Ken Hones
Masonic Researcher & Contributor
Ken Hones has been an active Freemason in England for over a decade. Initiated into Craft Freemasonry, he progressed through the offices of his lodge to serve as Worshipful Master, the year-long role of presiding officer that involves conferring degrees, managing lodge business, and mentoring newer members. Since then he has advanced through Royal Arch Masonry and the Knights of Malta, and holds membership in the Order of Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests.
That combination, Past Master of a Craft lodge alongside active membership across Royal Arch, the Knights of Malta, and the Knight Templar Priests, is unusual among people writing about Freemasonry online, most of whom cover these orders from research alone rather than lived office and progression through them. Ken writes to bridge that gap: explaining not only what the symbols and rituals mean, but how a lodge and its appendant bodies actually function in practice.
Masonic Journey
- Initiated into Craft Freemasonry, 2010s (10+ years’ continuous membership)
- Progressed through lodge offices to Worshipful Master (Past Master)
- Royal Arch Mason
- Knights of Malta
- Order of Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests
What These Orders Involve
For readers unfamiliar with the structure Ken has progressed through, a short guide to what each stage represents within English Freemasonry:
Craft Freemasonry
The foundation of the fraternity, conferred in a local “Blue Lodge” across three degrees, Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason. These degrees use the allegory of stonemasonry to teach lessons in morality, self-improvement, and brotherhood, and form the basis every other Masonic body in England is built upon. Serving as Worshipful Master is the culmination of progression through a Craft lodge’s officer line, typically taking several years of committed service before a member is elected to the chair.
Royal Arch Masonry
Often described as the completion of the Master Mason degree, the Holy Royal Arch is administered separately from Craft lodges under its own Grand Chapter. Its ceremony centres on the rediscovery of long-lost sacred knowledge during the rebuilding of the Second Temple, and is considered by many English Masons to be essential to a full understanding of the Craft degrees.
Knights of Malta
A Christian-oriented chivalric order conferred through a Preceptory, formally known as the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross and Appendant Orders. Open to Royal Arch Masons, its ritual is based on historical events and teaches lessons of faith and truth, and traditionally serves as a prerequisite within the Templar system in England.
Order of Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests
An invitational body extended to distinguished Knights Templar, based on the priesthood of Melchizedek and representing one of the more advanced stages within the Templar system in England. Membership reflects sustained, recognised service across the Craft, Royal Arch, and Templar orders.
About Ken’s Writing
Ken’s articles for Esoteric Freemasons draw on this practical, office-holding experience alongside research into historical Masonic archives and primary sources. Having sat in the chair himself, his focus is on getting the details right, the structure, history, and lived practice of the Craft and its appendant bodies, for both Masons progressing through their own degrees and the curious public researching Freemasonry from the outside.
All content respects Masonic obligations regarding modes of recognition and ritual secrecy. Nothing published here discloses privileged or oath-bound material.
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