If a Brother wanted to join the Scottish Rite in Massachusetts and go sequentially from 4º to 32º, is that even something that can be done anymore? Just join a Lodge of Perfection and work from 4º through 14º, move on to Princes of Jerusalem, and so on? I've looked at a few different Valleys over the last 2 1/2 years and get the impression that there are some degrees that get performed rarely, if ever... and not sequentially, either.
A corollary question: If you joined the Scottish Rite by way of a one-day class, did you find the degrees themselves fulfilling, or is your enjoyment of Scottish Rite drawn from your participation in one or more of the bodies that make up your Valley? I live prohibitively far from any of the Massachusetts Valleys to get anywhere near as involved as I have in my Blue Lodge, so my main interest in the Scottish Rite (at least, right now) would be in experiencing the degrees themselves. I know the degrees don't need to be taken sequentially, but I'm not in a rush.
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Please read my post about this:
http://cornwineoil.blogspot.com/2009/07/traditional-observance-scottish-rite.html
Thank you Brother, I now remember reading that when you first posted it last year, and I thank you for refreshing my memory.
As with Craft Masonry, it sounds like the interest in a TO-style experience (emphasis on the initiatic experience, emphasis on study and education) may be there among some brethren, but it will be up to those who have already joined to try and create the experience they wished they had had.
(And again as with Craft Masonry, that's not to say the current way the degrees are conferred doesn't have its own merits or appeal... just that to a certain type of candidate, it might feel wanting.)
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