Rectified Scottish Rite
Encyclopedia
The Rectified Scottish Rite is a Christian
Masonic rite founded in Lyon
(France
) in 1778.
. This famous Mason reformed the French branch of the Templar Strict Observance at the Congress of Gauls in 1778, including some items coming from the Elect Cohen Order and denying the Templar
legacy. We can consider this date as the birth of the Rectified Scottish Rite. It came from several initiatory systems of the 18th Century:
The evolution and transformation of this system during the 1778 (Lyon) and 1782 (Wilhelmsbad) congresses created the Rectified Scottish Rite in 1782.
Since then, ritual
s have remained the same, except the possible removal of the "York" influences just seven years later as mentioned above. It is a Christian rite which contains the doctrine of the Traité de la réintégration des êtres, Martines de Pasqually's major book.
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
Masonic rite founded in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
(France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) in 1778.
Origins of this Rite
The Rite was mainly elaborated by Jean-Baptiste WillermozJean-Baptiste Willermoz
Jean-Baptiste Willermoz was a French Freemason and Martinist who played an important role in the establishment of various systems of Masonic high-degrees in his time in both France and Germany-Biography:...
. This famous Mason reformed the French branch of the Templar Strict Observance at the Congress of Gauls in 1778, including some items coming from the Elect Cohen Order and denying the Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
legacy. We can consider this date as the birth of the Rectified Scottish Rite. It came from several initiatory systems of the 18th Century:
- The Order of Knight Masons of the Elect Cohens of the Universe, of Martines de Pasqually,
- The Templar Strict ObservanceRite of Strict ObservanceThe Rite of Strict Observance was a Rite of Freemasonry, a series of progressive degrees that were conferred by the Order of Strict Observance, a Masonic body of the 18th century....
, Knight Masonry born in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in the middle of the 18th Century then spread in the rest of EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, - Scottish Masonry (all the existing higher degrees, when it was not yet structured),
- Craft Masonry in 3 degrees (entered apprentice, fellowcraft, master mason) as it was in use in French FreemasonryFreemasonryFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
(Grand Orient de FranceGrand Orient de FranceThe Grand Orient de France is the largest of several Masonic organizations in France and the oldest in Continental Europe, founded in 1733.-Foundation:...
) at this time and that became the French RiteFrench RiteThe French Rite of Freemasonry is a Rite of Freemasonry. It was founded in France in 1786.-History:The French Rite is intimately linked to the birth of Freemasonry in France and was founded in France in 1786. British exiles brought the "Modern" rite to France and this was little by little passed...
. It might be noted that during this period, the Grand Orient of France was still in regularity and amity with English Freemasons, and there exists some evidence to suggest that English Masons, living in France, may have also introduced or practiced some early ritual forms of degrees which are now constituted in the York Rite. In fact, many Grand Orient lodges practiced at least the Mark Master and Royal Arch degrees, either as "side degrees" or as portions of the second and third craft degrees respectively. (UGLE Series Lecture, 22 OCT 1997) If these were present, they ceased to be included with historical Rectified Scottish Rite practices after the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, when the rite took its sojourn in Switzerland.
The evolution and transformation of this system during the 1778 (Lyon) and 1782 (Wilhelmsbad) congresses created the Rectified Scottish Rite in 1782.
Since then, ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
s have remained the same, except the possible removal of the "York" influences just seven years later as mentioned above. It is a Christian rite which contains the doctrine of the Traité de la réintégration des êtres, Martines de Pasqually's major book.
Organization of the Rite
- Blue or Craft Lodges (lodges of St John)
- Entered Apprentice
- Fellow Craft
- Master Mason
- Green Lodges (Lodges of St Andrew)
- Scottish Master of St Andrew
- Inner Order
- Novice Ashlar
- Beneficent Knight of the Holy City (Chevalier Bienfaisant de la Cité Sainte) or CBSC, sometimes used as a short name for the rite
- Secret Class
- Profes
- Grand Profes