Many masons don't know about 4-33 degrees?

I'm reading a book at the moment about Freemasonry, and it states that many masons do not realise that there are thirty degrees above the master mason level.
To the members here that are masons, would you say this is accurate? I found it hard to believe that anyone would join something like the freemasons and not have heard about these higher degrees by way of reading up on the history. If i know very little about freemasonry and i know there are 33 degrees, then surely a mason with much more interest would know?

CX.

I kow its laughable isn't it.. most of them will deny it as hard as they can.

I understand that the higher degrees are conferred upon ititiates... they are handed out but decree by the big shots. I read somewhere that several presidents were 33 degrees as well as Washington was.

The little innocent freemasons seem to run the world.

The Sublime Degree of Master Mason (the Third Degree) is the "highest" Degree that can or will be conferred on any man this side of Paradise. The 4th-32nd Degrees typically refer to Scottish Rite Freemasonry which is an appendant body of Blue Lodge Freemasonry, the 33rd Degree is Honorary in nature, and confers nothing more than the accolade of praise worthy service over a protracted time frame. The greater numerical value is meaningless in a Blue Lodge (a 50 year 33rd has no say over the 10 year elected Master of the Lodge who has only attained the Third Degree).

I'm always amused at the profane's perception that those within the Craft are clueless to it's structure, but a non-member would be privy to far greater insight.

[edit on 18/5/2006 by Mirthful Me]

Perhaps for a different reason.



The Degree process is no secret, the are conferred in respect to certain Degrees, and communicated in others... The difference being a conferred Degree is acted out and participatory, and a communicated Degree is merely a lecture.

Please list the U.S. Presidents that are/were 33rds (hint: Washington wasn't one of them).


If only...

Decoder Ring Monkeys, not just for pulling the World's strings anymore...

Is not the Scottish Rite the highest attainment of Freemasonry?

Why are all the BIG WHEELS in the Scottish Rite?

It is like comparing Harvard to State U., in terms of prestige is it not?

Heck you may be the good guy and they are the bad guys for all I know but the top people are 33 degree Scottish Rite that I know of.

Then there is the Rosicrucians.

So in that case then, and i'm quoting from the book i'm reading here,

"These thirty degrees, beginning with the 4th (that of Secret Master) and culminating in the 33rd (Grand Inspector General), are controlled by a supreme council whose headquarters are at 10 Duke Street, St James, London SW1."

Does this mean the higher degree masons who frequent this headquarters are from the Scottish rite freemasonry?, or is the book spouting rubbish?

CX.

The Sublime Degree of Master Mason is. The Scottish Rite, York Rite (which never get any play in the conspiracy realm for some reason ), Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, et al are appendant bodies, and have no greater credence or bearing on Freemasonry.

Mirthful,

Here's a good joke, how about thos folks & 'knowitalls' that brag about how they are 'approached' by a Mason 'because they wanted me to join the lodge'

That's always a hoot & a half.

By Gilles C H Nullens.

www.nullens.org...

I'll defer to a U.K. Freemason as to the accuracy and veracity of his book, but from what I've read... I'm suspect.

No, i'm reading "The Brotherhood" by Stephen Knight.

Thanks for the replies by the way, i appreciate you guys probably get fed up with questions about this, but then again if they will have this section on here!

CX.

Because someone is plagiarizing someone... No honor amongst thieves? My bet would be that Stephen Knight is the original author, but the verbatim text is being attributed to Nullens on that website.

There are many pitfalls for the student of freemasonry, as it can be quite confusing sometimes. Lets see if I can clear the waters a little.

In the UK, what is known as the 'Scottish Rite' in the USA is the Ancient & Accepted Rite, colloquially known as Rose Croix. It is administrated from 10 Duke Street, where the Supreme Council meets, and has jurisdiction over all Rose Croix activity in England.

As our simian friend has said, there are no higher degrees in freemasonry, despite what the numbers might suggest. Rose Croix is known as a Side Order, as is one among many opportunities to deepen ones knowledge of freemasonry. They are quite complimentary to Craft masonry rather than superior to it.

The term 'Scottish Rite' is largely unknown in the UK, and I'm afraid my opinion of the book is quite low from a factual accuracy point-of-view. Its a good fiction read through.

It happens. My husband had an employee working for him at one time that was a mason and I overheard him suggest that my husband should join them as I was walking into the room

It does happen.

No. The Scottish Rite is one of several Masonic Rites, although it is a popular one. In the United States, roughly half of all Masons are also members of the Scottish Rite.



Who are you talking about? Famous people have been, and are, members of the Scottish Rite, but this is true of the other Rites as well.



It is not. Any regular Master Mason in good standing who wants to join the Scottish Rite can do so. I'm on a committee at my own Scottish Rite Temple in which we visit Blue Lodges, talk about the Scottish Rite in a presentation, and try to induce those Masons who are not members of the Scottish Rite to become so.



The top people in Masonry are the Grand Lodge officers. Every member of the Scottish Rite, including the Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, is subordinate to the Grand Lodge of his jurisdiction.



The Masonic Rosicrucian Society is independent, and has no formal connection to the Scottish Rite. Some have confused the two because Albert Pike was simultaneously Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite, and Supreme Magus of the Masonic Rosicrucian Society. There are also various non-Masonic organizations claiming to be Rosicrucians.

The so-called "higher degrees" are available to any Mason who wants them. All a Mason has to do is fill out a Scottish Rite membership application requesting the 4° - 32°.

Two Presidents of the United States have been 33° Scottish Rite Masons: Harry S. Truman and Gerald R. Ford. Washington was not a member of the Scottish Rite. We know for a fact that he was a Master Mason and had served as Worshipful Master of his Lodge. Outside of this, it is believed that he was also a Royal Arch Mason and probably a Knight Templar, but the records have been lost.

No. As soon as you become a Master Mason, you find that both major Rites (York and Scottish), as well as the Shrine, wants you as a member. Most candidates are aware of the Scottish and York Rites and Shriners even before they are initiated.

Also, the "30 degrees above the Master Mason level" is only the Scottish Rite. The York Rite offers a different 9 additional degrees.

how can you state there areonly 3 degrees when my masonic encyclopedia states there are 33 would you like to see the pic
putfile.com.../13818025682.jpg&s=f5
looks like more than 3 degrees to me bud!

You might want to look at your image again... It clearly shows only Three Degrees in Freemasonry.

Bud.

do you know what a degree symbol looks like?
it looks like this
° and incase you missed that one here it is again °
now look back at that picture and tell me why ever Degree on the right side of the scale shows all degrees from 1 - 33 with all ° symbols behind each number?
youd better save the image to your HD and zoom in I circled in red the degrees for your blind eyes!
here is a pic clearly showing you what i am refering to
putfile.com.../13818554634.jpg&s=f5

who taught you there is only 3 degrees mybe it was the Mandate of your Master telling you this info mybe the other degrees do not concern you and your teachings at this time?
You see by my knowledge of this cult you have to be initiated into other degrees and rites. The first duty of every Mason is to obey the Mandate of the Master…The order must at once be obeyed; its character and its consequences may be matters of subsequent inquiry. The Masonic rule of obedience is like the nautical, Imperative: "Obey orders, even if you break owners.
sounds kinda KOOKY to me !
I dont like following orders and being taught in segments that adhear to another persons judgment on me.



[edit on 19-5-2006 by seridium]

seridium

The content of your posts to date suggest that you regard yourself as an authority on freemasonry. You certainly appear to know a geat deal about an organization which the rest of the members (here) apparently know nothing. However there have been a large number of factual errors in your presentations which makes me doubt your credibility in these matters.

Can I ask you where you get your information from? It's incredibly simple to dismiss freemasons who contest the information you present as 'lower level', 'in the dark' etc etc but the sheer scale of incorrect information suggests to me either a very limited pool of sources or possibly an agenda of some sort.

The latest offerings are:



None of the above is true. You claim to have knowledge but have not explained where this knowledge comes from. What caused you to believe the truth of the 4 points above? Is there some ritual you can point to?

Please try and make an effort. We can all go to freemasonrywatch and similar sites and read what they have to say. Rather than cutting and pasting stuff why don't you start some threads on some specific issues you have with freemasonry and state your case (keeping in mind the conspiracy angle this site requests)?