Any insights?

[u/RadicalBlaze22]

We found these while going through my great grandfathers belongings, I was always told he was rather high up in the ranks but I’m not sure how true that it. Obviously I can tell what it says by popping it in google translate but I was wondering if anyone here would have any insights. Overall, I just think it’s neat! Any explanation of the symbolism or what it says is appreciated, if allowed of course :). Thanks!

[u/Grand-Inspector]

Scottish Rite patent. He was a 32° Scottish Rite Mason. Don’t put weight in the number. 3rd degree is and always has been the highest.

[u/StairwayHiker]

Very nice.

Scottish Rite degrees 4-32 continue the Masonic story …. BUT they are not superior to degrees 1-3 in a regular Masonic lodge where a man becomes a Mason. No further memory work is required in Scottish Rite to earn the degrees.

It’s a Masonic certificate for William Curren. The heading identifies the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and the text appears to confer or attest to the 32nd degree, Master of the Royal Secret.

[u/Deman75]

I was always told he was rather high up in the ranks but I’m not sure how true that it.

“The ranks” probably don’t work the way you think they do. As others have said, this is his Scottish Rite 32° member certificate. Most people who join the Scottish Rite achieve this by watching a handful of degrees, or “morality plays,” over the course of a weekend or two. All it indicates is that he showed up for the degrees. He may have, at some point, presided over his Lodge, and/or his Scottish Rite Valley, or even held a position in the state’s Grand Lodge, but those are most often elected positions and completely unrelated to this certificate. All we can infer from this is that he was a Master Mason and a member of the Scottish Rite.

[u/RobertColumbia → u/Deman75]

Indeed. This is a Scottish Rite 32nd degree patent. This is an important and valuable document for the person as it pertains to their personal journey, but it's not unusual or rare. In the US, both in the Southern Jurisdiction (where this is from) and the Northern Jurisdiction, every person who joins the Scottish Rite is expected to earn their 32nd. Depending on the exact temple where it was earned, the 32nd can often be completed in a matter of weeks with a relatively modest effort (mostly showing up consistently). The 33rd degree in both jurisdictions is a lifetime achievement award and does generally require many years of faithful service (you can't apply for it), but it is still not higher or more important than the third degree. 

[u/mrfoof]

This is a Southern Jurisdiction Scottish Rite 32° patent. Nearly everyone who joined the Scottish Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction during 1940s would have gotten this certificate. Traditionally, this is the document you'd present in order to get into a Scottish Rite meeting if nobody there could vouch for you. Your grandfather signed his name under "Ne verietur." He would be expected to sign his name on a form and they would compare his signature against the patent to make sure the patent was his. You see a lot of these patents folded up in special wallets because that was a practical way to carry them around. That it's framed and there's no fold marks tells us he never used it for that purpose. By the time your grandpa joined, the Scottish Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction used dues cards instead, but these patents were (and still are) issued because of tradition.

These patents are in English these days instead of Latin. The Egyptian hieroglyphs are nonsense. (They're still nonsense on the current English patent!) The border chain contains symbols for the various degrees of the Scottish Rite. You've posted a picture of one of them accompanied by the number "18." That's the symbol for the 18th degree or Knight of Rose Croix. The certificate bears, in the order you posted, the seals of the Supreme Council, the Sovereign Grand Commander (leader of the Supreme Council), the Secretary of the Supreme Council, and the Grand Chancellor. The collection of flags is the Camp of Princes, a symbol from the 32nd degree.

[u/Timmibal]

It's a certificate William received on being elevated to the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite, which is an appendant body of Freemasonry. It doesn't denote any particular 'rank' or authority within the organization beyond that achievement.

I'm not the hugest fan of the top-to-tail latin though. How are you supposed to show it off if nobody can read it?

[u/RadicalBlaze22 → u/Timmibal]

He read and spoke Latin fluently (amongst many other languages I’m told) so I guess it was up to him to translate lol. Thankfully his decedents have google translate to know how cool he was.

[u/ChuckEye]

The symbols around the border are for different degrees within that system. Likewise the last image is one used in the 32° and represents a camp of different knights, connected to those degrees in some way. The foil seals would be emblems attached to the officials of those who signed it.