The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite

The World's Most Practiced Rite

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (A∴A∴S∴R∴), known in the Francophone world as the Rite Écossais Ancien et Accepté (R∴E∴A∴A∴), stands as the most globally dominant and widely practiced Masonic Rite. It is a structured, progressive system of 33 degrees, or hierarchical levels of instruction, that builds upon the foundational lessons of Craft Free-Masonry. Despite its numerical hierarchy, it is a core tenet of the Rite that no degree in Free-Masonry holds a higher rank than that of the 3rd degree, the Master Mason. The subsequent degrees are thus not an elevation in rank, but an expansion of knowledge, a "university" of Masonic philosophy.

The "Scottish" Paradox

A central, and often immediate, point of confusion is the Rite's name. The "Scottish Rite" is definitively not Scottish in its origin. Its development occurred almost entirely in 18th-century France, and its formal codification took place in the United States. The "Scottish" appellation is an 18th-century affectation, derived from the French term Écossais (Scots).

This name was a powerful piece of 18th-century branding. Following the establishment of the first Grand Lodge in England in 1717 (probably actually 1721), a "ritual boom" occurred all over Europe, particularly in France. Masons sought to elaborate on the simple three-degree Craft system. New "high degrees" (haut grades) proliferated, often claiming a more ancient, more esoteric, and more chivalric lineage than the English system. The most potent claim was to a (largely mythical) heritage from Scottish Knights Templar, who, according to legend, had sought refuge in Scotland after their persecution and preserved the "true" secrets of Masonry. Thus, any degree claiming Écossais lineage was, by implication, positioning itself as older and more authoritative. The "Scots Master" degree, first appearing in London around 1733 and quickly spreading to France, became the nucleus for these new systems.

The name "Scottish Rite" is, therefore, a legacy of this 18th-century marketing of esoteric legitimacy, not a statement of geographical origin.

The Rite's Dual Nature and Global Success

The AASR operate in two distinct modes:

• As a non-linear rite also called "Concordant Body": In the United States, the United Kingdom, and other jurisdictions, the AASR can sometimes functions as a separate, optional organization while still containing its first three degrees, it refrains from conferring them. Thus a Master Mason (3rd degree) from a "Blue Lodge" can be invited or can petitions to join the Scottish Rite upper degrees, which then confers the 4th through 33rd degrees, effectively jumping from a different blue Lodge rite (eg. Emulation rite or American rite) to another upper degree system (eg. RER or AASR), sometimes creating inconsistencies. However this is not always the case, for example, some Lodges in the United States do confer the Scottish Rite blue Lodge degrees, mainly located in Louisiana, Washington DC, California, Hawaii, New York and other states, effectively creating a full Scottish Rite system on the same model the fully integrated style.
• As a "Fully Integrated Rite": In Continental Europe, Latin America, Africa and other jurisdictions, the AASR is expected to be completed from the blue Lodge level 1-33° system. The Blue Lodges themselves still operate under the Grand Lodge but with the blue degrees of the AASR (or any other practiced rite), then a natural progression occurs and a Master Mason can be invited to join the upper degrees of a Supreme Council thus creating a natural progression.

NOTE: Appendant Body: A common misconception is to call the and the York Rite or Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite an appendant body, this is a mistake for Appendant bodies are any groups or systems that do not contain the first three degrees within their systems example (Shriner, Grotto…) per definition the AASR and York Rite are both rites containing the first three degrees, thus must be called Rites or in some cases Concordant Bodies, but never Appendant.

This dual-system adaptability is in parts responsible for having allowed the AASR to become the lingua franca of international Free-Masonry, making it the "most practiced rite in the world from the Entered Apprentice degree" a claim that is only true because of its integrated model in so many countries.

The Genesis of the Rite, From French Écossais to American Sovereignty

The history of the Scottish Rite is a complex thread woven through France, the Caribbean, and the United States. Its motto, Ordo Ab Chao (Order from Chaos), is a literal description of its own birth.

The 18th-Century "Haut Grades" Milieu

As previously noted, 18th-century France was a fertile soil for the multiplication of degrees. Dissatisfied with the three degrees of the English Craft, French Masons developed hundreds of new chivalric, philosophical, and esoteric rituals. These haut grades were often collected into systems or "Rites."

The Rite of Perfection (25 Degrees)

The direct ancestor of the AASR is the "Rite of Perfection," also known as the "Order of the Royal Secret". This system was not a sudden invention but a consolidation of the most popular haut grades of the era. Its lineage is traced from the Chapter of Clermont (c. 1754) to the Council of Emperors of the East and West (c. 1750s), which organized a coherent system of 25 degrees. This 25-degree Rite flourished in French Masonic centers, particularly Bordeaux.

The Vector: Étienne Morin and the 1761 Patent

The crucial transmission of this 25-degree Rite from France to the New World was accomplished by Étienne (Stephen) Morin, a French trader operating between Bordeaux and the Caribbean. In 1761, Morin received a patent from the Grand Lodge of France (later the Grand Orient de France) in Paris, granting him the title of "Inspector General" and empowering him to "propagate the Rite in the Western Hemisphere".

Morin established himself in Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti) and began appointing Deputy Inspectors General to spread the Rite. One such deputy, Henry Andrew Francken, established the first Lodge of Perfection (the foundational body of the Rite) in North America at Albany, New York, in 1767. Other deputies established bodies in other cities, including Charleston, South Carolina.

The Charleston Founding (1801): Ordo Ab Chao

Morin's system, reliant on deputies with vast powers, began to degenerate. Sources describe a period of "degree peddling" as "conditions in Sublime Free-Masonry were becoming chaotic". This chaos was compounded by geopolitical upheaval.

The 1801 founding of the Scottish Rite was forged by this very chaos. In 1796, Hyman Isaac Long, a physician from Jamaica, arrived in Charleston and appointed eight Frenchmen as deputies. These men were not colonists; they were refugees from Saint-Domingue, where the slave revolution was underway. These French Masons, steeped in the Rite of Perfection but now exiled by the Haitian Revolution, sought to bring order to the "chaotic" Masonic environment they found.

On May 31, 1801, this group met in Charleston, South Carolina, and established the first "Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree". This act, which formally expanded the Rite from 25 to 33 degrees, was a deliberate consolidation of power, creating a single, sovereign governing body to end the anarchy of the deputy system. The "Mother Supreme Council of the World," as it became known, was a direct response to the chaos of revolution and fraternal anarchy, literally creating order from chaos. This body, now known as the Supreme Council, 33°, Southern Jurisdiction (SJ), is the oldest Supreme Council in existence.

The Foundational Charters

The new Supreme Council based its legal and philosophical authority on two key documents:

• The Grand Constitutions of 1762: This document codified the 25-degree Rite of Perfection.
• The Grand Constitutions of 1786: This document, purportedly adopted in Berlin by Frederick the Great (a claim of dubious historical authenticity), is the foundational law that formally established the 33-degree system and the governance structure of Supreme Councils. While its 18th-century origin is a subject of intense academic debate, it remains the de jure basis for the Rite's authority.

The Transatlantic Loop, The Rite's Return to France

The Rite's history immediately executed a remarkable transatlantic loop. Having been born from French philosophy, transmitted to the Caribbean, and then codified in America by French refugees, it was immediately re-exported to France.

De Grasse-Tilly and the 1804 Export

Comte Alexandre-Auguste de Grasse-Tilly, a Charleston Supreme Council member and a central figure in its 1801 founding, was also a refugee from Saint-Domingue. He returned to France and, in 1804, founded the Suprême Conseil de France in Paris. It was in the agreement establishing this body that the title "Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite" (Rite Écossais Ancien et Accepté) was used for the first time.

The 1804 Concordat and Governance Split

This 1804 event is the genesis of the "Great Divergence" in global Masonic governance. De Grasse-Tilly's new Supreme Council, practicing a 33-degree Rite, landed in a France dominated by a single, powerful Masonic body: the Grand Orient de France (G∴O∴d∴F∴), which primarily practiced its own "French Rite" with the prestigious Orders of Wisdom.

The GOdF, seeing a potential rival, moved to absorb it. An agreement, or "concordat," was signed in 1804. This treaty was almost immediately violated by the GOdF, which began conferring the 33rd degree itself, leading the Supreme Council to repudiate the deal.

The political chaos was settled by the Archchancellor of the French Empire, Jean Jacques Régis Cambacérès, who forced a new compromise: The Grand Orient de France would administer the Scottish Rite degrees from 1 to 18, while the Supreme Council would retain sovereign control over degrees 19 to 33.

The Great Divergence

This 1804 French political compromise is the genetic ancestor of the "Integrated Rite" (1-33°) model. It established the world's first precedent for a single Masonic ecosystem to have both a Grand Lodge/Orient and a Supreme Council governing different parts of the same Rite.

This stands in stark contrast to the "Concordant" model that evolved in the United States. In the US, the 1801 (Southern) and 1813 (Northern) Supreme Councils developed in a system of strict separation of powers. Sovereign Grand Lodges have exclusive, "supreme authority" over the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degrees. The Scottish Rite (4-33°) is an entirely separate, "Concordant" organization that a Master Mason be invited to later.

The 1804 French compromise, however, created a fused system. This model, where the AASR is a complete 1-33° system with the symbolic lodges (1-3°) and high-degree bodies (4-33°) existing under a shared or allied governance structure, became the standard in Latin America and much of continental Europe. This legacy of 1804 continues today, with modern France having multiple, competing Supreme Councils, including one affiliated with the Grand Orient de France and another with the Grande Loge Nationale Française (G∴L∴N∴F∴) in amity with the United Grand Lodge of England (U∴G∴L∴E∴).

The AASR's Relationship to the Blue Lodge

No aspect of the Scottish Rite is more misunderstood than its relationship to the foundational "Blue Lodge" (the lodge conferring the first three degrees).

The Master Mason as Summit

It must be stated unambiguously: there is no Masonic degree higher than that of Master Mason (3°). The Scottish Rite degrees are "higher" only in the sense of being subsequent in a curriculum this is why they are sometimes reffered as “side degrees” this is also why the French Rite called them Orders instead of Degrees.

A 32° or 33° Scottish Rite Mason holds no additional rank, authority, or privilege within a Blue Lodge. In fact, the authority is reversed: a Mason's membership in the Scottish Rite is entirely contingent upon his remaining a Master Mason in good standing in his Blue Lodge. If a Mason is suspended or expelled by his Blue Lodge, he is automatically suspended or expelled from the Scottish Rite upper bodies. The Blue Lodge is the "cornerstone", and the Grand Lodge is the "superseding supreme authority of the jurisdiction".

The non-linear model (The Anglo-American Model)

In the United States (both the Southern Jurisdiction and the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction), the United Kingdom, and some other jurisdictions, the AASR is an seen as non-linear, a "Concordant" body but not practiced as a full rite (1st to 33rd) except for some Lodges.

Master Masons, having completed their 3rd degree in a Blue Lodge under a sovereign Grand Lodge under a different rite can voluntarily petition to transfer over to the Scottish Rite or in some cases can be invited to continue their journey. The Rite is a see as a move for further education but not directly connected to the ritual practiced in the Blue Lodge (except from some Scottish Rite Blue Lodge in the US). In this model, the Mason goes through different sets of upper degrees sometimes creating inconsistencies due to small differences in the blue Lodge lessons and the upper degrees if not part of the same rite.

The Integrated model (The Continental/Latin American/World Model)

This model, far more common globally, is the one established by the 1804 French compromise. In many jurisdictions, including France, Mexico, most of Latin America, continental Europe and most of Africa with some parts of Asia and parts of Oceania, the AASR is performed as a complete 1-33° system. Although the first three degrees are still under the Grand Lodge full Jurisdiction they are made available in different rites to accommodates different philosophies and create a logical journey for the Mason.

In these countries, the Blue Lodges themselves practice the AASR ritual for the 1° (Entered Apprentice), 2° (Fellow-Craft), and 3° (Master Mason) degrees. Albert Pike, the influential Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction, extensively revised the entire 33-degree system, and his 1872 revisions included rituals for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degrees, but these rituals are seldom practiced. While these 1-3° Scottish blue Lodge rituals are not used by the majority of Lodges in the US, they are the standard for "Scottish Rite Craft Blue Lodges" in jurisdictions like Louisiana, New York, Hawaii, California and other states they are the norm across Latin America. States like Washington DC have also taken steps to open the states to new rituals and have recently chartered new Scottish Rite Blue Lodges among other blue Lodges such as Mc Bride, Emulation, French Rite and others.

This Integrated Model is the precise reason the AASR is sometimes called "the most practiced rite in the world from the Entered Apprentice degree". While the Preston-Webb (American) or "York" rituals dominate US Blue Lodges, the AASR's 1-3° rituals dominate in the vast Masonic landscape worldwide Free-Masonry.

A Structural Analysis of the 33 Degrees

The Scottish Rite's 33-degree system is a philosophical progression, a "ladder of ascent" toward enlightenment. The degrees are administered by a series of "bodies," which have acquired informal "colored lodge" terminology.

A. The Blue Lodge (1°-3°): Loge Bleue

This is the Symbolic Foundation, the Loge Bleue or Blue Lodge. As discussed, in the US/UK model, it is often done within another ritual such as the York (preston/webb or American Rite) or in the UK a specific work or emulation rite, then the Scottish Rite upper degrees are opened. In the Integrated Model, it is the first body of the Rite. A common mistake is to call Craft Lodge practicing the Scottish Rite, “Red Lodges”, this misunderstanding stems from the red coloring of the Lodge-room or the apron worn in by Scottish Masons in the craft Lodge, but they remain Blue Lodges.

B. The Green Lodge (4°-14°): The Lodge of Perfection (Loge de Perfection)

This body is sometimes referred to as the "Green Lodge". It confers the 11 "Ineffable Degrees," from the 4° (Secret Master) to the 14° (Grand Elect Mason). The philosophy of these degrees centers on the themes of duty, silence, contemplation, and truth. They are an extended philosophical exploration of the 3rd degree, and they heavily reference the building of King Solomon's Temple.

C. The Red Bodies (15°-18°): The Chapter of Rose Croix (Chapitre de Rose-Croix)

This body is widely known as the Loge Rouge or "Red Lodge", a name derived from the deep red regalia of its primary degree and more esoteric meanings. A significant jurisdictional split in governance exists here:

• Northern Masonic Jurisdiction (NMJ): This section is split into two bodies: the Council of Princes of Jerusalem (conferring the 15° and 16°) and the Chapter of Rose Croix (conferring the 17° and 18°).
• Southern Jurisdiction (SJ): A single body, the Chapter of Rose Croix, administers all four degrees (15°-18°).

This body is the "spiritual center" of the entire Scottish Rite. The 18°, Knight of the Rose Croix, is “one of the most profound and beautiful degrees in all of Free-Masonry”. It teaches a "New Law" of love, universality, and tolerance. While it uses the setting of the New Testament and Christian symbolism, its message is explicitly universal, teaching that "fellowship may include all men regardless of their nation, race, or creed". This degree is a direct descendant of the 18th-century French high-degree milieu.

The Black Lodge (19°-30°): The Council of Kadosh (Aréopage / Loge Noire)

This body is known as the Loge Noire or "Black Lodge". These are the "Chivalric and Philosophical" degrees. They are heavily influenced by the (mythical) history of the Knights Templar and explore complex questions of justice, liberty, and the constant struggle against tyranny and religious/political absolutism.

The 30°, Knight Kadosh (or Knight of the White and Black Eagle), is the culminating degree of this body. Its stark black and white regalia symbolizes the duality of good and evil, order and chaos, and gives the body its informal name.

A jurisdictional split also occurs here:

• Southern Jurisdiction (SJ): The Council of Kadosh confers degrees 19°-30°.
• Northern Masonic Jurisdiction (NMJ): The Consistory confers all degrees from 19°-32°.

The White Lodge (31°-32°): The Consistory (Consistoire)

This final body, which confers the 31° and 32° (in the SJ), is known as the Loge Blanche or "White Lodge". This name comes from the pure white lambskin apron of the 31° Inspector Inquisitor and the white caps worn by the 33° members who govern the Rite.

These are the "Official and Ceremonial" degrees. They are a synthesis of all previous lessons, tasking the 32° Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret to become a "soldier of truth" and to apply the lessons of philosophy, justice, and universality to the world.

• Southern Jurisdiction (SJ): The Consistory confers only the 31° and 32°.
• Northern Masonic Jurisdiction (NMJ): The Consistory is a larger body conferring degrees 19°-32°.

Comparative Degree Structure and Governance of the AASR (4°-33°)

To clarify these complex jurisdictional differences, the following table compares the degree names and administrative bodies in the two main US jurisdictions.

Progression, Time, and Invitation

Perhaps the most dramatic difference in the practice of the Scottish Rite today is not its ritual, but the manner and time of its progression.

Model 1: The American "Reunion" Model (Accessibility and Efficiency)

In the United States, a Master Mason in good standing can petition a Scottish Rite "Valley" (the local organization). He can, and often does, receive all 29 degrees from the 4° to the 32° in a single "one-day class" or a weekend "reunion".

This does not mean all 29 degrees are performed in their entirety. A typical reunion stages a few of the most important degrees (e.g., 4°, 14°, 18°, 30°, 32°) as full-scale dramatic plays, while the other degrees are "communicated" by summary. A key feature of this model is that no memorization of rituals, signs, or passwords is required of the candidate.

This model is a 20th-century American innovation that diverges sharply from the original Morin Constitutions. It emerged out of pragmatism and inter-ritual competition. In the United States, the York Rite historically dominated the landscape and initially viewed any parallel system with suspicion. To survive, the Scottish Rite adopted a rapid-conferral structure that allowed it to expand quickly and become, in effect, “too big to kill.” The Scottish Rite and the York Rite are now the two principal Concordant systems in American Masonry. The York Rite , traditionally smaller in membership, originally required a slower, memorization-based progression similar to the Blue Lodge. By contrast, the Scottish Rite’s emerging “one-day class” model, combined with an absence of memorization requirements, offered a major competitive advantage in recruitment and effectively protected it from attempts by York Rite Masons to marginalize or eliminate it. This accelerated method became a pragmatic adaptation to 20th- and 21st-century American culture, prioritizing accessibility and ensuring a steady flow of candidates to sustain the large Scottish Rite Valleys and their facilities. Over time, the York Rite also responded to this pressure. In many regions today, it too offers fast-tracked classes, including two-day conferrals of all its degrees across the United States. Interestingly, the Rectified Scottish Rite (R∴E∴R∴) adopted the opposite survival strategy: it became “too small to notice.” Instead of expanding rapidly, it remained extremely selective, deliberately slow in progression, and admitted only a handful of Masons in the United States. This discreet, almost invisible presence allowed it to persist without drawing institutional opposition or competitive pressure from larger American Masonic bodies.

However, this “fast-track” system is increasingly being challenged by observant-minded Masons in the United States—especially since the 2020s. Several Valleys are now experimenting with a return to a more traditional, observant style that aligns more closely with the original Constitutions of the Scottish Rite and with practices maintained throughout the rest of the world. Advocates believe that a slower, more meaningful progression fosters a deeper initiatic journey, strengthens retention, and directly addresses the decline in membership being observed in these Reunion-model Valleys.

Model 2: The European "Observant" Model (Hierarchy and Exclusivity)

This model stands in stark contrast to the American system. In many European and other "observant" jurisdictions, progression is slow, methodical, and hierarchical. It can take many years, often decades, to pass through the degrees.

Crucially, advancement is often not automatic. It is invitational. A Mason does not simply "petition" for the next set of degrees; he must be selected based on his service, learning, and character. In this model, the high degrees are not just lessons to be witnessed; they are ranks to be earned, forming a true hierarchy of esoteric and administrative achievement.

Most of the times a Master Mason will be observed for a long period of time and after years of service as a Master, might receive an official invitation to join the upper degrees of his rite, for the Scottish Rite, after receiving an invitation, the Mason will offten be tasked with writing a piece of architecture on the meaning of the Master Mason degree and present it in front of a panel of Scottish Rite masons often including the head of each bodies, which will judge his work and if found acceptable, the Mason will be accepted into the first body the Green Lodges (4th to 14th) however after completing the 14th degree he will need to be invited to the next body etc.

A perfect contemporary example of this philosophy comes from France. In 2023, the Grande Loge Nationale Française (G∴L∴N∴F∴), seeking to preserve the exclusivity of the Rite, tightened its requirements. To be invited to receive even the 4th degree, a Master Mason must now be a Past Master of his lodge, not merely a Master Mason of three years' standing, a move explicitly made "to make it more difficult". This is the polar opposite of the American "open-door" reunion model.

The 33°, Sovereign Grand Inspector General

On one point, all Scottish Rite systems are in universal agreement: the nature of the 33rd degree.

The 33° is purely honorary and invitational. It is the only degree in the Rite that cannot be petitioned for in EVERY jurisdiction. In fact, it is an iron-clad rule that to ask for the 33rd degree is to be permanently refused it.

It is an honor bestowed by the Supreme Council (the national governing body) upon 32° Masons in recognition of "outstanding and selfless work" for the Rite, for Free-Masonry in general, or for public life. It is not a philosophical culmination—the 32° is the final degree of the Rite's philosophical curriculum, but rather an administrative and honorific capstone, recognizing a lifetime of service.

Ordo Ab Chao

The history of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is the story of its own motto: Ordo Ab Chao.

The Rite began in the fertile chaos of 18th-century French esoteric thought, a "chaotic" and competing collection of Écossais and haut grades. It was forged into order by a small group of French refugees in Charleston, who, having fled the chaos of the Haitian Revolution, consolidated the 25-degree Rite of Perfection into the 33-degree Ordo Ab Chao system in 1801.

This new American-codified order was immediately re-exported to France, where its 1804 political compact with the Grand Orient de France set it on a different evolutionary path from its American counterpart. This 1804 "Great Divergence" created the Rite's two great identities: the "Concordant" Anglo-American model and the "Integrated" Franco-Continental model.

It is precisely this dual nature, this unique adaptability, that fueled its global proliferation. Its present is a study in contrasts, from the efficient, accessible "one-day reunion" of the American system to the slow, exclusive, invitational hierarchy of its European counterpart.

The Scottish Rite is not a single, monolithic entity. It is a French philosophy, organized in America, that has adapted to become the lingua franca of global Free-Masonry.

Article By Antony R.B. Augay P∴M∴