I have read that once a mason reaches the 31st degree, he mush choose the Scottish or York Rite, and then there is another set of degrees above that. Is this true?

While Masonry is not a “secret society” as is often stated or implied … it does suffer from a structural problem as an organization … which is that it is not in the ordinary sense “an organization” but rather thousands and thousands of lodges and hundreds of grand lodges that all function very independently of each other, conforming only in some general principles or “landmarks” and only in that the men in them take the same obligations to each other and humanity … worldwide.

So how is that a problem you say … well … it means that though there are hundreds of books on FreeMasonry … there is no one central organization that speaks for Masonry … Even though the originating charters mostly come from UGLE (united grand lodge of england) … or some in scottland … today … and for a very long time … really the UGLE has a right to speak, and then only in general terms of standards or values for the lodges they directly charter today.

Once an area gets its own grand lodge, the lodges there get their “charters” from it, rather then ugle or other more “original” grand lodges.

So, here is the problem, no one organization or individual has the role or the right to speak for all of Masonry, and with millions of men in the Craft, each with different lifestyles and interests, you get millions of different answers as to what Masonry is, everyone sees it in light of their own lives, interests, concerns.

This means that books written about Masonry are often more reflections of the fears, loves, interests of the writer than carefully thought out triestes on Masonry per se.

Just as ice cream looks different to a fat person versus a thin person, versus an athlete … though the ice cream is in fact, chemically and nutritionally the same no matter who is eating it … just so, in this same manner we find Masonry looks different to different individuals.

If you have questions on Masonry, please feel free to write me directly, and I will do my best to give you, or refer you to good information on Masonry.

David W. Rahfeldt
david_w_rahfeldt@comcast.net
Medina, WA USA
(Master Mason, Knight Templar, Scottish Rite 32deg, etc.)