King Solomon's Lodge

The Scottish Rite

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is one of the paths a Master Mason may choose to follow to increase his Masonic knowledge.

The Scottish Rite Creed of Freemasonry, as stated by the Southern Jurisdiction, is:

Human progress is our cause,
Liberty of thought our supreme wish,
Freedom of conscience our mission,
And the guarantee of equal rights
To all people everywhere our ultimate goal.

The Scottish Rite at the state level is termed an Orient, and at the local level is called a "Valley." It governs the degrees as a consolidated body, but the degrees are logically broken into separate sections or "families" within the system.

The Southern Jurisdiction in the USA is the "Mother Supreme Council of the World", and was the first Supreme Council, founded in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Northern Jurisdiction in the USA consists of fifteen states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, and has a slightly different arrangement of degrees.

The Supreme Council 33° of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Canada uses only three bodies: The Lodge of Perfection, Chapter of Rose Croix, and Consistory, which follow essentially the same degree structure as the Southern Jurisdiction in the USA with this difference: The Consistory also confers all of the degrees which the Council of Kadosh confers in the USA, and some of the names of the degrees are slightly different: 12° Grand Master Architect, 31° Inspector Inquisitor Commander, and 32° Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.

The 33° Inspector General is an honorary degree that may not be asked for and is attained by demonstrating exemplary service in Scottish Rite Masonry.

Do not allow yourself to become overwhelmed by the number of degrees in this system. It is common in America for only the five mandatory degrees: 4°, 14°, 18°, 30°, and 32°, or in other words, the first Scottish Rite degree, and the culminating degree for each of the sections, to be conferred in a ritual format with the rest being communicated in name only, to be observed later as circumstances permit, while in England and Scotland, the 18° alone is required, with a two year minimum period before the 30° may be received, and the remaining degrees given by invitation only.

The Scottish Rite is presided over by the Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree in a given Jurisdiction. Each Supreme Council is considered sovereign, even though they all ultimately originated from the Southern Jurisdiction USA.

In the Southern Jurisdiction, The Supreme Council proper consists of no more than 33 members. Other members of the Supreme Council may be appointed as a Sovereign Grand Inspector General, and serve as the head of the Rite in his respective Orient (or state). Heads of the orients who are not members of the Supreme Council are called Deputies of the Supreme Council.

The Supreme Council in the Northern Jurisdiction is limited to 66 members, who are designated Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, but the head of the Rite in each Valley is called a "Deputy of the Supreme Council."

Supreme Council, 33°, A.A.S.R. of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, USA
Supreme Council, 33°, A.A.S.R. of Freemasonry, Northern Jurisdiction, USA
Supreme Council, 33°, A.A.S.R. of Freemasonry of Canada
Wikipedia: Scottish Rite

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