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YR equivalent of 33rd degree

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
Aye. Conversion charts are never uniform it would seem. On the 33rd degree specifically I think the lot of confusion will be around the fact that nothing ever meets in the 33rd degree (as far as I know). It's an honorary degree that is bestowed upon people, but it's not like there's a 33rd degree lodge being opened regularly - except of course if you read Dan Brown, but in that case I'm not sure they'll let you in.

I've always though that the most interesting debate regarding conversions and intervisitations comes when you look at invitational orders. So a VII degree would be able to visit the CBCS or the SRCIF for instance if you just look at it. But would these orders let them in?
Well, not exactly. Supreme Council meets on the 33. We open on the 33 to confer the degree. It is a substantive degree.
 

George Coombs

Registered User
can someone tell me what the highest rank in the YR is? What I mean is that in order to be a member of the AASR supreme council you must be a 33rd degree, in order to be member of the Grand Encampment KT and Chapter and Council equivalent what rank must you hold?
The 33rd degree of the AASR isn't an honorary degree. It's an actual degree and you are an honorary member of the supreme council. To be an active member of the supreme council you have to be selected by the Grand Comander. Some say the KYCH in the york rite is the equivelent of the 33rd degree.
 

mrpierce17

KOP Council director / Lodge instructor
Premium Member
The 33rd degree of the AASR isn't an honorary degree. It's an actual degree and you are an honorary member of the supreme council. To be an active member of the supreme council you have to be selected by the Grand Comander. Some say the KYCH in the york rite is the equivelent of the 33rd degree.

QUOTE="George Coombs, post: 165312, member: 4418"]The 33rd degree of the AASR isn't an honorary degree. It's an actual degree and you are an honorary member of the supreme council. To be an active member of the supreme council you have to be selected by the Grand Comander.
That's the way it works in the orient of Florida

Some say the KYCH in the york rite is the equivelent of the 33rd degree.[/QUOTE]


That's not entirely true though some say it ....in order to become a KYCH you must sit in the East in each of the YR houses....in order to become a 33rd in AASR you must be recognized and recommend for your outstanding work in the Scottish Rite even if you are recommended your name goes before a board to be voted on and approved not everyone that is recommended gets approved
 
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dfreybur

Premium Member
The 33rd degree of the AASR isn't an honorary degree.

Wording detail. All other degrees can/must be petitioned for. The 33rd can not be petitioned for. The 33rd must be awarded without being asked for. This is one of several meanings of the word "honorary" but it is a very useful meaning and the one that applies to the 33rd degree when it is called honorary.

I get that having a degree team makes it a real degree, but real is not an opposite of honorary.
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
Wording detail. All other degrees can/must be petitioned for. The 33rd can not be petitioned for. The 33rd must be awarded without being asked for. This is one of several meanings of the word "honorary" but it is a very useful meaning and the one that applies to the 33rd degree when it is called honorary.

I get that having a degree team makes it a real degree, but real is not an opposite of honorary.
This is pretty much the way that it was explained to me.
 

KSigMason

Traveling Templar
Site Benefactor
can someone tell me what the highest rank in the YR is? What I mean is that in order to be a member of the AASR supreme council you must be a 33rd degree, in order to be member of the Grand Encampment KT and Chapter and Council equivalent what rank must you hold?
While it's hard to compare and contrast the two, the closest thing may be the Knights of the York Cross of Honor (KYCH) or CBCS/KBCH.
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
The 33rd degree of the AASR isn't an honorary degree. It's an actual degree and you are an honorary member of the supreme council. To be an active member of the supreme council you have to be selected by the Grand Comander. Some say the KYCH in the york rite is the equivelent of the 33rd degree.
Though, the Convent General is a separate stand alone, self governed body.
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
The two top honors in York Rite are KYCH and Red Cross of Constantine.
KYCH is earned, as previously noted, and then you have to be balloted on where every KYCH in your state has a chance to object.
Red Cross of Constantine is something you have to be nominated for, have a write up done on you that is considered nationally, and if approved, your conclave ballots on. You can't ask for it. The number of people with the RCC in the U.S. is somewhere in the neighborbood of 5,000 (give or take).

Although there is no direct crossover, I have heard KYCH compared to the SR's KCCH and Red Cross of Constantine compared to 33rd.

Another thing about RCC, conclaves are restricted in size. You may be the most worthy person to ever walk the planet, but if your conclave is full, you have to wait until someone dies.
 
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Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
The two top honors in York Rite are KYCH and Red Cross of Constantine.
KYCH is earned, as previously noted, and then you have to be balloted on where every KYCH in your state has a chance to object.
Red Cross of Constantine is something you have to be nominated for, have a write up done on you that is considered nationally, and if approved, your conclave ballots on. You can't ask for it. The number of people with the RCC in the U.S. is somewhere in the neighborbood of 5,000 (give or take).

Although there is no direct crossover, I have heard KYCH compared to the SR's KCCH and Red Cross of Constantine compared to 33rd.

Another thing about RCC, conclaves are restricted in size. You may be the most worthy person to ever walk the planet, but if your conclave is full, you have to wait until someone dies.
The prerequisite body for RCC is Royal Arch only. RCC is self governed, unlike the 33rd. While it doesn't detract from your position, membership is not approved nationally in the US before a local ballot occurs http://www.redcrossconstantine.org/resource-docs/RCC-Constitution-Statutes-Regulations-2016.pdf

KYCH is also a separate body from the so called York Rite. If a local bylaw requires every KYCH in the state to approve, that is not a national requirement, and if I were personal rep for that area, they would be reviewed to ensure they are consistent with the national bylaws.
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
In Tennessee, when someone is put up for KYCH, the list of that year's candidates is sent out for all the KYCHs in the state to see. If you meet the requirements, there has to be a valid reason for an objection, and I think it has to be more than one. In former times, a reason didn't have to be given, and one person with a grudge could prevent you from getting it. That has been corrected.
The way we do RCC, a proposal is read at your conclave's meeting, the proposal is forwarded on, then if returned favorably from the national body, the name is sent out to all the members of the conclave in case someone was not at the meeting, and it is balloted on by the members of the conclave at the next meeting. Maybe that's just the way we do it, and maybe it's always been done incorrectly, but the proposal is sent off before we vote.


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Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
In Tennessee, when someone is put up for KYCH, the list of that year's candidates is sent out for all the KYCHs in the state to see. If you meet the requirements, there has to be a valid reason for an objection, and I think it has to be more than one. In former times, a reason didn't have to be given, and one person with a grudge could prevent you from getting it. That has been corrected.
The way we do RCC, a proposal is read at your conclave's meeting, the proposal is forwarded on, then if returned favorably from the national body, the name is sent out to all the members of the conclave in case someone was not at the meeting, and it is balloted on by the members of the conclave at the next meeting. Maybe that's just the way we do it, and maybe it's always been done incorrectly, but the proposal is sent off before we vote.


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Members of other KYCH priories have no right object to members in your priory under national bylaws. If I have time, I shall address this at Convent General this week. You are giving up your priory's rights.

Review the RCC statutes I sent and identify where the national approval is stated. If that's the way your IG wants to run his division, that's his call. I don't do that in my division.
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
We only have one KYCH priory for the whole state. I am going to look at the RCC info when I get home and don't have to try to see it on my phone. If we aren't doing something correctly, I'll point it out. I've only been a member for 2 years, so I take it the guys have been in for years know what they are doing.


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Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
We only have one KYCH priory for the whole state. I am going to look at the RCC info when I get home and don't have to try to see it on my phone. If we aren't doing something correctly, I'll point it out. I've only been a member for 2 years, so I take it the guys have been in for years know what they are doing.


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Ahh. I hadn't thought there would be only one in such a Masonically large state.

Again, if your IG wants to send to Imperial, that's his choice but I'm not sure of the purpose.
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
Yeah, there is only one KYCH priory, and the annual meeting/conferral is once a year during Grand Lodge week.
We have five RCC conclaves. Again, I don't know if the way ours handles proposals is something the IG wants or something our secretary just does because he thinks that's the way it's supposed to be. I'm not an officer. I'm just a sideliner who goes with the flow in this one.
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
Wording detail. All other degrees can/must be petitioned for. The 33rd can not be petitioned for. The 33rd must be awarded without being asked for. This is one of several meanings of the word "honorary" but it is a very useful meaning and the one that applies to the 33rd degree when it is called honorary.

I get that having a degree team makes it a real degree, but real is not an opposite of honorary.
Oh, the CBCS in the US cannot, nor can Red Cross
 
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