9th Degree Jewel

The jewel is a dagger, its hilt of gold and its blade of silver. These two metals in combination symbolize the brilliance of the combined light of the sun and the moon. We also see this meaning in the ancient Han characters of China where the character for “sun” is merged with the character for “moon” to form the character for “brilliant.” This dagger is not an emblem of false bravery but of the weapons of legitimate warfare, which an Elu of the Nine may lawfully use, and especially of the two-edged sword of truth with which every Mason should be armed. A reference to this dagger is also found in the lecture for the Knight of the Brazen Serpent Degree, “Even the dagger of the Elu of the Nine is that used in the Mysteries of Mithras [a Persian deity]; which, with its blade black and hilt white, was an emblem of the two principles of Light and Darkness”