Light to
Light - The Scottish Rite Today
by C. Fred
Kleinknecht, 33°
Past Sovereign Grand Commander
What is the Scottish
Rite of Freemasonry and why should a man who is already a Master Mason
become a member?
These are
legitimate questions in today's hectic world. Keeping ahead of the game is
hard enough these days. It seems best to use what short time there is left
after work for our friends and family.
Who needs
another civic or fraternal organization? There is little enough energy to go
around as it is!
These could
be the thoughts anyone, even a Freemason, hearing about the Scottish
Rite for the first time.
Yet, the
Scottish Rite is well worth the time a Freemason
spends in it. Participation in the Scottish Rite
not only will benefit his family and community, but also will expand his
intellectual and moral horizons, providing a richer, fuller life.
So what,
then, is the Scottish Rite and how can it work
for you, your family, community and nation?
First, let
us get some misconceptions out of the way. The Rite is "Scottish" in only a
distant historical sense. Scholars disagree on the exact origin of the term.
Some argue that Scotland was viewed in 18th century France as a far away,
almost mythical place. Thus, those wishing to add an exotic aura to
Freemasonry adopted "Ecossais" (Scottish) to
describe their new Degrees.
Others
point out that many Freemasons in Scotland fled their homeland during the
political upheavals of the 17th and 18th centuries. Some settled in southern
France where the Degrees of the Rite were being evolved as a means of
advancing Symbolic Lodge Freemasonry. To Freemasonry's Light, as acquired by
every Master Mason, the new Degrees, numbering from the Fourth to the
Twenty-fifth, added more Light in the sense that they fostered new insights
into Freemasonry's essential principles.
They are
not truly higher or Advanced Degrees in any sense other than their
numbering. Rather, they reach into Symbolic Lodge teachings to clarify and
inspire. These Degrees, as part of what was called the Rite of Perfection,
were formalized under the Secret Constitutions of 1761 and the Constitutions
of 1762. Then, they were conveyed by merchant Brethren from Bordeaux, France
through the West Indies to cities on the American mainland, including
Charleston, South Carolina in 1783.
When the
Grand Constitutions of 1786 provided for the extension of the Rite to the
Thirty-third Degree, governed In each country under a Supreme Council, the
opportunity was seized by a group of 11 Brethren in Charleston, South
Carolina. Led by Brothers John Mitchell and Frederick
Dalcho, they formed the "Supreme Council of the 33° of the United
States' on May 31, 1801. In a Manifesto dated December 4, 1802, these
Founding Fathers confirmed the opening in Charleston of the first Supreme
Council, 33°. Throughout the world, all other regular and recognized Supreme
Councils of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry are branches of this original
root.
The
Manifesto referred to several of the Degrees as
Ecossais, but the name first appeared as the "Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite" in the 1832 French publication of the Grand Constitutions of
1786. With the start of the administration of Grand Commander Albert Pike in
1859, the name "Scottish Rite" came into general use in the Mother
Jurisdiction and elsewhere.
Born and
educated In Massachusetts, Pike served briefly in the Confederate Army as a
Brigadier General, and then devoted the rest of his life to the expansion of
the Scottish Rite. Rewritten and reorganized by Pike, Scottish Rite Ritual
became the avenue of intellectual and moral refinement for hundreds of
thousands of Brethren. Similarly, his lead leadership strengthened the
administration of the Rite and allowed it to prosper.
Today, the
central headquarters of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, is located
in the magnificent House of the Temple in Washington. D.C., only a few
blocks from the White House. Here, an efficient staff, headed by the
Sovereign Grand Commander, administers the 42 Orients and 221 Valleys
existing across the Southern Jurisdiction. A northern tier of 15 states was
officially ceded in 1813 becoming the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, and it
is now governed by the Supreme Council, 33°, NMJ.
Benefiting
from a combination of both central and local leadership, the Scottish Rite,
SJ, USA, today numbers over 585,000 Brethren. In addition, we maintain a
monthly publication, The Scottish Rite Journal, which reaches every Brother
and acts as both the voice and forum of the Rite.
The
Scottish Bite offers unique opportunities for broad Masonic and social
activities for its members. The annual Maundy Thursday Ceremony and Feast of
Tishri let Scottish Rite Masons gather at a meal, participate in the solemn
traditions of the Rite, and share of themselves. Family picnics and special
receptions are just a few of the social activities offered by most Valleys,
and a Scottish Rite Ladies Night is usually the high point of any Masonic
social calendar.
Because of
the size and organizational complexity of the Scottish Rite, there are
dozens of opportunities for service seldom found elsewhere in the Craft. Our
Degrees present Scottish Rite teachings as impressive dramas, requiring all
levels of theatrical support: lighting, properties, costumes, makeup and so
on. Our charitable activities need helping hands, and our educational
programs need men of vision. Whether you have only two days a year or two
days a week, your Scottish Rite Valley has important, meaningful work for
you.
The
contemporary presence of the Scottish Rite, unlike many other institutions
today, reaches far back into the past and draws its strength from origins
well before the Rite's seedtime in the 18th century. Like Symbolic Lodge
Freemasonry, the Scottish Rite through its Degrees, brings to modern man the
insights of ancient times. The voices of Biblical and pre-Biblical sages
echo throughout Rite ceremonies, and both New and Old Testament insights
elevate our teachings. The new law of love mandated by the Christian Master
of Nazareth is as central to our philosophy as the laws of Moses, the wisdom
of King Solomon and the teachings of Plato, Pythagoras and Socrates.
These fine
words live in the real world because of practical acts. Scottish Rite Masons
are active on local, state, national and international levels. Among other
activities, we:
• Fund scholarships for students
and teachers.
• Provide programs for young people and services for the aged.
• Assist young people to overcome language and learning disorders.
• Help crippled children to walk via such advanced medical centers as the
Scottish Rite Hospitals in Atlanta and Dallas.
• Support and create patriotic programs to remind Americans of our great
national heritage and the importance of maintaining it.
• Advocate absolute separation of Church and State as a mainstay of freedom.
• Advance the public school system as a guarantee of intellectual liberty
for today and tomorrow.
• Support environmental causes to sustain Planet Earth for future
generations.
• Champion the family as the cornerstone and solid building block of our
nation.
• Combat substance abuse through educational programs aimed at youth and
anti-drug campaigns directed to the general public.
There is
not a facet of community life where Scottish Rite Masons have not had an
impact for good. Local Scottish Rite members are doers and achievers. And
the result of their individual effort is multiplied many times over because
they can enlist the willing help of their Brethren in any worthy effort.
Outstanding
among these is the Scottish Rite Childhood Language and Learning Disorders
Program. Shackled by neurological conditions, these children are led out of
their loneliness and despair by our trained therapists. In many cases, these
young people would otherwise go unaided.
America's
children - can there be a better more worthy cause? Yet, this is only the
foremost philanthropy of the Scottish Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction.
Other efforts, as diverse as the Brothers who man them, contribute daily to
the benefit of every family in every community of this great nation
