Introduction
Origins
The Name
Southern Jurisdiction
International Character of the Scottish Rite Today
Government of the Rite
Degrees of the Rite and Initiation Fees
Interested in Becoming a Master Mason
or Scottish Rite Mason?
Introduction
Service to others—service to you. These are the twin
goals of Scottish Rite Freemasonry. In our more than 165 RiteCare Childhood
Language Clinics, Centers, and Programs in our 37 Orients (states),
including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, children with communication
disorders are taught to speak, read, and learn.
Each year at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children,
many victims of accident or disability are restored to active, happy
lives.
In homes for the aged, centers for youth and, in cases
of natural disaster, support from the Scottish Rite Foundation relieves
the worried and counsels the troubled.
Through local scholarships grants and patriotic programs,
the Scottish Rite benefits your community in direct and dynamic ways
every day of the year.
We are rightly proud of these achievements. They are
the culmination of generations of Scottish Rite Brethren working to
strengthen and improve America. Welcome to our ranks. Through your participation,
even greater good can be accomplished.
But the Rite does not end here. The Rite serves you.
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Origins
Our age-proven traditions and noble ideals enrich your
life with new horizons of personal achievement. Our dynamic programs
offer you opportunities for leadership. Most of all, our sincere Scottish
Rite fellowship will bring you lifetime friendships and provide delightful
occasions to be shared with your wife and family. Get to know your local
Scottish Rite officers. Like you, they are good men working for a good
cause. They are eager to share and glad to help. Ask. You are sure to
find a way to participate in Scottish Rite endeavors that will suit
your desire and schedule.
And should you be able to visit our nation’s capital,
please include a tour of our national headquarters, the House of the
Temple, located just 10 blocks from the White House. It is an inspiring
architectural monument. Cordial Brothers are available every day, even
on weekends if arranged beforehand, to show you the Temple’s magnificent
ceremonial rooms. Or, perhaps, you would like to pause in the Supreme
Council’s excellent library, the very first opened to the public in
the District of Columbia, or visit the building’s several impressive
ceremonial rooms and museums. Wherever you go, you will be welcome,
for no matter where your Valley is, this great building is your Scottish
Rite home.
To get a better idea of all the Scottish Rite has to
offer, visit the pages of this Internet site. Its details will come
in handy for understanding the history, structure, honors, and services
offered to you as a member of the Scottish Rite, the world’s most dynamic
and beneficent Fraternity!
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The Name
In announcing its establishment to the Masonic world
in a Manifesto, dated December 4, 1802, the name was given as the Supreme
Council of the Thirty-third Degree for the United States of America.
The word Scotch appeared in connection with one of the early Supreme
Council Degrees, and Scotish (sic) was included in the name of one of
the detached Degrees conferred by the Supreme Council.
The name Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite first appeared
in an 1804 agreement between the Supreme Council of France and the Grand
Orient of France. Beginning with the administration of Grand Commander
Albert Pike in 1859, it came into general use in the Southern Jurisdiction
and elsewhere. Many Scottish Masons fled to France during political
upheavals in the 17th and 18th centuries, at a time when the Degrees
of the Rite were evolving in French Freemasonry. This has caused some
to think mistakenly that the Rite originated in Scotland. Actually,
however, a Supreme Council for Scotland was not established until 1846.
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Southern Jurisdiction
The Grand Constitutions of 1786, the earliest known
text in the possession of John Mitchell and Frederick Dalcho, provided
for two Supreme Councils in the United States. The Supreme Council at
Charleston sent one of its Active Members to New York and authorized
him to establish in 1813 a Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction
of the United States of America. With this accomplished, the Supreme
Council at Charleston in 1827 ceded to the Northern Supreme Council
the 15 states north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi Rivers.
The Southern Supreme Council retained jurisdiction over all other states
and territories (at home and abroad) of the United States.
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International Character of
the Scottish Rite Today
The Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction recognizes
in its fraternal relations 40 Supreme Councils and four National Grand
Lodges practicing the Rites that include the Scottish Rite, in different
countries throughout the world. Each regular Supreme Council has declared
its general adherence to those Grand Constitutions of 1762 and 1786,
but each, being a sovereign Masonic Body, has made variations in its
Statutes to meet its own particular needs. This is especially true as
to the number of members composing a Supreme Council. Some have retained
the original limitations of nine Active Members. In our Jurisdiction
the number of Active Members is limited to 33. In other Jurisdictions
larger or smaller limitations have been set. To maintain the spirit
of international unity, the Mother Supreme Council participates in overseas
conferences with other Supreme Councils.
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