Freemasonry is a fraternal organization, existing in various forms worldwide, whose membership has shared moral and metaphysical ideals and in most of its branches requires a constitutional declaration of belief in a Supreme Being.[1]
Freemasonry is administratively organized into Grand Lodges (or sometimes Orients) that govern a particular jurisdiction made up of subordinate (or constituent) Lodges. Grand Lodges recognize each other through a process of Masonic Landmarks and regularity. There are also appendant bodies, which are organizations related to the main branch of Freemasonry, but with their own independent administration.
Freemasonry uses the metaphors of operative stonemasons' tools and implements, against the allegorical backdrop of the building of King Solomon's Temple, to convey what is most generally defined as "a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols."[2]
While it has often been called a "secret society", it is more correct to say that it is an esoteric society, in that certain aspects are private.[3] From many quarters, Freemasons have stated that Freemasonry has, in the 21st century, become less a secret society and more of a "society with secrets."[4] The private aspects of modern Freemasonry are the modes of recognition amongst members and particular elements within the ritual.[5]
While there have been many disclosures and exposés dating as far back as the eighteenth century, these often lack the proper context for true understanding, may be outdated for various reasons,[6] or could be outright hoaxes on the part of the author.[7]Lodge
Grand Lodges and Grand Orients are independent and sovereign bodies that govern Masonry in a given country, state, or geographical area (termed a jurisdiction).[8] There is no single overarching governing body that presides over world-wide Freemasonry; connections between different jurisdictions depend solely on mutual recognition.[9]
Regularity
Main article: Regular Masonic jurisdictions
There are two major branches of Freemasonry: "regular"[3] Grand Lodges that are recognized by the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) and "liberal" or irregular Grand Orients that are recognized by the Grand Orient de France. Irregular also encompasses any other Masonic group not recognized by the UGLE.[10] However, the usage of "Lodge" versus "Orient" alone is not an indicator of regularity.
Regularity is a constitutional mechanism by which Grand Lodges or Grand Orients give one another mutual recognition. This recognition allows formal interaction at the Grand Lodge level, and gives individual Freemasons the opportunity to attend meetings at Lodges in other recognized jurisdictions. Conversely, regularity proscribes interaction with Lodges that are irregular. A Mason who visits an irregular Lodge may have his membership suspended for a time, or he may be expelled. For this reason, all Grand Lodges maintain lists of other jurisdictions and lodges they consider regular.[11]
Grand Lodges that afford mutual recognition and allow intervisitation are said to be in amity. As far as the UGLE is concerned, regularity is predicated upon a number of Landmarks, set down in the UGLE Constitution and the Constitutions of those Grand Lodges with which they are in amity. Even within this definition there are some variations with the quantity and content of the Landmarks from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Other Masonic groups organise differently.[12]
The Masonic Lodge
Main article: Masonic Lodge
A Lodge (often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge in Masonic constitutions) is the basic organizational unit of Freemasonry. Every new Lodge must be warranted by a Grand Lodge, but is subject to its direction only in enforcing the published Constitution of the jurisdiction. A Lodge must hold full meetings regularly at published dates and places. It will elect, initiate and promote its own members and officers; it will own, occupy or share premises; and will normally build up a collection of minutes, records and equipment. Like any other organization it will have formal business, annual general meetings (AGMs), charity funds, committees, reports, bank accounts and tax returns, and so forth.
A man can only be initiated, or made a Mason, in a Lodge, of which he may well remain a subscribing member for life. A Master Mason is generally entitled to visit any Lodge meeting under any jurisdiction in amity with his own, and a Lodge may well offer hospitality to such a visitor after the formal meeting. He is first usually required to check the regularity of that Lodge, and must be able to satisfy that Lodge of his own regularity; and he may be refused admission if adjudged likely to disrupt the harmony of the Lodge. If he wishes to visit the same Lodge repeatedly, he may be expected to join it, and pay a membership subscription.
Freemasons correctly meet as a Lodge, not in a Lodge, although Masonic premises may be called Lodges or Temples ("of Philosophy and the Arts"). In many countries, Masonic Centre or Hall has replaced Temple to avoid arousing prejudice and suspicion. Several different Lodges, as well as other Masonic organisations, often use the same premises at different times.
Early Lodges often met in a tavern or any other convenient fixed place with a private room.[13] According to Masonic tradition, the Lodge of medieval stonemasons was on the southern side of the building site, with the sun warming the stones during the day. The social Festive Board (or Social Board),[14] part of the meeting is thus sometimes called the South.[15]
Most Lodges consist of Freemasons living or working within a given town or neighbourhood. Other Lodges are composed of Masons with a particular shared interest, profession or background. Shared schools, universities, military units, Masonic appointments or degrees, arts, professions and hobbies have all been the qualifications for such Lodges. In some Lodges, the foundation and name may now be only of historic interest, as over time the membership evolves beyond that envisaged by its "founding brethren"; in others, the membership remains exclusive.
There are also specialist Lodges of Research, with membership drawn from Master Masons only, with interests in Masonic Research (of history, philosophy, etc.). Lodges of Research are fully warranted but, generally, do not initiate new candidates. Lodges of Instruction in UGLE may be warranted by any ordinary Lodge for the learning and rehearsal of Masonic Ritual.
Lodge Officers
Main article: Masonic Lodge Officers
Every Masonic Lodge appoints officers to execute the necessary functions of the lodge's work. Specific offices vary between jurisdictions although certain offices are common to all Masonic jurisdictions. These include the Worshipful Master (essentially the lodge President), The Senior and Junior Wardens (Vice Presidents), Secretary and Treasurer. Such offices are replicated at Provincial and Grand Lodge levels, but with the addition of the word 'Grand' somewhere in the title. For example, every lodge has a 'Junior Warden', while the Grand Lodge has a 'Grand' Junior Warden. A number of offices may exist only at the Grand Lodge level. There are also several subordinate officers who are appointed directly by the Master of each lodge. Although the exact titles vary with the jurisdiction (and there is usually a Grand Officer equivalent for each), the most common subordinate officers are the Junior and Senior Deacon and the Junior and Senior Stewards. There is also usually a Chaplain appointed to lead a non-denominational prayer at the convocation of meetings or activities.[13]
Prince Hall Freemasonry
Main article: Prince Hall Freemasonry
See also: Regular Masonic jurisdictions
Prince Hall Freemasonry derives from historical events in the early United States that led to a tradition of separate, predominantly African-American Freemasonry in North America.
In 1775, an African American named Prince Hall[16] was initiated into an Irish Constitution Military Lodge then in Boston, Massachusetts, along with fourteen other African-Americans, all of whom were free-born. When the Military Lodge left North America, those fifteen men were given the authority to meet as a Lodge, form Processions on the days of the Saints John, and conduct Masonic funerals, but not to confer degrees, nor to do other Masonic work. In 1784 these individuals applied for, and obtained, a Lodge Warrant from the Premier Grand Lodge of England and formed African Lodge, Number 459 (Premier Grand Lodge of England). When the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) was formed in 1813, all U.S. based Lodges were stricken from their rolls – due largely to the U.S. and British War, 1812 to 1815. Thus, separated from both UGLE and any concordantly recognised U.S. Grand Lodge, African Lodge re-titled itself as the African Lodge, Number 1—and became a de facto "Grand Lodge" (this Lodge is not to be confused with the various Grand Lodges on the Continent of Africa). As with the rest of U.S. Freemasonry, Prince Hall Freemasonry soon grew and organised on a Grand Lodge system for each state.
Widespread segregation, in the 19th and early 20th century North America, made it difficult for African Americans to join Lodges outside of Prince Hall jurisdictions—and impossible for inter-jurisdiction recognition between the parallel U.S. Masonic authorities.
Prince Hall Masonry has always been regular in all respects except constitutional separation, and this separation has diminished in recent years. At present, Prince Hall Grand Lodges are recognized by some UGLE Concordant Grand Lodges and not by others, but appear to be working toward full recognition, with UGLE granting at least some degree of recognition.[17] There are a growing number of both Prince Hall Lodges and non-Prince Hall Lodges that have ethnically diverse membership.
Other degrees, orders and bodies
Main article: Masonic appendant bodies
There is no degree in Freemasonry higher than that of Master Mason.[18] There are, however, a number of organizations that require being a Master Mason as a prerequisite for membership.[19] These bodies have no authority over the Craft.[18] These orders or degrees may be described as additional or appendant, and often provide a further perspective on some of the allegorical, moral and philosophical content of Freemasonry.
Appendant bodies are administered separately from Craft Grand Lodges but are styled Masonic since every member must be a Mason. However, Craft Masonic jurisdictions vary in their relationships with such bodies, if a relationship exists at all. The Articles of Union of the "Modern" and "Antient" craft Grand Lodges (into UGLE in 1813) limited recognition to certain degrees, such as the Royal Arch and the "chivalric degrees", but there were and are many other degrees that have been worked since before the Union. Some bodies are not universally considered to be appendant bodies, but rather separate organizations that happen to require prior Masonic affiliation for membership. Some of these organizations have additional requirements, such as religious adherence (e.g. requiring members to profess Trinitarian Christian beliefs) or membership of other bodies.
Quite apart from these, there are organisations that are often thought of as related to Freemasonry, but which are in fact not related at all, and are not accorded recognition as Masonic, such as the Orange Order, which originated in Ireland, or the International Order of Odd Fellows.
Principles and activities
Ritual, symbolism, and morality
Masonic ritual makes use of the architectural symbolism of the tools of the medieval operative stonemason. Freemasons, as Speculative Masons (meaning philosophical building rather than actual building), use this symbolism to teach moral and ethical lessons of the principles of "Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth" — or as related in France: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity".[13]
Two of the principal symbols always found in a Lodge are the square and compasses. Some Lodges and rituals explain these symbols as lessons in conduct: for example, that one should "square their actions by the square of virtue" and to learn to "circumscribe their desires and keep their passions within due bounds toward all mankind". However, as Freemasonry is non-dogmatic, there is no general interpretation for these symbols (or any Masonic symbol) that is used by Freemasonry as a whole.[20]
These moral lessons are communicated in performance of allegorical ritual. A candidate progresses through degrees[18] gaining knowledge and understanding of himself, his relationship with others and his relationship with the Supreme Being (as per his own interpretation). While the philosophical aspects of Freemasonry tend to be discussed in Lodges of Instruction or Research, and sometimes informal groups, Freemasons, and others, frequently publish — to a variable degree of competence — studies that are available to the public. It is well noted, however, that no one person "speaks" for the whole of Freemasonry.[21]
The Volume of the Sacred Law is always displayed in an open Lodge. In English-speaking countries, this is frequently the King James Version of the Bible or another standard translation; there is no such thing as an exclusive "Masonic Bible".[22] In many French Lodges, the Masonic Constitutions are used instead. Furthermore, a candidate is given his choice of religious text for his Obligation, according to his beliefs. UGLE alludes to similarities to legal practice in the UK, and to a common source with other oath taking processes.[23][24][25][26] In Lodges with a membership of mixed religions it is common to find more than one sacred text displayed.
In keeping with the geometrical and architectural theme of Freemasonry, the Supreme Being is referred to in Masonic ritual by the titles of the Great Architect of the Universe, Grand Geometer or similar, to make clear that the reference is generic, and not tied to a particular religion's conception of God.[27]
Degrees
The three degrees of Craft or Blue Lodge Freemasonry are those of:
Entered Apprentice - the degree of an Initiate, which makes one a Mason;
Fellow Craft - an intermediate degree;
Master Mason - the "third degree", a necessary qualification for participation in almost any aspect of Masonry.
The degrees represent stages of personal development. No Freemason is told that there is only one meaning to the allegories; as a Freemason works through the degrees and studies their lessons, he interprets them for himself, his personal interpretation being bounded only by the Constitution within which he works.[22] A common symbolic structure and universal archetypes provide a means for each Freemason to come to his own answers to life's important philosophical questions.
As previously stated, there is no degree of Craft Freemasonry higher than that of Master Mason.[18] Although some Masonic bodies and orders have further degrees named with higher numbers, these degrees may be considered to be supplements to the Master Mason degree rather than promotions from it.[19] An example is the Scottish Rite, conferring degrees numbered from 4° up to 33°.[28] It is essential to be a Master Mason in order to qualify for these further degrees. They are administered on a parallel system to Craft or Blue Lodge Freemasonry; within each organization there is a system of offices, which confer rank within that degree or order alone.
In some jurisdictions, especially those in continental Europe, Freemasons working through the degrees may be asked to prepare papers on related philosophical topics, and present these papers in open Lodge. There is an enormous bibliography of Masonic papers, magazines and publications ranging from fanciful abstractions which construct spiritual and moral lessons of varying value, through practical handbooks on organisation, management and ritual performance, to serious historical and philosophical papers entitled to academic respect.
Signs, grips and words
Freemasons use signs (gestures), grips or tokens (handshakes) and words to gain admission to meetings and identify legitimate visitors. There is no evidence that these modes of recognition were in use prior to the mid-1600s when speculative members were first admitted to Lodges. The easiest way to determine an operative Mason's qualification was the quality of his work.[29]
From the early 18th century onwards, many exposés have been written claiming to reveal these signs, grips and passwords to the uninitiated. However, as Masonic scholar Christopher Hodapp states, since each Grand Lodge is free to create its own rituals,[30] the signs, grips and passwords can and do differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.[13] Furthermore, historian John J. Robinson states that Grand Lodges can and do change their rituals frequently, updating the language used, adding or omitting sections.[6] Therefore, any exposé is only valid for a particular jurisdiction at a particular time.
Obligations
Obligations are those elements of ritual in which a candidate swears to protect the "secrets of Freemasonry", which are the various signs, tokens and words associated with recognition in each degree.[5] In regular jurisdictions these obligations are sworn on the aforementioned Volume of the Sacred Law.
Details of the obligations vary; some versions are published[5] while others are privately printed. Still other jurisdictions rely or oral transmission of ritual, and thus have no ritual books at all.[31] Moreover, not all printed rituals are authentic - Leo Taxil's exposure was a proven hoax, and there are others.
The obligations are historically known amongst various sources critical of Freemasonry for their so-called "bloody penalties,"[32] an allusion to the apparent physical penalties associated with each degree. This leads to some descriptions of the Obligations as "Oaths". The corresponding text, with regard to the penalties, does not appear in authoritative, endorsed sources,[5] following a decision "that all references to physical penalties be omitted from the obligations taken by Candidates in the three Degrees and by a Master Elect at his Installation but retained elsewhere in the respective ceremonies".[33] The penalties are interpreted symbolically, and are not applied in actuality by a Lodge or by any other body of Masonry. The descriptive nature of the penalties alludes to how the candidate should feel about himself should he knowingly violate his obligation, being a wilfully perjured individual.[34]
Landmarks
Main article: Masonic Landmarks
The Landmarks of Masonry are defined as ancient and unchangeable precepts; standards by which the regularity of Lodges and Grand Lodges are judged. Each Grand Lodge is self-governing and no single authority exists over the whole of Freemasonry. The interpretation of these principles therefore can and does vary, leading to controversies of recognition.
The concept of Masonic Landmarks appears in Masonic regulations as early as 1723, and seem to be adopted from the regulations of operative masonic guilds. In 1858, Albert G. Mackey attempted to set down 25 Landmarks.[35] In 1863, George Oliver published a Freemason's Treasury in which he listed 40 Landmarks. A number of American Grand Lodges have attempted the task of enumerating the Landmarks; numbers differing from West Virginia (7) and New Jersey (10) to Nevada (39) and Kentucky (54).[36]
Charitable effort
The fraternity is widely involved in charity and community service activities. In contemporary times, money is collected only from the membership, and is to be devoted to charitable purposes. Freemasonry worldwide disburses substantial charitable amounts to non-Masonic charities, locally, nationally and internationally. In earlier centuries, however, charitable funds were collected more on the basis of a Provident or Friendly Society, and there were elaborate regulations to determine a petitioner's eligibility for consideration for charity, according to strictly Masonic criteria.
Some examples of Masonic charities include:
Homes[37][38] that provide sheltered housing or nursing care.
Education with both educational grants[39] or residential education[40] which are open to all and not limited to the families of Freemasons.
Medical assistance.[41]
Membership requirements
Freemasonry initiation. 18th centuryA candidate for Freemasonry must apply to a lodge in his community, obtaining an introduction by asking an existing member, who then becomes the candidate's sponsor. In some jurisdictions, it is required that the petitioner ask three times, however this is becoming less prevalent.[42] In other jurisdictions, more open advertising is utilized to inform potential candidates where to go for more information. Regardless of how a potential candidate receives his introduction to a Lodge, he must be freely elected by secret ballot in open Lodge. Members approving his candidacy will vote with "white balls" in the voting box. Adverse votes by "black balls" will exclude a candidate. The number of adverse votes necessary to reject a candidate, which in some jurisdictions is as few as one, is set out in the governing Constitution of the presiding Grand Lodge.
General requirements
Generally, to be a regular Freemason, a candidate must:[18]
Be a man who comes of his own free will.
Believe in a Supreme Being.
Be at least the minimum age (18–25 years old depending on the jurisdiction).
Be of sound mind and body (Lodges do not deny membership to a man because of a physical disability; this is largely a historical holdover, and if a potential candidate says there will be no problem, he will be taken at his word), of good morals, and of good repute.
Be free-born (or "born free", i.e. not born a slave or bondsman. As with the previous, this is entirely an historical anachronism, and can be interpreted in the same manner as it is in the context of writing a will. Some jurisdictions have removed this requirement).
Have character references, as well as one or two references from current Masons, depending on jurisdiction.
Deviation from one or more of these requirements is generally the barometer of Masonic regularity or irregularity. However, an accepted deviation in some regular jurisdictions is to allow a Lewis (the son of a Mason), to be initiated earlier than the normal minimum age for that jurisdiction, although no earlier than the age of 18.
Some Grand Lodges in the United States have an additional residence requirement, candidates being expected to have lived within the jurisdiction for certain period of time, typically six months.[43]
Membership and religion
Freemasonry explicitly and openly states that it is neither a religion nor a substitute for one. "There is no separate Masonic God", nor a separate proper name for a deity in any branch of Freemasonry.[44][45]
Regular Freemasonry requires that its candidates believe in a Supreme Being, the interpretation of the term being subject to the conscience of the candidate. This means that men from a wide range of faiths, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism can all become Masons.
Since the early 19th Century, in the irregular Continental European tradition (meaning irregular to those Grand Lodges in amity with UGLE), a very broad interpretation has been given to a (non-dogmatic) Supreme Being; in the tradition of Baruch Spinoza and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - or views of The Ultimate Cosmic Oneness - along with Western atheistic idealism and agnosticism.
Freemasonry in Scandinavia, known as the Swedish Rite, on the other hand, accepts only Christians.[13] Some of the appendant bodies (or portions thereof) in some jurisdictions also have religious requirements, but have no restrictions at the lodge level.
Women and Freemasonry
Main articles: Women and Freemasonry and Co-Freemasonry
Traditionally, in regular Freemasonry, only men can be made Masons. Many Grand Lodges do not admit women because they believe it would violate the ancient Landmarks. However, there are many female orders associated with regular Freemasonry and its appendant bodies, such as the Order of the Eastern Star, the Order of the Amaranth, the White Shrine of Jerusalem, the Social Order of Beauceant and the Daughters of the Nile. In addition, there are many non-mainstream Masonic bodies that do admit both men and women or exclusively women. Co-Freemasonry admits both men and women, but it is held to be irregular because it admits women. The systematic admission of women into International Co-Freemasonry began in France in 1882.
History
Main article: History of Freemasonry
Goose and Gridiron, Home to a London Lodge forming GLEThe first Grand Lodge, the Grand Lodge of England (GLE), was founded in 1717, when four existing London Lodges met for a joint dinner. This rapidly expanded into a regulatory body, which almost all English Lodges joined. From the 1750s onwards, two competing English Grand Lodges vied for supremacy - the "Moderns" (GLE) and the "Ancients" (or "Antients"). They finally united in 1813 to form the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE). The Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland were formed in 1725 and 1736 respectively. Freemasonry was exported to the British Colonies in North America by the 1730s - with both the "Ancients" and the "Moderns" (as well as the Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland) chartering offspring ("daughter") Lodges, and organizing various Provincial Grand Lodges. After the American Revolution, independent US Grand Lodges formed themselves within the State boundaries. Some thought was briefly given to organizing an over-arching "Grand Lodge of the United States", with George Washington as the first Grand Master, but the idea was short-lived. The various State Grand Lodges did not wish to diminish their own authority by agreeing to such a body.[46]
Although there are no real differences in the Freemasonry practiced by one or the other, the remnants of this division can still be seen in the names of most Lodges: F.& A.M. being Free and Accepted Masons vs. A.F.& A.M. being Antient Free and Accepted Masons.
The oldest jurisdiction on the continent of Europe, the Grand Orient de France (GOdF), was founded in 1728. Most English-speaking jurisdictions cut formal relations with the GOdF, however, around 1877.[13] The Grande Loge Nationale Française (GLNF)[47] is currently the only French Grand Lodge that is in regular amity with the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) and its many concordant jurisdictions worldwide.
Due to the above history, Freemasonry is often said to consist of two branches not in mutual regular amity:
the UGLE and concordant tradition of jurisdictions (termed Grand Lodges) in amity, and
the GOdF, European Continental, tradition of jurisdictions (often termed Grand Orients) in amity.
In most Latin countries, the GOdF style of European Continental Freemasonry predominates, although in most of these Latin countries there are also Grand Lodges that are in regular amity with the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) and the worldwide community of Grand Lodges that share regular "fraternal relations" with the UGLE. The rest of the world, accounting for the bulk of Freemasonry, tends to follow more closely to the UGLE style, although minor variations exist.
Opposition to Freemasonry
Main article: Anti-Masonry
Anti-Masonry (alternatively called Anti-Freemasonry) is defined as "Avowed opposition to Freemasonry".[48] However, there is no homogeneous anti-Masonic movement. Anti-Masonry consists of radically differing criticisms from sometimes incompatible groups who are hostile to Freemasonry in some form.
Religious opposition
Freemasonry has attracted criticism and suppression from theocratic states and organised religions for supposed competition with religion, or supposed heterodoxy within the Fraternity itself, and has long been the target of conspiracy theories, which see it as an occult and evil power.
Christian anti-Masonry
Main article: Christianity and Freemasonry
See also: Catholicism and Freemasonry
Although members of various faiths cite objections, certain Christian denominations have had the highest profile negative attitudes to Masonry, banning or discouraging their members from being Freemasons.
The objections raised by the Catholic Church are based on the allegation that Masonry teaches a naturalistic deistic religion which is in conflict with Church dogma. However, those Grand Lodges in amity with UGLE explicitly adhere to the principle that "Freemasonry is not a religion, nor a substitute for religion. There is no separate 'Masonic deity', and there is no separate proper name for a deity in Freemasonry".[49] The Catholic Church is also troubled by Masonry's openness to members of other faiths, feeling that any organization which fails specifically to endorse their faith implicitly rejects it.[50]
A number of Papal pronouncements have been issued against Freemasonry. The first was Pope Clement XII's In Eminenti, April 28 1738; the last was Pope Leo XIII's Ab Apostolici, October 15 1890. In 1983, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued Quaesitum est, which states that: "...the Church’s negative judgment in regard to Masonic association remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion." Freemasonry has no prohibitions on accepting Roman Catholics as members.[51] In 2005 the Regular Grand Lodge of Italy (RGLI), in amity with UGLE[52] announced that it had installed a Roman Catholic priest as its Grand Chaplain. (This office requires that the holder be a Freemason, but not necessarily be in Holy Orders).[53]
The negative reaction of "Grand Orient" Continental European Freemasonry to what was perceived as Catholicism's theocratic and authoritarian political influence has in countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal historically tended towards anticlericalism, secularism and at times even total Anti-Catholicism.[54]
In contrast to Catholic allegations of rationalism and naturalism, Protestant objections are more likely to be based on allegations of mysticism and occultism. Albert Pike is often cited as an authority for the position of Masonry on these issues. However, Pike, although undoubtedly learned, was not a spokesman for Freemasonry and was controversial among freemasons in general, representing his personal opinion only, and furthermore an opinion grounded in the attitudes and understandings of late 19th century Southern Freemasonry of the USA alone. Indeed his book carries in the preface a form of disclaimer from his own Grand Lodge. No one voice has ever spoken for the whole of Freemasonry.[55]
Since the founding of Freemasonry, many Bishops of the Church of England have been Freemasons, such as Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher.[56] In the past, few members of the Church of England would have seen any incongruity in concurrently adhering to Anglican Christianity and practicing Freemasonry. In recent decades, however, reservations about Freemasonry have increased within Anglicanism, perhaps due to the increasing prominence of the evangelical wing of the church. The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, appears to harbour some reservations about Masonic ritual, whilst being anxious to avoid causing offence to Freemasons inside and outside the Church of England. In 2003 he felt it necessary to apologise to British Freemasons after he said that their beliefs were incompatible with Christianity and that he had barred the appointment of Freemasons to senior posts in his diocese when he was Bishop of Monmouth.[57]
Muslim anti-Masonry
Further information: Holocaust denial in the Muslim world, Iraqi Baathist Anti-Masonry and The Covenant of Hamas
Islamic anti-Masonry is closely tied with Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism, though other criticisms are made.[58] In 1980, the Iraqi legal and penal code was changed by Saddam Hussein's ruling Ba'ath Party, making it a felony to "promote or acclaim Zionist principles, including Freemasonry, or who associate [themselves] with Zionist organizations."[59]
Political opposition
See also: Anti-Masonry and Freemasonry under totalitarian regimes
Regular Freemasonry has in its core ritual a formal obligation: to be quiet and peaceable citizens, true to the lawful government of the country in which they live, and not to countenance disloyalty or rebellion.[22] A Freemason makes a further obligation, before being made Master of his Lodge, to pay a proper respect to the civil magistrates.[22] The words may be varied across Grand Lodges, but the sense in the obligation taken is always there. Nevertheless, much of the political opposition to Freemasonry is based upon the idea that Masonry will foment (or sometimes prevent) rebellion.
Conspiracy theorists have long associated Freemasonry with the New World Order and the Illuminati, and state that Freemasonry as an organization is either bent on world domination or already secretly in control of world politics. Historically, Freemasonry has attracted criticism - and suppression - from both the politically extreme right (e.g. Nazi Germany)[60][61] and the extreme left (e.g. the former Communist states in Eastern Europe). The Fraternity has encountered both applause for “founding”, and opposition for supposedly thwarting, liberal democracy (such as the United States of America).
In some countries anti-Masonry is often related to anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. Professor Andrew Prescott, of the University of Sheffield, writes: "Since at least the time of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, anti-semitism has gone hand in hand with anti-masonry, so it is not surprising that allegations that 11 September was a Zionist plot have been accompanied by suggestions that the attacks were inspired by a masonic world order."[62]
In 1799 English Freemasonry almost came to a halt due to Parliamentary proclamation. In the wake of the French Revolution, the Unlawful Societies Act, 1799 banned any meetings of groups that required their members to take an oath or obligation.[63] The Grand Masters of both the Moderns and the Antients Grand Lodges called on the Prime Minister William Pitt, (who was not a Freemason) and explained to him that Freemasonry was a supporter of the law and lawfully constituted authority and was much involved in charitable work. As a result Freemasonry was specifically exempted from the terms of the Act, provided that each Private Lodge's Secretary placed with the local "Clerk of the Peace" a list of the members of his Lodge once a year.[63] This continued until 1967 when the obligation of the provision was rescinded by Parliament.[63]
Freemasonry in America faced political pressure following the disappearance of anti-Masonic agitator William Morgan in 1826. Reports of the "Morgan Affair" helped fuel an Anti-Masonic movement, culminating in the formation of a short lived Anti-Masonic Party which fielded candidates for the Presidential elections of 1828 and 1832.
Even in modern democracies, Freemasonry is still sometimes accused of being a network where individuals engage in cronyism, using their Masonic connections for political influence and shady business dealings. This is officially and explicitly deplored in Freemasonry.[22] It is also charged that men become Freemasons through patronage or that they are offered incentives to join. This is not the case; no one lodge member may control membership in the lodge and in order to start the process of becoming a Freemason, an individual must ask to join the Fraternity "freely and without persuasion."[22]
In Italy, Freemasonry has become linked to a scandal concerning the Propaganda Due Lodge (aka P2). This Lodge was Chartered by the Grande Oriente d'Italia in 1877, as a Lodge for visiting Masons unable to attend their own lodges. Under Licio Gelli’s leadership, in the late 1970s, the P2 Lodge became involved in the financial scandals that nearly bankrupted the Vatican Bank. However, by this time the lodge was operating independently and irregularly; as the Grand Lodge d'Italia had revoked its charter in 1976.[64] By 1982 the scandal became public knowledge and Gelli was formally expelled from Freemasonry.
The UK Labour government, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, attempted to require all members of fraternal organisations who are public officials to make their affiliation public.[65][66] This was challenged under European human rights legislation, and the government in enacting the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law,[67] had to curtail the scope of their requirements.[68] Arrangements for the declaration of Freemasonry membership have been established for the current Lay Magistracy, Judiciary, and voluntary registration was introduced in 1999 for the Police Service.[69] Decisions on whether information should be released are the responsibility of the public authority receiving the request, on a case-by-case basis, acting in accordance with the principles of the Freedom of Information Act, 2000.[70]
The Holocaust
Forget-me-notMain article: Holocaust
See also: Freemasonry under totalitarian regimes and Liberté chérie (Freemasonry)
The preserved records of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office) show the persecution of Freemasons.[71] RSHA Amt VII (Written Records) was overseen by Professor Franz Six and was responsible for "ideological" tasks, by which was meant the creation of anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic propaganda. While the number is not accurately known, it is estimated that between 80,000 and 200,000 Freemasons were exterminated under the Nazi regime.[13] Masonic concentration camp inmates were graded as political prisoners and wore an inverted red triangle.[72]
The small blue forget-me-not flower was first used by the Grand Lodge Zur Sonne, in 1926, as a Masonic emblem at the annual convention in Bremen, Germany. In 1938 the forget-me-not badge – made by the same factory as the Masonic badge – was chosen for the annual Nazi Party Winterhilfswerk; a supposed charitable organization, which actually collected money used for rearmament. This coincidence enabled Freemasons to wear the forget-me-not badge as a secret sign of membership.[73][74][75]
After World War II, the forget-me-not[76] flower was again used as a Masonic emblem at the first Annual Convention of the United Grand Lodges of Germany in 1948. The badge is now worn in the coat lapel by Freemasons around the world to remember all those that have suffered in the name of Freemasonry, and specifically those during the Nazi era.[77][78]
Cultural references
There are many books, plays, movies, television shows, and other types of mass media and popular culture that include references to Freemasonry. Those listed below are those where Freemasonry figures prominently. There are many books and websites dedicated to giving a more complete list of cultural references to Freemasonry.[79]
Freemason[80] J. Rudyard Kipling used Masonic symbols and characters in his works, most notably The Man Who Would Be King, in which two adventurers are taken to be Masonic representatives of Alexander the Great. This story was adapted and filmed by John Huston, in 1975.
Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace contains many references to Freemasonry.
The plot of Mozart's opera Die Zauberflöte ("The Magic Flute") contains several references to Masonic ideals and ceremonies. Mozart and his librettist Emanuel Schikaneder were both members of Lodge of the Nine Muses.
The graphic novel From Hell by Alan Moore and the movie based upon it feature as their basic premise a conspiracy theory linking "certain Freemasons" to the Jack the Ripper murders. The story is that "Freemason" Sir William Gull, the then British Royal Household's physician, covered up a child of Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence born to a Catholic shop girl "by killing her, and all the women who knew about the baby". The story depends on the assumption that such figures as the Marquess of Salisbury, Sir William Gull and Sir Robert Anderson were Freemasons, but there is no actual record of their initiation into Freemasonry in any Lodge.
Freemasons feature heavily in The Illuminatus! Trilogy.
Monty Python's Flying Circus satirized Freemasons in the "How to recognise a Freemason" and "Architect's Sketch" sketches.
The Freemasons are satirized in an episode of The Simpsons, titled "Homer the Great", as The Ancient Society of Stonecutters.
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco deals with Masonic themes.
The plot of the 2004 movie National Treasure revolves heavily around the Freemasons and is somewhat unusual in that it depicts them in a benign light.
In The Baron in the Trees Italian writer Italo Calvino includes Masonic Lodges branching out into the lands of Ombrosa with the protagonist of the novel, Cosimo di Rondo, mysteriously and supposedly involved with them.
Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris use Freemasonry in their series The Adept, most notably in The Adept Book Two: The Lodge of the Lynx, and in Kurtz's American Revolution historical novel Two Crowns for America, which links Freemasonry and Jacobitism.
Brad Meltzer discusses Freemasonry in his 2006 novel, The Book of Fate.
In the song Secret Handshakes on The Ataris' 2007 album Welcome The Night, Kris Roe talks of his father's involvement with the Freemasons. The full title of this order is The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta.
Knights Templar is an international philanthropic masonic order. In the 1700s when freemasonry became public they began to incorporate symbols and traditions of the medieval Knights Templar. The original medieval Order of Knights Templar was established after the First Crusade, and existed from approximately 1118 to 1312. There is absolutely no historical evidence to link the medieval Knights Templar and Masonic Templarism.The Knights Templar is an additional order and is not a higher degree within freemasonry. Knights Templars meet in Preceptories or commanderies.
Membership in the Order is open to Master Masons of Christian faith (in some jurisdictions, the order is also open to those of other faiths who are willing to swear to defend the Christian faith) and who have been exalted into the Holy Royal Arch Chapter.[citation needed] As in all Masonic organizations, membership requires that the candidate be of sound moral character, have an exemplary reputation, and believe in a Supreme Being. The Knights Templar have the additional requirement that the candidate be a professing Christian.
[edit] Templar traditions
Despite Freemasonry's general disclaimer that no one Masonic organization claims a direct heritage to the medieval Knights Templar, certain degrees and orders are obviously patterned after the medieval Order. These are best described as "commemorative orders" or degrees. Nevertheless, in spite of the fraternity's official disclaimers, some Masons, non-Masons and even anti-Masons insist that certain Masonic rites or degrees originally had direct Templar influence.
American Masonic youth organizations such as the Order of DeMolay for young men are named after the last Grand Master Templar Jacques de Molay who was executed in the final suppression of the Templar order in the early 1300s.
The Knight of Rose-Croix Degree in the "Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite", and honorary Orders like the Royal Order of Scotland are interpreted as evidence of a historical Templar-Masonic connection, though there is no factual basis for this belief.
Legends in certain degrees pertain to the involvement of Knights Under the command of Sir John De Bermingham, First and Last Earl of Louthaiding the excommunicated 14th Century Scottish King Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn; however this remains a point of debate. Lack of documentation on behalf of the medieval Knights themselves, and battle memoirs usually written years if not decades after the actual engagement, have left much room for speculation. This story is the basis for the degrees in the Royal Order of Scotland an invitational Masonic honorary organization.
Templar connections have also been suggested through the Earls of Rosslyn (St. Clair, or Sinclair) a family with well documented connections with Scottish Freemasonry, one being a Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland.
Many other old and new organizations are called "Knights Templar". However, organizations like the Order of the Solar Temple, Militi Templi Scotia,or the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem are in no way related to Masonic Knights Templar, and share no relationship in either history, hierarchy, nor ritual.
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States omits the and), commonly known as simply the Scottish Rite, is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry. A Rite is a series of progressive degrees that are conferred by various Masonic organizations or bodies, each of which operates under the control of its own central authority. In the Scottish Rite, the central authority is called a Supreme Council.
The thirty-three degrees of the Scottish Rite are conferred by several controlling bodies. The first of these is the Craft Lodge which confers the Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason degrees. Craft lodges operate under the authority of Grand Lodges, not the Scottish Rite. Although most lodges throughout the English-speaking world do not confer the Scottish Rite versions of the first three degrees, there are a handful of lodges in New Orleans and in several other major cities that have traditionally conferred the Scottish Rite version of these degrees.[1] [2]
The Scottish Rite is one of the appendant bodies of Freemasonry that a Master Mason may join for further exposure to the principles of Freemasonry. In England and some other countries, while the Scottish Rite is not accorded official recognition by the Grand Lodge, there is no prohibition against a Freemason electing to join it. In the United States, however, the Scottish Rite is officially recognized by Grand Lodges as an extension of the degrees of Freemasonry. The Scottish Rite builds upon the ethical teachings and philosophy offered in the craft lodge, or Blue Lodge, through dramatic presentation of the individual degrees.The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in each country is governed by a Supreme Council. There is no international governing body—each Supreme Council in each country is sovereign unto itself.
[edit] USA
In the United States of America there are two Supreme Councils: one in Washington, DC, and one in Lexington, Massachusetts, which control the Southern Jurisdiction (SJ) and Northern Masonic Jurisdiction (NMJ), respectively. In the SJ, individual states are referred to as Orients and local bodies are called Valleys;[3][4][5] the NMJ uses only Valley.[6] Each Valley has up to four Scottish Rite bodies, and each body confers a set of degrees. In the SJ these are the Lodge of Perfection (4°–14°), Chapter of Rose Croix (15°–18°), Council of Kadosh (19°–30°), and the Consistory (31°–32°). In the NMJ, the bodies are the Lodge of Perfection (4°–14°), the Council of Princes of Jerusalem (15°–16°), the Chapter of Rose Croix (17°–18°), and the Consistory (19°–32°). In both jurisdictions the Supreme Council controls and confers the 33rd Degree of Sovereign Grand Inspector General.
In the United States, the Lexington, Massachusetts-based Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, formed in 1813, oversees the bodies in fifteen states: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Vermont. Orients in the other thirty-five states, districts and territories in the United States are overseen by the Southern Jurisdiction. Based in Washington, D.C., the Southern Jurisdiction is the "Mother Supreme Council of the World," being the first Supreme Council, and was founded in Charleston, South Carolina in 1801.
In the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, the Supreme Council consists of no more than 33 members, and is presided over by a Grand Commander. Other members of the Supreme Council are called "Sovereign Grand Inspectors General" (S.G.I.G.), and each is the head of the Rite in his respective Orient (or state). Other heads of the various Orients who are not members of the Supreme Council are called "Deputies of the Supreme Council."
In the Northern Jurisdiction the Supreme Council consists of no more than 66 members. All members of the Supreme Council are designated Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, but the head of the Rite in each Valley of the Northern Jurisdiction is called a "Deputy of the Supreme Council."
[edit] UK
In England & Wales, whose Supreme Council was warranted by that of the Northern Jurisdiction of the USA (in 1845)[7], the Rite is known colloquially as the "Rose Croix" or more formally as "The Ancient and Accepted Rite for England and Wales and its Districts and Chapters Overseas" (continental European jurisdictions retain the "Écossais"). The only local bodies are Rose Croix Chapters; many degrees are conferred in name only, and degrees beyond the 18° are conferred only by the Supreme Council itself.
[edit] The Scottish Rite Degrees
Attainment of the third Masonic degree, that of a Master Mason, represents the attainment of the highest rank in all of Masonry. Any Master Mason stands as an equal before every other Master Mason, regardless of position, class, or other degrees. Additional degrees are sometimes referred to as appendant degrees, even where the degree numbering might imply a hierarchy. Appendant degrees represent a lateral movement in Masonic Education rather than an upward movement. These are not degrees of rank, but rather degrees of instruction.
In many countries, some Craft Lodges use Scottish Rite ritual in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd degrees.
In the United States, members of the Scottish Rite can be elected to receive the 33° by the Supreme Council. It is conferred on members who have made major contributions to society or to Masonry in general.
In 2000, the Southern Masonic Jurisdiction completed a revision of its ritual scripts. In 2004, the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction rewrote and reorganized its degrees.[8] Further changes have occurred in 2006. [9] The current titles of the degrees and their arrangement in the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States remains substantially unchanged from the beginning. The list of degrees for the Supreme Councils of Canada, Australia, England and Wales, and most other jurisdictions agrees with that of the Southern Jurisdiction of the U.S. However, the list of degrees for the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States is now somewhat different and is given in the table below:
Degree Number Southern Jurisdiction[10] Northern Jurisdiction[11]
4° Secret Master Master Traveler
5° Perfect Master Perfect Master
6° Intimate Secretary Master of the Brazen Serpent
7° Provost and Judge Provost and Judge
8° Intendant of the Building Intendant of the Building
9° Elu of the Nine Master of the Temple
10° Elu of the Fifteen Master Elect[12]
11° Elu of the Twelve Sublime Master Elected
12° Master Architect Grand Master Architect
13° Royal Arch of Solomon Master of the Ninth Arch
14° Perfect Elu Grand Elect Mason
15° Knight of the East, of the Sword or of the Eagle: Knight of the East or Sword
16° Prince of Jerusalem Prince of Jerusalem
17° Knight of the East and West Knight of the East and West
18° Knight Rose Croix Knight of the Rose Croix de Heredon Council of Kadosh
19° Grand Pontiff Grand Pontiff
20° Master of the Symbolic Lodge Master ad Vitam
21° Noachite, or Prussian Knight Patriarch Noachite
22° Knight of the Royal Axe, or Prince of Libanus Prince of Libanus
23° Chief of the Tabernacle Chief of the Tabernacle
24° Prince of the Tabernacle Brother of the Forest
25° Knight of the Brazen Serpent Master of Achievement
26° Prince of Mercy, or Scottish Trinitarian Friend and Brother Eternal[13]
27° Knight Commander of the Temple Knight of Jerusalem
28° Knight of the Sun, or Prince Adept Knight of the Sun, or Prince Adept
29° Scottish Knight of Saint Andrew Knight of St. Andrew
30° Knight Kadosh, or Knight of the White and Black Eagle Grand Inspector
31° Inspector Inquisitor Knight Aspirant
32° Master of the Royal Secret Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret
33° Inspector General Inspector General
In the Southern Jurisdiction, a member who has been a 32° Scottish Rite Mason for 46 months or more is eligible to be elected to receive the "rank and decoration" of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour (K.C.C.H.) in recognition of outstanding service. After 46 months as a K.C.C.H. he is then eligible to be elected to the 33rd Degree.[14] In the Northern Jurisdiction, there is only one 46-month requirement for eligibility to receive the 33rd Degree, and while there is a Meritorious Service Award (as well as a Distinguished Service Award), they are not required intermediate steps towards the 33°.
A recipient of the 33rd Degree is an honorary member of the Supreme Council and is therefore called an "Inspector General Honorary." However, those who are appointed Deputies of the Supreme Council that are later elected to membership on the Supreme Council are then designated "Sovereign Grand Inspectors General."
[edit] Systems of Degrees
According to the various Scottish Rite jurisdictions in the world, all of which operate independently, the Scottish Rite degrees are worked at will by their governing bodies. For example the Southern Jurisdiction separates the degrees as follows:
4° through 14°: Lodge of Perfection
15° through 18°: Chapter of Rose Croix
19° through 30°: Council of Kadosh
31° through 32°: Consistory
This is slightly different in the Northern Jurisdiction:
4° through 14°: Lodge of Perfection
15° through 16°: Council, Prince of Jerusalem
17° through 18°: Chapter of Rose Croix
19° through 32°: Consistory
The Supreme Council is the governing body of the Scottish Rite in the various jurisdictions, and charters all subordinate bodies. Members of the Supreme Council are chosen from among those members who have obtained the 33°.
A Scottish Rite Mason does not need to be, nor ever needs to have been, an officer of any rank in any lodge to be honored with the 33rd degree.
In Scotland, candidates are perfected in the 18th degree, with the preceding degrees awarded in name only. A minimum of a two-year interval is required before continuing to the 30th degree, again with the intervening degrees awarded by name only. Elevation beyond that is by invitation only, and numbers are severely restricted.
Similarly in England, the candidate is perfected in the 18th degree with the preceding degrees awarded in name only. Continuing to the 30th degree is restricted to those who have served in the chair of the Chapter. Elevation beyond the 30th degree is as it is in Scotland.
[edit] History
[edit] Early References to "Scots Master" Degree
There are records of lodges conferring the degree of "Scots Master" or "Scotch Master" as early as 1733. A lodge at Temple Bar in London is the earliest such lodge on record. Other lodges include a lodge at Bath in 1735, and the French lodge, St. George de l'Observance No. 49 at Covent Garden in 1736. The references to these few occasions indicate that these were special meetings held for the purpose of performing unusual ceremonies, probably by visiting Freemasons.[15]
[edit] Stuart Jacobite Influence
The seed of the myth of Stuart Jacobite influence on the higher degrees may have been a careless and unsubstantiated remark made by John Noorthouk in the 1784 Book of Constitutions of the Premier Grand Lodge of London. It was stated, without support, that King Charles II (older brother and predecessor to James II) was made a Freemason in Holland during the years of his exile (1649–60). However, there were no lodges of Freemasons on the continent during those years. The statement was undoubtedly made to flatter the fraternity by claiming membership for a previous monarch. This folly was then embellished upon by John Robison (1739–1805), a professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, in an anti-Masonic work published in 1797. The lack of scholarship exhibited by him in that work even caused the Encyclopedia Britannica to denounce it.[16]
A German bookseller and Freemason, living in Paris, working under the assumed name of C. Lenning, embellished the story further in a manuscript titled "Encyclopedia of Freemasonry" probably written between 1822 and 1828 at Leipzig. This manuscript was later revised and published by another German Freemason named Friedrich Mossdorf (1757–1830).[17] Lenning stated that King James II of England, after his flight to France in 1688, resided at the Jesuit College of Clermont, where his followers fabricated certain degrees for the purpose of carrying out their political ends.[18]
By the mid-19th century, the story had gained currency. The well-known English Masonic writer, Dr. George Oliver (1782–1867), in his "Historical Landmarks", 1846, carried the story forward and even claimed that King Charles II was active in his attendance at meetings—an obvious invention, for if it had been true, it would not have escaped the notice of the historians of the time. The story was then repeated by the French writers Jean-Baptiste Ragon (1771–1862) and Emmanuel Rebold, in their Masonic histories. Rebold's claim that the high degrees were created and practiced in Lodge Canongate Kilwinning [19] at Edinburgh are entirely false.[20]
James II died in 1701 at the Palace of St. Germain en Laye, and was succeeded in his claims to the British throne by his son, James Francis Edward Stuart (1699–1766), the Chevalier St. George, better known as "the Old Pretender", but recognized as James III by the French King Louis XIV. He was succeeded in his claim by Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charles"), also known as "the Young Pretender", whose ultimate defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 effectively put an end to any serious hopes of the Stuarts regaining the British crowns.
The natural confusion between the names of the Jesuit College of Clermont, and the short-lived Masonic Chapter of Clermont, a Masonic body that controlled a few high degrees during its brief existence, only served to add fuel to the myth of Stuart Jacobite influence in Freemasonry's high degrees. However, the College and the Chapter had nothing to do with each other. The Jesuit College was located at Clermont, whereas the Masonic Chapter was not. Rather, it was named "Clermont" in honor of the French hereditary Grand-Master of Dauphiné, Duc de Clermont-Tonnerre, and not because of any connection with the Jesuit College of Clermont.[21]
[edit] Estienne Morin and his Rite of 25 Degrees
A French trader, by the name of Estienne Morin, had been involved in high degree Masonry in Bordeaux since 1744 and, in 1747, founded an "Ecossais" lodge (Scots Masters Lodge) in the city of Le Cap Francais, on the north coast of the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). Over the next decade, high degree Freemasonry continued to spread to the Western hemisphere as the high degree lodge at Bordeaux warranted or recognized seven Ecossais lodges there. In Paris in the year 1761, a Patent was issued to Estienne Morin, dated 27 August, creating him "Grand Inspector for all parts of the New World." This Patent was signed by officials of the Grand Lodge at Paris and appears to have originally granted him power over the craft lodges only, and not over the high, or "Ecossais", degree lodges. Later copies of this Patent appear to have been embellished, probably by Morin, to improve his position over the high degree lodges in the West Indies.[22]
Early writers long believed that a "Rite of Perfection" consisting of 25 degrees, the highest being the "Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret", and being the predecessor of the Scottish Rite, had been formed in Paris by a high degree council calling itself "The Council of Emperors of the East and West". The title "Rite of Perfection" first appeared in the Preface to the "Grand Constitutions of 1786", the authority for which is now known to be faulty.[citation needed] It is now generally accepted that this Rite of twenty-five degrees was compiled by Estienne Morin and is therefore more properly titled "The Rite of the Royal Secret", or "Morin's Rite".[23]
Morin returned to the West Indies in 1762 or 1763, to Saint-Domingue, where, armed with his new Patent, he assumed powers to constitute lodges of all degrees, spreading the high degrees throughout the West Indies and North America. Morin stayed in Saint-Domingue until 1766 when he moved to Jamaica. At Kingston, Jamaica, in 1770, Morin created a "Grand Chapter" of his new Rite (the Grand Council of Jamaica). Morin died in 1771 and was buried in Kingston.[24]
[edit] Henry Andrew Francken and his Manuscripts
The one man who was most important in assisting Morin in spreading the degrees in the New World was a naturalized French subject of Dutch origin named Henry Andrew Francken. Morin appointed him Deputy Grand Inspector General as one of his first acts after returning to the West Indies. Francken worked closely with Morin and, in 1771, produced a manuscript book giving the rituals for the 15th through the 25th degrees. Francken produced at least two more similar manuscripts, one in 1783 and another about 1786. The second and third of these manuscripts included all the degrees from the 4th through the 25th.[25]
A Loge de Parfaits d' Écosse was formed on 12 April 1764 at New Orleans, becoming the first high degree lodge on the North American continent. Its life, however, was short, as the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded New Orleans to Spain, and the Catholic Spanish crown had been historically hostile to Freemasonry. Documented Masonic activity ceased for a time and did not return to New Orleans until the 1790s.[26]
Francken travelled to New York in 1767 where he granted a Patent, dated 26 December 1767, for the formation of a Lodge of Perfection at Albany. This marked the first time the Degrees of Perfection (the 4th through the 14th) were conferred in one of the thirteen British colonies. This Patent, and the early minutes of the Lodge, are still extant and are in the archives of Supreme Council, Northern Jurisdiction.[27]
While in New York, Francken also communicated the degrees to Moses Michael Hays, a Jewish businessman, and appointed him a Deputy Inspector General. In 1781, Hays made eight Deputy Inspectors General, four of whom were later important in the establishment of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in South Carolina: Isaac Da Costa Sr., D.I.G. for South Carolina; Abraham Forst, D.I.G. for Virginia; Joseph M. Myers, D.I.G. for Maryland; and Barend M. Spitzer, D.I.G. for Georgia. Da Costa returned to Charleston, S.C., and established the "Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection" in February 1783. After Da Costa's death in November 1783, Hays appointed Myers as Da Costa's successor. Joined by Forst and Spitzer, Myers created additional high degree bodies in Charleston and, by 1801, the Charleston bodies were the only extant bodies of the Rite in North America.[28]
[edit] Birth of the Scottish Rite
Although most of the thirty-three degrees of the Scottish Rite existed in parts of previous degree systems, the Scottish Rite did not come into being until the formation of the Mother Supreme Council at Charleston, South Carolina, in May 1801.
Isaac De Costa, one of the deputies commissioned to establish Morin's Rite of the Royal Secret in other countries, formed constituent bodies of the Rite in South Carolina in 1783, which eventually became, in 1801, The Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction. All regular Scottish Rite bodies today derive their heritage from this body.
In 1813 the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Northern Jurisdiction of the United States, was formed.
[edit] Albert Pike
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, 29 December 1809, Albert Pike is asserted within the Southern Jurisdiction as the man most responsible for the growth and success of the Scottish Rite from an obscure Masonic Rite in the mid-1800s, to the international fraternity that it became. Pike received the 4th through the 32nd Degrees from the American Masonic historian, Dr. Albert G. Mackey, in Charleston, S.C., in March 1853, and, in that same year, Pike was appointed Deputy Inspector for Arkansas.
At this point, the degrees were in a rudimentary form, and often only included a brief history and legend of each degree as well as other brief details which usually lacked a workable ritual for their conferral. In 1855, the Supreme Council appointed a committee to prepare and compile rituals for the 4th through the 32nd Degrees. That committee was composed of Albert G. Mackey, John H. Honour, W. S. Rockwell, C. Samory, and Albert Pike. Of these five committee members, Pike did all the work of the committee.
In March 1858, Pike was elected a member of the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, and in January 1859 he became its Grand Commander. The American Civil War interrupted his work on the Scottish Rite rituals. After the War, he moved to Washington, DC, and in 1868 his revision of the rituals was complete. Pike also wrote lectures for all the degrees which were published in 1871 under the title "Morals & Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite".[29].
[edit] Anti-Masonic Criticism of the Scottish Rite Rituals
In 1856 Albert Pike revised and re-issued the rituals for use in the Southern Jurisdiction, also illustrating his interpretations of his revised rituals in Morals and Dogma. These rituals and the interpretation of them contained in Morals and Dogma have been the focus of much of the criticism of Freemasonry as a whole, despite the factual inaccuracies of that criticism. Pike's final revision of the ritual is no longer in use in the Southern Jurisdiction. Rather, the Southern Jurisdiction ritual today is a ritual that has been revised many times by various ritual committees and other contributors. The Northern Jurisdiction and other Supreme Councils also use rituals that represent many similar revisions and additions.
[edit] The Scottish Rite Creed
The Scottish Rite Creed of Freemasonry as stated by the Supreme Council, 33°, S.J. USA, is as follows:
Human progress is our cause,
liberty of thought our supreme wish,
freedom of conscience our mission,
and the guarantee of equal rights
to all people everywhere our ultimate goal.[30]