The Rectified Scottish Rite (R∴E∴R∴)

The Rectified Scottish Rite (R∴E∴R∴), known in French as the Rite Écossais Rectifié. Founded in the late 18th century, this Masonic system presents a unique and coherent initiatory framework. The analysis will focus specifically on its upper hierarchical strata: the "Inner Order" (Ordre Intérieur), which is synonymous with the Chevaliers Bienfaisants de la Cité Sainte (C∴B∴C∴S∴), and the highly reserved "Secret Classes" (Classes Secrètes) of Profès (Professed Knight) and Grand Profès (Grand Professed Knight).

The RER is not merely a collection of degrees, but a complete and closed initiatory régime. It was meticulously engineered by its primary architect, Jean-Baptiste Willermoz, as a multi-stage system of progressive revelation. The explicit purpose of this system is to veil, protect, and ultimately transmit a singular, complex esoteric Christian theosophy: the doctrine of the Reintegration of Beings, which Willermoz inherited from his master, Martinez de Pasqually. Within this structure, the Ordre Intérieur (C∴B∴C∴S∴) serves to transform the initiate into a spiritual chevalier (knight) prepared for this Gnosis, while the Classes Secrètes exist as the ultimate repository where this doctrine is explicitly and fully revealed.

It is imperative to begin by clarifying that the Rectified Scottish Rite (R∴E∴R∴) is fundamentally different from the more common Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (A∴A∴S∴R∴). Despite the shared "Scottish" moniker, the two systems are "not even closely related". The term "Scottish" (Ecossism) was a generic 18th-century descriptor for the development of Masonic "Higher Degrees". The RER is a chivalric, eight-degree, and explicitly Christian system. The AASR, by contrast, is a 33-degree philosophical system that, in its modern Anglo-American form, is non-denominational.

Forging the Rectified Scottish Regime

The creation of the RER cannot be understood outside the context of the "crisis" in 18th-century European Freemasonry. This period was marked by the "anarchic and confused" proliferation of Ecossism, or Scottish Higher Degrees, each competing for legitimacy. A dominant force in this landscape was the Rite of Strict Templar Observance (S∴T∴O∴), a German system founded by Baron von Hund that claimed to be the direct, temporal successor of the medieval Knights Templar, ruled by "Unknown Superiors".

Jean-Baptiste Willermoz (1730-1824)

At the center of this esoteric milieu was Jean-Baptiste Willermoz, a prosperous silk merchant from Lyon. Initiated into Freemasonry in 1750, he was a "passionate and erudite" Mason whose temperament was described as both "methodical and mystical". Willermoz was a "seeker of the Masonic secret", collecting rituals for over sixty different Masonic degrees, yet he found their content to be "banal" and "of great inanity," lacking any substantive spiritual doctrine.

The Three Pillars

Willermoz's dissatisfaction led him to synthesize three distinct traditions, which would become the pillars of his new Régime:

• The Structure (The "Body"): The Strict Templar Observance (S∴T∴O∴). Willermoz was an early and high-ranking member of the S.T.O.. This system provided the chivalric, Templar framework, its aristocratic bearing, and its administrative structure of "Masonic provinces". By the 1770s, however, the S.T.O.'s literal claims of Templar succession were collapsing, and the Rite was described as "moribund".
• The "Secret" (The "Soul"): The Ordre des Élus Coëns of Martinez de Pasqually. In 1767, Willermoz was introduced to the "mysterious occultist" Martinez de Pasqually and was initiated into his theurgical order, the Ordre des Chevaliers Maçons Élus Coëns de l'Univers (Order of Knight-Mason Elect Priests of the Universe). Willermoz became convinced that Pasqually's complex theosophy—the "doctrine of Reintegration"—was the "true Masonic secret" he had been searching for his entire life.
• The Philosophy (The "Heart"): The Mystical Christianity of Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin. Willermoz was also a close friend and collaborator of Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, Pasqually's other key disciple. Saint-Martin, who would become known as "The Unknown Philosopher," eschewed the complex and "risky" theurgical operations of the Élus Coëns, favoring instead an "inner spiritual alchemy" and a contemplative "way of the heart".

Lyon (1778) and Wilhelmsbad (1782)

These two conventions were the crucibles in which Willermoz forged his new Régime.

• The Convent des Gaules (Lyon, 1778): Here, Willermoz's "Reform of Lyon" was adopted, formally structuring the Rite. It was at this assembly that the new name for the Inner Order, Chevaliers Bienfaisants de la Cité Sainte (C∴B∴C∴S∴), was proposed by Willermoz and Jean de Turkheim and formally adopted.
• The Convent of Wilhelmsbad (1782): This international gathering, led by Willermoz and Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Lüneburg, formally ratified the Lyon reforms. This event marks the official establishment of the Rectified Scottish Rite.

The act of "Rectification" was Willermoz's masterstroke. It was not a simple reform, but a profound transmutation of the Strict Observance. He "rectified" the S.T.O. by:

• Eliminating its temporal claims: He "eliminated the notion of a temporal Templar power" and its goal of recovering the lost property of the Templars.
• Replacing its central myth: He shifted the Rite's focus "less... on historical Templar succession and more... on symbolic Temple rebuilding".
• Injecting a new doctrine: This "symbolic rebuilding" was re-contextualized as a direct allegory for the central teaching of the Élus Coëns: the "restoration of man's original innocence".

In essence, Willermoz used the convents to save the structure of the S.T.O. by giving it a new and more profound purpose. He built a chivalric, Templar "body" to house the esoteric "soul" of Martinist Gnosis.

The Architecture of the Regime: A Four-Class Initiatory Path

The Rectified Scottish Rite is not an "appendant body" in the modern American sense, where a Master Mason collects various "side degrees." It is a complete, integrated, and progressive Régime. Its structure is designed as a "remontée du porche au sanctuaire" (a rising from the porch to the sanctuary), divided into four distinct classes of instruction. The first two are the "ostensible classes", followed by the chivalric Ordre Intérieur and the deeply esoteric Classe Secrète.

Table 1: Hierarchical Structure of the Rectified Scottish Regime

The "Inner Order": The Chivalric Doctrine of the C∴B∴C∴S∴

The third class of the Régime, the Ordre Intérieur, is the chivalric heart of the system and the component identified by the "C∴B∴C∴S∴" designation. Its full name, Chevalier Bienfaisant de la Cité Sainte (Knight Beneficent of the Holy City), was adopted at the 1778 Convent des Gaules to replace the S.T.O.'s terminology and reflect the new spiritual and benevolent focus of the Rite.

This Ordre Intérieur is not a single degree but a two-stage initiatory path:

• 5° Écuyer Novice (Squire Novice): This is a preparatory and probationary degree, serving as the "portal of the Inner Order". The ritual involves a formal obligation, investiture, and a lecture focused on the symbolic nature of Solomon's Temple. Its explicit purpose is to help the aspirant "draw away from the domination of materialism" and prepare for a higher spiritual understanding.
• 6° Chevalier Bienfaisant de la Cité Sainte (C∴B∴C∴S∴): This is the ultimate degree of the "ostensible" Rite and constitutes the formal "arming" (adoubement) of the Squire into a Knight.

Strict and Unique Requirements for Advancement

A defining feature of the RER is its mechanism for advancement, which is designed to filter candidates and create a spiritual elite. Unlike modern Masonic systems where degrees can be obtained rapidly, the RER's progression is intentionally slow, selective, and arduous.

This system of spiritual elitism is enforced by several unique rules:

• By Invitation Only: Entry into the Inner Order "cannot be solicited". The Rite is "strictly invitational".
• Mandatory Time Gates: A Mason must first serve "a 2-year period of active service" in the 4th degree (Scottish Master of St. Andrew) before he "might be considered" for reception as a Squire Novice.
• A Second Novitiate: Following his reception, a "similar period of service in the novitiate" (a minimum of two years as a Squire Novice) must pass before he "might be considered" for arming as a Knight.
• Threat of Expulsion: The Squire Novice degree is probationary. If this degree is not completed within a specified timeframe, "it may be revoked." Once revoked, the Mason is "permanently ineligible to receive this degree again".

This combination of invitation-only entry, mandatory multi-year service periods, and the threat of permanent ineligibility is unique. It demonstrates that the Ordre Intérieur is not a "side degree" for collectors but a vocation, functioning as a filter to ensure only those with the "highest morale calibre" and a "capacity to appreciate the Rite" proceed to its higher teachings.

Theological Purpose and Duties of the C∴B∴C∴S∴

The raison d'être of the Rite is its "assertive Christian character". It "aims to strengthen and promote a deeper understanding of the members' Christian faith". To this end, a candidate for the Inner Order must make a formal "profession of Christian faith". The Ordre Intérieur introduces the Rite's "mystical Christian cosmology". It transitions the candidate's focus from the moral allegory of rebuilding Solomon's Temple to the mystical allegory of the "Holy City," the New Jerusalem. The duties of this Knight are not temporal or military, but spiritual and charitable. He is "Beneficent" (bénéfaisant), and his primary duties are to "preserve and defend Truth" and be guided by the principles of "Love and Charity".

The "Secret Class" is The Esoteric Core of the Profession

The highest echelon of Willermoz's Régime is the Classe Secrète (Secret Class). This fourth and final class is itself divided into two degrees:

• 7° Profès (Professed Knight)
• 8° Grand Profès (Grand Professed Knight)

This Classe Secrète is explicitly identified as Willermoz's "major innovation". It was designed to be the culmination of his entire system, the "sanctuary" that the preceding six degrees prepare the initiate to enter.

The Doctrinal Repository

The function of this class was to serve as the only part of the Rite where the "mystical teaching inherited from Martinès de Pasqually was transmitted" in an explicit and unadulterated form. The symbolic and moral lessons of the "ostensible" degrees (1-6) act as a veil; the Classe Secrète provides the "elaboration" and the "explicit Martinezist doctrine". The "Instructions" for the Profès and Grand Profès are a direct "synthesis" of Pasqually's doctrine of Reintegration.

Historical Controversy and Secrecy

The Classe Secrète was the centerpiece of Willermoz's "Reform of Lyon", but it was also its most controversial element. The 1782 Convent of Wilhelmsbad, while ratifying the RER as a whole, made one "notable exception": it "did not ratify" and "explicitly abandoned" the Classe Secrète of Profès and Grand Profès.

The reason for this rejection was that their "Martinezian mysticism" and "mystical content" were deemed "too remote from the Johannism prevalent in the North" of Europe. This created a major schism from the Régime's inception. The "official" Rite, as ratified internationally, was effectively decapitated, stopping at the 6th degree (C∴B∴C∴S∴). This forced the Classe Secrète—which contained the entire point of Willermoz's system—"underground," making it even more secret than originally intended. This explains its "problematic" history and why, even today, it is "not practiced in all structures" and remains "reserved for a few initiates". It exists as a "mysterious" order within the Rite itself.

Reconciling Doctrine vs. Theurgy

A critical distinction must be made regarding the content of this secret class. Some sources state it incorporates "Cohen magical rites". However, more specialized analyses clarify that Willermoz discarded the "theurgical practices" of the Élus Coëns.

Willermoz's "major innovation" was precisely this separation of Pasqually's philosophy from his practice. He sought to preserve the doctrine (the Gnosis of Reintegration) while removing the method (the complex and, in his view, dangerous angelic evocations). The RER's method is one of "inner work," "mystical Christianity," and "chivalry", not theurgy.

The Classe Secrète thus transmits the explicit theosophy of Pasqually. It teaches the doctrine of Reintegration, but "the modus operandi differs" from that of the Élus Coëns. The Grands Profès are taught the full doctrine, including, in a "covert" manner, the historical context of the original theurgical practices, but not as a ritual practice.

The Philosophical "Secret" of the RER

The "secret" that the RER's structure is designed to protect is the doctrine of the "loss and restoration of mankind's original innocence". This Gnosis is derived directly from Pasqually's magnum opus, the Traité de la Réintégration des êtres (Treatise on the Reintegration of Beings).

The Martinist Cosmology

This doctrine presents a complex esoteric Christian cosmology:

• The Primordial State: Man was not originally created physical. He was an androgynous, "immortal" being created "in the divine image", existing in "direct unity" with God.
• The Fall of Lucifer: A hierarchy of spirits (Lucifer) sought to exercise its own creative power and "fell" into a "prison" of matter.
• Adam's Mission: Man (Adam) was created as a "sublime essence" and sent by God to be the "keeper" of these fallen spirits and to "work towards their reconciliation".
• Man's Fall (The "Loss"): Adam, in turn, "prevaricated" and desired to be a creator himself. He "fell into the very prison he was to contain". This is the "loss of original innocence." In this Fall, man became "physical and mortal", his divine likeness was obscured, and he was "exiled from the East," severed from direct communication with God.

The Path to "Reintegration"

The entire purpose of the RER initiate is "Reintegration"—the "return... to [his] divine source". Willermoz's Régime is best understood as one of three "solutions" to this problem, developed by Pasqually's chief disciples.

Table 2: The Three Branches of the 18th-Century Martinist Tradition

The RER's specific solution is fully Christianized. It teaches that man cannot achieve this restoration on his own; he requires "mediation from the 'divine Redeemer'" whom the Élus Coëns teachings identify as "The Repairer". The path is one of "initiation, inner work, and ultimately, divine grace".

The Singularity of the Rectified Scottish Rite

The RER occupies a "singular place" in the Masonic universe. Its unique structure, requirements, and doctrine set it apart from all other Rites. The most common confusion arises from its name, which it shares with the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (A∴A∴S∴R∴).

RER vs. Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (A∴A∴S∴R∴)

As established, the term "Scottish" (Ecossais) was a generic 18th-century term for "Higher Degrees". The RER and AASR are "different organizations with different roots". The RER is a rectification of the Strict Observance, infused with Martinism. The AASR is a systematization of the 25-degree Rite of Perfection, which has different philosophical origins.

This fundamental difference manifests in four key areas:

• Structure: The RER is a closed, 8-degree Régime. The AASR is an open, 33-degree "appendant body," where the 4th through 33rd degrees are "side" degrees of instruction, and the 33rd is an honorific.
• Religious Exclusivity: This is the RER's most defining feature. It is "explicitly Christian" and mandates that all members "profess the Christian faith". The AASR (in its Anglo-American form) is non-denominational, requiring only a belief in a "Supreme Being," and often forbids discussion of "sectarian" religion.
• Doctrinal Focus: The RER is a doctrinal system. It is designed to transmit one specific theosophy (Reintegration). The AASR is a philosophical system, a "school with progressive degrees" offering a "large collection" of ethical and moral lessons, but not a single, unified Gnosis.
• Aesthetic: The RER's regalia are intentionally "very sober," reflecting "interior elevation and moral purification". This contrasts with the often "opulent or varied" regalia of other Rites.

Comparative Analysis: Rectified Scottish Rite (R∴E∴R∴) vs. Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite (A∴A∴S∴R∴)

The Enduring Legacy of the Régime

The Rectified Scottish Rite, which holds the distinction of being the "oldest continuously extant chivalric Masonic Order", stands as a masterpiece of 18th-century esoteric synthesis. Jean-Baptiste Willermoz successfully navigated the "anarchic" state of French Masonry to create a stable, coherent, and insulated Régime for the preservation of a doctrine he believed to be the "true Masonic secret".

The system's genius lies in its dual function, which is perfectly mapped to its hierarchical structure:

• The Ordre Intérieur (C∴B∴C∴S∴) functions as the vehicle for transformation. It takes a symbolic Master Mason and, through a long, probationary, and invitational-only process, transforms him into a practical, "beneficent" Christian Knight. He is purified, educated in the Rite's mystical cosmology, and prepared for higher knowledge.
• The Classe Secrète (Profès/Grand Profès) functions as the vehicle for revelation. It is the "sanctuary" where the intellectual and spiritual key to the entire system—the explicit Martinezist doctrine of the Reintegration of Beings—is finally transmitted.

This dual structure of an "ostensible" chivalric Order and a "secret" doctrinal Class allowed the Régime to operate simultaneously on two levels. It could be a public-facing Christian, chivalric, and benevolent society (the C∴B∴C∴S∴), while simultaneously existing as a private, highly-exclusive initiatory path for the transmission of a complex Gnosis. This very duality, which led to its "problematic" history and the rejection of its highest class at Wilhelmsbad, is also the precise mechanism that has ensured its survival as one of the most unique and doctrinally-focused systems in Western Esotericism.

Article By Antony R.B. Augay P∴M∴