The more interested you become in the Masonic story, the harder it becomes to understand, or rather the more confusing the available information can be.

So lets be clear, I'm not saying anything I write here might not be applicable to other countries, but it is written in direct reference to the Royal Arch Degrees as worked here in Scotland.

The problem arises mainly from the differences in the Scottish system compared to that used in the U.S.A, as approximately half of the world's Freemasons are American, it therefore, stands to reason that a bulk of Royal Arch themed websites will be of that persuasion, and therefore, most of the information you will find is not completely correct for those of us working under Scottish jurisdiction.

As a quick example below are the degrees of the Royal Arch Chapter...

Scotland Mark Master Degree Excellent Master Degree Royal Arch Degree

U.S.A. Mark Master Degree Past Masters Degree Excellent Master Degree Royal Arch Degree

...as you can see you immediately run into the problem of the American system containing an extra degree.

However, the reason for this section is not to run comparisons, at a later date I might, but for now I just want to lay down the history, or story if you prefer that lies behind the degrees of the Royal Arch as worked under the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland.

If you're reading this and are bit confused and/or unsure about the actual degree structure in Scotland, refer to the page "Degree Structure" on the main menu, or CLICK HERE.

The last thing I would like to say here is that none of what is written is this section is designed or intended to spoil or detract from the various degrees, if you are a perspective candidate reading this, I think you will find that going into the Chapter armed with the information here will enrich the experience, think of it as setting the stage if you will.