An Introduction to the High Degrees of Freemasonry

by Henrik Bogdan

By the publication of Samuel Prichard’s Masonry Dissected in 1730, the Masonic system of initiation had been established with three Craft Degrees: Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason. Even though the three Craft or Blue Lodge Degrees continued to be modified and elaborated, the basic components and the structure of the degrees was firmly established. It did not take long, however, before new rituals began to appear on the Masonic scene. These new rituals were often considered to be complements to or elaborations of the Craft Degrees. In fact, the Masonic lodges of the second half of the eighteenth century experienced a virtual “ritual-boom,” especially in France and the German-speaking countries. Many of these new rituals were collected into systems or rites, and these rites often competed with each other to serve as the sole custodian of what was claimed to be the secret of Masonry. The High Degrees are often referred to as “Red Degrees,” while the three Craft Degrees in their turn are referred to as “Blue Degrees.” In order to be eligible for the High Degrees, the candidate must be a Master Mason.

Reprint from Heredom: The Transactions of the Scottish Rite Research Society, Volume 14 (2006); itself a preview excerpt from Chapter 5 of Western Esotericism and Rituals of Initiation

40 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Henrik Bogdan is Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, focusing on alternative forms of religion, such as Western esotericism, New Religious Movemenets, and Secret/Initiatory Societies. He has served as Secretary of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE) since 2016.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This excerpted chapter contains a brief yet detailed overview of the various high-degree systems of masonry, defunct and… well, funct, including the Templar and Scottish (Ecossais) rites, Swedish and Egyptian rites, an a few varieties of "essoteric" masonry touching on alchemy, Martinism, and Rosicrucianism. The lengthy appendix examines closely the "True Mason, or Académie des Vrais Maçons" Eighth Degree of the Hermetic Rite, which is "deeply saturated with Western esotericism, particularly in the form of alchemy and, to a lesser extent, Kabbalah." This is therefore likely to be of some interest to those for whom any of the above serve as keywords. Of particular interest to me were the brief bios of those named in the degree as "sources where one may search for this [hermetic] science," many of whom happen also to be named by Crowley as Saints of the Gnostic Catholic Church, while the remainder are names unavoidable in any treatise devoted to the history of alchemy. Includes a two page index at the end for anyone who wants a quick scan to see if it's right for them.