What do you like/dislike about the AASR?

[Morris]

What are your favorite parts of Scottish rite and what are (if any) things you don't care for?

I really connect to a lot of the degrees and love the thought process of them. The master craftsman program is definitely a great program. My favorite part for me is the structure. Orients and valleys just make a lot of sense to me and structure has always been important to me. So far I've really studied 4-18 to try and understand every detail. (Easier said than done)

The hard part for me is the titles. Four bodies with different heads is a little confusing but I'm working on that. Are some bodies "easier" than others? How does that officer line work? I consider this a con. Not the layout but educating new members on it. I'm working to understand this so I can develop material for the next guy.

Anyways, I never see much discussion on the Scottish rite. Is that because its more of an individual journey or some other reason(s)?
I was hoping others could discuss what they like/dislike and offer anything in the way of education. Yes, lots of rambling!

 

[pointwithinacircle2]

I joined all of the York Rite bodies but was disappointed that I wasn't learning more from the experience. I demitted from them after a couple years. I suppose that experience has sort of soured me on appendent bodies. I want to join the SR, but I am worried that it is just another set of business meetings that I will be expected to attend, and more people who will want to make demands on my time.

 

[Morris]

I joined all of the York Rite bodies but was disappointed that I wasn't learning more from the experience. I demitted from them after a couple years. I suppose that experience has sort of soured me on appendent bodies. I want to join the SR, but I am worried that it is just another set of business meetings that I will be expected to attend, and more people who will want to make demands on my time.

So far for me it has been a very individual type process. That's actually more my style so I've enjoyed it. For some reason i really connect to it.

 

[Pscyclepath]

I joined the York Rite the summer after getting my master's, and worked my way through the various bodies between August and October. I waited even longer before going into the Scottish Rite. Having tried to read some of Pike's writings, I didn't think I would like it, and probably would not have joined had I not been sort of swept up a a recruiting drive by the Grand Master (those guys can be pretty persuasive when they want to be ;-) ). So I found myself showing up at the Temple in the wee hours of Friday morning as a prospective candidate.

Late that morning as we worked through the Lodge of Perfection, something clicked... I recognized a lot of the things I had learned in the other bodies, and the new perspective was illuminating, if nothing else. This some some neat stuff, and wrapping it up in the 32nd degree and the corresponding vows, that a code that I could take back out in the world and try to live by. I was recruited into the Camp Guard, but at our first real work day about a month later, I fell in with the Kitchen committee, and most of my SR time has been spent there the past two years, slicing, dicing, and making sure the brethren are well-fed. Next to the blue lodge, SR is probably my favorite Masonic activity.

In addition to the "Bridge to Light" and SR Monitor, I strongly recommend a little book called "The Bridge Builders' Guide" to get started into the philosophy of the Rite...

 

[Morris]

In addition to the "Bridge to Light" and SR Monitor, I strongly recommend a little book called "The Bridge Builders' Guide" to get started into the philosophy of the Rite...

I just placed my order for it. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Morris]

In addition to the "Bridge to Light" and SR Monitor, I strongly recommend a little book called "The Bridge Builders' Guide" to get started into the philosophy of the Rite...

I got this book in. It's a good "guide" (like the title says) and I sort if equate it to Freemasons for dummies book. Freemasonry for dummies was the absolute perfect book to read between petitioning and initiation. I think Bridge Builders Guide best serves in the same manner. I wish I would have read it before the reunion (conferral of degrees) because I wouldn't have been so confused.

For me, I think I'll recommend this guide to brothers who petition the AASR to read while they wait. I'll be loaning mine out for that purpose.

Thanks again for the recommendation I enjoyed the read.

 

[MaineMason]

I did the "necessary" SR degrees in a one day class at the Masonic Temple in Boston, in the same place and in the same way that my father had done it. It's a long day (they feed you well though) and of course, not all of the degrees are presented. Subsequent to that, I have helped out with the Valley here in Portland, Maine, where the master of our lodge is involved (33rd degree) and learned a lot from being part of the presentation rather than sitting to watch and am inclined to continue to do so. I fully intend to see or participate in the degrees I have not yet seen.

I have heard "Scottish Rite is Shriner's Lite" but do not subscribe to that theory. There is much wisdom there and joining Scottish Rite was one of the best things I've ever done not to mention becoming somewhat active.

That being said, I am also finding a different kind of journey in Royal Arch Masonry (I'll take my Royal Arch degree in an actual quarry later this month). While I am more inclined to the ethos of the Scottish Rite I have found my journey so far in York to be much more akin to actual appendant degrees to Blue Lodge but I am unlikely to continue past Capitular Masonry or Cryptic Masonry. However, I have found my journey so far in both Rites to be of great value.

My heart, however, remains in Blue Lodge and my largest focus is as a line officer.

 

[MaineMason]

Something else comes to mind: there are some differences between the Southern and Northern Jurisdictions of Scottish Rite (I belong to the Northern) in the US. At some point, because I don't want to hijack this thread, that would be an interesting discussion.

 

[crono782]

Something else comes to mind: there are some differences between the Southern and Northern Jurisdictions of Scottish Rite (I belong to the Northern) in the US. At some point, because I don't want to hijack this thread, that would be an interesting discussion.

My understanding is that there are some very large differences in degree work between the two. Would be an interesting discussion indeed. A buddy of mine (also a member of this forum) who took all his SR degrees here in TX recently moved to WA and was interested in travelling to seeing all the degrees from a NMJ perspective. I hope to hear from him soon about his experiences.

 

[MaineMason]

Frankly, I think it would be a tremendous discussion. While the Southern and Northern recognize one another there are, indeed, differences and beyond that, there are differences between North America and other SR bodies throughout the world.

I lived in Texas for about 20 years but only became a Mason when returning to my native New England. From what I can see, I'm one of the few Yankees around here!

One thing that is sure is that both jurisdictions in the US are heavily influenced by Pike, even after revisions in both jurisdictions.

This would be a worthwhile conversation when it's time to have it.

--MaineMason, Massachusetts Commandery, Valley of Boston.

 

[MaineMason]

Pardon, "Consistory". That's what you get when you're active in both Rites: accidents of language!

 

[Morris]

Something else comes to mind: there are some differences between the Southern and Northern Jurisdictions of Scottish Rite (I belong to the Northern) in the US. At some point, because I don't want to hijack this thread, that would be an interesting discussion.

Please, feel free to hijack!

 

[MarkR]

I've read brief descriptions of the NMJ degrees, but don't claim to be real familiar with them. Once I was talking with an NMJ brother, and I commented "the NMJ has pretty much taken Pike out of the Scottish Rite." His response was "we've taken the Scottish Rite out of the Scottish Rite."

 

[dfreybur]

My understanding is that there are some very large differences in degree work between the two. Would be an interesting discussion indeed.

The low number SR degrees are very different between the two jurisdictions. When I took my SJ degrees that's when I learned that the SJ scripts for degrees 1-3 that are not performed in most of the US are very different and that the degrees most of us in the US take are more closely related to YR than to SR. The story we learn in blue lodge doesn't complete until about 8 in AASR-SJ. When I moved to Chicago NJ and attended a reunion the degrees with one digit numbers had been rewritten to be consistent with the blue lodge scripts.

The further the number the more similar they are. By the time we got to the degrees with numbers in the 30s I could hardly tell them apart.

A buddy of mine (also a member of this forum) who took all his SR degrees here in TX recently moved to WA and was interested in travelling to seeing all the degrees from a NMJ perspective. I hope to hear from him soon about his experiences.

Maybe you mean WI? Washington state is part of the Southern Jurisdiction, as are all of the western states that joined the US after the Civil War. The reunions I attended during the 2 years we lived near Seattle the degrees were the same as I had taken them in California.

 

[crono782]

He's in WA for sure. I can only guess he meant traveling to another nearby state or it was a mistake.

 

[dfreybur]

He's in WA for sure. I can only guess he meant traveling to another nearby state or it was a mistake.

It's easy to think that the word "Northern" in the jurisdiction's name means more than it does. It mostly covers the states that were on the blue side in the Civil War and nowhere else. Sort of "We wanted to say North-Eastern US but the printer charged per letter so we abbreved".

It's also easy to think that the word "Southern" in the jurisdiction name means anything at all. Just like the "Scottish" Rite comes from France not Scotland the "Southern" name really just means south of Canada. Brothers in Buenos Aires or Sydney probably think the name is hilarious.

 

[MaineMason]

I've read brief descriptions of the NMJ degrees, but don't claim to be real familiar with them. Once I was talking with an NMJ brother, and I commented "the NMJ has pretty much taken Pike out of the Scottish Rite." His response was "we've taken the Scottish Rite out of the Scottish Rite."

Well, given that the Scottish Rite has its roots in France and isn't really "Scottish" at all, and that as it exists in the US (in both jurisdictions) and in Canada is very different than the way it exists in the UK, I think focusing on being a Pike "purist" may miss the point. There's plenty of Pike in the NMJ, though yes, some degrees have been revised. Let's not forget, Pike was a revisionist, too.

Let's also not forget that Capitular/Royal Arch Masonry is different in the US than it is in, say, Great Britain and in the Republic of Ireland.

Regardless of jurisdiction, it can be said that access to Scottish Rite degrees in both jurisdictions of the US is much more open than it is in, say, the UK. Especially beyond the Rose Croix degrees.

From what I can see in some very cursory research, to suggest that the NMJ has "taken Pike out of the Scottish Rite" seems to have more to do what I would generously call "regional pride" than with the Scottish Rite in general. What began in the beginning of the 19th C. in Charleston, SC bears little resemblance to Pike's later revisions and anything in "Dogma and Morals".

While ritual remains rooted in ancient practices, it continues to evolve. Given the relative autonomy of Freemasonry and its appendent branches--especially in the United States--I find that hardly surprising. Even Blue Lodge ritual varies somewhat from state to state and certainly around the world. Regardless, it seems clear to me that all Masonic bodies in harmony with the UGLE--regardless of variants--has at its core ancient truths to which all Regular Freemasons subscribe.

 

[MaineMason]

It's easy to think that the word "Northern" in the jurisdiction's name means more than it does. It mostly covers the states that were on the blue side in the Civil War and nowhere else. Sort of "We wanted to say North-Eastern US but the printer charged per letter so we abbreved".

It's also easy to think that the word "Southern" in the jurisdiction name means anything at all. Just like the "Scottish" Rite comes from France not Scotland the "Southern" name really just means south of Canada. Brothers in Buenos Aires or Sydney probably think the name is hilarious.

I think you're quite correct. The Scottish Rite as we know it in North America has its roots in--correct me if I'm incorrect--in about 1806 in SC with other roots in the British Caribbean. Pike came along later, and is generally considered the primogenitor of what became the Scottish Rite in the US. Personally, I don't care to fight the Civil War in this country nearly 150 years after its conclusion and I would hope my Brethren don't either. I would hope that, through Brotherhood, and perhaps slightly different Rites, can come together rather than apart. We are all Masons, and we all recognize one another as such.

The US has such a rich tradition of Freemasonry, it would seem to me almost petty to argue about "purity" when we are all in a state of Brotherhood, especially in the Northern and Southern jurisdictions of the Scottish Rite. Pike's works DO still continue to inform the Northern Jurisdiction. Perhaps we should do more visiting with one another's rites. It matters not. We're all Masons, and we're all Scottish Rite. How we would be received in an Ancient (and) Accepted Scottish Rite* lodge in the UK, however, is another question.

*NMJ: "Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite" vs. SMJ "Ancient AND Accepted Scottish Rite". Semantics, semantics.

 

[Morris]

The NMJ and SMJ have been in harmony for awhile. They recognize that it's best to work together. I'm pretty sure PH Scottish Rite is in the same harmony. To me it's a great system. Jurisdictions are drawn out and agreed upon and every one recognizes the others under the same Scottish rite flag.

 

[dfreybur]

The NMJ and SMJ have been in harmony for awhile. They recognize that it's best to work together. I'm pretty sure PH Scottish Rite is in the same harmony..

Definitely. When we lived in Chicago metro NMJ territory one of the reunions I attended features degrees from all three jurisdictions all attending each others degrees.