York Rite

The York Rite is an alternative appendant body of Freemasonry (parallel to the Scottish Rite) comprising three main bodies: the Royal Arch (Chapter), the Cryptic Council (Council of Royal and Select Masters), and the Knights Templar (Commandery). The Royal Arch degree is considered by many Masons to be the completion of the Master Mason (3rd) degree — recovering the “lost Word” that was lost with the death of Hiram Abiff.

The York Rite’s emphasis on the recovery of the lost Word parallels the Kabbalistic concept of Tikkun — the restoration of what was shattered.

See Also

• Freemasonry — the parent fraternal order
• Scottish Rite — the parallel Masonic degree system
• Solomon’s Temple — the mythological setting of the York Rite’s narratives
• Tikkun — the Kabbalistic restoration paralleling the recovery of the lost Word
• Esoteric_Initiation — the York Rite as initiatory curriculum