32nd level mason

OK, so I'm visiting my Dad in Florida and just noticed his ring. I asked him if it was a mason ring. He not only said yes, but told me he is a 32nd level mason. Of course, I asked him for some secrets and he said they would not be secrets if he told me.
I can't believe I'm almost 50 and didn't know this.
So how far up is 32nd level?
If I don't answer in a timely fashion it's because I'm not home and although I have my laptop I'm on vacation.

Apparently it only goes up to 33.


2nd


U

Originally posted by horseplay
OK, so I'm visiting my Dad in Florida and just noticed his ring. I asked him if it was a mason ring. He not only said yes, but told me he is a 32nd level mason. Of course, I asked him for some secrets and he said they would not be secrets if he told me.
I can't believe I'm almost 50 and didn't know this.
So how far up is 32nd level?
If I don't answer in a timely fashion it's because I'm not home and although I have my laptop I'm on vacation.

There's nothing hugely unusual about a 32° Mason, To clarify, your father is a member of the Scottish Rite, a side rite or additional group that one can join once you've proved yourself in the first 3 Degrees. The other side rite is York Rite Masonry. From what I know of Scottish Rite, one can hit the 32nd Degree in pretty short order (a weekend even IIRC). However, numbers don't mean anything in terms of being high, low or otherwise. For instance, in two years, I should be Master of my Lodge and any 32° Mason who's attending is technically under my thumb. However, to non-Masons with a conspiracist bent, the 32nd Degree is at the lip of the beginning of the 'true' power in Masonry.

HTH

Fitz

Well next time you see your dad, tell him we said thanks for helping to destroy America, if not humanity

Originally posted by WatcherMan
Well next time you see your dad, tell him we said thanks for helping to destroy America, if not humanity

Yeah what this guy said ^

...and tell him to stop sending helicopters over my house. + killing people with swine flu.

So are Masons and Freemasons the same thing?
My dad is a die hard republican, but I don't think he wants to destroy the world.

By the 18th degree one should no longer be a "die hard" ANYPARTY...

Originally posted by Atlantican
By the 18th degree one should no longer be a "die hard" ANYPARTY...

Why should any degree dictate what your political leanings may be?

reply to post by horseplay


Masons and Freemasons are the same thing. 32nd degree like Fitz said isn't unusual, I'm a 32nd degree as are most other Masons on here. And most of us don't want to destroy the world (I'm on the fence about it)

Originally posted by Atlantican
By the 18th degree one should no longer be a "die hard" ANYPARTY...

Hi. I received the 18th degree.. Knight of the Rose Croix de Heredom.. I don't recall anything saying I wasn't allowed to be a diehard Libertarian.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by horseplay

 

Masons and Freemasons are the same thing. 32nd degree like Fitz said isn't unusual, I'm a 32nd degree as are most other Masons on here. And most of us don't want to destroy the world (I'm on the fence about it)

More accurately Mason and Freemason are used interchangeably though a few of my non-Mason friends have jokingly asked me to quote on wall repairs and such. Those would be "operative" Masons as opposed to Freemasons who're "speculative" Masons.

Originally posted by Atlantican
By the 18th degree one should no longer be a "die hard" ANYPARTY...

Originally posted by Rockpuck
Hi. I received the 18th degree.. Knight of the Rose Croix de Heredom.. I don't recall anything saying I wasn't allowed to be a diehard Libertarian.

And I'm a Liberal. As a Canuck, even if I were of a conservative bent, my politics'd still be to the left of U.S. Democrats who're regularly browbeaten as being too 'left'.

reply to post by AugustusMasonicus


Dont let these morons bait you, 32 degree or 3rd degree...there is no conspiracy, only good people meeting together to better themselves through morals and a continued path of gaining knowledge. We just use different words and objects to obtain this.

Only the un-intellectuals will find this a bad and nefarious way of life.


Sniper

Originally posted by Fitzgibbon

Originally posted by horseplay
OK, so I'm visiting my Dad in Florida and just noticed his ring. I asked him if it was a mason ring. He not only said yes, but told me he is a 32nd level mason. Of course, I asked him for some secrets and he said they would not be secrets if he told me.
I can't believe I'm almost 50 and didn't know this.
So how far up is 32nd level?
If I don't answer in a timely fashion it's because I'm not home and although I have my laptop I'm on vacation.

There's nothing hugely unusual about a 32° Mason, To clarify, your father is a member of the Scottish Rite, a side rite or additional group that one can join once you've proved yourself in the first 3 Degrees. The other side rite is York Rite Masonry. From what I know of Scottish Rite, one can hit the 32nd Degree in pretty short order (a weekend even IIRC). However, numbers don't mean anything in terms of being high, low or otherwise. For instance, in two years, I should be Master of my Lodge and any 32° Mason who's attending is technically under my thumb. However, to non-Masons with a conspiracist bent, the 32nd Degree is at the lip of the beginning of the 'true' power in Masonry.

HTH

Fitz

What is the difference between Scottish rite and York rite?

Originally posted by TheGreatest
What is the difference between Scottish rite and York rite?

What's the difference between taking wood shop and metal shop in high school? Both are electives, neither are required to graduate. You could learn something interesting from both but being a star pupil in either class won't necessarily make you valedictorian.

Basically York Rite and Scottish Rite are systems of additional degrees that you can take after you've become a Master Mason. They don't give you any rank over regular Masons, but they expand the lessons and allegories taught in the first 3 degrees.

Originally posted by JoshNorton

Originally posted by TheGreatest
What is the difference between Scottish rite and York rite?

What's the difference between taking wood shop and metal shop in high school? Both are electives, neither are required to graduate. You could learn something interesting from both but being a star pupil in either class won't necessarily make you valedictorian.

Basically York Rite and Scottish Rite are systems of additional degrees that you can take after you've become a Master Mason. They don't give you any rank over regular Masons, but they expand the lessons and allegories taught in the first 3 degrees.

Thanks for expanding my understanding, another question if you don't mind, don't answer if it puts you in an uncomfortable position. How would the lessons differ between the two?

Many thanks

Originally posted by TheGreatest
Thanks for expanding my understanding, another question if you don't mind, don't answer if it puts you in an uncomfortable position. How would the lessons differ between the two?

I haven't joined the York Rite yet, so I can't say for certain. My impression from talking to friends who are in both is that the Scottish Rite derives its lessons more from philosophy and comparative religious studies. The KSig may be able to shed more light on the York side of things. (Perhaps the York Rite uses a more historical perspective? I'm not sure.)

Originally posted by JoshNorton

Originally posted by TheGreatest
Thanks for expanding my understanding, another question if you don't mind, don't answer if it puts you in an uncomfortable position. How would the lessons differ between the two?

I haven't joined the York Rite yet, so I can't say for certain. My impression from talking to friends who are in both is that the Scottish Rite derives its lessons more from philosophy and comparative religious studies. The KSig may be able to shed more light on the York side of things. (Perhaps the York Rite uses a more historical perspective? I'm not sure.)

edit on 2012.2.10 by JoshNorton because: (no reason given)

It's unusual thing, where you have this collective group of people that is perceived as being extremely evasive and secretive with "sinister" secrets, when really it is no different than a church congregation discussing their faiths and beliefs and expanding and sharing knowledge amongst one another, perhaps this is the truth of freemasonry?

Originally posted by TheGreatest
perhaps this is the truth of freemasonry?

Masonry is an adjunct to one's faith. It draws on the central tenets that the world's religions share so that men of good will of whatever faith are able to work together for the betterment of mankind as a whole. My lodge has members of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, LDS and Sikh faiths all able to work together in harmony recognising the larger good.

If thus is a bad thing, then I'm happy to be contributing in my own small way

Fitz

Originally posted by Fitzgibbon

Originally posted by TheGreatest
perhaps this is the truth of freemasonry?

Masonry is an adjunct to one's faith. It draws on the central tenets that the world's religions share so that men of good will of whatever faith are able to work together for the betterment of mankind as a whole. My lodge has members of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, LDS and Sikh faiths all able to work together in harmony recognising the larger good.

If thus is a bad thing, then I'm happy to be contributing in my own small way

Fitz

Oh, very interesting. That would explain the large amount of charity work lodge's tend to do in their respective communities.

reply to post by TheGreatest


And now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Love

Bro. W3RLIED2 3* Master Mason.

That's cool your dads a mason!

Originally posted by TheGreatest
It's unusual thing, where you have this collective group of people that is perceived as being extremely evasive and secretive with "sinister" secrets, when really it is no different than a church congregation discussing their faiths and beliefs and expanding and sharing knowledge amongst one another, perhaps this is the truth of freemasonry?

I suppose the main difference is that we really don't go into any specific religious dogma. I would think actually discussing an individual's belief would be more in line with Unitarianism. In Masonry we agree to the fact that we believe in one God, who created the universe, and we hope that if we lead a good life we'll be welcomed in an afterlife. That's about as far as the faith-based stuff goes. My take on it is, no one of us can know for certain what happens to us after we die, so why argue over what to call your God or how best to worship Him? In the meanwhile, we CAN agree to share our time on earth trying to help people in need, in whatever capacity that might take... medical, financial, manual labor, education, or whatever. So we fund hospitals, take up collections for people who are down on their luck, help with things like Habitat for Humanity, offer scholarships to kids going off to college, etc.

We teach each other morality, and offer through symbolism some tools to try to lead a better life.