Scottish Rite - Valley of St. Louis

The Consistory Degrees are very different from all the preceding degrees.  They attempt to illustrate the creation of the ideal balance between the spiritual and the temporal.

These degrees are the culmination, summing up as it were, of all the previous degrees. They Royal Secret, like the occult science of the ancients, is concealed even here, but remember, "Faith begins where reason sinks exhausted." The Star of Hope shines for us as it did for the Wise Men of the East two thousand years ago. Today, as in the first days of creation, good and evil, right and wrong, justice and mercy, balance each other to teach us to remember ourselves as immortal souls, retaining for each other respect and charity while slowly climbing to that state of perfection - the final goal for all.

THE DEGREES

31° - INSPECTOR INQUISITOR

The title of this Degree conveys the thought of self-examination. Every man, and more especially every Mason, should ponder prayerfully and soberly on his thoughts and acts of the day. The wrongs of today must not be repeated on the morrow, for each day should add some light and truth for our guidance for the next.

32° - MASTER OF THE ROYAL SECRET

In this Degree, the Royal Secret, like the occult science of the ancients, is concealed even here. Today, as in the first days of the creation, the universal equilibrium still retains its predominant position in the eternal plan of the Omnipotent. Good and evil, right and wrong, justice and mercy, attraction and repulsion balance each other to teach us to remember ourselves as immortal souls, retaining for each other respect and charity and remembering always that each is slowly climbing to the State of Perfection, the final Goal for all.