21st Degree – Apron

The apron and gloves of this degree are yellow. On the upper part of the apron is an arm, naked and upraised, holding a naked sword. Under it is a human figure, erect, with wings, the forefinger of his right hand on his lips; in his left hand he holds a key. He is the Egyptian figure of silence, called by the Greeks Harpocrates, though the wings are an addition. Plato said that wings symbolized “intelligence.” To the alchemists they stood fro the higher, active, male principle.