is required is reverence, not assent.

No. The Order is not a Masonic body, is not affiliated with any Masonic body, and neither requires nor rewards Masonic membership. Some of its members are Freemasons and some are not; the Order takes no interest in the question. The Order is likewise unaffiliated with any other Rosicrucian, Martinist, Hermetic or chivalric organization. It is sovereign and independent, and its Charter forbids it to enter into any concordat that would compromise its Rule.

No. The Order makes no such claim and regards those that do with reserve. Its chivalry is a chivalry of the soul, adopted freely in 1987 as a discipline of conduct, and it has never been described otherwise. The Order honours the legend of the Grail knights as a precise account of the esoteric path, not as a history of its own ancestors.

The Order is private, not secret. Its existence, its purpose, its Rule, its government, its founders and its public documents are all set out on these pages. What is reserved is the content of its ceremonies and the instructional papers of its degrees, which are given to members as they are prepared to receive them. Members are asked not to disclose the private matters of the Order or the membership of others, and Knights and Dames do not disclose their own degree outside the Order. This is discretion, not concealment.

Not in the popular sense. The Order does not teach the compulsion of spirits, the casting of spells, divination for gain, or the influencing of others by occult means, and it would regard such practices as breaches of the Articles. It does teach meditation, contemplative prayer, the examination of conscience, ritual as a means of inner transformation and, in the Inner Court, the contemplative and alchemical practices that the Tradition calls theurgy: the work of making the self a fit vessel for the Divine. If that is magic, the Order teaches it; it prefers other words.

Yes, on precisely equal terms with men, from the foundation of the Order and by the express provision of its Charter. Women hold every office in the Order; the present Grand Master and Grand Prior are both women, as was one of the three founders. The title of the Third Degree is Knight or Dame of the Grail, at the member's choice.

No fee is charged for petition, postulancy, instruction or any degree, and the Charter forbids it. Members pay a modest annual subscription to their Commandery toward premises, materials and the common table; the amount is set by each Commandery and is remitted or reduced in cases of hardship without question. Members bear their own travel costs to the Annual Convocation, and a fund exists to help those who cannot.

Ordinarily a Chapter once a month of two or three hours, a daily practice of some twenty minutes, the reading of the degree, the work of service that the degree requires, and the Annual Convocation of a weekend each autumn. Most members find that this is a good deal less than they feared and a good deal more than they first managed.

Ordinarily, yes. The work of the Order is done in company and its degrees are conferred in a Commandery. In exceptional cases members living at a distance from any body may be admitted to the Correspondence Circle, pursuing the study by post and travelling for initiation and Convocation. The Order encourages such members to form an Oratory wherever three can gather.

No. The Order has no online registration, no electronic correspondence and no representatives who recruit. Petitions are made by letter to the Chancery and answered by post. Any person or website offering membership of the Order by other means is not acting for it.

Yes, provided that no obligation of the other body conflicts with the Twelve Articles. The Order neither requires nor forbids membership of other bodies, and it does not permit its own meetings to be used for recruiting to them.

A Chapter ordinarily opens and closes with a short ceremony, between which the members hear a paper or instruction from the Preceptor, practise a meditation under the Prior, report on their works of service, and attend to the business of the Commandery. Receptions into the degrees take place at Chapter. There is usually a common meal afterwards. Enquirers do not attend Chapter but are welcome at the open meetings that each body holds.

No. The ceremonies of the Order are solemn and demanding but contain nothing dangerous, nothing humiliating and nothing that a person of conscience could not undertake. Candidates are told in advance what will be asked of them in general terms and may withdraw at any point without reproach. The Vigil of Arms requires the Squire to keep watch alone through a night, which is tiring; it is not frightening.

At any time, by informing the Commander in writing, without penalty and without being pursued. The Order asks only that a departing member continue to hold in confidence the private matters of the Order and of its members, as they held his or hers. Many who have left remain on good terms with their former brethren, and some have returned.