In some, not in all, Grand Lodges, it is necessary that a Master-elect be either an actual Past Master before his installation, or a virtual Past Master, by having received the Past Master's degree in a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons.
To make a Master-elect an "Actual Past Master" recourse is had to an emergent or occasional lodge, formed of Past Masters only, by dispensation of the Grand Master, which group performs the simple but highly symbolic ceremony of giving a Master-elect certain instructions and impressing certain facts upon him, designed to make his Mastership of his lodge more effective.
Recommended reading (pdf e-books):
Howard Phillips Lovecraft - What The Moon BringsAleister Crowley - Liber 120 The Ritual Of Passing Through The Tuat
Austin Osman Spare - Anathema Of Zos The Sermon To The Hypocrite
