Continue Your Journey
As freemasonry is a progressive science, your journey to receive more internal enlightenment continues beyond the Royal Arch Degrees.
The structure of Royal Arch Freemasonry, as practised under the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland, has three degrees within the Royal Arch Chapter: Mark Degree, which is commonly conferred within your blue lodge in Scotland; Excellent Master Degree and the Royal Arch Degree, which is the foundation stone of Royal Arch Freemasonry; you must have attained these degrees before you can progress.
The Lodge and Council and Cryptic Council degrees are optional, but a pre-requisite for these degrees is that you must be a Royal Arch Mason in good standing. You need not progress any further unless you wish to progress to be a Commissioned Office Bearer in the Provincial Grand Lodge of Ayrshire.
Appended Orders and Degrees
The Appended Orders are subject to a Provincial or District Grand Chapter and, in turn, are subject to the Supreme Grand Chapter.
Lodge and Council
The Lodge and Council Series consists of:
- The Royal Ark Mariner Degree
- Knight of the Sword
- Knight of the East
- Knight of the East and West.
Cryptic Council
The Cryptic Rite Series consists of:
- Royal Master
- Select Master
- Super Excellent Master
Your Journey within Scottish Royal Arch Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a progressive science, and your journey beyond the blue lodge continues with Royal Arch Freemasonry.
The Royal Arch Series
The Royal Arch Series consists of the Mark Master Mason Degree, Excellent Master Degree and Royal Arch Degree.
Mark Master Masons Degree
The Mark Degree can be conferred on Master Masons either in a Craft Lodge or a Mark Lodge attached to a Royal Arch Chapter. The Mark Master Mason Degree is the first degree in the Royal Arch series.
A candidate for admission to the Royal Arch who has received the degree in his Craft Lodge must affiliate to the Mark Lodge attached to the Chapter into which he is seeking to be exalted. This degree is set at the time of the building of King Solomon’s Temple but before the events of the Master Mason Degree.
Excellent Masters Degree
This degree is set 470 years after the building of King Solomon’s Temple. It narrates the release of the Jews, who had been held captive in Babylon under the decree of King Cyrus the Great, with the instruction to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the now-destroyed Temple.
Royal Arch Degree
This degree is set during the rebuilding of King Solomon’s Temple to become the Second Temple of Jerusalem. It narrates the rediscovery of the Secret Vault constructed in the Mark Degree and its purpose. This leads to the recovery of the secrets lost during the building of King Solomon’s Temple, as narrated in the Master Mason Degree and teaches the importance of rebuilding and renewal and that, in time, that which was lost will once again be found.
The Lodge & Council Series
The Lodge and Council Series consists of the Royal Ark Mariner Degree, Knight of the Sword, Knight of the East, and Knight of the East and West.
The Royal Ark Mariner Degree
This degree focuses on the story of Noah and his family and the building of the Ark during the Great Flood in a Masonic context. It teaches that survival is assured with faithfulness and obedience to God.
Knight of the Sword
Set in the court of King Cyrus the Great, it narrates the events that led to his release of the Jewish people, instructing them, under the leadership of Zerubbabel, to return to Jerusalem and build the Second Temple. Some of the events in the return journey from Babylon to Jerusalem are then narrated. Sequentially, this degree comes before the Excellent Masters Degree. It teaches perseverance through the example of Zerubbabel.
Knight of the East
This degree narrates some of the difficulties encountered by Zerubbabel and his people during the building of the Second Temple and how they were overcome. It is contemporaneous with the Royal Arch Degree and comes just before the completion of the Second Temple. The degree teaches perseverance in that, regardless of the difficulties that life places before us, we can overcome them.
Knight of the East & West
The degree narrates a reward for his industry and skill, which was given to Zerubbabel after the completion of the Second Temple. It teaches that, with perseverance, all will come good in the end.
The Cryptic Rite Series
The Cryptic Rite Series comprises the Royal Master, Select Master, and Super Excellent Master.
The Royal Master
This degree has two settings. The first is before the events of the Master Mason Degree, and the Master Builder contemplates the subject of death in general terms with regard to himself in particular. The second setting is after the Master Builder's death, and the degree gives lessons on the inevitability of death.
Select Master
The setting of this degree is the Secret Vault of King Solomon’s Temple and the depositing therein of the sacred treasurers that will one day be recovered. It follows sometime after the Mark Master Mason Degree and shortly before the destruction of King Solomon’s Temple. This degree teaches that our most sacred possessions sometimes need to be hidden to be recovered later.
Super Excellent Master
This degree narrates the destruction of King Solomon’s Temple and the taking of the Jewish people into captivity in Babylon. It teaches that, although circumstances can overtake us, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
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The Royal Arch Journey
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