It is an ancient form of learning, this process of progressive initiation by Degrees. Caves in Greece were used as sites for initiations as were the pyramids in Egypt. Caves were used in ancient Persia, and both mazes and mounds were used by the Druids in England and Ireland. Recently, an initiation labyrinth has been discovered atop one of the highest mountains in Peru, dating from far before the Inca civilization.
You will not be subjected to the months of preparation and physical trial typical of the ancient Mysteries-although it may not hurt to reflect that your ancient Brethren so valued the same information you will receive (while sitting in a padded chair) that they received it, in some cases, while suspended over a pit of fire.
The Degrees of the Scottish Rite are plays, drama in the oldest sense of the work, in which good and evil, insight and ignorance struggle against each other. They are progressive-each building on what has gone before. The characters represent qualities and types more than individuals as we typically think of them now. The lessons they present are as true now as when they were first written down in the mists of antiquity.
1: Receiving the degrees is an active, not a passive process. It’s true that you will be sitting in the auditorium rather than moving about the stage, but your participation is no less active for that. If you simply sit there and watch the Degree as you would a television program, you will almost certainly not benefit from it. Rather, the mind must be turned on. Watch the Degrees actively, thinking all the while. Ask yourself such questions as: Why is the king doing what he’s doing? Why are the colors red and white used in this Degree? What does the character represent? The Degrees are not entertainment; they are as much a form of work as were your English or math or physics textbooks in school.
2: Never take things at face value. The Degrees are allegories, collections of symbols and stories strung together to make a point or to teach a lesson-usually several lessons at once. The young child who simply sees the story of the boy who cried wolf as an entertaining yarn has missed the point. Like that story, the Degrees carry messages which are “under” the plot line, and those messages are the point.
3: If messages seem to be contradictory, they may be. The Degrees will explore the real questions and answers that men have supplied throughout the ages. Those questions do not always have the same answers. For example, the 15° will suggest that one must never break one’s word, no matter what. The 27° will suggest that sometime, for the good of others, one must fail to keep a vow. Both may be right, both may be wrong. The Scottish Rite does not provide answers, it gives guidance in understanding questions. Men of good faith can disagree.
4: Don’t expect to get it all the first time. You will see questions raised which form the study of a lifetime. It simply is not possible to “get everything out of” a degree the first time you see it, any more than you could get everything out of a text book on a casual reading. They are too rich and full for that. But that’s what makes them rewarding!
5: Don’t get discouraged. It is easy to feel as if there is so much you will never manage to understand it all, much less master it. That may be true. Many Scottish Rite Masons who have made the study of the Rite their major pastime for many years constantly find new meanings and interpretations, and eagerly share those with others. But the beauty of the Degrees is that they will benefit a man even if he only grasps a little of them at first. Insight comes with thought. Don’t be discouraged. The beauty and wealth of the teachings will sustain you.
The lessons of the Scottish Rite are taken, for the most part, from Antiquity. But the applications of these lessons are as contemporary as tomorrow. The fact is, the conflicts, the choices, decisions, and the ethical dilemmas men face, and the ideals on how we should live, do not change in their basics, even if they change in their circumstances.
At the beginning of the information for each Degree is a brief discussion of the Degree and some of the contemporary questions which might arise in a Brother’s life today.
