Sammy Davis Jr. is famous for being a member of the Church of Satan. Interestingly enough long after Sammy Davis JR renounced his Satanic worship, he was accepted into the Knights of Malta.
The York Rite
In North America, after completing the three basic ‘blue’ or Craft degrees, a mason can broadly take one of two paths -or both if time and finance allows. One is the York Rite, the other is the Ancient and Accepted or Scottish Rite -the equivalent to England’s ‘Rose Croix’. We are concerned here with the York Rite.
The York Rite comprises three broad groups after the basic Craft degrees. The first is the Royal Arch Chapter and consists of, in ascending order: Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master and Holy Royal Arch Mason. The next group is the Cryptic or Royal and Select Masters. This starts with Royal Master, then moves on to Select Master and finally Super Excellent Master -which is the 10th degree in the York Rite.
The crowning glory of the York Rite is the group known as the Commandery of Knights Templar. This starts with the Order of the Red Cross, moves on to the Order of the Knights of Malta, then Order of the Knight Templar Commandery. Once you are a Knight Templar, you gain entrance to the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine -if you have the right connections.