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Highest Degree in Freemasony

MasterBulldawg

Registered User
What is the highest degree in Freemasonry ? I have my own opinion but this came up because a friend of mine got a letter from a appended body giving him a great honor in that body and said that it would probably be the highlight of his Masonic career but i disagree with that i think its that body pumping itself up.

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Bloke

Premium Member
What is the highest degree in Freemasonry ? I have my own opinion but this came up because a friend of mine got a letter from a appended body giving him a great honor in that body and said that it would probably be the highlight of his Masonic career but i disagree with that i think its that body pumping itself up.

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I believe Master Mason is the highest degree, everything else is appendant
 

coachn

Coach John S. Nagy
Premium Member
What is the highest degree in Freemasonry ? I have my own opinion but this came up because a friend of mine got a letter from a appended body giving him a great honor in that body and said that it would probably be the highlight of his Masonic career but i disagree with that i think its that body pumping itself up.

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http://buildinghiram.blogspot.com/2017/03/a-brother-asks-what-is-highest-degree.html
http://buildinghiram.blogspot.com/2017/03/a-brother-asks-about-highest-degree-post.html
 

BullDozer Harrell

Registered User
What is the highest degree in Freemasonry ? I have my own opinion but this came up because a friend of mine got a letter from a appended body giving him a great honor in that body and said that it would probably be the highlight of his Masonic career but i disagree with that i think its that body pumping itself up.

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If you're a Master Mason yourself then you have a duty to know that the 3rd degree is the last & highest degree in Craft Masonry today.

It hasn't always been this way. Seems to have developed concurrently with the modern Grand Lodge system. Even though, we tend to call it Ancient Craft degrees system.

Furthermore once you learn and grow confident that there's no degree higher than our 3rd, it gets easy to help a Brother & friend understand the Blue Lodge structure.

Outside of the Blue Lodge, there are appendant & concordant bodies that confer and practice side degrees as systems.
 

goomba

Neo-Antient
Site Benefactor
In reality, depends on rite and culture.
But in my opinion the highest is honestly the first degree.

Brother Elexir I liked your post the moment I saw it and fully agree with it.

But the longer I thought about it the more it made sense to me. However, I think the idea of higher or lower is a distraction. I have long shared with brothers that I believe every single Masonic principle is contained in the EA degree. Notice I said principle and not every thing. Clearly there are words used in other degrees that are not in the EA degree. This does not however mean the principles or teachings of those degrees are not within the EA degree.

I love the first grade in the SRICF. It is beautiful and deeply moving. But when I stop and look at it there is no additional life lessons contained within this invitational bodies teachings that I wasn't exposed to in the EA degree. The title we received after our EA obligation is the same one we have on our last day.

Are there additional degrees, sure. Do some consider one degree higher than another, yep. Are they wrong, who knows. Am I right, no clue. But I am sure about this: I have more in common with an apprentice than a master. The moment I think differently I will probably make a fool of myself.

Now forget everything I said and realize the Blue Friars rule us all.:eek::eek:
 

Bloke

Premium Member
...Freemasonry being a science, I am a bit surprised to learn that there is such a limit.. Surely worthy brethren can progress further up the mysterious ladder?..

The Logic is faulted, it connects taking degrees with progress and degrees limit progress. If I was a Buddhist, I'd say Buddha never took a degree, if I was a Muslim, I would point out Mohammad never took a degree, Christian, I would point out for Jesus, while the Master Mason Anders Behring Breivik took all three degrees but was rightly declared unfit for any of them.
 

Elexir

Registered User
The Logic is faulted, it connects taking degrees with progress and degrees limit progress. If I was a Buddhist, I'd say Buddha never took a degree, if I was a Muslim, I would point out Mohammad never took a degree, Christian, I would point out for Jesus, while the Master Mason Anders Behring Breivik took all three degrees but was rightly declared unfit for any of them.

A Brothers simply said that The number of degrees only marks time.
To be fair, our third degree is only considerd the begining of our journey.
 

SimonM

Registered User
The Logic is faulted, it connects taking degrees with progress and degrees limit progress. If I was a Buddhist, I'd say Buddha never took a degree, if I was a Muslim, I would point out Mohammad never took a degree, Christian, I would point out for Jesus, while the Master Mason Anders Behring Breivik took all three degrees but was rightly declared unfit for any of them.

I think the point here is how far the degrees can take you into the mysteries. A degree would only higher than the 3rd if it have the potential to take the master mason further towards the Light.
There are lots of persons who recieve the degrees and never understands the gift that has been given to them, and enlightend individuals who never takes a degree but still understands the Mysteries
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
Master Mason is the highest degree in Freemasonry. Everything else is lateral. You can receive grander titles or higher positions, but none of those are possible without first being a Master Mason.

If the SR hadn't attached numbers to its degrees, and if Time magazine hadn't created that "Structure of Freemasonry" graphic with the stair steps in the 1950s, I don't think the "higher" question would ever be asked.
 

Ripcord22A

Site Benefactor
Freemasonry being a science, I am a bit surprised to learn that there is such a limit.

Surely worthy brethren can progress further up the mysterious ladder?

I suspect that when the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster announced the loss of the genuine secrets they recognized their own ignorance and proceeded no further - awaiting time and circumstance.
Im seriously starting to wonder if you are just messing with us man....its always the same post just worded differently.

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LK600

Premium Member
Freemasonry being a science...

Alchemic in nature perhaps? Beyond that... I'm not sure a good correlation between degrees and knowledge attainment can be accurately made. At least not one that is consistent across all of Masonry. My limited understanding would suggest that progression up the "ladder" would be directly connected with the drive and desire of any specific brother and thus up to him what light he obtains.
 

coachn

Coach John S. Nagy
Premium Member
Im seriously starting to wonder if you are just messing with us man....its always the same post just worded differently.
That's a Secret_01.JPG
 

KSigMason

Traveling Templar
Site Benefactor
The 3° is the highest degree. Receiving honors like the 33°, OPC, KYCH, etc are honors that body or rite can bestow.
 

CLewey44

Registered User
Cheesy answer alert! But it could be whatever degree you feel. If it's the 1st degree and you feel that is the 'highest' degree, that's fine. I understand that since, more or less, you are given the title 'Brother' then. If you think it's 3rd or 32nd or whatever, it could very well be. The reason I say this is because we are constantly in search of light, more light and further light etc. If you define the 'highest' degree by how much knowledge, or light, you've gained, it's safe to say, the last degree you received is the 'highest'.

If your definition is that it's the most 'secretive' degree you've received, that can be the case too. If you're a 33rd AASR, Supreme Magus in the SRICF, AMD, Ye Antient Order of Noble Corks or in the Red Branch of Eri etc, etc...that's fine as well. One thing is true though and that is we are all on the level. Lets never forget that.
 

CLewey44

Registered User
If I may piggy back on what I was saying, I think we sort o think of it in terms of college degrees sometimes. Simply put, a doctorate degree is a higher "degree" than as associates degree because you've put in that "work" necessary to obtain (or you just paid money and got it as in some cases) or gained more knowledge than the previous degree. Not sure I agree with that necessarily, not saying I dont but its something that may help explain the "higher degree" phenomenon.
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
Non-Masons and young Masons alike want to equate degrees with rank similar to the military. That's not the case.
I know the Red Cross of Constantine Intendant General and the SR SGIG of my state. In a Blue Lodge setting, neither means diddly; they are Master Masons. I'd wager that the majority of Masons across the state have no idea what those titles even are, and that includes ones who have taken YR or SR degrees.
 
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