Why does the Royal Arch require three Principals rather than one Master?

The Holy Royal Arch is ruled conjointly by a trio of officers known as the Three Principals—sitting together in the East to exercise joint leadership, with the First Principal acting as first among equals, according to the Grand Lodge of India. Under ancient custom and regulations, these three officers (designated the First, Second, and Third Principals) when assembled in Chapter are considered conjointly as the Master, and each individually as a Master, as stated by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex and the Grand Lodge of India.

According to the system practised in England, these three presiding officers represent Zerubbabel (the King), Haggai (the Prophet), and Joshua (the High Priest), designated as Z., H., and J. 2. The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of New Zealand and the West Lancashire Freemasons note that these figures represent the three ruling offices—kingly, prophetic, and priestly—of the Grand Sanhedrin or Council of Rulers involved in the rebuilding of the Second Temple at Jerusalem.

In its symbolic and psychological interpretation, the Chapter is structured to mirror the candidate's perfected organism, polarized between East and West 1. The three Principals in the East personify the spiritual pole in its triple attributes: Holiness, Royal Supremacy, and Functional Power 1. Rather than being dominated by a single ruling figure, the monadic human Spirit is viewed as differentiating into passive and active aspects around a central coordinating term 1. Zerubbabel acts as the middle term, from which Haggai (representing the passive, intuitional, and self-contemplative aspect of spirit) and Joshua (representing the active, executive, and mediatorial aspect) issue and into which they merge 1. They form an organic unity figuring the summit of man's being, acting conjointly and as one 1.

Installation to the presiding chairs of a Chapter requires meeting specific prerequisite qualifications before receiving the relevant installing degrees 2.

To be eligible for election to the First Principal's chair under the English system, a companion must have served twelve months in each of the lower Principals' chairs 2. Additionally, he must be a Master or Past Master of a Craft Lodge, and must have served within the Chapter in the office of Scribe, Sojourner, or Assistant Sojourner 2.

During the installation ceremony itself, each of the Three Principals receives an installing degree comparable to that conferred upon the Master of a Craft Lodge 2. These individual installing degrees in the English system bear no resemblance to the Order of High Priesthood that is conferred in Royal Arch ceremonies in the United States 2.

Under the English system of the Holy Royal Arch, the Three Principals—designated by the letters Z, H, and J—represent Zerubbabel (the King), Haggai (the Prophet), and Joshua (the High Priest) 2.

Historically and exoterically, these three officers symbolize the three prominent biblical figures who returned from the Babylonian captivity to assist in restoring and dedicating the Temple at Jerusalem. Haggai is designated as the prophet who aided Zerubbabel and Joshua in this restoration, while Joshua represents the High Priest (son of Josedek) and Zerubbabel represents the ruler or king 2. masonicperiodicals.org

Symbolically and mystically, the Three Principals represent the three high attributes of the Spirit—Holiness, Royal Supremacy, and Functional Power—which act conjointly as a single unit 1. Within this triad, the middle term differentiates into a passive and an active aspect 1. Haggai personifies the passive, blissful, and self-contemplative aspect of the human spirit; he is termed the prophet due to his power of insight, omniscience, and the projection of prophetic intuitions into the lower intelligence 1. Joshua personifies the active, executive, and mediatorial aspect of the spirit, functioning between Deity and man's lower nature to foster spiritual perfection 1. Zerubbabel represents the central co-ordinating principle or Majesty from which the active and passive aspects issue and into which they merge 1. Taken together, the three chairs figure the human spirit at its highest summit—holy, royal, and supreme 1.