Scottish Rite

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The Scottish Rite is officially known as The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. It is one of several bodies that allow Master Masons to pursue further degrees and deeper understandings of Freemasonry. The central authority of this Rite is called a Supreme Council and the Rite confers thirty-three degrees. Controlling bodies confer these degrees. The Craft Lodge confers the Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason degrees. Once a Mason has become a Master Mason he can seek to join the Scottish Rite.

History of the Scottish Rite

Some Mason lodges offered a degree known as a "Scots Master" or "Scotch Master" in the 1700s. Records show that such degrees may have conferred as early as 1733. There are only a few recorded instances of these degrees, indicating that they were rare and special.

Estienne Morin was a French trader who lived in the 1700s and had an interest in the high degrees of Masonry. In 1747, he founded an "Ecossais" lodge -- which translates literally into “Scots Masters Lodge” – in what is now Haiti. A Bordeaux Lodge recognized seven Scots Masters Lodges through 1761, leading to the spread of high degree Masonry. In 1761, Morin was given authority by the Grand Lodge at Paris to have some powers over the craft lodges. However, Morin may have embellished his authority so that he could exert more control over the high degree, Scots Masters Lodges in the West Indies, which is where his interest lay.

As early as 1786, there are records of a "Rite of Perfection" which allowed 25 degrees. Some historians believe that this Rite, formed in Paris by The Council of Emperors of the East and West, is the direct precursor of the Scottish Rite. The highest degree conferred by the Rite was the "Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret." Some historians, however, have concluded that Morin was responsible for this Rite. Morin was instrumental in bringing the Rite to the US by authorizing others to create Lodges.

The Scottish Rite was officially established when the Mother Supreme Council was formed in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1801. One of the men that Morin authorized to Establish Morin's Rite of the Royal Secret was Isaac De Costa. De Costa founded the Rite in South Carolina in 1783. In 1801, the Rite became officially The Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction.

A man named Albert Pike made the Scottish Rite popular. Pike was instrumental on a committee formed by the Supreme Council in 1855 to create rituals and flesh out legends and histories of each degree. By 1868, Pike had completed his revisions of the rituals and he also wrote lectures for all the degrees to enhance Masons’ understanding of these degrees.

Organization of the Scottish Rite

In each country, a Supreme Council has the authority over the Scottish Rite for that country. The US, however, has two councils – a Massachusetts council to control the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction (NMJ) and a council in Washington, DC to oversee the Southern Jurisdiction (SJ). The Southern Jurisdiction is the first Supreme Council, and has authority over 35 states. Each state is known as an Orient. The local bodies of the Rite are known as Valleys. In the Southern Jurisdiction, the Supreme Council is made up of 33 members, with a Grand Commander presiding.

The Northern Masonic Jurisdiction is based in Lexington, Massachusetts. It has authority in fifteen states: New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin and Vermont. It is organized by groups of up to four bodies, each known as a Valley. The Supreme Council is made up of up to 66 members, lead by a "Deputy of the Supreme Council."

The Scottish Rite Degrees

  • 4° Secret Master (SJ), Master Traveler (NMJ)
  • 5° Perfect Master
  • 6° Intimate Secretary (SJ), Master of the Brazen Serpent (NMJ)
  • 7° Provost and Judge
  • 8° Intendant of the Building
  • 9° Elu of the Nine (SJ), Master of the Temple (NMJ)
  • 10° Elu of the Fifteen (SJ), Master Elect (NMJ)
  • 11° Elu of the Twelve (SJ), Sublime Master Elected (NMJ)
  • 12° Master Architect (SJ), Grand Master Architect (NMJ)
  • 13° Royal Arch of Solomon (SJ), Master of the Ninth Arch (NMJ)
  • 14° Perfect Elu (SJ), Grand Elect Mason (NMJ)
  • 15° Knight of the East, or Knight of the Sword, or Knight of the Eagle (SJ), Knight of the East, or Knight of the Sword (NMJ)
  • 16° Prince of Jerusalem
  • 17° Knight of the East and West
  • 18° Knight Rose Croix (SJ), Knight of the Rose Croix de Heredom Council of Kadosh (NMJ)
  • 19° Grand Pontiff
  • 20° Master of the Symbolic Lodge (SJ), Master ad Vitam (NMJ)
  • 21° Noachite, or Prussian Knight (SJ), Patriarch Noachite (NMJ)
  • 22° Knight of the Royal Axe, or Prince of Libanus (SJ), Prince of Libanus (NMJ)
  • 23° Chief of the Tabernacle
  • 24° Prince of the Tabernacle (SJ), Brother of the Forest (NMJ)
  • 25° Knight of the Brazen Serpent (SJ), Master of Achievement (NMJ)
  • 26° Prince of Mercy, or Scottish Trinitarian (SJ), Friend and Brother Eternal (NMJ)
  • 27° Knight of the Sun, or Prince Adept (SJ), Knight of Jerusalem (NMJ)
  • 28° Knight Commander of the Temple (SJ), Knight of the Sun, or Prince Adept (NMJ)
  • 29° Scottish Knight of Saint Andrew (SJ), Knight of Saint Andrew (NMJ)
  • 30° Knight Kadosh, or Knight of the White and Black Eagle (SJ), Grand Inspector (NMJ)
  • 31° Inspector Inquisitor (SJ), Knight Aspirant (NMJ)
  • 32° Master of the Royal Secret (SJ), Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret (NMJ)
  • 33° Inspector General
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