So everyone talks about 33rd degree. Let me break it down. Everyone who becomes a mason starts in a regular lodge chartered by that State’s Grand Lodge. You go through 3 degrees which when you are done with you are a Master Mason and are as high up as a mason can go. From there, there are other appendent bodies the 3 most prominent being Scottish Rite which has degrees 4-33. York Rite which doesn't number its degrees but instead names them such “Royal Arch degree” etc., and The Shrine which is who puts on the Shriner Circuses and funds the Shriner Hospitals. None of the degrees people go through in any of these bodies makes them higher up. They are considered lateral degrees or supplemental. You can choose to join one appendant bodies, some, all or none. Its all about what you want. Scottish Rite focuses on the Philosophical, York Rite on the Christian Spiritual and The Shrine on Charity. Its sort of like after you complete your main journey you get to choose what else to explore and be involved in afterward.