royal arch in scottish rite?

I am under the impression that the Royal Arch Degree is the true "Master" Degree (despite what many Masons have said about lateral degrees...)

However, I am not sure York Rite is a fit for me, I'm leaning more towards the Scottish Rite. In York Rite, the Royal Arch Degrees are the first you start with, and they all expand on the blue lodge, into great detail.

The 13th degree of Scottish Rite is called Royal Arch of Solomon (I'm in S District) - but I don't think it's the same as the York Rite's Royal Arch.

Am I mistaken here? Aren't I sort of leaving a lot out of my Masonic teachings if I skip the York Rite?

IMO the York Rites are just as meaningful to a Mason as the AASR.
You will miss a lot if you skip it. I would even go so far as to reccomend you take the York Rites first. YMMV

Hey Scientist. I agree with RWPBR. The Royal Arch Degrees will "finish off" the Blue Lodge degrees and clear up some of the questions that you may have from the Craft degrees. I completed the Royal Arch and now am proceeding through the Scottish Rite , and I am happy I took that route.

Dredz

thanks, im leaning towards that as well, i dont want to leave any ashlar unturned! The only thing that really puts me off of it, is the whole pledging your life to protect Christianity. I was raised Catholic, however I relate so much more to the Eastern philosophies, opposed to the dogmatic Western Religions - so my view of Christianity, while still positive - is by no means conventional (for example, I like to entertain the theories that Christ was actually a mushroom, or even more of a Gnostic view of Christ, or even further, an astro-theological view of Christ, just representing the Sun's travels over the course of 12 months, going in and out of various Houses of the Zodiac).

So not sure how I would protect Christianity in that sense, or rather - I guess I'm not sure what "protecting Christianity" means. Although, from what i understand about the Knights Templar (which is the specific degree I'm referencing with the whole protection concept) their views on Christianity weren't exactly conventional either - on account of spitting on the cross, and worshiping Baphomet (from what I've heard)

Hey Scientist.

You really dont get into the more Christian aspects of the York Rite until you are up to the Chivalric or Templar degrees. The Royal Arch and Cryptic Rite are less about Christian Tenets and more a completion of the Blue Degrees, as I said earlier, so dont stress too much about the religous aspects as they pertain to Christianity. You dont neccessarily have to take all of the York Degrees either. Once you complete the Royal Arch, that might be as far as you wanted to go.

Hope that makes sense

Dredz

[edit on 2-5-2007 by dredz]

ah, thank you very much! i believe I will do the york rite through the royal arch degree, and from there i will decide whether or not to complete the degrees, or to go right into Scottish Rite. thanks again.