Masonic Degrees Explained
Freemasonry has three degrees. Everything else — the 32nd, the 33rd, the York Rite orders, the Shrine — belongs to separate organizations that a Master Mason may optionally join, and none of them outranks him in his own lodge.
That single fact clears up most confusion about Masonic structure. The numbers look like a ladder and are not one. This article explains what the three degrees actually are, and what the higher numbers actually mean.
The three degrees
Entered Apprentice
The degree received at initiation. Its keynote is that you know nothing yet, and the ceremony is constructed to make that felt rather than stated.
The symbol is the rough ashlar — the unworked stone, a person as they arrive, with their edges. The apron is plain white with the flap worn up in most jurisdictions.
An Entered Apprentice is a Mason, but a limited one: he may attend lodges opened in the first degree, and no others. He cannot vote on lodge business or hold office.
Fellow Craft
The middle degree, and the one people forget. Its theme is education: the liberal arts and sciences, the orders of architecture, the discipline of study.
Its symbols are the blazing star and the perfect ashlar — the stone that has been worked and can now be fitted alongside others. Its number is five: the five senses, the five orders of architecture.
Historically this degree carried much less weight than the other two, and some lodges still treat it as a corridor between the first and third. Masons who take it seriously generally say it is where the fraternity’s intellectual content actually lives.
Master Mason
The third degree, and the one that leaves a mark. It is structured around the legend of Hiram Abiff, the architect of Solomon’s Temple, and it deals with death.
We do not describe the ceremony. What can be said publicly is that it is the most affecting of the three, that Masons remember it decades later, and that its subject is what survives a person — memory, transmission, work that outlasts the worker. The associated symbol is the sprig of acacia, an evergreen.
A Master Mason is a full member: he votes on everything, may hold any office, may visit other lodges, and holds the highest degree Freemasonry confers.
The position of the emblem tells you the degree
A practical consequence worth knowing, and the detail that exposes badly made merchandise.
The orientation changes with the degree
Select a degree to see the corresponding position.
Both points of the compasses sit beneath the square. The Apprentice is beginning: matter and the common rule still take precedence over personal judgment.
One point of the compasses appears above the square, the other remains below. The Fellow Craft is halfway: beginning to judge for himself without having outgrown the rule.
Both points of the compasses sit above the square. The Master has internalized the rule: spirit now leads matter, without ever separating from it.
Compasses Square
This is why an incorrectly composed square and compasses is spotted instantly by anyone who knows how to read it. We cover the purchasing consequences in our guide to Masonic rings.
How long it takes, and the memorization
Timelines vary enormously by jurisdiction and lodge. Three months is fast; a year or more is common.
What governs the pace is proficiency. Between each degree, American practice requires the candidate to memorize and recite portions of the ritual to the lodge’s satisfaction, usually working one-on-one with an assigned coach. In some jurisdictions this is substantial — weeks of evenings.
This is the single most underestimated part of joining. Candidates arrive expecting philosophy and encounter homework.
A few Grand Lodges permit one-day classes conferring all three degrees in a single session. They are efficient, they address the membership decline, and they are genuinely controversial among Masons who believe the work should be earned slowly. Both positions are argued in good faith.
Grade is not office
The distinction that confuses outsiders most.
A degree is permanent: you never stop being a Master Mason. An office is elective and temporary, generally one year.
The principal offices of a lodge:
- Worshipful Master — presides. Elected, typically for one year. Not a rank and not a degree: a presiding officer who returns to the sidelines afterward.
- Senior and Junior Wardens — the succession, and the officers who supervise the craft.
- Treasurer and Secretary — usually the longest-serving members in the room, and often the ones who actually keep the lodge running.
- Deacons, Stewards, Tyler, Chaplain — ritual roles and the outer guard.
Each office carries a jewel worn on a collar: the square for the Master, the level for the Senior Warden, the plumb for the Junior Warden, crossed keys for the Treasurer, crossed pens for the Secretary. These denote office actually held — see our Masonic jewelry guide.
So what is a 32nd degree Mason?
A Master Mason who has also joined the Scottish Rite and received its degrees.
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite confers degrees numbered 4 through 32, with the 33rd awarded honorarily for service. In the United States it is organized into Valleys under two Supreme Councils, Northern and Southern.
Three clarifications dissolve most of the mythology:
It is a separate organization. The Scottish Rite is not a higher tier of the Grand Lodge. It requires Master Mason membership to join and is governed independently.
It confers no authority. A 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason entering a Blue Lodge is a Master Mason, with one vote, like everyone else. He may well be junior in that room to a man who never left the third degree.
The degrees are not sequential achievements. In American practice most Scottish Rite degrees are conferred as theatrical presentations over a reunion weekend, watched rather than individually undergone. They are thematic elaborations — moral, philosophical, chivalric — not rungs.
The York Rite is the other main path, organized differently: Chapter (Royal Arch), Council (Cryptic degrees), and Commandery (Knights Templar, which requires a Christian profession). It uses names rather than numbers, which causes less confusion.
The Shrine — Shriners International — requires Master Mason membership and is the philanthropic and social body best known for its children’s hospitals. It confers no Masonic degrees at all.
Why the numbers mislead
Because in every other context, higher numbers mean higher rank. Military grades, belt colors, job levels — the intuition is universal and it is wrong here.
The accurate mental model is a university. The three degrees are the degree program. The appendant bodies are elective seminars: some historical, some philosophical, some chivalric. Taking twenty-nine seminars does not make you the dean.
Many Masons never join an appendant body at all and consider the Blue Lodge sufficient for a lifetime. That is a completely ordinary position, not a failure to advance.
In short
Three degrees, several years, and a fair amount of memorization. Everything numbered above three belongs to a separate organization you may join if the subject interests you.
The word degree misleads, and so does the numbering. There are no ranks in a lodge — only offices that rotate, and a third degree that everyone eventually shares.
Frequently asked questions
What are the three degrees of Freemasonry?
Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason. The first is received at initiation and its symbol is the rough ashlar. The second concerns education and the liberal arts, with the blazing star and perfect ashlar. The third is structured around the legend of Hiram Abiff and deals with death and transmission. A Master Mason holds the highest degree Freemasonry confers.
What is a 32nd degree Mason?
A Master Mason who has also joined the Scottish Rite, a separate organization conferring degrees numbered 4 through 32, with the 33rd awarded honorarily for service. It requires Master Mason membership, is governed independently of the Grand Lodge, and confers no authority whatsoever inside a Blue Lodge.
Is the 33rd degree higher than a Master Mason?
No. A 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason entering a Blue Lodge is a Master Mason with one vote, exactly like everyone else, and may be junior in that room to a man who never left the third degree. The numbers look like a ladder but describe a separate elective program, not advancement within Freemasonry.
How long does it take to go through the three degrees?
Three months at the fastest, a year or more commonly. What governs the pace is proficiency: American practice requires candidates to memorize and recite portions of the ritual to the lodge's satisfaction between degrees, usually with an assigned coach. A few Grand Lodges permit one-day classes conferring all three at once, which remains controversial.
What is the difference between a degree and an office?
A degree is permanent — you never stop being a Master Mason. An office is elective and temporary, generally one year: Worshipful Master, Senior and Junior Warden, Treasurer, Secretary and the rest. The Worshipful Master presides but is not a rank; he returns to the sidelines when his term ends.
What is the difference between the Scottish Rite and the York Rite?
Both are appendant bodies open to Master Masons, taking different paths. The Scottish Rite uses numbered degrees 4 through 32 and is organized into Valleys. The York Rite uses names rather than numbers — Chapter for the Royal Arch, Council for the Cryptic degrees, Commandery for the Knights Templar, which requires a Christian profession. Neither outranks the Blue Lodge.
Do you have to join the Scottish Rite or York Rite?
No. Many Masons never join an appendant body and consider the Blue Lodge sufficient for a lifetime, which is an entirely ordinary position rather than a failure to advance. The appendant bodies are better understood as elective seminars than as steps in a hierarchy.