The Degree Rituals The Supreme Council, 33 ... - Scottish Rite, NMJ

14 The Degree Rituals
The Question of Resources
Ritualistic revision also has been driven by conditions and changes within
the fraternity. One hundred Valleys, more or less, spread across the 15-state
jurisdiction, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River, and from Canada to
the Ohio River, represent diverse aggregations of human and material resources.
Degree rituals that require a multi-scene stage production, with a
sizable cast and elaborate costumes and sets, may be an acceptable challenge
for large, well-endowed Valleys, but beyond the capabilities of small Valleys
with slender resources. The usual result is that such a ritual never appears in
the degree schedules of the latter, or, if it does, is presented in an unimpressive,
inadequate manner. The optimum goal should be to devise a ritual with
options that can be presented in full panoply by Valleys able to pursue that option,
but providing for basic cast, dialogue, and scene requirements so that the
ritual can be presented in a meaningful and inspiring manner by all Valleys
in the jurisdiction.
Membership trends since the 1970’s have had an impact on the availability
of degree cast participants in every Valley of the jurisdiction, regardless of
size or location. A universal complaint from directors is that they no longer
are able to cast the degrees. Large degree casts once may have been desirable
to provide opportunities for member participation, as well as for theatrical
effect. But present reality calls for rituals that can be presented effectively by
minimal numbers of essential cast members.