You will have some knowledge of King Solomon's Temple, but have you considered how it was built and by whom? What of the problems that arose during its construction?  Who carried out the Quality Assurance?  How these questions are answered is the ceremony of advancement to the Degree of Mark Master Mason.

The Mark Degree is one of encouragement and the Ritual is built on a single verse from Psalm 118 - "The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner".   It deals with the building of King Solomon's Temple and the various craftsmen employed.  But its real message is one of contemplation of human strengths and weaknesses.

The degree contains many lessons for the discerning mason and illustrates that the wisest of men can be mistaken: that experts are often wrong: that the weakest often display perseverance better than the strongest: and, that we all have a part to play in the building of life. It is for each to put his own interpretation on the message that the degree proclaims, but there is a clear encouragement that no man is beyond redemption and that the possibility of distinction is always within our power.

The Mark Degree can be traced back to the 16th century, and according to some sources, in the 18th century completed a Mason's progress, there being no Master Mason’s Degree as we now know it.   Today, the prerequisite for advancement is that a candidate has attained the rank of Master Mason in the Craft.

Perhaps surprising to Master Masons from the Craft, is the fact that a Mark Mason will be involved in Mark ritual at an early stage. He can pass through the offices in a Mark Lodge and even to the Master’s Chair before becoming Worshipful Master in the Craft. In Scotland, Ireland, the United States of America and parts of Europe, Mark Masonry is a part of either the Craft or Royal Arch. In England and Wales, other parts of Europe and the Antipodean countries, Mark Masonry is a sovereign degree in its own right.