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The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, as
we know it today, had its origins on the continent of Europe. Its immediate
predecessor, known as The Order of the Royal Secret, consisted of 25 Degrees
under the Constitutions of 1762. Masonic tradition maintains that Lodges of this
Rite, transmitted from Bordeaux in France through the West Indies to the
American mainland, were established at New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1763; at
Albany, New York, in 1767; at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1781–82; and at
Charleston, South Carolina, in 1783.
The Grand Constitutions of 1786 provided for an extension of the Rite to
thirty-three Degrees, governed in each country under a Supreme Council of the
Thirty-third and Last Degree. Its provisions were cited in a Manifesto at
Charleston that confirmed the first Supreme Council ever opened under these
Grand Constitutions, on May 31, 1801, "by Brothers John Mitchell and Frederick Dalcho." All regular and recognized Supreme Councils and their Subordinate
Bodies today are descended directly or collaterally from this Mother Supreme
Council of the World.
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Suggested reading:
Every Mason that has read John Robinsons work has been treated to an
accurate and scholarly adventure into the history of the Order. A
Pilgrim's Path doesn't disappoint. |
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