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What is meant by Valley?

Speedbird13

Registered User
Hello Bretheren,
Just seen heaps of posts here where people refer to what I assume are SR lodges as Valleys. Would I be correct in assuming that?
I am an 18th degree In the Scottish Rite but under the Supreme Council for Australia (Australian Constitution.) We refer to them as Sovereign Chapters.

Thank you!
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
In the US a Valley tends to be a group of bodies that meet together. Taken together they cover degrees 4-32. How the degrees are divided up by body and the exact names of the bodies is different in the Northern and Southern jurisdiction but the pattern is the same.

Each body gets its own charter and it can take a number of years before all four are functioning together to complete the valley. So far all of the valleys I have attended have been complete for a century but there was a time when you'd be able to take some of your degrees locally then have to travel to complete the set.
 

Pscyclepath

Premium Member
AASR is set up by state as "Orients;" the local/community organizations are known as "Valleys." Each Valley has four subordinate bodies: the Lodge of Perfection, the Chapter of Knights Rose Croix, the Council of Knights Kadosh, and the Consistory of Masters of the Royal Secret. Monthly stated meetings here are held in the Lodge of Perfection, with the other bodies meeting as needed for special events and reunions.
 

Speedbird13

Registered User
I much prefer that setup.
Here in Australia, there's only the Sovereign Chapters Rose Croix. You get conferred the 4th-17th degree, exit, then come in when it's all be set up and go through the 18th.
You then wait a minimum of 3 years before you can go up. You get conferred the 19th-29th degree, exit, then come in and do the 30th. I prefer your way as you can experience each degree
 

Pscyclepath

Premium Member
Ours go mostly through a 2 or 3-day reunion, where the degrees are put on sequentially. You only only get about a dozen of the degrees over the two days, but the essentials are there to get you to the 32nd, and you're handed a copy of "Bridge to Light" as you go out the door, to fill in the blank spaces ;-)
 

Pscyclepath

Premium Member
Yes. AASR conducts reunions, at the end of which you go in as an MM, and come out as a 32nd degree Master of the Royal Secret. Reunions can be as short as a single day, where you receive the 6 "essential" degrees, but 2 to 3-day sessions are the usual. I am not sure how the NMJ handle things, but the practice appears to be similar.

There are only a handful of places that put on all 28 degrees sequentially, but these are always worth traveling to.

Our valley will often put on one of the "missing" degrees as part of our education program, but the typical practice to "fill in the gaps" is individual or group study, either Bridge to Light and related resources, or the Master Craftsman program.
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
Umm, 29 degrees sequentially (plus KYCH and 33rd)?

Five mandatory.
 
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Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
VERY informative info. I turned in my petition last night. Reunion will be held in November. Very much looking forward to it.
 

RiverRatDoc

Registered User
Just another add on. The groups which meet are typically called 'encampments'. All the 'encampments' together comprise a Valley.
I much prefer AASR to York Rite. I've been in both SJ & NJ.
When I returned to my college in SC, I visited at Greenville's Valley.
If you're embarking on your SR journey, I think you'll enjoy it. Fun travels
 

NY.Light.II

Registered User
Why is it that in the US with the SR (and other bodies) it takes such a short amount for these degrees, but in Australian and European jurisdictions it takes considerably longer?
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
Why is it that in the US with the SR (and other bodies) it takes such a short amount for these degrees, but in Australian and European jurisdictions it takes considerably longer?
My view: in the US the degrees are given for education. In the UK they are given as honours. Neither system is right or wrong, just different.
 
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