It only takes a weekend

It enrages me when people ask "how high up are you in Masonry?" Read on to see why, and you too will start to get bothered by the question.

There are only six possible responses. Well, maybe a couple more when you add in the Shriners, but they are a bunch of alcoholics anyway, so I am omitting them from the argument, despite the fact that they wear awesome fezes and drive mini-corvettes.

Okay, the six responses:

#1.
"I joined and got bored/busy/hit by a car/lazy and didn't stick with it to the Master Mason Degree, which in all actuality only takes three months and minimal brain effort to accomplish. Man, am I lazy!"

#2.
"I'm a Master Mason. I haven't joined the appendant bodies as of now."

#3
"I went all the way through the 32nd degree in the Scottish Rite. I didn't join the York Rite."

#4
"I went all the way through the York Rite. I didn't join the Scottish Rite."

#5
"I went all the way through both the York and Scottish Rites."

#6
"I hung around long enough and organized enough service projects in the Scottish Rite that they presented me with the 33rd degree ceremony. It was very anti-climactic to witness. Go ahead, look it up online, you can find it. It's very boring and has nothing to do with ruling the world. Boo hoo."

There is no such thing as a 4th or a 5th ... or a 18th or a 19th ... or a 30th or a 31st level Scottish Rite freemason.

Why not?

Because they do all of the Scottish Rite degrees (up to 32nd) back to back in a weekend. There is no memorization work or catechism to learn. Same with the York Rite.

No, I am not a freemason. I simply went up to their lodge and said "Hey watcha doin'?" and the dude there said "I dunno. Stuff." and I said "Hey tell me about masonry and stuff." and he said "Oh it's like cool and stuff."

Well, he was much more informative than that. I just went on a tangent. He told me about the one-month waiting periods between Blue Lodge degrees, and how they do the Scottish and York Rites once a year and they just jam all the degrees into a weekend. There is no memorization work to do.

And the 33rd degree Scottish Rite freemasons? No, they don't "sit and laugh" at the other guys. They just kind of... get drunk and play ping-pong with everyone else.

----------

To add to my rant, THE MAIN BODY OF FREEMASONRY ONLY HAS THREE DEGREES. YOU JOIN A TOTALLY SEPARATE ORGANIZATION TO DO ANYTHING FURTHER. It has its own separate organization, its own seperate meeting times, and its own separate annual dues.

If you are a 32nd degree in the Scottish Rite, when you go and hang out with your Blue Lodge, you are a Master Mason. That's it. Whatever you do in the Scottish Rite has nothing to do with Blue Lodge, likewise with the York Rite.

And the 33rd degree guy that I met at the Masonic Temple drove a big rusty piece of siht of a pickup truck. He wasn't a wealthy banker. He was some guy who got voted to do some sort of administative BS for the lodge, totally uncompensated.

-----------

The inner circle of masonry? Well if there is some dastardly inner enclave of super-awesome-fantastic-crazy-evil dudes running the whole thing, they either don't exist or are doing a terrible job. Here are my reasons:

#1
The number of freemasons are decreasing. How in the world are you supposed to take over the world if your army of brainwashed followers is diminishing? Even the Marines have an better enlistment rate, and the people signing up KNOW AHEAD OF TIME that they are going to some God-forsaken desert to get shot at by a bunch of durka-durka-sherpa-sherpa-mohammed-jihad nut jobs.

#2
Organization. Or lack thereof. A group of lodges constitute a Grand Lodge. Each Grand Lodge is totally separate from all the other Grand Lodges in the world. They double-check each other to make sure they are similar enough in practice so they can verify each other as being "regular Freemasons" but that's about it.

Okay, I am at my 4000 char max. More later.

all gone

reply to post by AChE_Inhibitor


Be forewarned. The anti-Masons and conspiracy theorists around here are going to accuse you of being a "Masonic misinformation agent", and someone who is "reporting in to a Mason of the next higher level than yourself".

If you think I'm joking, just stick around!

reply to post by AChE_Inhibitor


Don't forget the standard disclaimer that freemasonry is completely different all over the world and people from the UK, Europe and Australia should completely disregard your comments as irrelevant to them.

PS - are you a masonic misinformation agent

Originally posted by AChE_Inhibitor

The inner circle of masonry? Well if there is some dastardly inner enclave of super-awesome-fantastic-crazy-evil dudes running the whole thing, they either don't exist or are doing a terrible job. Here are my reasons:

You would be surprised on just how many secret evil organizations fit this same scenario to a tea. One that comes to mind is the Bohemian Grove. If you peeled back that onion you would most likely find a very boring group of old men that have more money than time than anything sinister.

Yep, all the people with really warped ways of looking at the world, and enough secrecy and paranoia to float a battle ship are in another group. They all joined ATS.

Now we all set around and think of ways to enlighten the world so that we can tell them how it needs to be run.

I must admit, at our lodge we actually do have an inner circle composed of some of the oldest and longest serving brothers. One with so much power it might leave you thunderstruck. They run the kitchen and get to decide what kind of beer we have at collation. Thank The Supreme Architect they are real men.....no lite beer.

I know its sad but I fall under #1.
I Joined and was working on my catechism and got so bored with the meetings I kinda parted abruptly. The food was the best part of the meetings. I heard that there is a class you can take once a year and be a master Mason in one day. In all honesty I doubt I could stay awake for it.

My Grandpas coworkers best friend was a - umm - Grand Poobah I think and they never served lite beer either because the man who was responsible for deciding what beer to serve was a hearty man- A man of Ideal and upbringing - He had so much power I WAS thunderstruck, well not thunderstruck but awe struck - well not really awe struck but it did amuse me a bit that they left the beer deciding process to a man that couldn't remember where he parked his min-car and left his Fez.

What was the question?

Dorian Soran

[edit on 11-10-2007 by Dorian Soran]

Nobody wants to hear the truth...it is much more exciting to believe the lies and hype. Anymore I tell them the truth a time or 2 then I just let them believe what they want and wallow in their own ignorance.

Originally posted by Digital_Reality
I know its sad but I fall under #1.
I Joined and was working on my catechism and got so bored with the meetings I kinda parted abruptly. The food was the best part of the meetings. I heard that there is a class you can take once a year and be a master Mason in one day. In all honesty I doubt I could stay awake for it.

My apologies for using such blunt language just in case I came across as offensive. I really wouldn't ever mean to dog on someone for not proceeding all the way thru Master Mason.

I can understand how the more pressing issues in life can take place of any type of study, be it school or extracurricular.

Oh and yes, I am a Super-Top-Secret Inner-Rhombus Illumignostocrucian Misinformation Agent. 666th Degree, of course. Hail Satan! Hail The Dragon! Hail The Beast! Hail Baphomet! Pentagrams and dead babies for everyone!

Oops... I said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet.

Don't tell anyone else, okay?

Yeah that about sums it up except I dig all the stuff even if it does get boring ever now and then

Ugh. God, although I'm going to join the Masons as soon as I get the time, I am soooo sick of the "party line defense" threads. Look, the only people you're "convincing" are those who already agree with you-until you're 33rd degree you have absolutely no way of knowing what you say is true. It furthermore bugs me that the OP is profane and yet is acting like he's got it all figured out.

I don't think the Masons are sinister but these threads must stop.

This isn't intended to be a party line defense. I'm not a member of the party in question. I'm just attempting a do-it-at-home MythBusters job.

You can find the 33rd Degree Ritual online. If I can find the link again I will post it. It's very anti-climactic and the recipient is admonished to love and defend his country and fellow citizens, even at the loss of his own life. He is also encouraged to love God and follow his laws to the highest of standards. He is also taught to fight against despotism (which means to support democracy) and fight against religious tryanny (when the Church IS the State).

They also tell you that receiving the 33rd Degree is something special just for you. It's not initiation into the We-Are-33rd-Degree-Because-We-Are-More-Awesomer-Than-You Club. It's just supposed to be a warm fuzzy.

It's as climactic as the final episode of the Sopranos.

That is the dirty little secret of the 33rd Degree. Sorry to spoil it.

reply to post by AChE_Inhibitor


And you know that the online information you are finding is authentic how?

reply to post by Masonic Light


Only one small mistake.

You can be another degree then 32nd in the Scottish Rite, when I went in I had work that could not be avoided, so they offered to let me get the 14th degree, and my ring, and then take the rest in the fall when they have the next class. I suppose I could have stopped at what ever benchmark they had setup, but yeah, only fault I find in your post!

Good job at actually taking time and talking to your local lodge.

reply to post by Rockpuck

And following on...

In England (where it isn't even called the 'Scottish Rite') you join at the 18th degree. Get the 30th after 5-10 years, or perhaps when you've gone through the Chair. Get the 31st some time after that if you're lucky. And hardly anyone gets the 32nd. The 33rd is limited to an extremely small number of people.

reply to post by Rockpuck


Yes, here in the Mother Jurisdiction, a Brother can choose to stop at the 14th, 18th, or 30th, and it is sometimes done in cases like yours, when a candidate cannot be present when the degree is conferred. But as you noted, this is just a case of conflicting schedules, and had you been able to be present, you could have received those degrees if you wanted them.