Chronological Order of the York Rite Degrees

[KSigMason]

I present this last night to my Lodge:

We learn while going through the first 3-degrees, the Craft degrees, you learn that Masonry is a progressive science taught by degrees only. Craft Masonry sets a foundation and the sets the basis by which we look at the chronology of the legends that surround the degrees. However when you advance through the degrees and orders of the American York Rite you notice that the order the ceremonies are presented is not chronological; meaning, you jump back and forth in time to times before and after the Master Mason degree held in the Blue Lodge.

When one is about to go through the ceremonies of the Royal Master, the first of the degrees that compose the Council of Cryptic Masons (sometimes referred to as the Cryptic Rite) there is an introduction to the Cryptic degrees given and one of the paragraphs explains the following:

In taking our degrees there is one thing you must remember, namely, the order in which events happen is seldom the order in which we learn about them. The successive degrees in Masonry picture events in the order we learn about them, not the chronological order in which they occurred. For instance, the Mark Master's Degree took place before those of the Master Mason's, but they were not presented to you in that order. The degree you are about to receive pictures events that happened prior to and after the Tragedy of the Third Degree, and we would have you notice how well they fill in the gaps in our knowledge of that Tragedy and its meaning.

As you can see we are intentionally not told the story chronologically. However doing so, we gain a better understanding of the degrees and everything they encompass. Here is a graphic representation of the chronological order of the York Rite degrees and orders:

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[chrmc]

Thanks for sharing

 

[Bro_Vick]

Thank you so much for sharing, this is wonderful information!

S&F,
-Bro Vick

 

[Bro. Stewart P.M.]

Thank you for sharing this with us!

I re-posted a link to your original article on my York Rite C&C Facebook page!

 

[Traveling Man]

I see they dropped the P.M. degree...

 

[KSigMason]

I see they dropped the P.M. degree...

I discuss that in the article:

I didn't place the Past Master (V) upon the timeline because in the American ritual it doesn't deal with any particular time, although I could have placed it after the Master Mason degree. Some have speculated that this degree deals with King Solomon's inspection of the Temple just after its completion and just prior to its dedication. This degree is conferred because it was custom for only Past Masters to be exalted to the degree of Royal Arch Mason. This degree does not confer the title of Past Master upon a candidate, but only upholds ancient custom. This degree teaches lessons important to being Worshipful Master particularly those of justice and harmony.