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YR equivalent of 33rd degree

Mark.y

Registered User
In most of the obligations it will state that you have (such & such) in a preceding degree, sometimes referring to a degree from another body. Does it "flow" better that way.... No :(, in the Royal Master degree ( a Council degree if you aren't familiar) it actually states that the order in which things happened is often not the order in which they are presented, yet you find how well it fills the gaps in our knowledge. This is evident right away as after the tragedy of the third degree you proceed to the Mark Master where HA is again alive and well.

There is a festival in Colorado where the degrees are put on in their chronological order from EA through the order of the Temple, it is extremely interesting, but I must admit, I understood it better the way it is done in lodge. I have a copy of the order somewhere, if I dig for it I'm sure I could come up with it :) interesting though.
 

Mark.y

Registered User
Historically I think you would find that the Royal Arch degree was the cause behind the schism between the Ancients and the Moderns which is what led to Mackey's land Mark #2. The Order of the Temple came to the US in 1769's in St. Andrews Royal Arch Lodge in Boston and was a military degree. When it became popular over time, formation of the Grand Encampment formed. As the Royal Arch was basically accepted a natural advancement from the Blue Lodge Degree's or in many cases part of it, the Order of the Temple became an "Additional" degree and so the order would have been formed at about this time frame. This is my opinion anyway as to why they are in this order and why they are separate, yet equal as they were only for a short time at best, governed by the same authority.
 

goomba

Neo-Antient
Site Benefactor
For me the pinnacle in York Rite is SRICF. However, this isn’t really York Rite as the only Masonic requirement is being a Master Mason. But honestly the 33rd degree is an honor within the AASR. So being invited to any YR invitational body can be seen as an equal honor of sorts.


Here’s the truth (to me at least) the highest honor is that of Entered Apprentice. It was during this degree I became a Mason, was introduced to Masonry, and was “invited” by the fraternity after a clear vote. I truly believe this first degree is the most important and honorable degree any Mason can have. It is the base of our Masonic life. If we follow its teachings and live up to its lessons this alone will make us rock solid Masons. The type of Masons we all should want to be. What is more honorable than that?
 

Mark.y

Registered User
Goomba, I could not agree with you more. A few years ago, my youngest son petitioned my lodge. The serving Master of my home lodge asked if I would like to perform the Master Mason degree on him when the time came. I was honored of course, but made the request that I be able to do the Masters part for his EA degree instead. I was asked by several Brothers why I would make this choice and my answer was much like your's here. This is where you become a Brother in the lodge, yes the MM is the culmination of that experience, but this is a degree you will hold in your heart your whole life, the first time you are brought to light as a Mason. I honestly will remember that night for the rest of my life, I think he will too. It's a very special time :)
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
I would agree that in the statutes, one must be a Past Commander to be considered for membership, but to be a Knight, one must first become a Companion, and without going into detail, the degree, opening and closing all use references to the Blue Lodge, The Royal Arch and the Templar degree's and maybe in my mind only, the name "Holy Royal Arch" Knight Templar Priest would add some degree of preference to the Chapter..
In the US, one must first be a companion, yes. Remember though, HRKTP came to us from England, which does not have the conglomerate known as York Rite.
 

Bloke

Premium Member
..Back to the original subject matter - A group that could be considered as equal to the 33rd degree possibly - HRAKTP ( Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests, they are invitation only, only one group per state (as far as I have knowledge) limited membership (33 in our state with 7 emeritus possible I believe) contains two of the three bodies of the York Rite (Council is not represented in the title at least, and really not in the degree either) . So only a very few are nominated and gain entrance within this group and is York Rite based... Thoughts??.....

Firstly, disclaimer...I am only a member of the Craft (and Shrine, but unaffiliated at the moment).

KTPs (HRAKTP, but we just use KTP here) came to mind in thinking on this question..also SRIA... but I think a better way to ask the question might be "what in the York Rite is as hard to obtain as the 33rd Degree"... but that kinda does not work either - because we don't think in terms of "York Rite" and have you never noticed its sometimes called "American Rite"..... as many generally think of York Rite being a group of progressive degrees, its simply not that hard to get them here, but leading them is a different story, in an American context, maybe the equvilent "rank" to a 33rd would be KYCH ?

A slightly different spin, we have several invitation only orders which would probably not be thought of as "York Rite" . Order of Athelstan for instance, you need to be a MM and a HRA Mason... before being considered.. Royal Order of Eri is very small here which is invite only and you need to be Grade VII in SRIA before being invited -we have only one ROEri group working it in the state... Likewise the Commemorative Order of St Thomas of Acon; invite only and you need to be a KT and then invited..it has 5 groups, three in the State of Victoria, one in South Australia and one in New Zealand not I know a lot more in Acon than ROEri.... RCC's qualificatons here are MM and HRA.....my mentor was MP Sovereign of a RCC, but said the "hardest" degree was SRIA ... he'd asked to be in ROEri but was never invited...

Back to the KTPs, you need to be subscribing in the KT and PM in the Craft and "RAC" which I would assume is Royal Arch Chapter (HRA).. you certainly need to be a serious mason to get into it but my money is on ROEri as one of the hardest Orders to join here..but none of that really answers the question... one thing for sure, Craft PDGM is a rare rank - I know less of them than 33rds...which is *really* hard to get here.. because I dont think its conferred but must be obtained through holding an active position on the Supreme Council. I really need to find out more about AASR here, because these sort of questions often come up...
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
I can't subscribe to the Rosicrucians being the top of the heap. I don't see it as directly related to the Craft story. I was around about asked if I'd like to be proposed. I said "please don't" - mainly because I don't need to have another dues card (and bill) at the moment; I'm not one to go down the esoteric rabbit hole; and if I wanted to join later, officially declining an invite would probable not go over well. I mean, come on, if they'd have me as a member, how exclusive can it be? :D

I'd like to jump in my wayback machine and tell the SR to not assign numbers to its degrees. That's where a lot of Masons, non-Masons, and conspiracy theorists get led astray. The SR slapped numbers on everything, so 4-14-32-and 33 are all HIGHER than 3, so they must be more important. The YR just has names for the degrees and orders, therefore it isn't as easy for the human brain to draw a line.

If you say to someone "I'm a 33rd degree Mason" they say "Oooooooh, you must know where the gold is." If you say to someone "I am a KYCH" or "I have the Red Cross of Constantine" they say "You better go get a shot for that."
 

Elexir

Registered User
Considering that SRIA dont consider themself a masonic order but rather a order that only admits masons Im not sure why they or the RoE is listed here.
 

goomba

Neo-Antient
Site Benefactor
I can't subscribe to the Rosicrucians being the top of the heap. I don't see it as directly related to the Craft story. I was around about asked if I'd like to be proposed. I said "please don't" - mainly because I don't need to have another dues card (and bill) at the moment; I'm not one to go down the esoteric rabbit hole; and if I wanted to join later, officially declining an invite would probable not go over well. I mean, come on, if they'd have me as a member, how exclusive can it be? :D

I'd like to jump in my wayback machine and tell the SR to not assign numbers to its degrees. That's where a lot of Masons, non-Masons, and conspiracy theorists get led astray. The SR slapped numbers on everything, so 4-14-32-and 33 are all HIGHER than 3, so they must be more important. The YR just has names for the degrees and orders, therefore it isn't as easy for the human brain to draw a line.

If you say to someone "I'm a 33rd degree Mason" they say "Oooooooh, you must know where the gold is." If you say to someone "I am a KYCH" or "I have the Red Cross of Constantine" they say "You better go get a shot for that."

I've been involved in some conspiracy chats in the past concerning the lodge. I laugh we people talk about the SR degrees and tell them that the 32nd degree is awarded fairly quickly after joining the SR. I hate those numbers as nonMasons obsess over them.

I say the Blue Friars run everything by the logic small is more powerful. Just blame Brent Morris since he's on TV.
 

Kalip78

Registered User
There is beautiful chart by NMJ comparing the structure of American Freemasonry. And I think there are very wise words in it: “A Mason in York Rite advances 10 degrees, known by name and not by degree number. On chart are figures he meets at each degree or the degree symbol. Figures are: temple workman, Past Master (Virtual), Israel tribesman, High Priest of Jews, King Hiram of Tyre, Knight of Malta, Knight Templar, equal IN PRESTIGE to 33 degree in Scottish Rite”. In my opinion the word “prestige” is a key word when comparing Masonic systems. Everything else is not comparable I think.

Frats from Poland
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
There is beautiful chart by NMJ comparing the structure of American Freemasonry. And I think there are very wise words in it: “A Mason in York Rite advances 10 degrees, known by name and not by degree number. On chart are figures he meets at each degree or the degree symbol. Figures are: temple workman, Past Master (Virtual), Israel tribesman, High Priest of Jews, King Hiram of Tyre, Knight of Malta, Knight Templar, equal IN PRESTIGE to 33 degree in Scottish Rite”. In my opinion the word “prestige” is a key word when comparing Masonic systems. Everything else is not comparable I think.

Frats from Poland
https://www.facebook.com/carbonlodg...3520761334474/480810678605479/?type=1&theater

It's wrong.
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
The picture is from Life Magazine. It was inside its Oct. 8, 1956 issue that featured Freemasonry. The cover has a huge group shot of all the state Grand Masters. I have the magazine and really love that picture. I use it as my desktop photo from time to time. It was not, however, commissioned by any Masonic body. It is a creation of the Life art department. Creating the stair step look with ascending degrees has helped create much confusion within and without Freemasonry.

If you have never read that particular copy of Life, I suggest you try to track down a copy. I good portion of the issue is devoted to Freemasonry.
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
At least in Tennessee, all Knights Templar have the Order of the Red Cross, and (can) wear the medal on their uniform. It's the first step in the Commandery followed by the Order of Malta and the Order of the Temple.
Same here in Kentucky.
With all the YR bodies having, in most cases, separate governing organizations instead of a blanket leadership, what is considered the most prestigious is somewhat left in the eye of the beholder.
Agreed.
 

Peck1988

Registered User
To get to 33rd you can join rose croix which puts you at 18th degree then work your way up, am hopefully going to be joining rose croix soon, am a MM, RA and joining KT next year


Sent from my iPhone using My Freemasonry
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
To get to 33rd you can join rose croix which puts you at 18th degree then work your way up, am hopefully going to be joining rose croix soon, am a MM, RA and joining KT next year


Sent from my iPhone using My Freemasonry
No, I'm afraid one doesn't work their way up to 33, especially in England. Indeed, I suspect you know very few 32 degree AAR Masons.
 

Peck1988

Registered User
There are 3 in my lodge, all 3 very high ranking masons all grand officers, I don't know the process no I admit I just thought it would be the same as my craft lodge, haven't been given much information on rose croix as I don't really want to know want to go in to it blind, so sorry if my answer was wrong.


Fraternal Hello
Bro. Scott Peckham
Thermopylae Lodge 4386, England, Cheshire
UGLE
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
There are 3 in my lodge, all 3 very high ranking masons all grand officers, I don't know the process no I admit I just thought it would be the same as my craft lodge, haven't been given much information on rose croix as I don't really want to know want to go in to it blind, so sorry if my answer was wrong.


Fraternal Hello
Bro. Scott Peckham
Thermopylae Lodge 4386, England, Cheshire
UGLE
To clarify, you only know three 32.

We are all still learning.

And hello from across the province.

PPrJGW, Lodge of Concord 323
PPrAGSoj and Third Principal elect, Samaritan Chapter 368
 

Peck1988

Registered User
Yes they are all 32 degree masons, it confused me when I first found out because I thought there wasn't a Degree system in York rite.

Wow I shall be calling you sir from now on :)



Fraternal Hello
Bro. Scott Peckham
Thermopylae Lodge 4386, England, Cheshire
UGLE
 

BullDozer Harrell

Registered User
I understand that brother.
, I understand that you can stop when ever you want but cant start wherever you want. my thought process was that since you have to go through council and chapter first that KT must be considered higher, I was wondering if there is a rank or decoration within any of the 3 national bodies that is equal to a 33rd in stature if not actually equal to....
I guess you could consider KYCH as the York Rite equivalent of the SR 33rd.
 
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