All men who become Masons go through the first degree of the Blue Lodge. The Blue Lodge 1 the parent or mother Lodge of Freemasonry. In the Blue Lodge are conferred the first degrees: (1) the Entered Apprentice, where a man is initiated into the beginning mysteries of the fraternity of Freemasonry; (2) the degree of Fellow Craft; and (3) the Master Mason degree.
    After passing these three degrees in the Blue Lodge, the candidate may choose not to proceed further at all, or he may choose to proceed higher along one or both of two branches in Masonry.
    One branch is known as the Scottish Rite, which advances by numerical degrees, beginning with the fourth and ending with the thirty-second, the thirty-third degree being either active or honorary. The other major branch is the Yoke Rite, which goes through what is called the "Chapter," "Council," and "Commandery" degrees, ending with the degree of Knights Templar.
    If a Mason is suspended or expelled from his Blue Lodge, it automatically severs his connection from all other Masonic bodies. Anyone who passes the first three degrees and becomes a Master Mason may visit Blue Lodges other than his own.
    On the next pages we present a diagram of the three Blue Lodge degrees that every Mason must take, plus the optional degrees of the York Rite and the Scottish Rite:
 

Blue Lodge
 

Scottish Rite
 

23. Chief of the Tabernacle
24. Prince of the Tabernacle
 

John Ankerberg & John Weldon