Scottish Rite Master Craftsman Program
Purpose: To help you dig deeper into the lessons of the degrees. If you feel that you are overwhelmed by the presentation of the Scottish Rite degrees and only caught glimpses of the many messages being presented, the courses of the Master Craftsman Program will give you a guided tutorial on both those degrees and the first three (blue lodge) degrees.
Courses – The Master Craftsman Program consists of three courses:
Symbolic Lodge – this covers Blue Lodge Masonry. The coursebook is Albert Pike’s Esoterika: The Symbolism of the Blue Degrees of Freemasonry
Scottish Rite History and Ritual – an overview of the history of the Scottish Rite and a detailed look at the monitorial aspects of the 4th thru 33rd degrees. It uses A Bridge To Light, 4th edition by Rex Hutchens and Arturo de Hoyos’s Scottish Rite Ritual Monitor & Guide, third edition
Philosophy – a deep dive into Albert Pike’s statement of the meanings of the various degrees. The coursebook is Albert Pike’s Morals & Dogma, Annotated Edition, by Arturo de Hoyos, 33°, Grand Cross (note that the edition is important, earlier versions lack the prolific footnotes provided by Ill. de Hoyos – these footnotes make the material much easier to understand for 21st century readers.) A copy of A Bridge To Light is also required to complete the quizzes.
Format: each course is divided into lessons with assigned reading in the coursebook. Each lesson has a quiz to be completed by the student, consisting of a mixture of multiple choice and short essay questions. The essays are expected to be no more than a paragraph or two. The Symbolic Lodge and the Scottish Rite History and Ritual courses may be taken on line or via physical mail. Online is generally preferred, you can find out your score on the multiple choice portion of the quiz as soon as you click ‘done’ for the quiz and can then proceed to the next lesson. The Philosophy course, however, is only available as a physical mail course.
The Scottish Rite Master Craftsman website recommends completing the courses in sequence. It is easier to complete the History and Ritual course before starting the Philosophy course, but the Symbolic Lodge course is not really a prerequisite for the other two. Many brothers have chosen to take the Symbolic Lodge course later or in parallel with one of the other courses.
How to obtain the courses: Go to the Master Craftsman website, https://scottishrite.org/scottish-rite-master-craftsman-program/ and sign up for the course you want to take first. You can purchase the coursebooks as part of enrolling in the class.
Master Craftsman Study Group – Several members of the Valley of Raleigh have been meeting via Zoom to discuss the lessons and act as ‘study partners’. If enough Brothers from the Spring 2022 class to start the Master Craftsman Program we will set up a new group specifically for new members that will stay on pace for their progress through the lessons. If you would like to be part of the new study group, email keith@keithmorgan.me.
Questions – email keith@keithmorgan.me