The three degrees of the Blue Lodge are the foundation of Freemasonry, and they are complete in themselves. For Master Masons who want to go further, a family of related organizations known as the appendant bodies offer a continued path of study, fellowship, and service. Each body has its own traditions and its own character. All of them take their meaning from the Blue Lodge, and none of them replaces it.
Joining any appendant body is entirely a Mason's own choice. Many Brethren find everything they need in the lodge and never look further. Others find that the appendant bodies open new dimensions of the Craft and deepen the understanding they began in the three degrees. Both are legitimate paths.
This lodge has particular historical ties to the appendant bodies. Albert Pike Lodge No. 117, one of our five predecessor lodges, bore the name of the Sovereign Grand Commander who shaped the Scottish Rite for a generation. Pythagoras Lodge No. 41 met at the Denver Consistory before its merger with Albert Pike Lodge. Rob Morris Lodge No. 92 was named for the Mason who founded the Order of the Eastern Star. Many members of this lodge, past and present, have held senior positions in the appendant bodies across Colorado. That history is part of who we are.
The Scottish Rite
The Scottish Rite offers Master Masons an extended journey of Masonic study and advancement through a series of additional degrees beyond the third. It is one of the oldest and most widely practiced bodies in American Freemasonry, with a tradition of serious philosophical and historical inquiry that has attracted generations of Masons who want more than the Blue Lodge alone provides.
In the United States, the Scottish Rite operates through two Supreme Councils. The Northern Masonic Jurisdiction covers the northeastern states. The Southern Jurisdiction, whose authority covers Colorado, was shaped for thirty years by Albert Pike, the man whose name this lodge's predecessor carried for over a century. Pike's influence on the Rite remains visible today. Masons in Denver pursue the Scottish Rite through the Valley of Denver, which meets at the Denver Consistory at 1370 Grant Street.
The Scottish Rite in Colorado has a long and active history of Masonic education, community involvement, and charitable work. The Scottish Rite Foundation, Southern Jurisdiction, supports childhood language disorder clinics and learning centers across the country, including programs benefiting Colorado families.
The York Rite
The York Rite is a collection of three related Masonic bodies that a Master Mason may join in sequence: the Royal Arch Chapter, the Cryptic Council, and the Commandery of Knights Templar. Each has its own traditions and draws on different strands of Masonic and Western historical symbolism. Together they offer a path of further learning that complements the Blue Lodge work through a different lens.
Like the Scottish Rite, the York Rite's deeper teachings are reserved for those who pursue them. What a Mason takes from these bodies depends largely on the attention and sincerity he brings to them. For those with a genuine appetite for the Craft's history and symbolism, the York Rite offers a rich and distinct continuation of the journey.
Denver's York Rite bodies have operated in and around this building for well over a century. Denver Chapter No. 2 Royal Arch Masons, Denver Council No. 1 Royal and Select Masters, and Colorado Commandery No. 1 Knights Templar each serve Master Masons across the Front Range. Colorado also has an active Grand York Rite, with bodies operating in communities throughout the state.
The Shrine
Shriners International, formally the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, is open to Master Masons who have reached a certain level in either the Scottish Rite or the York Rite. It is primarily a philanthropic organization, and its charitable mission is among the most consequential of any fraternal body in the world.
Shriners Hospitals for Children operates a network of hospitals and outpatient facilities across North America providing specialized care to children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate. Treatment is provided regardless of a family's ability to pay. The organization has served hundreds of thousands of children since its founding in 1922.
El Jebel Shrine Temple in Denver has served Colorado's Masonic community for generations and remains one of the most active Shrine temples in the region. Beyond the hospitals, local Shrine units and clubs raise funds through events, parades, and community activities that keep the charitable mission visible and supported throughout Colorado. For Masons drawn to the service dimension of the Craft, the Shrine offers a direct and meaningful way to put those values into practice.
The Order of the Eastern Star
The Order of the Eastern Star is open to Master Masons and their female relatives. It was founded by Rob Morris, the Poet Laureate of Freemasonry, who developed its ritual in the early 1850s to extend the principles of the Craft to the women connected to Masonic families. It is today the largest appendant Masonic body in the world.
The Eastern Star's connection to this lodge is direct. Rob Morris Lodge No. 92, one of our five predecessor lodges, was chartered in Denver in 1892 by men who had known Morris personally. The Order of the Eastern Star has been part of the Masonic community in this building for as long as the lodge has met here. Colorado has an active Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star with chapters throughout the state, and the Denver area hosts several thriving local chapters.
Continuing the Journey
The appendant bodies are most rewarding for Masons who come to them having done the work in the Blue Lodge first. The degrees of the Scottish Rite, the chapters of the York Rite, and the philanthropy of the Shrine all connect back to the foundation laid in the three degrees. A man who brings genuine understanding of that foundation to the appendant bodies tends to get more from them. A man who rushes past the Blue Lodge to collect degrees elsewhere tends to find the experience thinner than he expected.
Members of this lodge who are active in the appendant bodies are glad to talk about their experiences, answer questions, and help a newer Mason figure out which path, if any, might suit him. That conversation is best had in person. Come on a Wednesday and start one.
Sources: Supreme Council, Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction (scottishrite.org); Supreme Council, Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction (scottishritenmj.org); General Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star (easternstar.org); Shriners International (shriners.com); Grand Lodge of Colorado (coloradofreemasons.org); lodge records of Albert Pike Lodge No. 117, Pythagoras Lodge No. 41, and Rob Morris Lodge No. 92.