Comunichiamo con gran dispiacere a tutti i fratelli dell’umsoi di prendere nota che il Gran Maestro della G.L.d’I. Gianfranco Pilloni ha dato le dimissioni dalla Presidenza dell’Ordine UMSOI.

Informiamo anche che Bogdan Panait, già Commissario della M.L. Romana è stato dimissionato per indegnità.

We communicate with great sorrow to all umsoi brothers to note that the Grand Master of GLd’I. Gianfranco Pilloni has resigned from the Presidency of the Order UMSOI.

Note also that Bogdan Panait, former Commissioner of the ML Roman, was resigned to worthlessness.

Nos comunicamos a todos los hermanos umsoi con gran tristeza que tomar nota de la renuncia a la presidencia de la Orden UMSOI del Gran Maestro de la G.L.d’I. Gianfranco Pilloni.

Informamos que Bogdan Panait, Comisionado para las loija umsoi en Rumania y fue dado de alta para indignidad

Nós comunicamos a todos os irmãos umsoi com grande tristeza de tomar nota da demissão da presidência do Ordem da UMSOI do Grão-Mestre da G.L.d ‘I. Gianfranco Pilloni.

Informamos que Bogdan Panait o Comissário para a loijas umsoi na Romênia e foi descarregado por indignidade

Noi comunicăm cu mare tristeţe pentru toţi fraţii umsoi să se constate că Marele Maestru al GLd’I. Gianfranco Pilloni a demisionat de la preşedinţia UMSOI comenzii.

Reţineţi, de asemenea, că Bogdan Panait, fostul comisar al romane ML, a fost lipsa de valoare a demisionat.

* * * * * * *

Copy of the letter sent to UMSOI by Gianfranco Pilloni ex Gran Master UMSOI

 Document with the signatures of dignitaries who attended the conferment of awards Masonic

      

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Who Are The Masons?

The Masonic Fraternity is the oldest Fraternity in the world. The Masonic Family includes Masons as well as organizations for their ladies, couples, and youth.

The Masonic Family provides more than $2 million a day to charitable activities such as hospitals, youth scholarship, and those less fortunate than we.

Masons are looking for men who wish to become better men, who are interested in giving back to their community and in self improvement.

 2009-2010 Elected Grand Lodge Officers.

W/Michael L. Sanders, Senior Grand Warden;
R/W/G. Santy Lascano, Deputy Grand Master; M/W/Gale H. Kenney, Grand Master; R/W/Dean W. Heinemann, Junior Grand Warden;  R/W/David P. Owen, Grand Secretary

Our Vision

Freemasons of Washington will be recognized as a relevant and respected Fraternity, committed to attracting and retaining all men of high quality who strive for self improvement and the opportunity to make a positive difference in their community.

Grand Lodge Long Range Plan

Membership Development  

M/W/Masonic Grand Lodge of Washington, F.&A.M.

47 St. Helens Ave.Tacoma WA 98402-2698

_________________________________________________________ 

we receive and publish

Grand Lodge of Washington Free and Accepted Masons
Long Range Plan (Pillars of Progress)
Long Range Plan Strategic Initiatives

Background: 
Recognizing the benefit to be gained by continuing programs which have more than a one year life span, the Grand Master tasked the Long Range Planning Team to reevaluate the Long Range Plan. In addition, the other elected officers in the Grand Line committed to continue their support and execution of the Plan.
  The Vision for the Grand Jurisdiction for the next five years and beyond is still as relevant today as it was when it was developed in 2000:
Freemasons of Washington will be recognized as a relevant and respected Fraternity, committed to attracting and retaining all men of high quality, who strive for self-improvement and the opportunity to make a positive difference in their community.
The Pillars of Progress, as developed in 2000, will continue to be the supports which will lead to the achievement of the Vision. They are:
Grand Lodge Organization
Education and Training
Technology

Family Involvement
Community Involvement
Public Relations
Fraternalism
Cooperation with Concordant Organizations
With these Pillars as the focus, the Long Range Planning Team was tasked to assemble an ad hoc committee to assess where we are as a Grand Jurisdiction with regards to the Long Range Plan and offer suggestions for it to be updated. Masons were invited to participate who had been identified as current or future leaders in their constituent lodges, leaders in their Districts, or leaders within the Grand Jurisdiction. Through seminar type discussions, opinions and ideas were received and have been incorporated into this iteration of the Long Range Plan.
The Long Range Plan is intended to be a living document, to be updated on an annual basis, or as frequently as deemed necessary. It solicits inputs from all Masons at any time so timely changes may be made to assist in achieving the Grand Lodge Vision.
Situation:
Hours spent at our usual vocations, as well as commuting to and from the job, leave much less time for participation in activities outside the home. Therefore, to become involved or join an organization, it must fulfill a want or need. And yet, men of all ages are once again being drawn to Freemasonry. What attracts them to our fraternity is as diverse as the individuals themselves. What is clear, however, is that lodge activities must be worth the expenditure of this their limited leisure time. In short, the participation must be relevant to the individual and enable him to see the benefit to himself, his family, the Fraternity, and Society as a whole.
The Leadership of the Grand Lodge of Washington recognizes that to be successful, it must start at the constituent lodge level. However, there are several ways the Grand Lodge can assist. The Grand Lodge has access to assets, which are not available at the local level. The function of this plan and its execution will be to make these additional assets readily available to all lodges throughout the Grand Jurisdiction.
Pillars of Progress:
Each of the eight Pillars of Progress is essential to the attainment of strategic initiatives proposed by the Grand Lodge Elected Officers and adopted by the body of the Grand Lodge at its Annual Communication. Within each pillar there are broad or non-specific areas, objectives, which encompass several concepts or ideas. Within each of the objectives there are goals or actions, which can be specified and measured. In addition, time frames for accomplishment can be delineated. Both objectives and under-riding actions may be adjusted and updated during the life of this plan and the supporting execution plan.
  The Pillars of Progress are numbered one through eight. This is not meant to establish a priority sequence. Each Pillar is integral to achieving the vision and therefore equal emphasis should be placed on the accomplishment of all goals/actions within each objective. Because resources may need to be appropriated to achieve some of the objectives and related actions, a timeline may be established to provide a suggested flow and as a means to provide focus at appropriate times.

Pillars of Progress
Pillar No. 1 Grand Lodge Organization
Pillar No. 2 Education and Training
Pillar No. 3 Technology
Pillar No. 4 Family Involvement
Pillar No. 5 Community Involvement
Pillar No. 6 Public Relations
Pillar No. 7 Fraternalism
Pillar No. 8 Cooperation with Concordant Organizations
Pillar No. 1: Grand Lodge Organization
Rationale:
A dedicated program to review and update our organization, and the way we do business, is needed to make our Grand Lodge capable of timely response to the needs of constituent lodges.
Objectives:
Identify areas where Grand Lodge can assist constituent lodges.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the Grand Lodge Organization to be responsive to positive changes and new opportunities.
Assess the talents of individual members, as a pool of resources, to be placed in strategic leadership positions/roles.
Alter the structure of the Grand Lodge Organization, where needed, to insure the efficient implementation of the Vision and Pillars of Progress. The objective is to have a Grand Lodge that is well organized, well managed, efficient, and uses technology to its best advantage.
Actions:
Develop roles and responsibilities for each appointed Grand Lodge officer, e.g., serve as chair of a Standing Committee.
Review the composition of committees to ensure that the members have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to be effective.
Develop, maintain, and utilize as a talent bank, a data base of Committee assignments that Grand Lodge Team members have held.
Conduct a study to review and report on a potential change of date, location, agenda, and duration for the Annual Communication of Grand Lodge.
 Pillar No. 2: Education and Training
Rationale:
Education has long been a priority in Freemasonry. Through a series of well developed and presented courses of instruction, Lodge Officers and members will gain an understanding of what it truly means to be a Mason, increase their interest and involvement, and motivate them to increase and share that knowledge.
Objectives:
Establish and implement educational programs designed to teach and apply Masonic knowledge to the daily lives of the membership.
Provide Masonic leaders the necessary training to manage and allocate resources to achieve optimum results.
Actions:
Task the Grand Lecturer, with the assistance of the Research and Education Committee, to develop and conduct regional programs for Deacons and Stewards, that includes floor work and symbolism, per the guidelines in the Lodge Officers Handbook.
Task the Grand Lecturer to develop and conduct training workshops for the Deputies of the Grand Master, as directed by the Grand Master.
Investigate and evaluate the possibility of allowing copies of the Standard Work, currently used by the Grand Lecturer and the Deputies, to be made available to the Worshipful Master of the Lodge during his term of office.
Develop a course outline for a Masonic University that can be used throughout the Jurisdiction providing education, ritual and floor work, symbolism, and Masonic history.

Pillar No. 3: Technology
Rationale:
Lodges need access to membership statistics, easier methods of communicating with Grand Lodge and their own membership, easier methods for managing their finances and lodge data, and provide Masonic education.
Objectives:
Utilize technology to improve lodge administration and Masonic education.
Actions:
Expand the Grand Lodge data base system to allow easier access by constituent lodges.
Create interactive forms for lodge reports.
Create web hosting through the Grand Lodge Office and provide a template for all lodges in the Jurisdiction.
Create and issue electronic formats of all ritual work as authorized by the Code.
Develop interactive Masonic educational programs.
Pillar No. 4: Family Involvement
Rationale:
To attract men of high quality, Masonry must develop and implement programs, which are of interest to the whole family. The time spent in Masonic brotherhood should, to a certain extent, fulfill a brother’s needs as a Mason, while concurrently satisfying his wishes to be with his family or to meet their needs through his Masonic association.
Objectives:
To develop a closer tie between individual Masonic families by well-planned activities within the lodge framework that will include all family members.
Actions:
Task the Membership Development Committee to form a focus group composed of a cross section of brethren from throughout the Jurisdiction, and their wives, to identify those family oriented activities/events, which could be conducted at Grand Lodge functions, such as the Grand Lodge Communication, cornerstones or district meetings. The composition of the focus group should be broad-based in terms of age and experience.
Task the Membership Development Committee to review ongoing activities in the Jurisdiction, where some lodges have been working to get their families involved, and develop a database of family activities accomplished by constituent lodges for dissemination/review by all lodges in the Jurisdiction.
Recognize the opportunities that Masonic youth organizations provide for family oriented activities and encourage participation by lodge members.
Pillar No. 5: Community Involvement
Rationale:
To be relevant in today’s society, the Masonic Fraternity must recognize that its members desire to use their personal and collective talents to promote the basic tenets of our institution outside the walls of their lodge rooms.
Objectives:
Develop and foster positive relationships and partnerships within Washington as a community at large.
Seek ways in which Masons and lodges can be significant and meaningful participants in the health, growth, and enrichment of their local communities.
Recognize organizations and individual members of the community, from outside of the Fraternity, who espouse Masonic ideals and character, for their outstanding service.

Actions:

Under the direction of the Public Relations Committee, develop, implement, and expand a speaker’s bureau throughout the Jurisdiction to build awareness of Masonry among key community organizations, government and community leaders.
Task the Public Relations Committee to coordinate with service organizations, on a statewide level, to identify those areas of common concern where constituent lodges may partner to be of greater service to the community.
Through the Public Relations Committee, sponsor/support community events statewide which enhance a positive image of the Masonic organization. Identify appropriate local fairs, festivals, and celebrations throughout the state. Encourage lodges to participate in them through booths, participation in parades, youth sports team sponsorships, etc.
Develop a program to recognize members of the community, outside of the Fraternity, for their outstanding service. Actively encourage lodges to forward deserving examples for Grand Lodge recognition. Develop media contacts to publicize such awards and activities.
Encourage lodges to identify and participate in local community service opportunities.
Encourage lodges to link their web sites to local and statewide community informational systems, such as local Chambers of Commerce.
Pillar No. 6: Public Relations
Rationale:
The perception the public has of Freemasonry affects our ability to enrich our communities through our various philanthropic projects, as well as, our ability to attract new members.
Objectives:
Develop, publish, and execute a Long Range Public Relations Plan.
Encourage and assist the constituent lodges to develop good working relationships with the local media in their communities or geographical areas.
Actions:
Task the Public Relations Committee to develop a Long Range Public Relations Program. The program should include as a minimum, the identification of the target audience, media they use or observe, and a proposed budget for at least a three-year time period. 
Task the Public Relations Committee to develop and deliver to the constituent lodges a comprehensive training program, including how to write a press release, on the media available to them, and ways to publicize events.
Task the Public Relations Committee to submit positive examples of public relation successes for publishing on the Grand Lodge web site and in Masonic publications.
Pillar No. 7: Fraternalism
Rationale:
Freemasonry is founded on the principles of Friendship, Morality, and Brotherly Love. If we as Freemasons plan for our Fraternity to prosper with new membership and to have brethren remain active in our lodges, we must all share these common principles.
Objectives:
To communicate the meaning and importance of Fraternalism.
To promote programs encouraging visitation and cooperative activities among lodges.
To be able to identify talents within the Fraternity and make use of them when the occasion should require.
Actions:
Encourage the districts to form a Lodge Officers and Members Association (LOMA), or a variation thereof, to encourage participation and interaction between the lodges.
Encourage the development of a “Sister Lodge” program within the Jurisdiction, whereby lodges will develop relationships with lodges in other parts of the State.
Continue establishing “Mentor” programs in the lodges whereby newer Masons develop a personal report with more experienced and knowledgeable Masons.

Pillar No. 8: Cooperation with Concordant Organizations
Rationale:
Many members of the Masonic Fraternity are also members of concordant organizations. These organizations share the same basic tenets and are another avenue to participate in good works and fulfill the desire to make a difference in a brother’s respective community.
Objectives:
To raise awareness and strengthen the bond that exists within the Masonic Family including its concordant and appendent organizations.
To foster support for Masonic Youth Orders and recognize that their strength and viability will improve the future of the Masonic Fraternity.
To recognize that by working together, we can strengthen our combined abilities to take advantage of the various opportunities facing the Fraternity today and in the future.
Actions:
Grand Lodge to remain an active participant in the Washington Masonic Alliance.
Encourage the formation of local coordinating councils, composed of organizations meeting in the local lodge hall.
Task the Youth Committee to develop an informational program for lodges on how to start and sponsor a Masonic Youth Order.
Task the Public Relations Committee to have speakers available to address concordant bodies regarding Grand Lodge activities.
Sponsor a “Concordant Body of the Month” program to stimulate attendance, education and cooperation.

Philippine history is rich in the contributions and role of Masonry and Masons in the country. The propagation of the ideals of democracy is perhaps their biggest contribution. Our heroes Jose Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, Mariano Ponce, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Emilio Aguinaldo, Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini and many other Filipino patriots were all masons.

It may be ironic, but significant that it was in Spain itself where Jose Rizal and his fellow Filipino expatriates internalized the idea of democracy. They joined Masonry and realized for the first time that they were treated as equals by their Spanish brothers. Rizal, del Pilar, Mariano Ponce and others saw the liberalism pervading in the very seat of colonial power, in stark contrast to the manner in which the Philippine colonial government was being run by the friar-influenced Spanish governors. They formed a propaganda movement and published a newspaper, La Solidaridad that exposed the anomalies in the Philippines and advocated reforms.

Jose Rizal wrote the novel Noli Me Tangere that exposed the abuses and avarice of the friars in the Philippines. In 1892 he and other ilustrados organized the La Liga Filipina to actively work for reforms. Rizal was arrested and exiled in Dapitan in Mindanao. The call for reforms repeatedly rejected and violently suppressed, later transformed into more militant actions. The Katipunan was organized; highly Masonic in structure and in its system of admission of members. It advocated total independence from Spain. It plotted a revolution.

Katipunan founders Andrés Bonifacio, Ladislao Diwa and Teodoro Plata were all members of La Liga Filipina and were influenced by the nationalistic ideals of the Propaganda Movement in Spain. In the last week of August 1896, shortly after its discovery by the Spanish authorities, the Philippine revolution broke out.

The influence of Masons and Masonry on nationalism was not confined in Spain. Once the Filipinos were allowed access to lodges established under the Grand Spanish Orients, Masonry flourished and nationalistic fervor grew. Filipino Masons found support and protection even from colonial governors and Spanish government officials.

The history of Masonry in the Philippines tells us of the liberal regime of a Mason, Governor General Carlos Maria dela Torre, who was sent to the country in 1869 during the age of liberalism in Spain. It was after Queen Isabela II was deposed and King Amadeus of Savoy, a fellow Mason was installed. Dela Torre became a friend of the Filipinos; encouraged free speech, abolished censorship of the press and fostered free discussion of political problems. He displayed benevolence by pardoning rebels who spearheaded an agrarian uprising in Cavite. He supported the Filipinization of the parishes.

Governor General Carlos dela Torre implemented the educational decrees of another Mason, Minister of the Colonies Segismundo Moret, providing for the secularization of education and government control over certain educational institutions in the Philippines. Fearing that his attitude would promote nationalist tendencies among the Filipinos, and encourage the duplication of the Masonically led revolt in Spain, the friars conspired to remove him in 1871.

In 1885 Emilio Terrero y Perinat a 33rd degree Mason, was appointed Governor General to the Philippines. He revived the liberal measures started by Governor General dela Torre and together with fellow Masons Jose Centeno, acting Civil Governor of Manila and Benigno Quiroga, Director General for Civil Administration, tried to cleanse the government of friar dictates and influence.

When Rizal returned to the country on August 5, 1887, after his five-year stay in Spain, copies of his explosive novel Noli Me Tangere were already being circulated. The Archbishop of Manila had asked Terrero to ban the book immediately but the Governor General instead summoned Rizal for interview. After two meetings, Rizal earned the admiration of Governor General Terrero who, believing that he was in extreme danger assigned a lieutenant of the Civil Guards, Jose Taviel de Andrade as his bodyguard.

The novel continued to circulate and even enjoyed immense popularity especially after Terrero ignored the recommendation of the Permanent Commission on Censorship that it be absolutely prohibited. Governor General Emilio Terrero’s three year term ended in 1888 and was not renewed.

The impact and influence of Masons and Masonry in the struggle for freedom can not be denied. This is probably even more evident in the fact that our heroes were descendants of Continental Grand Orients; nurtured in the same brand of Masonry that inspired the Masonically led 1789-1799 French Revolution and the Spanish uprising of 1868. Katipunan Supremo Andres Bonifacio and General Emilio Aguinaldo were said to have studied the history of the French Revolution. Aguinaldo’s revolutionary theme, Equality, Fraternity and Liberty was definitely inspired by the French revolution.

General Emilio Aguinaldo rose to become the principal rallying personality of the revolution; united the erstwhile divided forces and succeeded in liberating the key provinces and cities in the Archipelago. Independence was declared on June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite, followed by the creation the first republican form of government in Asia. The national flag was unfurled and the national anthem, the Marcha Nacional was first played by a brass band. The first Philippine Constitution was subsequently drafted by an assembly largely composed of Masons in Malolos, Bulacan.

Filipinos were however, denied the fruits of freedom when the United States which had declared war against Spain on April 21, 1898 signed the Treaty of Paris with Spain on December 10, 1898 which was ratified on February 6, 1899. In this treaty, Spain ceded the Philippines for $20,000,000.

The Philippine-American war erupted on February 4, 1899. Aguinaldo was captured in 1901; the Americans declared total victory, and the Philippines became a colony of the United States.

Emilio Aguinaldo, made a Mason at Pilar Lodge in Imus; founder of Magdalo Lodge in Kawit, and first president of the Philippine Republic, looking back at the revolution said:

“The successful Revolution of 1896 was Masonically inspired, Masonically led, and Masonically executed. And I venture to say that the first Philippine Republic, of which I was its humble president, was an achievement we owe largely, to Masonry and the Masons.”

HistoryAccording to Robert Ambelain, the Primitive Scottish Rite was practiced by the many military Loges, Jacobites Scottish regiments and Irish exiled followers of the King of England James II and VII Stuart. Soldiers of these Loges would then spread enough in 1725 to form a “Very Old and Honorable Society of Freemasons in the Kingdom of France”. Their rituals are then managed in Marseille in 1751 by Georges de Wallnon (or Waldon) which will be the Lodge Saint Jean d’Écosse de Marseille. They would also greatly inspired the rite of the Rite of Strict Observance and Scottish Rectified Rite. The motto of the Primitive Scottish Rite is “Primigenius More Majorem”. It is this lineage that claims the current Primitive Scottish Rite, “awakened” in 1985 at the initiative of Robert Ambelain.

The historical scale of grades

After 1985, some variation probably due to the progress of his research, Robert Ambelain adopt the hierarchy of ranks of Primitive Scottish Rite in his 5th grade, the Scottish Master and /or Knights of Saint Andrew. The hierarchy of the Primitive Scottish Rite comprises the following grades:

1º. Apprentice
2º. Companion
3º. Master (or “Confirmed Companion”)
4º. Installed Master (or Master of St. John or Master of Lodge)
5º. Scottish Master and /or Knights of St. Andrew of Chardon
Criticism and Historical Research Status

In 1777, when asked its integration within the Grand Orient de France, which houses of the “perfect equality” of Saint-Germain-en-Laye called for its creation in 1688 in the regiment “Royal Irish” arrived in France following the exile of James II and VII Stuart. Historians believe its true, but it has never been demonstrated and no ritual at the time was never found.

With regard to housing in Scotland Saint Jean de Marseille, like other French rites at the time, the Rite claimed the prestige of having been founded not by an English or continental, but with a patent which would have been made directly by a Scottish aristocrat Jacobite, in this case a certain “Duvalmon,” “Valmont” or “Valuon”, 17 June 1751. His first Venerable Master is a certain Alexander Routier. However, it was never able to present the original license, but only copies the oldest of which dated from 1784. Moreover, it was subsequently shown that the archives of the Grand Lodge of Edinburgh contained no trace of this supposed patent. Historians today believe that the origin must be regarded as legendary and was particularly put forward from 1784 in order to claim an independent origin of justifying its refusal to submit to the authority of Grand Orient de France.
Grand Lodge of the Primitive Scottish Rite

The French Grand Lodge of the Primitive Scottish Rite was succeeded in 2001 in the Grand Lodge of Primitive Scottish Rite founded in 1990 by Robert Ambelain, Albert and Andre Cools Fages.
It is a mixed Masonic obedience with aims to perpetuate the Primitive Scottish Rite. His lodges are working to the Glory of God Almighty and Sublime Architect of the Worlds.
Grades Practiced Today

Blue Lodges

1º. Apprentice
2º. Companion
3º. Master (formerly Companion Confirmed)

Red Lodges

4º. Installed Master (or Master of St. John or Master of Lodge)
5º. a. Master Scottish Knight of Saint-André
5º. b. Knights of Jerusalem (grade alternative to previous)

Internal Order

6º. Squire Novice of the Temple
7º. Chevalier du Temple

Scottish Philosophic Rite

From 1740 onwards, there existed at Avignon, capital of the department Vaucluse, a school or rather many schools of Hermeticism, working in some cases under Masonic forms on the basis of the Craft degrees, with an intermediate structure of so-called Scots degrees. The head of the movement was apparently Dom. Ant. Jos. de Pernety (1716-1801), a Benedictine Monk, alchemist, and mystic. The roots of the Scots Philosophic Rite go back to Pernety, and his Illuminés of Avignon. Also, the Illuminés point to Martinism and the Chevaliers Bienfaisants de la sainte cité at Lyons, which was also connected to the Amis Rèunis / Philalethes / Philadelphes. Among its members were Cagliostro and his friend Baron de Corberon, Mesmer, Marquis de Thomé and the Marquis de Puysegur, self-styled Professor of “Mesmerism”. Early Primitive Rite was that of the Philadelphes, or Primitive Rite of Narbonne. This was associated both with the various esoteric currents in the area, and with the Philalethes. The Philalethes and the Scottish Philosophic Rite had common threads. The Scottish Philosophic Rite drew a lot from the early Scots Lodges in France, as well as the systems founded by / based upon Antoine Joseph Pernety. Ultimately these would lead to The Rite of Memphis.

Later on - 1787 - tbe Polish Starost Gabrianca, founder of the Illuminati of Avignon, added Martinist and Swedenborgian philosophy. Among the many rites which originated here may be mentioned the Elus Coens, Illuminés du Zodiaque, Frères noirs, etc. Of most importance to French Freemasonry was the “Mother Lodge du Comtat-Venaissin,” the date of constitution of which I have been unable to ascertain. About the year 1766 this Mother-Lodge worked the following extra degrees: — 4°, True Mason; 5°, True Mason on the Right Road; 6°, Knight of the Golden Key; 7°, Knight of Iris; 8°, Knight Argonaut; 9°, Knight of the Golden Fleece. On July 22, 1757, the Archbishop issued a mandate against the whole system; and on February 3, 1775, the Inquisitor P. Mabille, himself a Freemason (so it is said), surprised the Mother-Lodge with an armed following and forced its dissolution.

A Lodge existed in Paris under the name of Saint Lazarus, which had been constituted by the Grand Lodge of France on May 20, 1766, And founded by Lazare Phil. Brunetau. On April 2, 1776, this Lodge constituted itself the “Mother-Lodge of the Scots Philosophic Rite in France,” changing its title to “Social Contract.” On May 5, 1776, it was installed as such by commissioners from the “Scots Mother-Lodge du Comtat-Vennaissin,” which on August 18 amalgamated with the Contrat Social; thus the Mother-Lodge, broken up at Avignon, revived in the bosom of a Paris Lodge, founded by the Grand Lodge of France, and since 1772 owing allegiance to the Grand Orient.

The “Social Contract” apprised the Grand Orient of its new departure, but for years the latter refused to recognise it as a Mother-Lodge, i.e., a Lodge with power to constitute others, and erased it from the roll. The history of the negotiations belongs to that of the Grand Orient, and it will be sufficient to state here, that in 1781 a Concordat was agreed to, which reinstated the Social Contract as a daughter of the G. O. in regard to the three degrees proper of Freemasonry, but which left it sole control over the Scots-Hermetic grades. It was prohibited from warranting Lodges within the jurisdiction of the G. O., but permitted to do so elsewhere, and to affiliate itself to French Lodges already in existence, and to endow them with Chapters, Tribunals, etc., etc. This was practically a victory for the Philosophic Rite. The Scottish Philosophic Rite is practised by the Masons subject to the Lodge Alpina in Switzerland. This latter Grand Lodge, which is among those formally recognized by the Grand Lodges of the British Isles, is of special importance, as it is not unfrequently utilised as a kind of liaison body by the different rites and lodges of the several jurisdictions all over the world in their negotiations with each other.

Named after Joseph Cerneau (1763-1840/45), “Cerneauism” was a rival and illegitimate form of Scottish Rite Masonry that challenged the S.J. and N.M.J. during most of the 1800s. Cerneau, a Frenchman and resident of Havana, Cuba, was a jeweler and Secretary of a Pennsylvania Lodge, La Temple des Virtus Theogalis. In 1806 he was appointed Inspector of the 25-degree Order of the Royal Secret (Rite of Perfection), with authority to create one new 25° Mason each year in Cuba. His patent is in the archives of the Supreme Council, 33°, S.J. In 1807 he moved to New York City with his family and affiliated with Washington Lodge No. 21 in 1810.

Upon his arrival in 1807, he formed a Sovereign Grand Consistory of the 25° which attracted many prominent members, including DeWitt Clinton. After the Mother Supreme Council in Charleston created the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in 1813, Cerneau’s Consistory put forth a Supreme Council of 33° degrees and claimed territory over the “United States of America, it Territories and Dependencies.” At one point it was limited to members of the Schismatic St. John’s Grand Lodge of New York. Later it contracted to only control New York State, encouraging the formation of independent Supreme Councils in each state, and then re-expanded to again cover the entire country. In 1853 it chartered two Blue Lodges in New York City, which may have sealed its fate as forever illegitimate.

During the period of 1886 through 1888, Cerneauism was in a growth mode and was making inroad in the Kansas City area. (In 1807, Joseph Cerneau established a body under the title, “Sovereign Grand Consistory of the United States of America, its Territories and Dependencies” in New York and claimed the right to organize and charter bodies as the “Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.”

The “History of the Supreme Council” indicates that Cerneau bodies were formed in Kansas City with some forty members in 1887. Sovereign Grand Commander Pike had long before declared the Cerneau “Sovereign Grand Consistory” clandestine and members of bodies subordinate to that organization were not recognized as Scottish Rite Masons by the Supreme Council. The presence and activity of the Cerneau “Scottish Rite” caused confusion among the Craft.

Despite its many ups and downs, the Cerneau Supreme Council became a strong rival to the N.M.J., and in 1867 merged with the N.M.J. In 1881, dissatisfied former members of the Cerneau Supreme Council renounced their vows of fealty, withdrew from the NMJ, and reactivated the Supreme Council for the United States of America, its Territories and Dependencies. Eventually the conflict between the Supreme Councils (primarily in the N.M.J.) spilled over into Blue Lodges. In the late 1800s Grand Lodges reluctantly stepped in, declared the Cerneauists illegitimate, and threatened expulsion to any Mason who continued membership. The courts ultimately upheld a Grand Lodge’s right to control what Masonic groups it members could belong to, and only then did Cerneauism come to an end.

Joseph Cerneau, like the founders of the S.M.J. Supreme Council, had been a 25° member and Deputy Inspector General of Morin’s Rite of the Royal Secret (sometimes known as the Rite of Perfection) and in 1807 organised a “Sovereign Grand Consistory” in New York, which later turned into a “Supreme Council 33°” in imitation of Mitchell and Dalcho’s Charleston operation.

The SMJ refused to recognise this body, and in 1813 supported the establishment of the Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in opposition to Cerneau. Cerneau’s original body was eventually (1867) absorbed by the “regular” N.M.J. council; however in the previous year one Harry Seymour, after being kicked out of the Scottish Rite under N.M.J. for involvement in Memphis-Misraim, got himself a Cerneau charter and later went on to charter John Yarker (expelled from A.A.S.R. in 1870 by the Supreme Council for England and Wales, also for involvement in Memphis-Misraim), from whom the “Cerneau” rite passed to Theodor Reuss and Aleister Crowley; thus the very fact which makes work more or less worthless for the study of the “regular” Scottish Rite makes it more useful than the likes of Ordo ab Chao or Pike’s Magnum Opus for the study of the Masonic influences on the O.T.O.

In 1917 was founded the Ordo Templi Orientis Lodge “Libertas et Fraternitas” in Zürich (Switzerland), under Reuss and de Laban. Some days before de Laban and Hilfiker had paid Reuss handsomely for their own O.T.O. charters. On these papers the O.T.O. was equaled with the Memphis-Misraim Rite. In 1919 Reuss founded a Supreme Council of the Cerneau Scottish Rite.
THE VIEW TODAY

Today, it is the official opinion of the Southern Jurisdiction that all legitimate Supreme Councils derive their authority directly or indirectly from the Southern Jurisdiction. This precept would eliminate any Cerneau Council from being able to be declared legitimate. The Grand Constitutions of 1786, however, make no mention, whatsoever, of legitimacy being conditional upon the ability of a Council to show that it derives it’s authority from the Charleston Council. The recent recognition by the Supreme Council Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Prince Hall Scottish Rite (which can not trace itself back to the S.J.) in those Northern States whose Grand Lodges recognize Prince Hall Masonry illustrates that the position of the Southern Jurisdiction is not universal. Without question a re-evaluation of the Southern Jurisdiction’s historical position on recognition will have to take place.

The battle to define American Scottish Rite regularity has been lengthy and often bitter. Cerneau masonry has long been the standard for “irregular” masonry, but why? Both Supreme Councils in the Southern and Northern Jurisdictions merged with Cerneau Councils, clearly this is a declaration that the Cerneau Councils could not have been “that” irregular. In the final analysis, it is clear that there is much still to be understood concerning Cerneau masonry. Possibly, with time and careful study we can discover more concerning this man who had such a powerful effect on American Scottish Rite masonry.

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite

 The Scottish Rite, known as the Continental Masonry, origins were in European Masonry practiced in the mid 17th century. The constitutions of the Scottish Rite were formulated in 1761, 1762 and 1786. The influence of these Masonic rites went global along the trails of British Imperialism. They are practiced today in Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.    W. Leadbeater wrote in “Glimpses of Masonic History” the following:
ORIGIN OF THE RITE

THE origin of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of 33°, or rather that of the Rite of Perfection or of Heredom of 25° out of which it was evolved, has been one of the most obscure Masonic problems; practically nothing is known about it by scholars, since no authentic contemporary evidence is preserved in available documents or publica­tions. This silence need cause but little wonder to the student who has followed us so far, for, like many other activities both in politics and religion, the high-grade Masonry of the early eighteenth century was intended to be kept secret, and the secrecy was preserved by committing nothing to writing and leaving no trace on the physical plane. I cannot expect that my statements will be accepted by Masonic scholars who pin their faith to documents alone, but I shall nevertheless give a brief account of what actually took place, supplying corroborative evidence whenever possible from reliable historians, so far as their works are available to me. This book is written in Australia, far away from the chief centres of Masonic life and learning, and I have consequently had to depend largely upon the resources of my own library. If I had access to a larger selection of Masonic volumes I should no doubt be able to find other fragments of valuable testimony.
THE JACOBITE MOVEMENT

There has been a persistent tradition among Continental writers upon Masonry that the Jacobites had much to do with the development of the higher degrees of the eighteenth century; and, as Bro. R. R. Gould points out, colour is lent to this view by the fact that the earliest names mentioned in connection with Freemasonry in France are those of well-known adherents of the Stuarts, although he himself rejects the hypothesis for lack of sufficient evidence.* (*Gould. Hist. Freem., III, 78.) We have the direct and personal testimony of Baron von Hund, the founder of the Rite of the Strict Observance, given in 1764, that he himself was received into the Order of the Temple in Paris in 1743 by “an unknown Bro., the Knight of the Red Feather, in the presence of Lord Kilmarnock* (*At that time Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and Master of Lodge Kilwinning on his election to that high office in 1742. Ibid., p. 53.) … and that he was subsequently introduced as a distinguished Brother of the Order to Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender”.* (*Ibid., p. 101.) From papers found after his death it is clear that von Hund regarded the Knight of the Red Feather as Prince Charles himself. The life of von Hund shows him to have been a man of stainless honour who had made great sacrifices for the cause which he had at heart; and although it has been said that in 1777 Prince Charles denied to an emissary of the Strict Observance* (*Ibid., p. 110.) that he had ever been a Freemason, such an official démenti is not unknown even to-day in political circles, and perhaps we need not attach great importance to it.

The Scottish adherents of King James II, who followed him into exile after the landing of the Prince of Orange in 1688, brought to the English Court at S. Germains (which had been placed at the disposal of the King by Louis XIV) those ancient rites of Heredom and Kilwinning, intermingled with the Templar tradition, to which we have already referred. When King James II fled from England he took refuge at the Jesuit Abbey of Clermont, which had attached to it a College of Clermont in Paris, founded by Guillaume du Prat, Bishop of Clermont, in 1550.* (*The Catholic Encyclopaedia (1913), Vol. xiv, p. 88.) There, most unexpectedly, the King found a Masonic centre, working rites which had been handed down in France from a remote past. An intermingling of two traditions thus took place, and it was at this period - many years before the revival in 1717 - that certain of the ceremonies which are to-day included in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite were first put together.

It is probably this fact which gave birth to that other recurring tradi­tion that the Jesuits were connected with the development of high-grade Masonry on the Continent; and it is from this indigenous French tradition, of which another branch had found its way into the Compagnonnage, that the rituals of French Craft Masonry - so different from the English - were derived. A further intermingling with the English tradition transmitted through Anderson no doubt took place after 1717.

King James conceived the idea of trying to use Freemasonry to assist him in his endeavour to regain his throne; but this attempt failed, for, though they sympathized with the King, the Masonic authorities staunchly refused to abandon their traditional neutral policy, or to allow the Order to become a cloak for political intrigue. The Jacobite influence nevertheless left its traces upon this part of Masonry, and in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite the 14° is still called, under some Obediences, Grand Scottish Knight of the Sacred Vault of James VI, though its older name was Grand, Elect, Ancient Perfect Master.* (*A. E. Waite. Secret Tradition in Freemasonry, Vol. I, p. 125.) Baron von Hund spoke the truth when he claimed to have met Prince Charles in Paris in 1743, and he seems to have inherited certain lines of succession which afterwards became the heart of the Rite of the Strict Observance. After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, which practically destroyed the Jacobite movement, the connection of the Stuarts with Masonry was dropped, and it seems probable that Baron von Hund himself composed the Latin Rituals of the Strict Observance, which played a considerable part in German Masonry in the eighteenth century.* (*Gould. Hist. Freem., III, 101.)

THE ORATION OF RAMSAY

After the year 1740 “Scots Degrees” sprang up in all parts of France,* (*Ibid., p. 92.) and their creation and development are largely attributable to the celebrated Oration delivered in 1737 in the Provincial Grand Lodge of England in Paris by the Chevalier Ramsay; although the first published reference to a “Scotch Masons’ Lodge” occurs as early as 1733 in London.* (*R. F. Gould, A.Q.C., XVI, 44.)

Ramsay was born in 1681 or 1682 at Ayr near Kilwinning (though he does not seem ever to have joined that ancient Lodge). He was converted to Catholicism by Archbishop Fenelon, whose Life he wrote and with whom he continued to live till his death in 1715. After that he acted as tutor to the two sons of the rightful King James III in Rome. He was unquestionably a learned man, a deep student both of ancient and modern history, a D.C.L. of Oxford University and, like many other prominent Freemasons of the period, a Fellow of the Royal Society. He never appears to have taken much interest in Masonry, though he wrote to Cardinal Fleury, the Prime Minister of France, in 1737 asking his protection for the Freemasons, and stating that their ideals were very high and most useful to religion, literature and the state. He died in 1743.

But although Ramsay never did much work for Masonry, the Oration which he delivered in 1737 before the Provincial Grand Lodge of England in Paris, of which he was Grand Chancellor and Orator, had a profound influence upon French Masonry. It was a tolerably good Oration, but nothing very extraordinary. None the less it appears to have given just that impetus that was needed to set the French high-grade movement in activity, and ever afterwards the makers of high grades looked to Ramsay as their pattern and ensample.

He proclaimed the ideal of Masonry to be a Universal Brotherhood of cultured men, a Spiritual Empire that would change the world. He refers to the three degrees, and calls them Novices or Apprentices, Fellows or Professed Brothers, Masters or Perfected Brothers - a slightly different set of titles which may refer to a different stream of tradition. These are required to practise respectively the moral virtues, the heroic virtues and the Christian virtues.

According to him, Masonry was founded in remote antiquity and was renewed or restored in the Holy Land at the time of the Crusades. It has affinities with the ancient Mysteries, especially those of Ceres at Eleusis, Isis in Egypt and others. The Crusaders adopted a set of “ancient signs and symbolical words drawn from the well of religion,” which were intended to distinguish Crusader from Saracen, and were concealed under strict pledges of secrecy. The intimate union between the Crusading Masons and the Knights of S. John of Jerusalem is the reason why the Blue degrees are called S. John’s Masonry. The return­ing Crusaders brought Lodges of Masonry to Europe, and from thence they were introduced into Scotland, where “James, Lord Steward of Scotland, was Grand Master of a Lodge established at Kilwinning, in the West of Scotland in 1286, shortly after the death of Alexander III, King of Scotland, and one year before John Baliol mounted the throne”.

Ramsay goes on to explain that by degrees our Lodges and rites were neglected almost everywhere, but nevertheless they were preserved in all their integrity amongst those Scotsmen to whom the kings of France confided during many centuries the safeguarding of their royal persons. He allows that “Great Britain became the seat of our Order, the conservator of our laws and the depository of our secrets”. Many of our rites and usages which were contrary to the prejudice of the reformers were changed, disguised or suppressed. Thus it was that many Brn. forgot the spirit and retained only the shell of the outer form. Masonry however is to be restored to its pristine glory in the future.

The rituals of these Scots Degrees are varied, but one chief idea underlies them all - the discovery in a vault by Scottish Crusaders of the long-lost and ineffable Word, during the search for which they had to work with the sword in one hand, and the trowel in other.* (*Hist. Freem., III, p. 92.) This same symbolism of the sword and the trowel is mentioned in Ramsay’s speech, in which he derives Freemasonry from the patriarchs and the ancient Mysteries through the Scottish crusaders; and they are further mentioned both in the present ritual of the Royal Order of Scotland, in which the candidate takes his O. with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other,* (*A. E. Waite. Secret Tradition in Freemasonry, Vol. I, p. 404.) and in a quotation from that ritual occurring as early as 1736 in print at Newcastle.* (*A. Q. C., XV, 186.) We hear of two Scottish degrees being received by Baron C. Scheffer, the first Grand Master of Sweden, in 1737,* (*Gould. Concise History, p. 300.) and we may perhaps suggest - though in opposition to the theory held by most Masonic writers - that the oration of Ramsay, although it may have helped to popularize Scottish Masonry, was in reality an effect rather than the cause of the introduction of high-grade Masonry on the Continent, which was all the time being quietly directed from behind by the H.O.A.T.F.

The Scots Masters claimed extraordinary privileges in the French Craft Lodges, and these were formally recognized by the Grand Lodge of France in 1755.* (*Gould. Hist. Freem., III, p. 95.) They wore distinctive clothing, remained covered in a Masters’ Lodge, claimed the right to confer the Craft degrees with or without a ceremony; and eventually the Scots Lodge actually appointed the W.M. of the corresponding Craft Lodge without consult­ing the Brn. over whom he was to rule. They further usurped the privilege of the Grand Lodge and issued warrants of constitution. One of the most important of these is the Mere-Loge-Ecossaise of Marseilles, said to have been constituted in 1751, which worked a number of degrees not belonging to what afterwards became the Scottish Rite, but later incorporated - at least as far as their titles are concerned - in the Rite of Memphis of 96°. These Scots Lodges or still more, the Royal Order of Scotland from which they arose, form the first public manifestation of the movement for creating high degrees which reached such a fervour of activity in the latter half of the eighteenth century.

THE CHAPTER OF CLERMONT

Our main channel of descent lies behind the Scots Lodges, and first appears indubitably in the outer world in the Chapter of Clermont, commonly thought to have been founded by the Chevalier de Bonneville in 1754,* (*Ibid., p. 94.) but in reality a continuation of that same Order of the Temple into which Baron von Hund was received in 1743, which was derived from the Scottish courtiers exiled at S. Germains and from the College of Clermont. According to Thory (who, however, wrote sixty years after the event) this Chapter was based on the three degrees of Blue Masonry, the Scots or S. Andrew’s Degree, and worked three higher grades - 5, Knight of the Eagle or Select Master; 6, Illustrious Knight or Templar; 7, Sublime Illustrious Knight.

748. In the later form in which it emerges in 1754 both Jacobite and Jesuit connections had been dropped, and the succession, together with certain ceremonial degrees, probably including a form of the Kadosh, had passed into the hands of distinguished French noblemen, courtiers, military officers, and the elite of the professions.* (*Ibid., p. 95.) It was in this Chapter of Clermont and in the Council of the Emperors of the East and West into which it was transformed in 1758, that the colossal work of casting the ancient traditions into a ceremonial rite was to a great extent per­formed; and it is in these two bodies, which were yet one body, that the immediate origin of our Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is to be found.

THE COUNCIL OF EMPERORS

The Council of Emperors was composed largely of men of noble birth and high culture who were also deep students of the secret science, learned in various traditions of the wisdom which had been handed down along so many lines in the past. They had inherited not only the Clermont Rites and the Scottish lines of Kilwinning and of Heredom, but other traditions derived directly from both Templar and Rosicrucian sources, together with the powers of the Egyptian rite to which we have previously referred. They were men of wide knowledge, but also apparently of overweening pride, like so many of the nobles of the ancien regime; and the drawing together of this body of noblemen was one of the attempts made by the emissaries of the White Lodge to prepare them for the great changes which should have been accom­plished, had not their pride been so great, without the horrors of the French Revolution.

A definite commission appears to have been given to them by the H.O.A.T.F., the Master the Comte de S. Germain Himself, to mould all these various traditions, which He had caused them to inherit, into a rite which should express to some extent the power for good of the Egyptian succession in a form suited to a more modern age. These orders they proceeded to carry out as faithfully as possible, and the result of their labours was the Rite of Perfection or of Heredom of twenty-five degrees, all of which are still contained in our modern Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

The Council of Emperors received much inspiration from the H.O.A.T.F., although not necessarily on the physical plane, and it must have been far easier to influence such a body of men than the frequentors of those Georgian taverns which were the first temples of the English Mysteries after the great revival in 1717. But, as with many other attempts to synthesize a number of traditions by a com­mittee of revision, the Council of Emperors was hampered in its work by the necessity of including less important materials which had come into the hands of certain of its members. The result is seen in the inclusion of several almost meaningless intermediate degrees, which still belong to the Scottish Rite, but are seldom or never worked among US.

A certain marriage of traditions took place in the case of the 18°, for the great ritual of the Rosy Cross used for the perfecting of the Rosicrucian and Egyptian Brethren, though shorn already of much of its ancient splendour, was blended with the old Mithraic Eucharist handed down in the Rites of Heredom, to form the source of our modern workings of the Rose-Croix. The Emperors’ Ritual of the 30°, then called the 24°, Grand Commander of the Black and White Eagle, Grand Elect Kadosh, reflected far more efficiently the Egyptian teachings of Black Masonry than those which have to-day reached us through the hands of many editors, who were ignorant of their true meaning. The highest Degree among them was the 25°, now our 32°, called Most Illustrious Prince of Masonry, Grand and Sublime Knight Commander of the Royal Secret; and the Tracing Board of the 32°, often little understood, reflects their original plan of union with the, Hidden Light through the passing of many rites of initiation.

There was no degree of Sovereign Grand Inspector-General, for the 33° as such did not yet exist; but the wonderful powers which now belong to that high rank were conferred upon their Grand Inspectors, chosen from among the Prince Masons of the 25°; and the great white Angels who wear the insignia of the KING were linked with these, even as they are linked with the Brn. of the 33° to-day. The crimson Angels of the Rosy Cross likewise attended their Sovereign Chapters, and many other glorious powers which are ours to-day were theirs also. Thus the Council of Emperors represents the first real attempt ever made to incorporate the full Egyptian inner tradition into a ceremonial form; and as such it is an important landmark in the history of Masonry.

Almost all the splendid teaching given by the great Master the Comte de St. Germain, by Pere Joseph and Cagliostro, and other emissaries of the White Lodge, was swept into oblivion in the colossal tragedy of the French Revolution. The Rite of Perfection of twenty-five degrees was carried into Great Britain, and handed down among the Templar Encampments long before the advent of the Supreme Councils of the Scottish Rite which derived their authority from Charleston. Most of the Brn. of the old Rite joined the new Obediences as soon as they were formed; but there exists to-day one line of tradition at least, in part derived from those old Templar Encampments, which has never been incorporated in the Supreme Councils of England, Scotland and Ireland. There was also a perpetuation in France, which later amalgamated with the French Supreme Council.* (*Gould. Hist. Freem., p. 164.)

STEPHEN MORIN

The scene of our story now shifts to the New World; for it was there that the change from the Rite of Perfection of 25° into the Scottish Rite of 33° took place. In 1761, three years only after its foundation, the Council of the Emperors of the East and West granted a patent to one Stephen Morin “to establish perfect and sublime Masonry in all parts of the world,” constituting him a Grand Inspecter of the Rite of Perfection. The patent authorized him to “form and establish a Lodge in order to admit to and multiply the Royal Order of Masons in all the perfect and sublime degrees,” and gave him power to create other Inspectors. The original of this document has not yet been found, and the world knows of it only from the copy preserved in the Golden Book of the Comte de Grasse-Tilly, founder of the Supreme Council 33° of France. Bro. R. R Gould, however, has a right intuition in the matter, for he “is by no means prepared to deny its authenticity,” and a complete transcription of it is given in his History of Freemasonry.* (*III, p. 125ff.) It is signed by Chaillon de Joinville, Prince de Rohan, Brest-de-la­Chaussee, Comte de Choiseul, and others of the Council of the Emperors. In 1761, Stephen Morin arrived in San Domingo, where he commenced the dissemination of the rite, and appointed many Inspectors both for the West Indies and the United States.* (*Mackey’s Encyclopaedia. Art. Scottish Rite.)

He was unfortunately by no means an ideal Channel for spiritual force, and although he certainly transmitted to his American Brn. the Egyptian succession of powers, he was sometimes not in possession of the fullness of the power himself. At times he rose splendidly to the occasion, and showed signs of distinct advancement; I have watched him during the consecration of a Chapter of the high degrees magnificently overshadowed by the H.O.A.T.F. Himself and the great white Angels. But it cannot be denied that he had many faults, among others a passion for amorous intrigues; and not infrequently the greater part of his spiritual heritage was withdrawn, leaving him the mere seeds of the succession to transmit to others. The reports of his misdoings were so numerous and persistent that at one time the Council of Emperors actually withdrew his patent; but posts were slow in those days, and before the withdrawal reached him the Council had already cancelled it, and fully reinstated him.

Stephen Morin was also unfortunate in his choice of lieutenants, for in many cases these were Jews of not very good repute; and it is through these somewhat soiled hands that we must trace the Rite of Perfection during the next forty years. The rite passed through a period of obscuration, when the degrees were shamelessly sold to any who would buy their titles, and the inner meaning of the ceremonies was almost forgotten. But although the splendid occult knowledge of the Emperors was lost and the rites became shorn of most of their power, the seeds of the succession still passed down - until a higher class of egos was guided into the rite and a new era began. The rite was established at Charleston in 1783 by Isaac da Costa, who was created Deputy-Inspecter of South Carolina by Moses Hayes. It will be seen that a succession is definitely claimed by the authorities of the rite.

FREDERICK THE GREAT

It was during this period of obscuration that the curious myth of Frederick the Great arose among the Jews, probably in order to enhance the commercial value of the degrees; and it was apparently really believed that the King of Prussia was the Supreme Head of the Rite, for in the Minutes of the Grand Lodge of Perfection in Albany (New York), founded in 1767, the Lodge is required, on September 3rd, 1770, to prepare its report for transmission to Berlin. We find also in 1785, one year before the king’s death, a letter addressed to Frederick by a certain Solomon Bush, Deputy Grand Inspector of North America, asking for recognition of a Lodge which he had con­secrated.* (*Note Historique sur le Rite Ecoss . : Anc . : et Acc . : Par le Souv .: Gr .: (Count Goblet d’Alviella) p. 7.) It was afterwards alleged that Frederick the Great, on his death-bed, ratified the Grand Constitutions of 1786 containing the laws that still bind the Scottish Rite, and that he constituted the 33° in per­son, delegating his powers as a Sovereign of Masonry to nine Brn. in each country. The original Grand Constitutions were in French, but in 1834 a Latin version of them alleged to have been signed by Frederick himself was accepted as genuine by the Supreme Council of France; but this is now on all sides admitted to be a forgery.

The truth is that Frederick took no active part in the Rite of Perfec­tion, that he neither ratified the Constitutions nor created the 33°; and indeed to-day the majority even of the Supreme Councils are prepared to waive the claim that they derive their authority from Frederick the Great, whose interest in Masonry (at any rate in later years) was but of the slightest. The grand constitutions nevertheless remain the law of the Rite in all Supreme Councils deriving lawfully from Charleston, and Albert Pike believed them to be genuine. As it is certain that Frederick had nothing to do with the Rite, I fear we must regretfully conclude that both the fourth and the fifth documents in de Grasse-Tilly’s Golden Book - the alleged Constitutions of 1762 and the Grand Constitutions of 1786 - were forgeries. It would seem that they were sent over from Europe, perhaps in response to a demand from the Jewish interest; and the fact that Dr. Dalcho’s father was an officer in the Prussian army who had served with great distinction under Frederick the Great may well have disposed the Doctor the more readily to accept these remarkable documents.

THE CHARLESTON TRANSFORMATION

The second great transformation of the high degrees, though it was on a far smaller scale than the first, took place at Charleston before 1801. We learn from the Circular of Dr. Dalcho that

On the 31st of May, 1801, the Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree for the United States of America was opened, with the high honours of Masonry, by Brothers John Mitchell and Frederick Dalcho, Sovereign Grand Inspectors-General; and in the course of the present year (1802) the whole number of Grand Inspectors-General was completed, agreeably to the Grand Constitutions.* (*Quoted in Mackey’s Encyclopaedia. Art. Supreme Council.)

Such is a brief account of the formation of that which called itself the Mother Supreme Council of the World, from which, indeed, all other Supreme Councils of the world spring, with the exception of a few survivals of other lines of descent. It is clear from archives in the possession of the Mother Supreme Council that up to the eve of its formation the only degrees worked were the 25° of the Rite of Perfection.

The formation of the new Rite was inspired and directed by the H.O.A.T.F. Himself, and the extra eight degrees which then appeared were but rearrangements of the old twenty-five degrees of the Rite of Perfection. Now that more advanced egos had come into possession of the degrees, a fuller manifestation of the power behind was permitted; and since then the Scottish Rite, though its rituals have been altered in various countries and in various interests, has become the most important and splendid of all Masonic Obediences.

THE SPREAD OF THE SCOTTISH RITE

We may here refer back to the third document in the Golden Book, the patent granted to De Grasse-Tilly by the new Supreme Council 33° in Charleston in 1802, only a few months after its formation, which certifies that he has been tested in all the degrees of the Rite and authorizes him to erect Lodges, Chapters, Councils and Consistories in both hemispheres, creating him Sovereign Grand Commander of a Supreme Council for the Antilles for life. It is signed by Dalcho, De la Hogue and others, who all describe themselves as Kadosh, Prince of the Royal Secret, Sov. Gr. Inspector 33°.

The Scottish Rite was introduced by the Comte de Grasse-Tilly into France (1804); from France it passed into Italy (1805), Spain (1811) and Belgium (1817). In 1824 the Supreme Council for Ireland was formed with jurisdiction over the official degrees of White Masonry only, because of the previous existence of Chapters and Lodges of Rose-Croix and Kadosh belonging to the old Rite of Perfection. The Supreme Council of England and Wales was formed in 1845, and that of Scotland a year later.

In America in 1812 a working jeweller named Joseph Cerneau established in Boston what he called a Sovereign Grand Consistory of the United States. Cerneau possessed the necessary succession, and so was able to pass on the actual powers; but as he had no mandate from the Council of Emperors the Charleston Supreme Council denounced his proceedings as irregular, and themselves appointed a Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction a year later. Supreme Councils deriving from Cerneau still exist, though they are not recognized by bodies holding the Charleston succession. Both lines, however, are valid.

The rite has spread into almost all countries of the world, and does an incalculable amount of good to thousands upon thousands of Brn., even though but few derive from it the full possibilities of spiritual advancement which lie behind it. But to be brought, however unconsciously, into touch with so holy an influence must unquestionably uplift and bless even the least sensitive; and some touch of its hidden glory is conferred upon all.
H. P. Blavatsky wrote in “Isis Unveiled” - Vol. 2 the following:

“That bastard foundling of Freemasonry, the ‘Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite,’ which is unrecognized by the Blue Lodges was the enunciation, primarily, of the brain of the Jesuit Chevalier Ramsay. It was brought by him to England in 1736-38, to aid the cause of the Catholic Stuarts. The rite in its present form of thirty-three degrees was reorganized at the end of the eighteenth century by some half dozen Masonic adventurers at Charleston, South Carolina. Two of these, Pirlet a tailor, and a dancing master named Lacorne, were fitting predecessors for a later resuscitation by a gentleman of the name of Gourgas, employed in the aristocratic occupation of a ship’s clerk, on a boat trading between New York and Liverpool. Dr. Crucefix, alias Goss, the inventor of certain patent medicines of an objectionable character, ran the institution in England. The powers under which these worthies acted was a document claimed to have been signed by Frederick the Great at Berlin, on May 1st, 1786, and by which were revised the Masonic Constitution and Status of the High Degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite. This paper was an impudent forgery and necessitated the issuing of a protocol by the Grand Lodges of the Three Globes of Berlin, which conclusively proved the whole arrangement to be false in every particular. On claims supported by this supposititious document, the Ancient and Accepted Rite have swindled their confiding brothers in the Americas and Europe out of thousands of dollars, to the shame and discredit of humanity.”

It is of interest that historians are now beginning to acknowledge that the Grand Constitution for the Scottish Masonry was actually a forged document.

The historical origin of Grades:

 The Ancient English Rite

4º. Perfect Master
5º. Elect, First degree
6º. Elect, Second degree
7º. Elect of Fifteen
8º. Illustrious
9º. Perfect Irish Master, Prevost and Judge
10º. True English Master
11º. Royal Arch
12º. Apprentice, Fellowcraft Master Architect
13º. Little Architect
14º. Grand Architect
15º. Ecossais Purifier
16º. Grand Ecossais
17º. True and Perfect Ecossais
18º. Sublime Ecossais
19º. Knight of the Temple
20º. Knight of the East
21º. Commander of the East
22º. Prince of Jerusalem
23º. Grand Master ad Vitam
24º. Prussian Knight
25º. Knight Kadosch

Rite of Perfection

4º. Secret Master
5º. Perfect Master
6º. Intimate Secretary, by curiosity
7º. Provost & Judge & Tracing Board
8º. Intendant of the Buildings & Tracing Board
9º. Master Elect of Nine
10º. Illustrious Elected of 15
11º. Sublime Knights Elected & Tracing Board
12º. Grand Master Architect
13º. Knights of the Royal Arch
14º. Perfection ultimate of Symbolic Masonry
15º. Knights of the East
16º. Princes of Jerusalem
17º. Knights of the East and West
18º. Knights of the White Eagle or Pelican
19º. Scotch Masonry, by the name of Grand Pontiff
20º. Sovereign Prince of Masonry or Master ad vitam
21º. Prussian Knight or Noachite
22º. Knights of the Royal Axe
23º. Knights of the Sun, Princes Adept, Key of Masonry
24º. Knights of Kadoch, The Nec plus Ultra of Masonry
25º. The Royal Secret

Rite Primitif of Namur (1770)

4º. Perfect Master
5º. Irish Master
6º. Elected of nine
7º. Unknown Elected
8º. Elected of fifteen
9º. Illustrious Master
10º. Perfect Elected
11º. Ecossais Apprentice or Little Architect
12º. Ecossais Fellowcraft or Great Architect
13º. Sublime Architect or Scottish Master
14º. Master of Perfect Architecture
15º. Royal Arch
16º. Noachite or Prussian Knight
17º. Knight of the Sword or Knight of the East
18º. Prince of Jerusalem
19º. Worshipful Master ad vitam
20º. Knight of the West
21º. Knight of Palestine
22º. Knight Rose Croix
23º. Sublime Ecossais Master
24º. Knight of the Sun
25º. Grand Ecossais Master of St Andrew
26º. Mason of the Royal Secret
27º. Knight of the Black Eagle
28º. Knight Kadosh
29º. Grand Elected of Verity
30º. Novice of the Interior of the Temple
31º. Knight of the Interior of the Temple
32º. Perfect of the Interior of the Temple
33º. Commander of the Interior of the Temple

The Ancient and Accepted Rite (1804)

4º. Secret Master
5º. Perfect Master
6º. Intimate Secretary
7º. Provost and Judge
8º. Intendant of the Building
9º. Elected Master of Nine
10º. Illustrious Elect of Fifteen
11º. Sublime Knight Elect
12º. Grand Master Architect
13º. Royal Arch
14º. Perfection, or Grand Ecossais of the Sacred Vault of James VI
15º. Knight of the East
16º. Prince of Jerusalem
17º. Knight of the East and the West
18º. Sovereign Prince Rose - Croix
19º. Grand Pontiff, or Sublime Ecossais
20º. Grand Master of Symbolic Lodges, or Master ad Vitam
21º. The Noachite, or Prussian Knight
22º. Royal Axe, or Prince of Lebanon
23º. Chief of the Tabernacle
24º. Prince of the Tabernacle
25º. Knight of the Brazen Serpent
26º. Prince of Mercy
27º. Sovereign Commander of the Temple
28º. Knight of the Sun, or Prince Adept
29º. Grand Master Ecossais of Saint Andrew, of Scotland
30º. The Philosophic Kadosch, or Grand Elect Knight of the White and Black Eagle
31º. Grand Inquisitor Commander
32º. Valiant & Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret
33º. Grand Inspector General

Natural disasters – fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes – can be terrifying devastations, but they have a way of pulling a community together as it responds to the destruction. Masons have always heard and attended to the cries of the afflicted, and they continue to do so today. They may respond as national Masonic organizations, local lodges, or individual Masons, but they respond.

Recent disaster relief provided by the Supreme Council has included a scholarship fund created for those affected by the September 11 disaster. The massive destruction and extreme human suffering being experienced in large areas of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama resulting from hurricanes Katrina and Rita was of great concern to the Scottish Rite. For those of us who were moved to respond quickly to the appeals for assistance, it was suggested that donations of funds be made directly to the Salvation Army, Red Cross, or other approved and appropriate charities.

However, since the need for help in many of the worst hit areas will be long-standing, you may wish to send donations to the Scottish Rite Foundation, S.J., USA, Inc., 1733 16th Street, N.W. Washington, DC, 20009, for further disbursement as recommended by the Orient Leaders of the afflicted areas. In addition to any funds donated to the Supreme Council for payment to the affected Orients, the Scottish Rite Foundation will make a sizeable donation from present funds.

The Supreme Council often responds directly to provide immediate relief, and it also works alongside other Masonic groups to provide additional assistance. For instance, Scottish Rite supports the Masonic Service Association of North America (MSANA) for disaster relief. The MSANA was formed in 1919 to provide services to its member Grand Lodges that they would find difficult to provide for themselves. Since 1923, the MSA has collected and forwarded funds for disasters around the world. When a disaster relief appeal is made, all of the monies received are sent, in their entirety, to the jurisdiction involved. No portion of donated funds is retained by the MSANA for any reason whatsoever. All costs connected with the appeal are absorbed through our regular operating budget. All donated funds are given to help the recovery within the jurisdiction for whom the appeal was made. Also, every gift is acknowledged by the MSANA.

For additional information on disaster relief at the MSA, contact The Masonic Service Association of North America, 8120 Fenton Street, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910-4785 Tel: (301) 588-4010  Fax: (301) 608-3457 email: msana@ix.netcom.com; http://www.msana.com

Who Are The Masons?

The Masonic Fraternity is the oldest Fraternity in the world. The Masonic Family includes Masons as well as organizations for their ladies, couples, and youth.

The Masonic Family provides more than $2 million a day to charitable activities such as hospitals, youth scholarship, and those less fortunate than we.

Masons are looking for men who wish to become better men, who are interested in giving back to their community and in self improvement.

2009-2010 Elected Grand Lodge Officers.
R/W/Michael L. Sanders, Senior Grand Warden;
R/W/G. Santy Lascano, Deuty Grand Master; M/W/Gale H. Kenney, Grand Master; R/W/Dean W. Heinemann, Junior Grand Warden;  R/W/David P. Owen, Grand Secretary
 

Our Vision

Freemasons of Washington will be recognized as a relevant and respected Fraternity, committed to attracting and retaining all men of high quality who strive for self improvement and the opportunity to make a positive difference in their community.

Grand Lodge Long Range Plan

Membership Development  

1717 formation of the first Grand Lodge in London

1646 initiation of Elias Ashmole into Freemasonry in Warrington

1641 initation of Robert Moray into Freemasonry in Edenroth

1599 minutes of the Aitchisons Haven Lodge and St Mary’s Lodge in Edinburgh

1599 William Schaw creates the Statute of 1599, asserting the first, veiled, reference to the existence of esoteric knowledge within the craft of stone masonry (Speculative Masonry). It also reveals that The Mother Lodge of Scotland, Lodge Mother Kilwinning, No.0, was in existence, and active, at that time

1598 William Schaw publishes his Statutes, outlining the duties of all members to the Lodge and to the public. It also imposed penalties for unsatisfactory work and inadequate safety during work. His instructions, to all LODGES (not incorporations), that they must begin to keep written records, meet at specific times, test, annually, members in the “Art of Memory” and enter apprentices in the Lodge records meant that Lodges became fixed, permanent, institutions.

1425 statute of Henry VI of England forbidding the yearly congregation of Masons

1410 Cooke Manuscript

1390 Regius Poem or Halliwell Manuscript

1376 earliest known use of the word Freemason

1356 formation of the London Masons Company; also ordinances governing the Lodge at York Minister
The Craft that evolved into modern Freemasonry emerged in the period between the Black Death, 1348, and the Wars of the Roses, 1453. Before that date there are no trends or events that can be identified as leading definitely towards Freemasonry. It appears to have emerged from the building industry as a whole. Equally, there is no part of England that can claim the honour of originating Freemasonry.

The first recorded use of the word lodge in a Masonic context was in 1278 during the building of a Cistercian Monastery at Vale Royal near Chester.
Initially the lodge was no more than a rude hut in which the masons worked and possibly took their midday meal. At other sites they may also have slept in the lodge. By 1352 there were elaborate rules governing the behaviour of the mason connected with the lodge at York Minster. These regulations are described as the “ancient customs of the masons” (consuetudines antiquae quibus cementarii).
The Master and Deputy Master were required to swear an oath that the ancient customs would be adhered to. Fifty years later all masons were required to swear the same oath. We are not aware of anything esoteric about these customs; they mainly concerned rates of pay, hours of work, holidays etc.

However, given the medieval obsession with mysticism it is unlikely that their customs were wholly mundane. A pen drawing by Matthew Paris, circa 1250, purports to show Henry II in conference with his masons. The men building a wall are shown using a level.

The mason actually being addressed by the King is holding a large square and compass almost as if to demonstrate his importance, the implication being that he is the Master Mason. There is a similar carving in Worcester Cathedral, circa 1224, which shows the architect clutching a pair of dividers and, apparently, discussing the plans with a monk. These may suggest the beginnings of the ceremonial significance which is now given to the square and compass.

The earliest occurrence of the word Freemason was in London in 1376. Four men were chosen to represent the city’s builders on the Common Council of Trades, this was the first time they had been represented. They were originally listed as Freemasons although the word is then crossed out and replaced with Mason. The possible reason for this error is significant. Much of the building in the South of England was done with a material called Freestone. This is a form of limestone which is soft and easily worked when freshly quarried but afterwards hardens and becomes very durable. And the men who worked it were of course, called Freestone Masons. There seems to be no evidence to link the prefix free- with freedom. The balance of probability seems to suggest that Freemason is indeed a contraction of Freestone Mason.

John Wycliffe, writing about 1383, used the terms “men of sutel craft, as fre masons and others” he also refers to “fraternytes or gildis”. Then Henry Yevele, a master builder who died in 1400 may have been described as a Freemason on his tombstone. On the other hand the word Freemason appears in neither the Regius or the Cooke Manuscripts.

At this distance in time there can be no certainty but the evidence does strongly support the suggestion the Freemasonry could have developed from Guilds and Lodges of the medieval masons. This does not mean that other movements or bodies of ideas or organizations did not also contribute significantly to survival and growth the Freemasonry. Indeed it seems very probable an organization that has survived five hundred years must have been prepared to absorb and use any ideas that could contribute to its strength and growth.

Freemasonry has thus also been said to be a direct descendant of the “Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon” (the Knights Templar); an offshoot of the ancient Mystery schools; an administrative arm of the Priory of Zion; the Roman Collegia; the Comacine masters; intellectual descendants of Noah; to have existed at the time of King Athelstan of England, in the very late 10th century C.E. - Athelstan is said by some to have been converted to Christianity in York, and to have issued the first Charter to the Masonic Lodges there; and to have many other various and sundry origins. These theories are noted in numerous different texts, and the following are but examples pulled from a sea of books:

In “A History of Freemasonry” by H.L. Haywood and James E. Craig, pub. circa 1927

In “Born in Blood” By John Robinson, pub. 1989

In “The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail” by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, pub. 1982

As the Middle Ages gave way to the Modern Age, the need for secrecy subsided, and Freemasons began to openly declare their association with the fraternity, which began to organize itself more formally.

In 1717, four Lodges, which met at the “Apple-Tree Tavern, the Crown Ale-House near Drury Lane, the Goose and Gridiron in St. Paul’s Churchyard, and the Rummer and Grapes Tavern in Westminster” in London, England (as recounted in (2)) combined together and formed the first public Grand Lodge, the Premier Grand Lodge of England (PGLE). The years following saw Grand Lodges open throughout Europe, as the new Freemasonry spread rapidly.

How much of this was the spreading of Freemasonry itself, and how much was the public organization of pre-existing secret lodges, is not possible to say with certainty.
The PGLE in the beginning did not have the current three degrees, but only the first two.
The third degree appeared, so far as we know, around 1725.

The Two Great Schisms of Freemasonry (1753 and 1877)

The PGLE (Premier Grand Lodge of England), along with those jurisdictions with which it was in amity, later came to be known colloquially as the “Moderns”, to distinguish them from a newer, rival group of Freemasonry, known colloquially as the “Antients”. The Antients broke away and formed their own Grand Lodge in 1753, prompted by the PGLE’s making changes to the secret modes of recognition.

The differences between the two groups ran deeper than just that, however. The “Antients” were based in York, and claimed that their version of the Freemasonic Ritual (which included an additional fourth degree, the “Royal Arch”, with Christian elements) was truer to ancient tradition. From the point of view of the Moderns (actually the older group, in spite of the name), the Antients were trying to Christianize a fraternity that had always been non-Christian and religiously non-dogmatic.
From the Antient point of view, on the other hand, the fraternity had been a Christian organization during the Middle Ages, and the Moderns had de-Christianized it.

In fact, both groups changed Masonry in the eighteenth century by adding new degrees, so neither can claim to be thoroughly ancient in practice. Tensions between the two groups were very high at times. Benjamin Franklin was a “Modern” and a deist, for instance, but by the time he died, his Lodge had gone “Antient”, and would no longer recognize him as one of their own, declining even to give him a Masonic funeral (see “Revolutionary Brotherhood”, by Steven C. Bullock, UNC Press, Chapel Hill, 1996)

The schism was healed in the years following 1813, when the competing Grand Lodges were amalgamated, by virtue of a delicately worded compromise which left English Masonry clearly not Christian, returned the modes of recognition to their pre-1753 form, kept Freemasonry per se as consisting of three degrees only, but which was ambiguously worded so as to allow the Moderns to think of the Antient Royal Arch degree as an optional higher degree, while still allowing the Antients to view it as the completion of the third degree

Because both the Antients and the Moderns had “daughter” Lodges throughout the world, and because many of those Lodges still exist, there is a great deal of variability in the Ritual used today, even between UGLE-recognized jurisdictions.

Most Lodges conduct their Work in accordance with an agreed-upon single “Rite,” such as the “York Rite” which is popular in the United States, or the “Canadian Rite” which is, in some ways, a concordance between the Rites used by the “Antients” and “Moderns”.

The second great schism in Freemasonry occurred in the years following 1877, when the GOdF started accepting atheists unreservedly.
This on-going schism is in many ways a re-emergence of the same basic conflict that created the split between the Antients and Moderns: the religious requirements, if any, for being a Freemason.

While the issue of atheism is probably the greatest single factor in the split with the GOdF, the English also point to the French recognition of women’s Masonry and co-Masonry, as well as the tendency of French Masons to be more willing to discuss religion and politics in Lodge. While the French curtail such discussion, they do not ban it as outright as do the English. The schism between the two branches has occasionally been breached for short periods of time, especially during the First World War when American

Masons overseas wanted to be able to visit French Lodges.

Concerning religious requirements, the oldest constitution of Freemasonry that of Anderson, 1723, says only that a Mason “will never be a stupid Atheist nor an irreligious Libertine” if he “rightly understands the Art”. The only religion required was “that Religion in which all Men agree, leaving their particular Opinions to themselves”. In 1815, the newly amalgamated UGLE changed Anderson’s constitutions to include more orthodox overtones: “Let a man’s religion or mode of worship be what it may, he is not excluded from the Order, provided he believes in the glorious Architect of heaven and earth, and practices the sacred duties of morality.” The English enforce this with a requirement for belief in a Supreme Being, and in his revealed will. While these requirements can still be interpreted in a non-theistic manner, they made it more difficult for unorthodox believers to enter the fraternity.

In 1849, the GOdF followed the English lead by adopting the “Supreme Being” requirement, but there was increasing pressure in Latin countries to openly admit atheists. There was an attempt at a compromise in 1875, by allowing the alternative phrase “Creative Principle”, which was less theistic-sounding than “Supreme Being”, but this was ultimately not enough for the GOdF, and in 1877 they went back to having no religious entrance requirements, making the original Anderson document of 1723 their official constitution. They also created a modified ritual that made no direct verbal reference to the G.A.O.T.U. although, as a symbol, it was arguably still present. This new Rite did not replace the older ones, but was added as an alternative. European jurisdictions in general tend not to restrict themselves to a single Rite, like most North American jurisdictions, but offer a menu of Rites, from which their Lodges can choose

The first Freemasons lodge opened in what would become the United States of America

on July 30, 1733.

Since immemorial time, China has always been a mystery in the eyes of Westerners. This is especially so with regard to Freemasonry. Masonic scholars are already rare anywhere in the world and Masonic scholars in China are virtually non-existent.

This paper traces how Freemasonry was introduced into Imperial China by various Constitutions in the Quig Dynasty, how it developed at the time and how it survived two World Wars and the political changes in China.

It is fascinating to see how the Grand Lodge of China was constituted in Shanghai, and then moved to Taiwan, how Freemasonry developed in Macau, how Freemasonry flourished in Hong Kong and finally how Hong Kong has become not only the Masonic hub of the Far East, but also the Masonic pillar in the People’s Republic of China under the “One Country Two Systems” principle.

Since immemorial time, China has always been a mystery in the eyes of Westerners. This is especially so with regard to Freemasonry. Masonic scholars are already rare anywhere in the world and Masonic scholars in China are virtually non-existent.

This paper traces how Freemasonry was introduced into Imperial China by various Constitutions in the Quig Dynasty, how it developed at the time and how it survived two World Wars and the political changes in China.

It is fascinating to see how the Grand Lodge of China was constituted in Shanghai, and then moved to Taiwan, how Freemasonry developed in Macau, how Freemasonry flourished in Hong Kong and finally how Hong Kong has become not only the Masonic hub of the Far East, but also the Masonic pillar in the People’s Republic of China under the “One Country Two Systems” principle.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc of countries, the reunification of East and West Germany and the opening up for former communist countries, including People’s Republic of China, has led to a re-establishment of Freemasonry is no longer a secret of these countries, thereby leading the people of these countries from complete darkness into full Masonic light.

More people from China are traveling abroad for education, business and leisure and more foreigners, including Hong Kong Masons, are traveling to China for similar reasons.
This, coupled with the open policy advocated by the Masonic Authorities, means that Freemasonry is no longer a secret and the urge to re-establish Freemasonry in Mainland China is accordingly felt by those people still in darkness.

Co-operation between Masonic Constitutions and the Central Government in the People’s Republic of China will help us to arrive at a mutually acceptable superstructure. The bright morning star that is the Pearl of the Orient, Hong Kong, can be used as a springboard and bridgehead to finally allow Masonic light to shine once more in the Chinese Mainland. This is the obvious challenge ahead for all Masons.