The following invitational bodies are open to members of the York Rite. The official name used for the local level of each body is given in parenthesis, as well as any alternative or colloquial name for the rite or body. If you thought Freemasonry was limited to Blue Lodge, Scottish Rite, and York Rite, you'll be amazed to find that there are approximately 100 degrees couched in these allied bodies:
* Membership restricted to a specific number.
+ Membership restricted to Christian Royal Arch Masons.
++ Membership restricted to members of Knights Templar.
Using an "Old Testament" theme, these degrees are similar to the 15°-17° of the Scottish Rite, and the Order of the Red Cross of the Commandery. They are based on the biblical story of Zerubbabel.
AMD controls ten regular degrees. The local Council decides which if any of them are worked (performed):
Under the European system of Allied Masonic Degrees, only five degrees are worked:
The equivalent to the Red Cross of Babylon in American Masonry would be the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross conferred by the Commandery, or the Knight of the Sword conferred by the Order of Knight Masons, all of which are essentially the same degree. The equivalent of the Grand High Priest would be the Anointed Order of High Priesthood (Order of Melchizedek) which is conferred, usually at the state level, upon Installed and Past High Priests of Royal Arch Chapters.
AMD also has administrative degrees:
The highest honor in the Allied Masonic Degrees is The Royal Order of the Red Branch of Eri, a system which derives its symbolism and names from Irish knighthood. It consists of three degrees:
The following orders are also under control of the Allied Masonic Degrees:
The Rite Ecossais Rectifie (Scottish Rectified Rite) is the oldest continuously extant chivalric Masonic Order in the world. In the United States it is known by the name of its pinnacle degree. It was originally an offshoot of Baron von Hund's Rite of Strict Observance. RER works the following system of degrees:
The governing bodies of the RER are called Great Priories. There is only one body in the United States, the Great Priory of America, which was founded in 1934 at Raleigh, N.C., by Dr. William Moseley Brown and J. Raymond Shute II. Under agreement with the Great Priory of Switzerland, membership is limited to 81, divided into three prefectures of 27 each, and is further limited to no more than two members from each state, with the understanding that some states will never be able to provide even a single candidate for the rite. In England, the Order is governed by the Knights Templar. It is important to observe with caution that there are several other groups of CBCS and other Martinist Orders with different histories and lineages: Some of them are outside of Masonry entirely, and some of them admit women.
The Masonic RER, much like the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, is empowered to work the Craft Degrees (EA, FC, and MM), but in the United States and Europe they choose not to do so, ceding this privilege to the authority of the Grand Lodge system which works the York Rite version of the first three degrees. In several other countries, RER works these degrees directly, and they differ from the York Rite version in that they derive from a source that predates the de-Christianization of the Craft which took place throughout most English speaking systems of Freemasonry to accomodate a truly Universal Fraternity.
Officially called "The Masonic and Military Order of the Red Cross of Constantine and the Orders of the Holy Sepulchre and St. John the Evangelist." The Orders of Holy Speulchre and St. John the Evangelist are called Appendant Orders.
Historically, the Holy Royal Arch Knights Templar Priests controlled 33 degrees, symbolic of the 33 years of Christ's earthly sojourn. However, only the degree of Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest is worked today.
York Rite of Freemasonry (See Honorary, Invitational and Other National Bodies)
York Rite Degrees (Explains York Rite Degrees along with many of the Invitational Bodies)
<< The Grotto | General Allied Bodies >>
9 Comments:
The Scottish Rectified Rite still works the degrees you list on your site. The RER in the USA is in fact the Scottish Rectified Rite. The Ordre de Chevalier Bienfaisant de la Cité Sainte is simply the Inner Grade of Knighthood, but it is not a rite unto itself. It is not correct to state that the degree structure as follows: * Scottish Master of St. Andrew * Perfect Master of St. Andrew * Squire Novice * Knight Beneficent of the Holy City
...closely resembles the RER, as it does not closely resemble the RER, it simply is the RER!
Comment by Jean Baptiste Willermoz — May 2, 2007 @ 6:36 am
"Jean Baptiste", thank you for pointing this out. I have done more research and updated the information accordingly.
Comment by Jeff Day — July 30, 2008 @ 10:22 am
The symbols shown for the Scottish Rectified Rite is incorrect. Please remove it as it is the symbol for a completely different order.
Comment by Knight Kadosh — September 14, 2008 @ 11:37 am
That is the generic symbol for Martinism, and the RER is a Martinist order. If you have an alternate symbol for RER please provide a reference to it, until then, this one stays up since it is accurate in spite of being somewhat generic.
Comment by Jeff Day — September 30, 2008 @ 10:21 am
RER is NOT a martinist order, so the symbol is not correct, please feel free to use the correct symbol available at www.scozzeserettificato.ch rosarosa
Comment by rosrosa — October 7, 2008 @ 10:11 am
Rosrosa, perhaps we are talking about two different RER's? The one I am talking about is the one commonly referred to by the name of its highest grade, the C.B.C.S., which is a branch of what was originally founded by Jean Baptiste de Willermoz, and includes the teachings of Martinez de Pasquelly. So I am specifically trying to use a symbol reflective of The Great Priory of America, C.B.C.S.
I do not deny that other orders of RER exist throughout the world, which may be Masonic, and may even be recognized, but since this is a webpage for York Rite Allied Organizations, in other words, organizations who draw their members from the American York Rite (Royal Arch Masons and Knights Templar, specifically), it is not the place to include emblems or great details for other organizations which do not constitute an appendage to the York Rite.
Comment by Jeff Day — October 7, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
I always thought the symbol for the CBCS to be this:
http://www.yorkrite.com/degrees/image018.gif
I may be wrong but its the one I see all the time for the CBCS in the United States.
Comment by John — October 11, 2008 @ 9:02 pm
Dear Brother Jeff,
I think the poster "rosrosa" was trying to tell you that the symbol you posted is for Martinist Orders as in the non-Masonic Order created by Papus with the transmission of the Unknown Philosophers from Louis Claude de St Martin and influenced by Pasqually's Martinezism. It was the Masonic Order of Knight Masons Elu Cohen that was injected into the Strict Observance (a hybrid of the French Masonic Work and the German Esoteric Teutonic Orders) which created the Scottish Rectified Rite which does give a transmission back to Willermoz directly and is infused with Cohenim doctrine and does connect it initiates to the egregore of Pasqually and yet is totally separate from the Martinist Order as far as organizational purposes. The influences are the same. In any case, the RER has its own beautiful symbols. You should be able to pull a CBCS cross off of the Web these days.
Comment by Jean Baptiste Willermoz — October 30, 2008 @ 8:48 pm
Dear Jeff,
You are doing a grand job in your work to summarize these bodies. One important point though. You said: "There is only one Lodge in the United States, with membership limited to 100, exactly two members from each state" This is not true. It is 3 prefectures of 27, so the limit is 81 members. Membership in the inner order of CBCS has never been over 55 in the USA. The founders of the CBCS in the USA believed demographics to be an impeding factor in that they were of the opinion that certain states (which shall rename unnamed) mostly in the Western Prefecture were not expected to ever produce a single candidate deserving of the quality of being rectified let alone being made a CBCS. It is an interesting social commentary considering some French speaking brethren still question weather Americans or English speaking Masons in general have the capacity to truly understand the deep spiritual content that is to be encountered in the Scottish Rectified Rite.
Comment by Jean Baptiste Willermoz — October 30, 2008 @ 8:59 pm
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