View source for Scottish Rite

{{WikipediaImport}}{{Short description|Rite of Freemasonry}}
[[File:AASR-logo-new.png|thumb|right|750px|The [[Double-headed eagle]].<br />(''The symbol most commonly associated with the Scottish Rite'')]]

The '''Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry''' (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the [[United States]] often omits the ''and'', while the English Constitution in the [[United Kingdom]] omits the ''Scottish''), commonly known as simply the '''Scottish Rite''' (or, in England and Australia, as the '''Rose Croix'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sc33.org.uk/index.html|title=The Supreme Council|website=www.sc33.org.uk|access-date=28 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929220036/http://www.sc33.org.uk/index.html|archive-date=29 September 2017}}</ref> although this is only one of its degrees), is one of several [[List of Masonic rites|Rites of Freemasonry]]. A Rite is a progressive series of degrees 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 Scottish Rite is one of the [[Masonic Appendant Bodies|appendant bodies of Freemasonry]] that a [[Master Mason]] may join for further exposure to the principles of Freemasonry.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://scottishrite.org/about/how-to-join/|title=How to Join – Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, S.J., U.S.A.|work=Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, S.J., U.S.A.|access-date=2017-06-12|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703172737/https://scottishrite.org/about/how-to-join/|archive-date=2017-07-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scottishriteomaha.org/become-a-member/|title=Become a member|website=Scottish Rite Omaha|language=en-US|access-date=2017-06-12|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160830084333/http://www.scottishriteomaha.org/become-a-member/|archive-date=2016-08-30}}</ref>  It is also concordant, in that some of its degrees relate to the degrees of Symbolic ([[blue lodge|Craft]]) Freemasonry. In [[England]] and some other countries, while the Scottish Rite is not accorded official recognition by the Grand Lodge, only a recognized Freemason may join and there is no prohibition against his doing so. The Scottish Rite builds upon the ethical teachings and philosophy offered in the Craft (or [[Blue lodge|Blue]]) Lodge, through dramatic presentation of the individual degrees.

==History==
[[Image:Bijou fm 18eme.jpg|thumb|Scottish Rite jewel 18°]]

===Legend of Jacobite origins===
The seed or the myth of Stuart [[Jacobitism|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 [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] (older brother and predecessor to [[James II of England|James II]]) was made a Freemason in the [[Netherlands]] during the years of his exile (1649–60). However, there were no documented lodges of Freemasons on the continent during those years. The statement may have been made to flatter the fraternity by claiming membership for a previous monarch. This folly was then embellished by [[John Robison (physicist)|John Robison]] (1739–1805), a professor of Natural Philosophy at the [[University of Edinburgh]], in an [[anti-Masonry|anti-Masonic]] work published in 1797. The lack of scholarship exhibited by Robison in that work caused the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' to denounce it.<ref>Coil, Henry W. (1961) Article: "Stuart Masonry", pp. 634–637; and Article: "Robison, John", pp. 569–570. Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia (rev. ed. 1996). Richmond, Va: Macoy Publ. Co. Inc.</ref>

A [[Germany|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, Germany|Leipzig]]. This manuscript was later revised and published by another German Freemason named Friedrich Mossdorf (1757–1830).<ref>Coil, Henry W. (1961) Article: "Lenning, C." pp. 377–378; and "Mossdorf, Friedrich", pg. 435. Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia (rev. ed. 1996). Richmond, Va: Macoy Publ. Co. Inc.</ref> 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.<ref>Mackey, Albert G. (1909) Article: "Stuart Masonry" pp. 981–982. Encyclopedia of Freemasonry (rev. ed. 1946). Chicago, IL: Masonic History Co.</ref>

By the mid-19th century, the story had gained currency. The well-known English Masonic writer, Dr. [[George Oliver (freemason)|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<ref name=Tailby>{{Cite web | last1 =Tailby | first1 =S.R. | last2 =Young | first2 =Hugh | title =A BRIEF HISTORY OF LODGE MOTHER KILWINNING No. 0. | year =1944 | url =http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/www/Masonry/Reports/kilw.html | access-date =2007-03-30 | url-status =live | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20061126043831/http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/www/Masonry/Reports/kilw.html | archive-date =2006-11-26 }}</ref> at [[Edinburgh]] are entirely false.<ref>Coil, Henry W. (1961) Article: "Stuart Masonry", pp. 634–637. Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia (rev. ed. 1996). Richmond, Va: Macoy Publ. Co. Inc.</ref>

James II died in 1701<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/james_ii.shtml|title=BBC – History – James II|access-date=2017-06-13|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619085409/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/james_ii.shtml|archive-date=2017-06-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-II-king-of-Great-Britain|title=James II {{!}} king of Great Britain|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-06-13|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402230820/https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-II-king-of-Great-Britain|archive-date=2017-04-02}}</ref> at the [[Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye|Palace of St. Germain en Laye]], and was succeeded in his claims to the English, Irish and Scottish thrones by his son, [[James Francis Edward Stuart]] (1699–1766), the Chevalier St. George, better known as "the Old Pretender", but recognized as James III & VIII by the [[France|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 [[House of Stuart|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 Grand Master, the Comte de Clermont ([[Louis de Bourbon-Conde, Comte de Clermont|Louis de Bourbon, Comte de Clermont]]) (1709–1771), and not because of any connection with the Jesuit College of Clermont.<ref>Coil, Henry W. (1961) Article: "Clermont, Chapter of", pg. 135. Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia (rev. ed. 1996). Richmond, Va: Macoy Publ. Co. Inc.</ref>

===Estienne Morin===

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 ''"Écossais"'' lodge (Scottish Lodge) in the city of [[Cap-Haïtien|Le Cap Français]], on the north coast of the French colony of [[Saint-Domingue]] (now [[Haiti]]). Over the next decade, high-degree Freemasonry was carried by French men to other cities in the Western hemisphere. The high-degree lodge at Bordeaux warranted or recognized seven Écossais 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 "Écossais", 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]].<ref name="JacksonRoseCroix"/>{{rp|31–45}}

Morin returned to the West Indies in 1762 or 1763, to Saint-Domingue. Based on 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.<ref name=Fox1997>{{cite book
|last= Fox|first= William L.|year= 1997|title= Lodge of the Double-Headed Eagle: Two centuries of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in America's Southern Jurisdiction|publisher= Univ. of Arkansas Press.}}</ref><sup>{{rp|16}}</sup>

===Rite of 25 Degrees===

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.<ref name="JacksonRoseCroix"/>{{rp|75–84}}

It is now generally accepted that this Rite of twenty-five degrees was compiled by Estienne Morin and is more properly called "The Rite of the Royal Secret", or "Morin's Rite".<ref name="JacksonRoseCroix"/>{{rp|37}}

However, it was known as "The Order of Prince of the Royal Secret" by the founders of the Scottish Rite, who mentioned it in their "Circular throughout the two Hemispheres"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scscottishrite.org/history/dalchocircular.htm|title=Dalcho Circular Creating the Supreme Council|website=scscottishrite.org|access-date=30 June 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023644/http://scscottishrite.org/history/dalchocircular.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> or "Manifesto", issued on December 4, 1802.<ref>de Hoyos, Arturo, ''Scottish Rite Ritual, Monitor and Guide'' 2d ed. (Washington, D.C.: Supreme Council, 33°, S.J., 2009), pp. 937, 938.</ref>

===Henry Andrew Francken and his manuscripts===
Henry Andrew Francken, a naturalized French subject born as 
''Hendrick Andriese Franken'' of Dutch origin, was most important in assisting Morin in spreading the degrees in the New World. Morin appointed him Deputy Grand Inspector General (DGIG) 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 four such manuscripts. In addition to the 1771 manuscript, there is a second which can be dated to 1783; a third manuscript, of uncertain date, written in Francken's handwriting, with the rituals 4–25°, which was found in the archives of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Lancashire in Liverpool in approximately 1984; and a fourth, again of uncertain date, with rituals 4–24°, which was known to have been given by H. J. Whymper to the District Grand Lodge of the Punjab and rediscovered about 2010.<ref name="Morris2015">{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=S. Brent |title=Henry Andrew Francken & His Masonic Manuscripts |journal=Heredom |date=2015 |volume=23 |pages=107–114 |url=http://scottishriteresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Francken-MSS.pdf |access-date=30 June 2018}}</ref> Additionally, there is a French manuscript dating from 1790 to 1800 which contains the 25 degrees of the Order of the Royal Secret with additional detail, as well as three other ''Hauts Grades'' rituals; its literary structure suggests it is derived from a common source as the Francken Manuscripts.<ref name="deHoyos2014">{{cite book |last1=de Hoyos |first1=Arturo |last2=Bernheim |first2=Alain (Introduction) |author-link1=Arturo de Hoyos |title=Freemasonry's Royal Secret: The Jamaican Francken Manuscript of the High Degrees |date=2014 |publisher=Scottish Rite Research Center |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-0-9837738-6-3 |page=viii}}</ref>

===Scottish Perfection Lodges===

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. It did not return to New Orleans until the late 1790s, when French refugees from the revolution in [[Saint-Domingue]] settled in the city.<ref name=Fox1997 />{{rp|16}}

Francken traveled to New York in 1767 where he granted a Patent, dated 26 December 1767, for the formation of a Lodge of Perfection at [[Albany, New York|Albany]], which was called "Ineffable Lodge of Perfection". This marked the first time the Degrees of Perfection (the 4th through the 14th) were conferred in one of the Thirteen British colonies in North America. This Patent, and the early minutes of the Lodge, are still extant and are in the archives of Supreme Council, Northern Jurisdiction.<ref name=Fox1997 />{{rp|16}} (The minutes of Ineffable Lodge of Perfection reveal that it ceased activity on December 5, 1774. It was revived by Giles Fonda Yates about 1820 or 1821, and came under authority of the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction until 1827. That year it was transferred to the Supreme Council, Northern Jurisdiction.)

While in New York City, Francken also communicated the degrees to [[Moses Michael Hays]], a Jewish businessman, and appointed him as 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;
*Barend M. Spitzer, D.I.G. for Georgia.

Da Costa returned to Charleston, South Carolina, where he 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.<ref name=Fox1997 />{{rp|16–17}}

Physician [[Hyman Isaac Long]] from the island of [[Jamaica]], who settled in New York City, went to Charleston in 1796 to appoint eight French men; he had received his authority through Spitzer. These men had arrived as refugees from [[Saint-Domingue]], where the slave revolution was underway that would establish [[Haiti]] as an independent republic in 1804. They organized a Consistory of the 25th Degree, or "Princes of the Royal Secret," which Masonic historian Brigadier ACF Jackson says became the first Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite.<ref name="JacksonRoseCroix"/>{{rp|66–68}} According to Fox, by 1801, the Charleston bodies were the only extant bodies of the Rite in North America.<ref name=Fox1997 />{{rp|16–17}}

===Birth of the Scottish Rite===
Although most of the thirty-three degrees of the Scottish Rite existed in parts of previous degree systems,<ref>de Hoyos, Arturo, "Development of the Scottish Rite Rituals", in ''Scottish Rite Ritual, Monitor and Guide'' 2d ed. (Washington, D.C.: Supreme Council, 33°, S.J., 2009), pp. 109–118.</ref> the Scottish Rite did not come into being until the formation of the Mother Supreme Council at [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], [[South Carolina]], in May 1801 at Shepheard's Tavern at the corner of Broad and Church Streets (the tavern had been the location of the founding of Freemasonry in South Carolina in 1754). The Founding Fathers of the Scottish Rite who attended became known as "The Eleven Gentlemen of Charleston".
*John Mitchell – Received a patent April 2, 1795, from Barend Moses Spitzer granting him authority as Deputy Inspector General to create a Lodge of Perfection and several Councils and Chapters wherever such Lodges or Chapters were needed.  Born in Ireland in 1741, he came to America at an early age. He served as Deputy Quartermaster General in the Continental Army, and was the first Grand Commander of the Supreme Council.
*Frederick Dalcho – A physician, he served in the Revolutionary Army and was stationed at Fort Johnson.  He formed a partnership in 1801 with Dr. Isaac Auld, another of the original members. He was an outstanding orator and author.  In 1807 he published the first edition of ''Ahiman Rezon''. He became an editor of the ''Charleston Courier'', was a lay reader and deacon in the Episcopal Church, and in 1818 was ordained as a priest.
*[[Alexandre Francois Auguste de Grasse]], known as Comte de Grasse-Tilly. He was born in France as the eldest legitimate son of [[François Joseph Paul de Grasse]], a French admiral known as a hero of the American Revolution for defeating the British fleet in the [[Battle of the Chesapeake]]. He inherited his father's title, and likely had the highest social ranking of the original eleven founders. He was the youngest of the members and was named to become the Grand Commander of the West Indian Islands. After Napoleon came to power, de Grasse returned to France and resumed his military career. He also extended Freemasonry, establishing the Supreme Council of France and councils in other European cities.
*Jean-Baptiste Marie de La Hogue – He was a native of Paris who had lived in Saint-Domingue until the revolution there; father-in-law of de Grasse, he was a founding member of La Candeur Lodge in Charleston.
*Thomas Bartholemew Bowen – Was the first Grand Master of Ceremonies of the new Supreme Council.  He was a Major in the Continental Army and a printer by trade.
*Abraham Alexander – Was one of the first Sovereign Grand Inspectors General. He was born in London in 1743, and immigrated to Charleston in 1771.  He was a prominent [[Sephardic Jew]] and had been described as "a Calligraphist of the first order"; he was elected as the first Grand Secretary General.
*Emanuel de la Motta – A Sovereign Grand Inspector General. Also a Sephardic Jew, he was by trade a merchant and auctioneer. He was a member of Friendship Lodge and was reported to be devoted to the study of Jewish literature and Masonry. 
*Isaac Auld – An eminent physician, associated in medical practice with Dr. Dalcho. He was a strong Congregationalist.
*Israel de Lieben – A Sovereign Grand Inspector General and the first Grand Treasurer General. He was born in [[Prague]] and emigrated to the United States at 21. He was known as "the liberal-headed Jew", who was "tolerant in his religious opinions" and was considered to be intelligent, enterprising, liberal and generous.
*Moses Clava Levy – Born in [[Krakow]], Poland, he was a prosperous merchant, was generous and helpful to the unfortunate, and devoted to his adopted city and country.
*James Moultrie – the only native South Carolinian among the original members. He was a physician, and according to [[Albert Pike]], "was one of the foremost Citizens of South Carolina".
*Isaac Da Costa, another Sephardic Jew, was one of the deputies commissioned to establish Morin's Rite of the Royal Secret in other countries; he formed constituent bodies of the Rite in South Carolina in 1783. These are considered to have become 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.

Subsequently, other Supreme Councils were formed in Saint-Domingue (now [[Haiti]]) in 1802, in France in 1804, in Italy in 1805, and in Spain in 1811.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
|last= Coil|first= Henry W.|encyclopedia= Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia|publisher= Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., Inc.|orig-year= 1961|year= 1996|title= Scottish Rite Masonry|page= 614}}</ref>

On May 1, 1813, an officer from the Supreme Council at Charleston initiated several New York Masons into the Thirty-third Degree and organized a Supreme Council for the "Northern Masonic District and Jurisdiction". On May 21, 1814 this Supreme Council reopened and proceeded to "nominate, elect, appoint, install and proclaim in due, legal and ample form" the elected officers "as forming the ''second'' Grand and Supreme Council...". Finally, the charter of this organization (written January 7, 1815) added, “We think the ''Ratification'' ought to be dated 21st day May 5<!-- Note that this date is not a typo. Freemasonry often uses a dating system that adds 4000 years to the Anno Domini date. This quote is from the referenced Masonic document.-->815."<ref name="dehoyos2010">{{cite book |url=http://www.scottishritestore.org/source/Monitor_and_Guide_3rd_Edition.pdf |chapter=A Brief History of Freemasonry and the Origins of the Scottish Rite |title=The Scottish Rite Ritual Monitor and Guide |publisher=Supreme Council, 33°, Southern Jurisdiction |location=Washington, D.C. |first=Arturo |last=de Hoyos |edition=3rd |page=109 |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-9708749-3-1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123052700/http://www.scottishritestore.org/source/Monitor_and_Guide_3rd_Edition.pdf |archive-date=2015-11-23 }}</ref>

Officially, the Supreme Council, 33°, N.M.J. dates itself from May 15, 1867. This was the date of the "Union of 1867", when it merged with the competing Cerneau "Supreme Council" in New York. The current Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States, was thus formed.<ref>de Hoyos, Arturo, "The Union of 1867", in ''Heredom'' (Washington, D.C.: Scottish Rite Research Society, 1995), vol. 5:7–45.</ref>

===Albert Pike===
[[Image:Morals and Dogma eagle.jpg|thumb|right|The [[double-headed eagle]] on the cover of ''[[Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry|Morals and Dogma]]''.]]
Born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 29, 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-19th century to the international fraternity that it became. Pike received the 4th through the 32nd Degrees in March 1853<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.knightstemplar.org/KnightTemplar/articles/theroyalarch.htm|title=The Royal Arch|website=www.knightstemplar.org|access-date=2017-06-13|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428002638/http://www.knightstemplar.org/KnightTemplar/articles/theroyalarch.htm|archive-date=2018-04-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ocscottishrite.org/about/|title=Scottish Rite of Orange County {{!}} What Is The Scottish Rite?|website=www.ocscottishrite.org|date=20 September 2011|access-date=2017-06-13|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821214256/http://www.ocscottishrite.org/about/|archive-date=2017-08-21}}</ref> from [[Albert Mackey]], in Charleston, South Carolina, and was appointed Deputy Inspector for Arkansas that same year.

At this point, the degrees were in a rudimentary form, and often included only 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, William S. Rockwell, Claude P. Samory, and Albert Pike. Of these five committee members, Pike did all the work of the committee.

In 1857 Pike completed his first revision of the 4°-32° ritual, and printed 100 copies. This revision, which Mackey dubbed the "Magnum Opus", was never adopted by the Supreme Council. According to Arturo de Hoyos, 33°, the Scottish Rite's Grand Historian, the Magnum Opus became the basis for future ritual revisions.<ref>de Hoyos, Arturo, ''Scottish Rite Ritual, Monitor and Guide'' 2d ed. (Washington, D.C.: Supreme Council, 33°, S.J., 2009), p. 114.</ref>

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. About 1870 he, and the Supreme Council, moved to Washington, DC. In 1884 his revision of the rituals was complete.

Scottish Rite Grand Archivist and Grand Historian de Hoyos<ref>de Hoyos, Arturo, ''Scottish Rite Ritual, Monitor and Guide'' 2d ed. (Washington, D.C.: Supreme Council, 33°, S.J., 2009), p. 115.</ref> created the following chart of Pike's ritual revisions:
<br />
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!width="50"|Degrees
!width="225"|When Revised
|-
|1–3°
|1872
|-
|4–14°
|1861, 1870, 1883
|-
|15–16°
|1861, 1870, 1882
|-
|17–18°
|1861, 1870
|-
|19–30°
|1867, 1879, 1883
|-
|31–32°
|1867, 1879, 1883
|-
|33°
|1857, 1867, 1868, 1880
(manuscripts only)
|-
|}
<br />
Pike also wrote lectures about all the degrees, which were published in 1871 under the title ''[[Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry]]''.<ref>Coil, Henry W. (1961). Article: "Pike, Albert" pp. 472–475. "Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia" (rev. ed. 1995) Richmond, Va: Macoy Publ. Co. Inc.</ref>
[[File:Scottish rite miami.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Scottish Rite building in the [[Lummus Park Historic District|Lummus Park]] neighborhood of [[Miami, Florida]], United States]]

===Revisions after Pike===
In 2000 the Southern Jurisdiction revised its ritual.  The current ritual is based upon Pike's, but with some differences.

==Degree structure==
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 national (or in the US, state) [[Grand Lodge]]s, not the Scottish Rite. Attainment of the third Masonic degree, that of a Master Mason, represents the attainment of the highest rank in all of Masonry.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.documentarytube.com/articles/masonic-rites-and-degrees-explained-why-the-scottish-has-33-and-the-normal-only-3-degrees|title=Masonic Rites and Degrees Explained – Why the Scottish has 33 and the normal only 3 degrees?|date=2016-05-30|work=DocumentaryTube|access-date=2017-06-13|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602121702/http://www.documentarytube.com/articles/masonic-rites-and-degrees-explained-why-the-scottish-has-33-and-the-normal-only-3-degrees|archive-date=2017-06-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.toledoaasr.com/scottish%20rite%20degrees.htm|title=Scottish Rite Degrees|website=www.toledoaasr.com|access-date=2017-06-13|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418223533/http://www.toledoaasr.com/scottish%20rite%20degrees.htm|archive-date=2017-04-18}}</ref> Additional degrees such as those of the AASR are sometimes referred to as ''appendant degrees'', even where the degree numbering might imply a hierarchy. They represent a lateral movement in Masonic education rather than an upward movement, and are degrees of instruction rather than rank.<ref>[http://www.scottishritenmj.org/about/frequently-asked-questions Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction website: Frequently asked questions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623031113/http://www.scottishritenmj.org/about/frequently-asked-questions |date=2015-06-23 }} – "Are Scottish Rite degrees higher than those of a Master Mason?"</ref>

In 2000, the Southern Jurisdiction in the United States completed a revision of its ritual scripts. In 2004, the Northern Jurisdiction in the United States rewrote and reorganized its degrees.<ref>''Freemasons for Dummies'', Christopher Hodapp, {{ISBN|0-7645-9796-5}}, Hungry Minds Inc, U.S., 2005. pp. 224–225</ref>  Further changes have occurred in 2006.<ref>The Northern Light Magazine, November 2006; p. 6 "Ritual Changes."</ref> The current titles of the degrees and their arrangement in the Southern Jurisdiction remains substantially unchanged from the beginning.

The list of degrees for the Supreme Councils of Australia, England and Wales, and most other jurisdictions largely 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.  The list of degrees of the Supreme Council of Canada reflects a mixture of the two, with some unique titles as well:

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!width="50"|Degree
!width="200"|Southern Jurisdiction<ref>''A Bridge to Light'', by Rex R. Hutchens; publ. 1995; 2nd Ed., 4th Printing, 2001; by The Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, So. Jurisdiction, U.S.A.; see also de Hoyos, Arturo, "Structure of the Scottish Rite" in ''Scottish Rite Ritual, Monitor and Guide'' 2d ed. (Washington, D.C.: Supreme Council, 33°, S.J., 2009), pp. 119–26.</ref>
!width="200"|Northern Jurisdiction<ref>''Freemasons for Dummies'', Christopher Hodapp, {{ISBN|0-7645-9796-5}}, Hungry Minds Inc, U.S., 2005. pp. 226–227</ref>
!width="200"|France and Canada<ref>{{Cite web| title=DEGREES OF THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE OF FREEMASONRY OF CANADA (Excerpts from the Statutes and Regulations of the Supreme Council 33° of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of Canada)| author=Kirk White| url=http://www.scottishritemasons-can.org/degrees.htm| date=15 June 2011| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607150907/http://www.scottishritemasons-can.org/degrees.htm| archive-date=7 June 2011}}</ref>
!width="200"|England and Wales<ref>Keith B. Jackson, ''Beyond the Craft'', 6th Edition, Lewis Masonic 2012 ({{ISBN|978-0853184058}}), p. 31.</ref>
!Le Droit Humain<ref>{{Cite book |last=International Order of Freemasonry For Men and Women, LE DROIT HUMAIN, British Federation |first=Approved by the Supreme Council |title=General Regulations British Federation 2020 |year=2020 |pages=4 |language=English}}</ref>
|-
|4°
|Secret Master
|Builder <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scottishritenmj.org/subordinate-bodies/lodge-of-perfection|title=Lodge of Perfection Degrees}}</ref>
| colspan="3" |Secret Master
|-
|5°
| colspan="5" |Perfect Master
|-
|6°
|Intimate Secretary
|Master of the Brazen Serpent
| colspan="3" |Intimate Secretary
|-
|7°
| colspan="5" |Provost and Judge
|-
|8°
|colspan=4|Intendant of the Building
|Intendant of the Buildings
|-
|9°
|Elu of the Nine
|Master of the Temple
|Elect of the Nine
| colspan="2" |Elect of Nine
|-
|10°
|Elu of the Fifteen
|Master Elect<ref>Formerly "Master Elect of Fifteen." ''The Northern Light Magazine, November 2006''</ref>
|Elect of the Fifteen
| colspan="2" |Elect of Fifteen
|-
|11°
|Elu of the Twelve
|Sublime Master Elected
|Elect of the Twelve
| colspan="2" |Sublime Elect
|-
|12°
|Master Architect
|Master of Mercy
| colspan="3" |Grand Master Architect
|-
|13°
|Royal Arch of Solomon
|Master of the Ninth Arch
|Royal Arch of Solomon
| colspan="2" |Royal Arch of Enoch
|-
|14°
|Perfect Elu
|Grand Elect Mason
|Grand Elect Perfect and Sublime Mason
|Grand Elect Perfect and Sublime Master
|Scotch Knight of 
Perfection
|-
|15°
|Knight of the East, <br /> or Knight of the Sword, <br /> or Knight of the Eagle
|Knight of the East<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scottish Rite, NMJ {{!}} Council of Prices of Jerusalem Degrees {{!}}… |url=https://scottishritenmj.org/subordinate-bodies/council-of-princes-of-jerusalem |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=Scottish Rite, NMJ |language=en-US}}</ref>
|Knight of the East, or<br />Knight of the Sword
|Knight of the Sword, <br /> or Knight of the East
|Knight of the Sword 
or the East
|-
|16°
| colspan="5" |Prince of Jerusalem
|-
|17°
| colspan="5" |Knight of the East and West
|-
|18°
|Knight Rose Croix
|Knight of the Rose Croix of H.R.D.M.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scottish Rite, NMJ {{!}} Chapter of Rose Croix Degrees {{!}} Scottish Rite,… |url=https://scottishritenmj.org/subordinate-bodies/chapter-of-rose-croix |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=Scottish Rite, NMJ |language=en-US}}</ref>
|Knight Rose Croix
|Sovereign Prince Rose Croix, <br /> or Knight of the Pelican and Eagle
|Sovereign Prince of Rose
Croix of H.R.D.M.
|-
|19°
|Grand Pontiff
|Brother of the Trail
|colspan=2|Grand Pontiff
|Grand Pontiff or
Sublime Scottish Knight
|-
|20°
|Master of the Symbolic Lodge
|colspan=2|Master ad Vitam
|Venerable Grand Master
|Sovereign Prince or
Master ad Vitam
|-
|21°
|Noachite, or<br />Prussian Knight
|colspan=3|Patriarch Noachite
|Noachite or 
Prussian Knight
|-
|22°
|Knight of the Royal Axe, or<br />Prince of Libanus
|colspan=3|Prince of Libanus
|Prince of the Lebanon, or
Knight of the Royal Axe
|-
|23°
|Chief of the Tabernacle
|Knight of Valor
| colspan="3" |Chief of the Tabernacle
|-
|24°
|Prince of the Tabernacle
|Brother of the Forest
| colspan="3" |Prince of the Tabernacle
|-
|25°
|Knight of the Brazen Serpent
|Master of Achievement
| colspan="3" |Knight of the Brazen Serpent
|-
|26°
|Prince of Mercy, or<br />Scottish Trinitarian
|Friend and Brother Eternal<ref>Formerly "Prince of Mercy." ''The Northern Light Magazine, November 2006''</ref>
| colspan="3" |Prince of Mercy
|-
|27°
|Knight of the Sun, or<br />Prince Adept
|Knight of Jerusalem
|colspan=2|Commander of the Temple
|Sovereign Commander 
of the Temple
|-
|28°
|Knight Commander of the Temple
| colspan="3" |Knight of the Sun
|Knight of the Sun or
Prince Adept
|-
|29°
|Scottish Knight of Saint Andrew
|colspan=3|Knight of Saint Andrew
|Grand Scottish Knight of
St. Andrew
|-
|30°
|[[Knight Kadosh]], or<br />Knight of the White and Black Eagle
|Grand Inspector
|[[Knight Kadosh]]
|Grand Elected Knight Kadosh, <br /> or Knight of the White and Black Eagle
|Grand Elect Knight K.H.
|-
|31°
|Inspector Inquisitor
|My Brother’s Keeper<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scottish Rite, NMJ {{!}} Consistory Degrees |url=https://scottishritenmj.org/subordinate-bodies/consistory |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=Scottish Rite, NMJ |language=en-US}}</ref>
|Inspector Inquisitor Commander
| colspan="2" |Grand Inspector Inquisitor Commander
|-
|{{Anchor|32}}32°
|Master of the Royal Secret
| colspan="4" |Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret
|-
|33°
|Inspector General
| colspan="4" |Sovereign Grand Inspector General
|-
|}

===AASR Craft Degrees===

The AASR does have its own distinctive versions of the Craft rituals (Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason), but most lodges throughout the English-speaking world do not work in them. However, there are 10 lodges in [[New Orleans]]<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.germania46.org/| title = Germania Lodge #46, GL of Louisiana, USA}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060502032455/http://www.germania46.org/ Germania Lodge ASR Degrees] "''The Lodge works in the Scottish Rite Symbolic ritual'' – one of only ten Lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana which work in this historic ritual. The ten Scottish Rite Lodges comprise the 16th District of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana."</ref> and 16 in [[New York City]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://district-26-ny.ourlodgepage.com/|title=Tenth Manhattan Masonic District in the Grand Lodge of New York}}</ref> that work in the Scottish Rite Craft degrees.

The AASR craft degrees are more common in Europe and Latin-American jurisdictions. All lodges in the International Order of Freemasonry for Men & Women, LE DROIT HUMAIN work "seamlessly from the first to the thirty-third degree and practises only one rite, the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (A&ASR). These two characteristics define it as an Order and not as an Obedience".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rites, Lodges and Obediences |url=https://ledroithumain.international/contact-us-2/?lang=en |url-status=live |access-date=2022-03-02 |website=Droit Humain International (in English)}}</ref> Most lodges under the jurisdiction of the [[Grande Loge de France]] use these degrees,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gldf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050211202122/http://www.gldf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=29|url-status=dead|archive-date=2005-02-11|title=Grande Loge de France}}</ref> as do a few of the lodges under the jurisdiction of the [[Grande Loge Nationale Française]]. It is a dominant ritual, out of the other rituals in use, in the [[Grand Lodge of Spain]]. There are two Lodges in Australia that practise the AASR Craft degrees, The Zetland Lodge of Australia No. 9 and Lodge France 1021, both of which are under the [[United Grand Lodge of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory]].<ref>https://www.freemasonsaustralia.org/masonic-orders/scottish-rite {{Dead link|date=March 2022}}</ref>

According to Masonic historian [[Alain Bernheim]], Belgian Masonic scholar Pierre Noël demonstrated in a 2002 paper that the AASR Craft degrees derived from the French translation of the Masonic exposé ''Three Distinct Knocks'', issued in London in 1760.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bernheim |first1=Alain |title=MASONIC AUTHORS – The bad, the good and the ugly |url=http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/bernheim13.html |website=Pietre-Stones Review of Freemasonry|author-link=Alain Bernheim |access-date=19 June 2018 |date=4 October 2003}}</ref>

===Scots Master Degree===
There are records of lodges conferring the degree of "Scots Master" or "Scotch Master" as early as 1733.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wilmingtonaasr.ipower.com/about-our-valley/|title=Our Valley – Scottish Rite Temple, A.&A.S.R.|website=wilmingtonaasr.ipower.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-06-14|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428002638/http://wilmingtonaasr.ipower.com/about-our-valley/|archive-date=2018-04-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aasrcalgary.ca/about/about-scottish-rite|title=About Scottish Rite|website=www.aasrcalgary.ca|language=en-gb|access-date=2017-06-14|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223220524/http://www.aasrcalgary.ca/about/about-scottish-rite|archive-date=2017-12-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scottishriteboston.org/en/page.php?id=159#.WUFKI3NwZAg|title=Scottish Rite Boston|last=Boston|first=Scottish Rite|website=www.scottishriteboston.org|access-date=2017-06-14|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302140458/http://scottishriteboston.org/en/page.php?id=159#.WUFKI3NwZAg|archive-date=2017-03-02}}</ref> 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.<ref name="JacksonRoseCroix">{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Alexander Cosby Fishburn |title=Rose Croix: A History of the Ancient & Accepted Rite for England and Wales |date=1987 |publisher=Lewis Masonic |location=London |isbn=0853181519 |edition=Revised (Original 1980)}}</ref>{{rp|5}}  The [[Copiale cipher]], dating from the 1740s<ref name="Onnerfors2015">{{cite journal |last1=Önnerfors |first1=Andreas |title=Unveiling the Copiale-manuscript: layers of fraternalism, ritual and politics in eighteenth century Germany |journal=World Conference on Fraternalism, Freemasonry & History: Research in Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society |date=May 2015 |doi=10.13140/RG.2.1.1397.1367 }}</ref> says, "The rank of a Scottish master is an entirely new invention..."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stp.lingfil.uu.se/~bea/copiale/copiale-translation.pdf |title=Copiale cipher. Translation from German (August 2011). |last=Megyesi |first=Beáta |website=[[Uppsala University]] |access-date=2 November 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116062833/http://stp.lingfil.uu.se/~bea/copiale/copiale-translation.pdf |archive-date=16 January 2013 }}</ref>

==Organization==
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in each country is governed by a Supreme Council.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scottishritenmj.org/about/organization|title=Scottish Rite, NMJ|website=Scottish Rite, NMJ|language=en-US|access-date=2017-06-14|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821211424/https://scottishritenmj.org/about/organization|archive-date=2017-08-21}}</ref> There is no international governing body aside for Le Droit Humain, which is an international order; all other Supreme Councils in each country is sovereign unto itself in its own jurisdiction.

===Canada===
In Canada, whose Supreme Council was warranted in 1874 by that of England and Wales, the Rite is known as Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.  The council is called "Supreme Council 33° Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of Canada". Canada's Supreme Council office is located at 4 Queen Street South in Hamilton, Ontario. There are 45 local units or "Valleys" across Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scottishritecanada.ca/|title=Welcome! – Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of Canada|website=Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of Canada|access-date=28 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001125938/http://www.scottishritecanada.ca/|archive-date=1 October 2017}}</ref>

===France===
When Comte de Grasse-Tilly returned to France in 1804, he worked to establish the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite there. He founded the first Supreme Council in France<ref>[[Pierre Mollier]], "Naissance et essor du Rite écossais ancien et accepté en France : 1804–1826", in ''1804–2004 Deux siècles de Rite Ecossais Ancien Accepté en France'', Dervy, 2004, pp. 70–113.</ref> that same year.

The [[Grand Orient of France]] signed a treaty of union in December 1804 with the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree in France; the treaty declared that "the Grand Orient united to itself"<ref>In the original: ''Le Grand Orient unit à lui''.</ref> the Supreme Council in France. This accord was applied until 1814. Thanks to this treaty, the Grand Orient of France took ownership, as it were, of the Scottish Rite.

From 1805 to 1814, the [[Grand Orient of France]] administered the first 18 degrees of the Rite, leaving the Supreme Council of France to administer the last 15. In 1815, five of the leaders of the Supreme Council founded the ''Suprême Conseil des Rites'' within the Grand Orient of France. The original Supreme Council of France fell dormant from 1815 to 1821.<ref>The only known evidence of activity by this Supreme Council in this period is a rent receipt. Source: CG.</ref>

The ''Suprême Conseil des Isles d'Amérique'' (founded in 1802 by Grasse-Tilly and revived around 1810 by his father-in-law Delahogue, who had also returned from the United States) breathed new life into the Supreme Council for the 33rd Degree in France. They merged into a single organization: the Supreme Council of France. This developed as an independent and sovereign Masonic power. It created symbolic lodges (those composed of the first three degrees, which otherwise would be federated around a Grand Lodge or a Grand Orient).

The [[:fr:Suprême Conseil de France|Suprême Conseil de France]] (emerging from the Supreme Council of 1804 and restored in 1821 by the Supreme Council of the ''Isles d'Amérique'' founded in 1802 in [[Saint-Domingue]], the modern [[Haiti]])
In 1894, the Supreme Council of France created the [[Grand Lodge of France]]. It became fully independent in 1904, when the Supreme Council of France ceased chartering new lodges.<ref>{{harv|Revue "Points de vue initiatiques"|1980|p=17}}</ref> The Supreme Council of France still considers itself the overseer of all 33 degrees of the Rite. Relations between the two structures remain close, as shown by their organizing two joint meetings a year.

France has two additional Supreme Councils:
* The ''Suprême Conseil Grand Collège du Rite écossais ancien accepté'' (emerging from the Supreme Council on 1804 and constituted in 1815), affiliated with the [[Grand Orient de France]].
* The ''Suprême Conseil pour la France'' (emerging from the Supreme Council of the Netherlands, constituted in 1965), affiliated with the [[Grande Loge Nationale Française]]. In 1964, the Sovereign Grand Commander Charles Riandey, along with 400 to 500 members,<ref>{{Harvard citation|Daniel Ligou et al.|2000|pp=185–188}}</ref> left the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council of France and joined the [[Grande Loge Nationale Française]]. Because of his resignation and withdrawal of hundreds of members, there was no longer a Supreme Council of France. Riandey then reinitiated the 33 degrees of the rite in Amsterdam.<ref>{{harvard citation|Riandey|1989|p=169}}</ref> With the support of the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, he founded a new Supreme Council in France, called the ''Suprême Conseil pour la France''.

===Romania===
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite was established in Romania in 1881, a year after the National Grand Lodge of Romania was founded.  On 27 December 1922, the Supreme Council of Scottish Rite of Romania, received the recognition of the Supreme Council of France in 1922, and recognition from the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States in 1925.

Between 1948 and 1989 all of Romanian Freemasonry, including the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Romania, was banned by the Communist regime.

The Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Romania was reconsecrated in 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scaasr.ro/en/supreme-council-of-33rd-and-last-degree-of-the-ancient-and-accepted-scottish-rite-of-romania/|title=Supreme Council of 33rd and Last Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Romania – SCAASR|date=16 September 2016|website=scaasr.ro|access-date=28 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219205655/http://scaasr.ro/en/supreme-council-of-33rd-and-last-degree-of-the-ancient-and-accepted-scottish-rite-of-romania/|archive-date=19 December 2017}}</ref>

===United Kingdom===
[[File:Structure of Masonic appendant bodies in England and Wales.jpg|thumb|The position of the ''Ancient and Accepted Rite'' among the Masonic appendant bodies in England and Wales]]
In England and Wales, whose Supreme Council was warranted by that of the Northern Jurisdiction of the USA (in 1845),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beds-freemasonry.org.uk/rose_croix_masonry.htm|title=Property Market in the South East – Bedsfordshire Property Times|website=www.beds-freemasonry.org.uk|access-date=28 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822014426/http://www.beds-freemasonry.org.uk/rose_croix_masonry.htm/|archive-date=22 August 2017}}</ref> 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"). England and Wales are divided into Districts, which administer the Rose Croix Chapters within their District; many degrees are conferred in name only, and degrees beyond the 18° are conferred only by the Supreme Council itself.

All candidates for membership must profess the [[Trinitarian]] Christian faith and have been Master masons for at least one year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sc33.org.uk/who-can-join.html|title=The Supreme Council – Who Can Join|website=www.sc33.org.uk|access-date=28 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917232958/http://www.sc33.org.uk/who-can-join.html|archive-date=17 September 2017}}</ref>

In England and Wales, 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 in Scotland.

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.supremecouncilforscotland.org/|title=Supreme Council for the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite|website=www.supremecouncilforscotland.org|access-date=28 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315114737/http://supremecouncilforscotland.org/|archive-date=15 March 2018}}</ref>

===United States===
[[File:Indianapolis Scottish Rite Cathedral.jpg|thumb|270px|[[Scottish Rite Cathedral (Indianapolis, Indiana)|Scottish Rite Cathedral in Indianapolis, Indiana]]]]

In the United States of America there are three Supreme Councils: one in [[Washington, D.C.]] (which controls the Southern Jurisdiction), one in [[Lexington, Massachusetts]] (which controls the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction) as well as the Supreme Council of Louisiana.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scottishritenmj.org/about|title=Scottish Rite, NMJ|website=Scottish Rite, NMJ|language=en-US|access-date=2017-06-13|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405200423/https://scottishritenmj.org/about|archive-date=2017-04-05}}</ref> They each have particular characteristics that make them different.
<div style="float:left;">
{|
|[[Image:US Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction new.png|thumb|300px|left|[[United States|US]] states in the Southern Jurisdiction]]
|-
|[[Image:US Scottish Rite Northern Jurisdiction new.png|thumb|300px|left|[[United States|US]] states in the Northern Jurisdiction]]
|}</div>

In the United States, members of the Scottish Rite can be elected to receive the 33° by the Supreme Council.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tulsasr.org/?page_id=124|title=The Scottish Rite Caps – Scottish Rite of Freemasonry|website=www.tulsasr.org|language=en-US|access-date=2017-06-14|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113220204/http://www.tulsasr.org/?page_id=124|archive-date=2016-01-13}}</ref> It is conferred on members who have made major contributions to society or to Masonry in general.

====Southern Jurisdiction====
Based in Washington, D.C., the [[Supreme Council, Scottish Rite (Southern Jurisdiction, USA)|Southern Jurisdiction]] (often referred to as the "Mother Supreme Council of the World"){{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} was founded in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1801. It oversees the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in 35 states, which are referred to as ''Orients'', which are divided into regions called ''Valleys'', each containing individual bodies.<ref>[http://www.bremertonvalleysr.org/ Bremerton Valley of the Scottish Rite] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504050312/http://www.bremertonvalleysr.org/ |date=2006-05-04 }} "Illustrious Brother James N. Reid, Jr., 33°, IGH, Personal Representative of the S.G.I.G. in the ''Orient of Washington''"</ref><ref>[http://www.aasrvalleyofjax.org/ Jacksonville Valley of the Scottish Rite] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615123046/http://www.aasrvalleyofjax.org/ |date=2006-06-15 }} " The Mission of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in the ''Orient of Florida''"</ref><ref name=TampaValley>{{cite web|url= http://www.srtampa.org/pages/Aboutus.asp|access-date= 2007-07-31|title= Allegiance|publisher= Valley of Tampa|quote= The Bodies of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, sitting in the ''Valley of Tampa, Orient of Florida'' acknowledge and yield allegiance to the SUPREME COUNCIL (Mother Council of the World) of Inspectors General. Knights of Solomon of the Thirty-third and last degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the jurisdiction of the United States of America, whose seat is at the Grand Orient of Charleston, in the State of South Carolina, now sitting at Washington. D.C....|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070920185614/http://srtampa.org/pages/Aboutus.asp|archive-date= 2007-09-20}}</ref>

In the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, the Supreme Council consists of no more than 33 members and is presided over by a Sovereign Grand Commander. The current Sovereign Grand Commander is Illustrious Brother James D. Cole, 33°.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scottishrite.org/about/officers/|title = Leadership & Committees}}</ref> Other members of the Supreme Council are called "Sovereign Grand Inspectors General" (S.G.I.G.), and each is the head of the AASR bodies 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". The Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction meets every odd year during the month of August at the House of the Temple, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Southern Jurisdiction Headquarters, in Washington, D.C. During this conference, closed meetings between the Grand Commander and the S.G.I.G.'s are held, and many members of the fraternity from all over the world attend the open ceremony on the 5th of 6 council meeting days.

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, upon approval of the Supreme Council and Sovereign Grand Commander.<ref>[http://www.srmason-sj.org/council/journal/oct01/normand.html "The Distinctive Regalia of the Scottish Rite"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502144727/http://www.srmason-sj.org/council/journal/oct01/normand.html |date=2006-05-02 }} by Pete Normand, "The Scottish Rite Journal", October 2001, retrieved 9 April 2006</ref>
[[File:Miami_-_Lummus_Park_Historic_District_-_Scottish_Rite_Temple_-_Daniel_Di_Palma_Photography.jpg|thumb|Scottish Rite Temple in Lummus Park, Miami, FL]]

====Northern Jurisdiction====
The [[Lexington, Massachusetts|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 (state)|New York]], [[Ohio]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Rhode Island]], [[Wisconsin]] and [[Vermont]].  The Northern Jurisdiction is only divided into ''Valleys'', not Orients.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scottishritenmj.org/members-center/nmj-valleys|title=Valleys of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction|website=scottishritenmj.org|access-date=28 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019063633/http://www.scottishritenmj.org/members-center/nmj-valleys|archive-date=19 October 2016}}</ref>  Each Valley has up to four Scottish Rite bodies, and each body confers a set of degrees.

In the Northern Jurisdiction, the [[Supreme Council, Scottish Rite, Northern Jurisdiction, USA|Supreme Council]] consists of no more than 66 members. Those who are elected to membership on the Supreme Council are then designated "Active." In the Northern Jurisdiction
all recipients of the 33rd Degree are honorary members of the Supreme Council, and all members are referred to as a "Sovereign Grand Inspectors General."  The head of the Rite in each State of the Northern Jurisdiction is called a "Deputy of the Supreme Council."  Thus the highest ranking Scottish Rite officer in Ohio, is titled, "Deputy for Ohio",  and so forth for each state. Additionally, each Deputy has one or more "Actives" to assist him in the administration of the state. Active members of the Supreme Council who have served faithfully for ten years, or reach the age of 75, may be designated "Active, Emeritus". The Northern Jurisdiction Supreme Council meets yearly, in the even years by an executive session, and in the odd years, with the full membership invited.  The 33rd Degree is conferred on the odd years at the Annual Meeting. The head of the NMJ is titled the Sovereign Grand Commander, currently Bro. Peter John Samiec, 33°.

In the Northern Jurisdiction, there is a 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°.

====Supreme Council of Louisiana====

The Supreme Council of Louisiana was founded in New Orleans in 1839 during the [[William Morgan (anti-Mason)|Morgan Affair]]. It was one of several groups which claimed its Scottish Rite authority via "Cerneauism" – a type of Masonry without ties to the Scottish Rite.<ref> A modern, scholarly work on the topic has been completed by Arturo de Hoyos and S. Brent Morris, <I> Cerneaiusm and American Masonry</I> (Washington, D.C.: Scottish Rite Research Society, 2019)</ref>  In the 1840s and 1850s, Judge James Foulhouze served as Grand Commander. As relations improved with the Southern Jurisdiction, Foulhouze resigned “both as Grand Commander and member of this Supreme Council” on July 30, 1853.<ref>A note appended to a copy of the 73rd sitting of the Supreme Council of Louisiana (January 18, 1854), sent to Albert G. Mackey, states that Foulhouze submitted his demission on July 30, 1853, and Samory gives date of final resignation date as September 21, 1853. See his “Address,” in <I>Proceedings</I> (1857), pp. 21–22. For Foulhouze’s resignation letter see Folger, <I>The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite</I>, 2d ed. (1881), p. 312.</ref> He would later be expelled by the Grand Orient of France in 1859.<ref>On February 4, 1859 Foulhouze’s name was "erased from its [i.e., the Grand Orient’s] book of gold," and his patent was declared “void and of no effect.” See “Action Taken by the Grand Orient of France and the Supreme Council of France in the Matter of the Foulhouze Supreme Council, 1858–9," in <I>Official Bulletin of the Supreme Council of the 33d Degree, for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States</I>, Vol. VIII ([Washington, DC]: Grand Orient of Charleston, September, 1887), No. 1, pp. 553–73. In particular, see the "Extrait du Ballustre des trav. 4 Février, 1859, (E.V.)" which document is reprinted and translated.</ref> The Supreme Council of Louisiana determined to close its works and pass out of existence. They created "articles of Concordat & agreement" with the Southern Jurisdiction, and issued a "Preamble & Resolution," prepared during their meeting of November 18, 1854, which stated that it was "Resolved that a Committee of Three be appointed with full power & authority to adopt and accept, in the name of this Consistory, the articles of the agreement or Concordat" by which it would pass under the jurisdiction of Charleston. The committee of three consisted of Laffon de Ladébat, Samory, and Morel.<ref>Untitled "Preamble & Resolution," dated November 18, 1854, in the handwriting of Charles Laffon-Ladébat. Archives of the Supreme Council, 33°, S.J., Washington, D.C.</ref> Extracts from the minutes of the same meeting relate the instances of the Concordat and agreement. Similarly, the Grand Consistory of New Orleans under Charleston’s jurisdiction resolved, at their sitting of November 25, 1854, to sign and execute the agreement and Concordat.<ref>Untitled resolution, signed by Edward Barnett, dated November 25, 1854, copied by Charles Laffon-Ladébat. Archives of the Supreme Council, 33°, S.J., Washington, D.C.</ref> The Concordat was sent to Charleston on January 31, 1855, and signed on February 6, 1855, by Grand Commander John H. Honour, Lieutenant Grand Commander Charles M. Furman, and Grand Secretary General Albert G. Mackey. It was then taken back to New Orleans, likely by Mackey, and signed there on February 16–17, 1855, by Grand Commander Charles Claiborne, Lieutenant Grand Commander Claude Samory, and Grand Secretary General Charles Laffon de Ladébat.<ref>See photograph of the original Concordat in Carter and Harris, <I>History of the Supreme Council, 33° [. . .] 1801–1861</I> (1964), pp. 353–56</ref> On the same day the Supreme Council at Charleston issued a warrant to “our well-beloved, Princes and Knights” Charles Claiborne, Claude P. Samory, Charles Laffon de Ladébat, John H. Holland, and others, creating a Grand Consistory of Louisiana, and installing them as officers with all the powers relative thereto.<ref>See photograph of the original Concordat in Carter and Harris, <I>History of the Supreme Council, 33° [. . .] 1801–1861</I> (1964), p. 359</ref>

However, on October 7, 1856, a year after the Supreme Council of Louisiana had formed its concordat with Charleston, Foulhouze (who resigned in 1853), Thomas Wharton Collens (resigned December 19, 1853)<ref>Folger, <I>The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite</I>, 2d ed., p. 313.</ref> and J.J.E. Massicott (resigned December 3, 1853),<ref>Folger, <I>The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite</I>, 2d ed., p. 313; see also <I>Proceedings of the Annual Session of the Supreme Council of Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, 33d and Last Degree of the
Ancient and Accepted Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the U.S.A.</I> (New Orleans: Bulletin Book and Job Office, 1857), p. 22</ref> “declared the Sup. Coun. to be still in existence and continued its works.”<ref>Folger, <I>The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite</I>, 2d ed., p 322.</ref>

This organization still exists, and is named the Supreme Council of Louisiana. New Orleans educator and Civil Rights activist George Longe was the head of this council. His papers are held at the Amistad Research Center of Tulane University. The current Most Powerful Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of Louisiana is Ill. Bro. Eddie L. Gabriel, Sr. 33°.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ballard |first1=E.C. |title=Michael Poll and The Supreme Council of Louisiana |url=http://hedgemason.blogspot.com/2015/07/michael-poll-and-original-supreme.html |website=The Hedge Mason |date=3 July 2015 |access-date=3 February 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Masonic Rites]]
* [[Masonic bodies|Masonic appendant bodies]] – An explanation of groups supplemental to "Blue Lodge" Freemasonry
* [[York Rite]] – Another group of Masonic appendant bodies.
* [[Grand College of Rites]] – An appendant body dedicated to preserving disused Masonic rituals and the rites of defunct Masonic societies.
* [[Rite of Memphis-Misraim]] – A European Masonic order dating from the 19th century, including degrees based on the three Blue Lodge and thirty three Scottish Rite degrees, as well as additional esoteric degrees.
* [[Rite of Baldwyn]] – A rite of seven degrees, practised only in [[Bristol]], UK.
* [[Chamber of Reflection]]
* [[Esotericism]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://scottishrite.org/ Supreme Council 33°, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, USA]
*[http://www.scottishritenmj.org/ Supreme Council 33°,  Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction]
*[http://www.sc33.org.uk/ Supreme Council 33° for England and Wales]
*[http://www.supremecouncilforscotland.org/ The Supreme Council for Scotland of the A&ASR]
*[http://www.scottishritecanada.ca/ Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of Canada]
*[http://scaasr.ro/en/supreme-council-of-33rd-and-last-degree-of-the-ancient-and-accepted-scottish-rite-of-romania/ Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Romania]
*[http://www.scottishrite.org.au/ Supreme Council of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite for Australia]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110109015724/http://www.scottishritecalifornia.org/founding_fathers.htm Scottish Rite Founding Fathers]
*[https://www.facebook.com/supremecouncilrussia?ref=hl Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for Russia]
*[http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/chatham/ancient-and-accepted-scottish-rite-of-freemasonry Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry] historical marker

===Supported institutions===
*[http://scottishrite.org/about/philanthropy-scholarships/ritecare-directory/ Links to RiteCare Clinics] which provide diagnostic evaluation and treatment of speech and language disorders, as well as learning disabilities in the Southern Jurisdiction, USA
*[http://childrensdyslexiacenters.org/ Masonic Learning Centers for Children, Inc.] which provide tutoring for children with dyslexia in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction
*[http://www.learningcentresforchildren.ca/ Learning Centres for Children] in Canada
*[[Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children]], a pediatric orthopedic hospital in Dallas, Texas
*[http://www.choa.org/ Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite]

{{Freemasonry footer}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Masonic rites]]