General
Information
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Introduction
Origins
The
Name
Southern
Jurisdiction
International
Character of the Scottish Rite Today
Service to others—service to you. These are the twin goals of Scottish Rite Freemasonry. In 135 Childhood Language Disorder Clinics, Centers, and Programs in our 37 Orients (states), including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, children with communication disorders are taught to speak, read, and learn.
Each year in two great medical centers, the Atlanta and Dallas Scottish Rite Hospitals, thousands of victims of accident or disability are restored to active, happy lives.
In homes for the aged, centers for youth and, in cases of natural disaster, support from the Scottish Rite Foundation relieves the worried and counsels the troubled.
Through local scholarships grants and patriotic programs, the Scottish Rite benefits your community in direct and dynamic ways every day of the year.
We are rightly proud of these achievements. They are the culmination of generations of Scottish Rite Brethren working to strengthen and improve America. Welcome to our ranks. Through your participation, even greater good can be accomplished.
But the Rite does not end here. The Rite serves you.
Our age-proven traditions and noble ideals enrich your life with new horizons of personal achievement. Our dynamic programs offer you opportunities for leadership. Most of all, our sincere Scottish Rite fellowship will bring you lifetime friendships and provide delightful occasions to be shared with your wife and family. Get to know your local Scottish Rite officers. Like you, they are good men working for a good cause. They are eager to share and glad to help. Ask. You are sure to find a way to participate in Scottish Rite endeavors that will suit your desire and schedule.
And should you be able to visit our nation’s capital, please include a tour of our national headquarters, the House of the Temple, located just 10 blocks from the White House. It is an inspiring architectural monument. Cordial Brothers are available every day, even on weekends if arranged beforehand, to show you the Temple’s magnificent ceremonial rooms. Or, perhaps, you would like to pause in The Supreme Council’s excellent library, the very first opened to the public in the District of Columbia, or visit the building’s several impressive ceremonial rooms and museums. Wherever you go, you will be welcome, for no matter where your Valley is, this great building is your Scottish Rite home.
To get a better idea of all the Scottish Rite has to offer, scan the pages of this booklet. Keep it for future reference. It will come in handy for understanding the history, structure, honors, and services offered to you as a member of the Scottish Rite, the world’s most dynamic and beneficent Fraternity!
In announcing its establishment to the Masonic world in that Manifesto, dated December 4, 1802, the name was given as the Supreme Council of the Thirty-third Degree for the United States of America. The word Scotch appeared in connection with one of the early Supreme Council Degrees, and Scotish (sic) was included in the name of one of the detached Degrees conferred by the Supreme Council.
The name Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite first appeared in an 1804 agreement between the Supreme Council of France and the Grand Orient of France. Beginning with the administration of Grand Commander Albert Pike in 1859, it came into general use in the Southern Jurisdiction and elsewhere. Many Scottish Masons fled to France during political upheavals in the 17th and 18th centuries, at a time when the Degrees of the Rite were evolving in French Freemasonry. This has caused some to think mistakenly that the Rite originated in Scotland. Actually, however, a Supreme Council for Scotland was not established until 1846.
The Grand Constitutions of 1786, in the earliest known text in the possession of John Mitchell and Frederick Dalcho, provided for two Supreme Councils in the United States. The Supreme Council at Charleston sent one of its Active Members to New York and authorized him to establish in 1813 a Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States of America. With this accomplished, The Supreme Council at Charleston in 1827 ceded to the Northern Supreme Council the 15 states north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi Rivers. The Southern Supreme Council retained jurisdiction over all other states and territories (at home and abroad) of the United States.
International Character of the Scottish Rite Today
The Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction recognizes in its fraternal relations 40 Supreme Councils and four National Grand Lodges practicing the Rites that include the Scottish Rite, in different countries throughout the world. Each regular Supreme Council has declared its general adherence to those Grand Constitutions of 1762 and 1786, but each, being a sovereign Masonic Body, has made variations in its Statutes to meet its own particular needs. This is especially true as to the number of members composing a Supreme Council. Some have retained the original limitations of nine Active Members. In our Jurisdiction the number of Active Members is limited to 33. In other Jurisdictions larger or smaller limitations have been set. To maintain the spirit of international unity, the Mother Supreme Council participates in overseas conferences with other Supreme Councils.
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Information from the web site
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The Ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite
Southern Jurisdiction, USA
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