Freemasonry | WHY THIRTY-THREE? by Bro. Brent S. Morris There has been wide enthusiasm about the establishment of the Scottish Rite Research Society, but the question has been raised often, “Are there really enough topics to research in the Scottish Rite?” Certainly there are difficulties if we look to the earliest origins of our Rite in France, as the primary research materials are in another country across an ocean. Further, it is intimidating to look at the writings on the Rite by such master scholars as Baynard, Carter, Harris, Jackson, or Lobinger. It is easy to imagine that little remains to be done but to occasionally admire their splendid efforts. Nothing could be farther from the truth! There are dozens of interesting, exciting, and important issues about the Scottish Rite that have never been addressed. Some require access to specialized research materials, but many are within the reach of any interested student. To spur research in this understudied area, several questions are posed about the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. No claim is made that these questions have never been answered, just that a fresh consideration would be welcomed. CAPS, RINGS, AND THINGS In 1797, four years before the establishment of the Mother Supreme Council, Thomas Smith Webb published his landmark book, Freemason’s Monitor or Illustrations of Masonry. His book was an abbreviation of William Preston’s 1772 Illustrations of Masonry, arranged to suit the American Masonic environment. Webb’s work formed the foundation for what is considered “standard” American Masonic Ritual. His work with the ritual was expanded upon Jeremy Ladd Cross, John Barney, and other itinerant Masonic lecturers of the eighteenth century. In the first edition of the Freemason’s Monitor, there was a section “containing an account of the Ineffable Degrees of Masonry,” those conferred Lodges of Perfection. These bodies were established under Stephen Morin’s “Rite of Perfection.” Webb’s description of the Degree of Perfection, or Grand, Elect, Perfect, and sublime Mason explains that “[t]he jewels appertaining to this degree [include] . a gold ring with this motto, ‘Virtue unites what Death cannot part.’”[i] A quick check of some of the oldest manuscript rituals in the Archives of the Mother Supreme Council, including the “Francken Manuscript,” the oldest English version of the Scottish Rite Degrees, shows that a gold ring with this motto has always been given to those receiving the Degree of Perfection. Several questions immediately present themselves. 1.How long has a gold ring been associated with the 14°? The evidence just cited gives an answer of at least 200 years in the United States alone. If 14° rings have been given out for two centuries, then there must be an oldest ring lurking in some Masonic museum. 2.Where is he oldest example of a 14° ring? The Fourteenth Degree is not the only Scottish Rite Degree with a distinctive ring. The Thirty-third Degree ring is immediately recognized as a sign of great Masonic achievement. However, there do not seem to be early written references to the ring of this Degree. 3.When did a distinctive ring become associated with the 33° and where is the oldest example of a 33° ring? Another distinctive item of regalia associated with the Scottish Rite is the “Grand Decoration of the Order” or jewel of the Thirty-third Degree. While this is described in the Appendix to the Constitutions of 1786, it appears no where in Constitutions of 1762.[ii] Presumably it was created or adopted from some other system during the twenty-four year period of 1762–1786. 4.Where was the 33° jewel first described and when did it come into general use? Anyone attending a Scottish Rite meeting for this first time, especially in the Southern Jurisdiction, is quickly struck by the distinctive caps worn by our members indicating their degree. While their use is now the norm, caps are a fairly recent addition to the Rite’s regalia. 5.What is the history of caps in the Scottish Rite? Who designed the caps? When wee they introduced? Has the same color scheme always been used? Did caps replace some other insignia? Was the introduction of caps well received by all Valleys? COLLATERAL INFORMATION Not all information about the Craft is available from records or direct evidence; many times it is necessary to rely on secondary sources. The description of the Ineffable Degrees in Webb’s Freemason’s Monitor is an example of secondary information. It is not known where Webb obtained the material of these eleven degrees. Although a Lodge of Perfection had been established in Albany in 1767, it was dormant during the years Webb lived in that city, and it seems certain that he was not made a member of the Lodge. He may have received the monitorial data from some Albany Mason who had been a member of the Lodge and had possession of the rituals, or Webb may have gathered the data on one of his visits to Boston or Philadelphia.[iii] While we do not know where Webb received his information about the Ineffable Degrees, the very fact that the Degrees are mentioned gives us insight to the precursors of the Scottish Rite. Were the Ineffable Degrees so popular that the descriptions in his Monitor were eagerly welcomed, or did Webb include the information to tease his readers and increase his sales? 6.Where did Thomas Smith Webb get the information on the Ineffable Degrees for his 1797 Freemason’s Monitor? Webb was a friend of Masonry, and his descriptions of the Ineffable Degrees were at worst designed as a sales gimmick. Not all authors are as benign. Exposés of Masonic rituals have been popular books for centuries, and they sometimes give the only insight into the evolution of Masonic Rituals and Ceremonies. The first exposé of rituals that evolved into Scottish Rite Degrees was published in 1766 by a Monsieur Bérage, Les Plus Secrets Mystères des Hauts Grades de la Maçonnerie Dévoilés [The Most Secret Mysteries of the High Grades of Masonry Unveiled]. This exposé was wildly successful with the public, not only because it unveiled the “most secret mysteries” but also because it was book prohibited by the French government.[iv] Its study should provide the same understanding for Scottish Rite Rituals as Three Distinct Knocks and Jakin and Boaz provide for craft ritual. 7.What does Bérage’s 1766 Les Plus Secrets Mystères tell us about the evolution of Scottish Rite Degrees? France was not the only source of ritual exposés of the high grades. Many were published during the American antimasonic period, including one of the most notorious, Light on Masonry, published in 1829 by Elder David Bernard. This book alleges to give the rituals for all the Craft, York, and Scottish Rite Degrees plus ten other “French Degrees.” Elder Bernard appears to have borrowed heavily from Bérage, as the rituals for many of his “Detached Degrees” are very similar. Bernard could have translated from Les Plus Secrets Mystères or he may have exposed the ceremonies of some Masons who themselves translated Bérage. If accurate, the Scottish Rite Rituals in Bernard’s Light on Masonry, published just 28 years after the formation of the Mother Supreme Council, give us a unique snapshot of our early ceremonies. However, the Scottish Rite Rituals in Light on Masonry differ significantly from known practices of the Southern Jurisdiction. They could be early Northern Masonic Jurisdiction rituals or rituals from the Cerneau Supreme Council or from yet some unrecognized source. 8.What is the source of the “Degrees” in Bernard’s Light on Masonry? REUNIONS The Scottish Rite in America has developed a distinct method of conferring the degrees in the periodic reunions of our Valleys. The Constitutions of 1762 require the deliberate (and obviously symbolic) delay of 81 months between 1° and 25°. Thus the rapid conferral of degrees at a Reunion flies in face of at least symbolic delays if not actual practice of the Scottish Rite. 9.When and where did Scottish Rite reunions originate? Freemasonry as a society venerates tradition, even in the face of common sense. It is thus hard to imagine that such a radical concept as a reunion was easily adopted. 10.How quickly accepted was the idea of a Reunion? Another distinctive feature of American Scottish Rite degrees is their elaborate staging and costuming— elaborate beyond the dreams of our founders. Professor Lance Brockman of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, has made a study of stage sets belonging to various Scottish Rite Valleys. In many cases, our Valleys have unwittingly preserved wonderful examples of theatrical art, previously thought lost. 11.When and where did elaborate staging come to be used for Scottish Rite degrees? SCOTTISH RITE CUSTOMS The Constitutions of 1762 require Princes of Jerusalem to celebrate two feast days: November 20, when their ancestors made their entry into Jerusalem and February 23, to celebrate the rebuilding of the Temple. Knights of the East celebrate the rebuilding of the Temple and the equinoxes, March 22 and September 22. The Grand Elect Perfect Masons celebrate the dedication of the first Temple on July 5. The Constitutions of 1786 require two festivals: “one on the first of October when our property was sequestrated and given to the Knights of Malta, and the other on the 27th of December, St. John the Evangelist’s day.” All of these festivals seem to be lost to modern Scottish Rite tradition, though they may have been enjoyed by our earlier Brethren. 12.Is there any evidence that these festivals were ever celebrated? The Maundy Thursday ceremony of our Chapters of Rose Croix is the most widely celebrated of Scottish Rite events today, even though it is not mentioned in the Secret Constitutions of 1761, the Constitutions of 1762, nor the Constitutions of 1786.