Differences in Lodges all over the world

I was Initiated, Passed, and Raised in an American Lodge in Germany. After such, we are able to "travel in foreign lands" so I visited another German lodge and found there rituals completely different with some similarities. Has anyone else been to a different country and seen how they do degree work?

A friend of mine at work who is a mason recently immigrated to Canada from the Philippines. From what he has seen so far, he said it's basically the same. I've never witnessed masonic rituals, since I'm not a mason myself.

Freemasonry by its very definition is irregular and has always been intended as such.
As the Adept must present a Lodge in a manner that is befitting of its constituents, then it leaves very little room for regularity when viewed in a truly worldwide aspect.
The dominant Rite though, is the Scottish rite so most "White-Anglo-Saxon Lodges" will work the degrees in the same way however you can quickly see that this is not the case with Prince Hall Freemasonry, although there are many similarities between the lowest 3 degrees.

However the end result *should* be the same, to create an environment around an individual where-by he elevates himself to being a "master" in his own eyes.

In return for your recognistion of his "greatness" a Master Mason proves to be an extremely loyal (and affordable) item.

Originally posted by MrNECROS

The dominant Rite though, is the Scottish rite so most "White-Anglo-Saxon Lodges" will work the degrees in the same way however you can quickly see that this is not the case with Prince Hall Freemasonry, although there are many similarities between the lowest 3 degrees.

Please ignore Necros' rantings. He is not a Mason, and is not well educated on the subject.

Contrary to his above claims, most Lodges in the English-speaking world work in the York Rite. The exception to this in the USA is in one district in New Orleans, LA, which works in the Scottish Rite, but is nevertheless obedient to, and chartered by, the York Rite Grand Lodge.

However, in those countries in continental Europe where English is not the primary language, you will find other Rites being dominate, the Scottish and Swedish Rites being the most popular. The blue Lodge degrees of the Scottish Rite are similar in some aspects to the York / American Rites, but there are also big differences, such as, in the Scottish Rite, the ruffians are not apprehended in the Third Degree drama, as they are in the York Rite.

Also, just on a side note, Prince Hall Affiliation works in several different variations of the York Rite, as do other US, Canadian, and UK Lodges.

Originally posted by MrNECROS
The dominant Rite though, is the Scottish rite so most "White-Anglo-Saxon Lodges" will work the degrees in the same way however you can quickly see that this is not the case with Prince Hall Freemasonry, although there are many similarities between the lowest 3 degrees.

Personally, I like the Thailand Toilet Bombing Rite ... it's the most fun and contains great mystical secrets.

Also, just on a side note, Prince Hall Affiliation works in several different variations of the York Rite, as do other US, Canadian, and UK Lodges.

Ah, then that would be why my coworker found the rites to be basically the same. He came from the Philippines, which I would strongly suspect follow the American rites, and is now in Canada. So both would probably be York rites.

interesting subjects. Here are the different lodges i visited besides scottish rite lodges.

In Haitian / Carribean lodges, they incorporate voodoo stuff in their rituals. Its pretty crazy as the grand master will start walking around the place doing crazy incantations and will eventually get into some kind of trance state. was pretty impressive when i witnessed this.

In the memphis misraim rite, the mystic side of masonry is put forward, therefore we open and close the "works" (ouvrir et fermer les travaux, in french, i hope my translation is correct) in a traditional way, then in between we mainly do spiritual /kaballistic/''magical'' (i dont like this term) exercises. See franz bardon book ''inition into hermetics'' for details (by the way, this book contain keys to a lot of subjects, i strongly reccommend anynone interested in occult sciences to read it)

In arabic lodges, its very different as they incorporate a lot of islamic mysticism in their rituals. Islamic mysticism is referred to as Soufism (google it for more info). I really did not understood a lot of what was going on, since i dont know the quran pretty well (i have a hard time finding interest in a book that denies darwinian evolution and claims that the sun rotates around the earth).

A:.L:.G:.D:.G:.A:.D:.M:.

Moonchild :.

Originally posted by moonchild
interesting subjects. Here are the different lodges i visited besides scottish rite lodges.
[snipped: read the tripe posted above]

Moonchild :.

What you are describing is NOT Masonry.

Please stop perverting the irregular Memphis-Mizriam work into Masonry. It ISN'T. If they told you it was, you've been deceived.

Originally posted by JustMe74

Originally posted by MrNECROS
The dominant Rite though, is the Scottish rite so most "White-Anglo-Saxon Lodges" will work the degrees in the same way however you can quickly see that this is not the case with Prince Hall Freemasonry, although there are many similarities between the lowest 3 degrees.

Personally, I like the Thailand Toilet Bombing Rite ... it's the most fun and contains great mystical secrets.

Ahhh yes! Especially when the gumchewers spit on the sidewalk.