IF YOU ARE NOT A MASON.

Before you can join the Scottish Rite, you first must become a Master Mason in a Lodge under a Grand Lodge that belongs to the Conference of Grand Masters in North America (COGMINA) or a recognized Grand Lodge. For further information, contact the Galveston Scottish Rite Valley at (409) 762-5152, who can in turn assist you in finding the Masonic lodge nearest you. You may also visit the website BeAFreemason.org or our residential lodge's website HarmonyLodge6.org for further information on joining freemasonry.

If You Are a Blue Lodge Mason Interested in Learning about More Light in Masonry?

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is commonly known as the Scottish Rite. It is one of several groups that are part of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry. The Scottish Rite is the largest and most widely practiced Masonic Rite in the world and employs a Lodge system.

It is our mission to improve our members and enhance the communities in which they live by teaching and emulating the principles of Brotherly Love, Tolerance, Charity, and Truth while actively embracing high social, moral, and spiritual values including fellowship, compassion, and dedication to God, family and country.

DOWNLOAD A PETITION (PDF) 

(Please download the petition, fill it out, and email it to "galtxsr at comcast.net" or postal mail it to the address listed here. After acceptance of your petition you will be requested to pay your initiation fee via this link.)


THERE IS A LOT MORE.

While there is no Masonic degree more important than that of Master Mason, there is a long tradition -- almost as old as Freemasonry -- of "high degrees" that expand upon and elaborate the teachings and lessons of the first three degrees. The Scottish Rite degrees teach a series of moral lessons culminating in the 32°, Master of the Royal Secret. The Scottish Rite continues a Master Mason's education in many ways:

  • 4° - 32° Degree work
  • Speakers at meetings
  • Leadership conferences
  • Scottish Rite Journal
  • Publishing Masonic books
  • Scottish Rite Research Society
To join the Scottish Rite you must:
  • be a Master Mason in good standing in a regular lodge;
  • complete a petition and include the appropriate fee;
  • attend a "Reunion" where the Scottish Rite Degrees are conferred.

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Scottish Rite Masons are taught that there is no Masonic distinction or higher prestige than that of "Master Mason" and that the noblest and most significant emblem is the Apron of the Master Mason. The Scottish Rite is based on Blue Lodge Masonry. The conferring of the first three Degrees is recognized as the unquestioned prerogative of the Symbolic Lodges. The Scottish Rite confers the Fourth through the Thirty-Second, inclusive. At all times it acknowledges the Grand Lodge and the Grand Master as the supreme authority in Masonry. When a Mason for any cause loses his standing in the Blue Lodge he loses his membership in the Scottish Rite.

How does Scottish Rite Masonry impart its teaching?

The degrees of the Scottish Rite are grouped in four classifications. The Ineffable Degrees, including the Fourth to the Fourteenth, are conferred in the Lodge of Perfection and relate to the Temple at Jerusalem and to legends familiar to every Mason. The Historical and Religious Degrees, comprising the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Degrees, are conferred in the Chapter of Rose Croix; while the Philosophic and Chivalric Degrees, consisting of the Nineteenth to the Thirtieth Degrees, expound the Chivalric teaching of Knighthood and the truths of philosophy, and are conferred in the Council of Kadosh. The glorious pageantry of Degrees reaches its climax in the Consistory Degrees, the Thirty-First and Thirty-Second, which are Ceremonial and Official. In splendid panorama, embellished by music and artistic settings and the effective use of lights, color and costumes, the Degrees of the Scottish Rite present the wisdom of the ages.

What are Supreme Council, Orients, and Valleys?

The governing body of the Scottish Rite is the Supreme Council. It is composed of active and deputy members of the 35 states and several overseas jurisdictions that make up the Southern Jurisdiction. Each state or jurisdiction that belongs to the Southern Jurisdiction is called an Orient. The local Scottish Rite body is called a Valley. Each Valley has up to four Scottish Rite bodies, and each body confers a set of degrees. In the Southern Jurisdiction these are the::

  • Lodge of Perfection (4° -- 14°)
  • Chapter of Rose Croix (15° -- 18°)
  • Council of Kadosh (19° -- 30°)
  • Consistory (31° -- 32°)
What are the 33°and K.C.C.H?

The Thirty-Third is a Degree conferred by the Supreme Council. At its biennial session certain 32° Masons who have been 32° Masons at least four years, and who have rendered singular service to the Rite, are chosen to receive the Rank and Decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.

What is the symbolism of the Double-Headed Eagle?

The double-headed eagle was probably first accepted by Masonry, as a symbol, in the year 1758. In that year, the body calling itself the Council of Emperors of the East and West was established in Paris. The double-headed eagle was likely to have been adopted by this Council, which claimed a double jurisdiction; one head inclined to the East to guard any and all who might approach from that direction, the other head guarding the West for a like purpose. The Council adopted a ritual of twenty-five Degrees, all of which now contained in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, to which eight more were added so as to make thirty-three Degrees of which our Rite is now composed.

The eagle, as a symbol, is rooted in antiquity. According to Albert Mackey, the great Masonic encyclopaedist, the bird was sacred to the sun in Egypt, Greece and Persia. To the Romans, it was an emblem of Jupiter and among the Druids, it was a symbol of their Supreme Being. A distinguished reference is frequently made to the eagle in the Biblical Scriptures.

It is agreed by all that while the single-headed eagle with extended wings as if in the act of flying, has always, from the majestic character of the bird, been deemed an emblem of imperial power and dignity, the extension and multiplication of that power and dignity is symbolized by the two heads. Among the Ancients, the eagle also symbolized great strength and endurance as evidenced by its keen sight, aerial prowess and resourcefulness in outwitting its prey, never wanting for daily necessities. Cicero, in speaking of the myth of Ganymede, as having been carried up to jove on the eagle's back, states that "IT TEACHES US THAT THE TRULY WISE, ILLUMINATED BY THE SHINING LIGHT OF VIRTUE, BECOME MORE AND MORE LIKE GOD, UNTIL BY WISDOM THEY ARE BORNE ALOFT AND SOAR TO HIM"

May the shining light of virtue guide and guard our life's pathway.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT THE GALVESTON SCOTTISH RITE VALLEY at (409) 762-5152

DOWNLOAD A PETITION (PDF) 

(Please download the petition, fill it out, and email it to "galtxsr at comcast.net" or postal mail it to the address listed here. After acceptance of your petition you will be requested to pay your initiation fee via this link.)

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