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One Day Chapter and Council

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
Yesterday I participated in the bestowing of all of the Chapter and Councils degrees in one day. We started at 8:00 am and finished up at just before 3:00 pm. I played several parts and it was very enjoyable. We had five candidates go through. I do have to admit that I was completely tuckered out at the end of the day.
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
Congratulations. Once you start working in the degrees, those parts become yours.
For years, I worked in all four Chapter degrees, all the Commandery orders, and the Super Excellent degree. I had successfully avoided the two main Council degrees until last year, and now I have parts in those.
So, I now have one or more parts in the following degrees:
Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master Mason, Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master, Royal Arch, Royal Master, Select Master, Super Excellent Master, Red Cross, Order of Malta, Order of the Temple, YR College, Red Cross of Constantine.
Ohhhhhhh my head! :eek:
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
Congratulations. Once you start working in the degrees, those parts become yours.
For years, I worked in all four Chapter degrees, all the Commandery orders, and the Super Excellent degree. I had successfully avoided the two main Council degrees until last year, and now I have parts in those.
So, I now have one or more parts in the following degrees:
Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master Mason, Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master, Royal Arch, Royal Master, Select Master, Super Excellent Master, Red Cross, Order of Malta, Order of the Temple, YR College, Red Cross of Constantine.
Ohhhhhhh my head! :eek:
Lol. Yeah, I've already discovered that I will more or less be expected to fill the roles from now on.
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
So the degrees are all done in one day?
Yes, all in completely form. I myself see noting wrong with it since all degrees were performed with the participation of the candidates. In the AASR reunions not all of the degrees are performed.
 

Elexir

Registered User
Yes, all in completely form. I myself see noting wrong with it since all degrees were performed with the participation of the candidates. In the AASR reunions not all of the degrees are performed.

Maybe its becuse of different cultures and thinking.
While still only a master mason, looking back at my own deegrees I do appriciate the time beteeen my degrees and the spacing between my comming degrees in that I had time and will have time to see all degrees with different eyes before getting any new ones.

The only time I could see this as being fully useful is for older brothers who dont have as much time left.
 

MarkR

Premium Member
In the AASR reunions not all of the degrees are performed.
There are still some Valleys that perform all of the degrees. Guthrie OK does them all in full form over a weekend at their spring reunion. The Guthrie spring reunion should be on your bucket list if you're a Scottish Rite Mason.

Minneapolis does them all twice a year, over about a five month period each time. My Valley (Rochester MN) does 16 of the 29 over ten months (we don't do a weekend reunion at all) and communicates the rest. We're a small valley, and that's about all we can handle.
 

kastonw

Premium Member
i know in Louisiana the do a 2 or 3 York Rite Festivals a year that confer all the degrees and multiple chapters, councils and commandys get together a d do the degrees mostly because most of the bodies dont have enough members to do the degrees there self sadly

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using My Freemasonry mobile app
 

SimonM

Registered User
Possibly.

I respectfully disagree.

People have of course different opinions about this. I come from a tradition in which every degree is taken separately and the brother can spend months or years to contemplate its lessons and try to work them into his life before he gets the next degree.

In masonry we use ritual because we believe that they are more efficient than for example reading a book about the subject. But if we are to use rituals we should be mindfull of the things that make them work. If you cram in a lot of different rituals at short period of time I see a risk that the emotional impact is lessened. You dont remember the details and you have to rely on "reading a book" about it later on. Thus we have lost the point of using rituals.
 
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Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
People have of course different opinions about this. I come from a tradition in which every degree is taken separately and the brother can spend months or years to contemplate its lessons and try to work them into his life before he gets the next degree.

In masonry we use ritual because we believe that they are more efficient than for example reading a book about the subject. But if we are to use rituals we should be mindfull of the things that make them work. If you cram in a lot of different rituals at short period of time I see a risk that the emotional impact is lessened. You dont remember the details and you have to rely on "reading a book" about it later on. Thus we have lost the point of using rituals.
I respect your opinion Brother. It took me eight months to go through the York Rite. I just do not see a problem with this one day class. As members of the YR the candidates that went through the one day class will still see these same rituals over and over again and will also be participating in them. Even those of us taking these classes more slowly do not absorb everything that there is to understand about these rituals. With all of us, one day class or no, it will take us quite awhile to understand the deeper meanings.
 

KSigMason

Traveling Templar
Site Benefactor
Yesterday I participated in the bestowing of all of the Chapter and Councils degrees in one day. We started at 8:00 am and finished up at just before 3:00 pm. I played several parts and it was very enjoyable. We had five candidates go through. I do have to admit that I was completely tuckered out at the end of the day.
Yeah, my Chapter and Council did our degrees yesterday. I was tired too. Now studying up for Chivalric orders.
 

Richard Edward Rooney

Premium Member
About twenty years ago, I helped put on a one day festival for the YR Bodies I was part of then. It took a lot of work, but it was worthwhile. We did all of the degrees in full form, but using exemplars instead of putting each person through separately. I have mixed feelings about it; I really appreciate the idea of treating each degree separately, and having the time to fully digest the lessons taught. But, I am realistic in that it is much harder to ensure that we consistently have enough people to put on the degrees in that manner.

I am very happy with the way my Scottish Rite did our festival. We went through more than just the "mandatory" number of degrees, and we were also presented with "A Bridge to Light" and the "Scottish Rite Ritual and Monitor" for self study later on. We also received the first lesson of the Scottish Rite "Master Craftsman" course to set us on the proper course. Would I have liked to have taken part in each degree individually? ABSOLUTELY! But it just isn't going to happen nowadays. I do, however, have a handy-dandy Scottish Rite Passport to keep track of which degrees I have seen.

So, I guess what I mean is I am not crazy about 1 day classes for the Blue Lodge, but I take what I can get when it comes to furthering my light!

Zealously,

Rich Rooney
 
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