How many degrees in free madonry

Pure Ancient Masonry consists of three symbolic degrees: Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason, including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch, as declared in the 1813 Act of Union and held by the United Grand Lodge of England 1.

In the early speculative system following the formation of the Grand Lodge in 1717, there was originally only one degree or form of initiation 1 2 3. The division into three symbolic degrees in the Craft grew up gradually between 1717 and 1730 1 3. Throughout much of the eighteenth century, it remained common for Masons to take only the first degree without proceeding further 3.

In the Royal Arch, the degree is historically understood not as an entirely separate entity, but as the completing part or cope-stone of the Third Degree legend 1.

Beyond the Craft and Royal Arch, additional degrees exist in extended rites and systems. In the Scottish Rite, degrees extend beyond the three symbolic degrees, while historical rites established varied structures—such as Fessler's five "Degrees of Knowledge" composed to reform advanced degrees 1, or the 31st degree of the Rite of Mizraim 1.

Works cited

From the library. Each claim above is numbered to the work and page it came from.

Albert C. Mackey Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences pp. 131, 579, 1610 Mackey details the transition from a single initiation in 1717 to the three-degree system by 1730, along with various side and philosophical degree systems.; Mackey cites the 1813 Act of Union definition of pure Ancient Masonry consisting of three degrees plus

David Murray Lyon History of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel) No. 1. Embracing an Account of the Rise and Progress of Freemasonry in Scotland p. 269 Lyon records lodge minute evidence from Scotland showing the late introduction of the third degree in 1738.

William James Hughan Origin of the English Rite of Freemasonry, Especially in Relation to the Royal Arch Degree 1884 · pp. 14-17, 42-43 Hughan shows that in the 18th century many Masons took only the first degree, and documents the early growth of additional degrees.; Hughan discusses the transition from operative to speculative Masonry and the emergence of three distinct degrees post-1717.

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