Originally printed by Albert Pike in 1879, this enlarged edition includes a variety of important early rituals. In 1789 the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania chartered a lodge in Port-au-Prince, which introduced “Ancient York” Masonry to Saint-Domingue.

In 1855 the Scottish Rite’s “Mother Supreme Council of the World” at Charleston, S.C., appointed a committee of five persons to review and standardize its initiation ceremonies and rituals. Only one person completed the task, 46-year-old Albert Pike who would ultimately become the most influential Scottish Rite Mason in history.

The disappearance and presumed murder of William Morgan in 1826, by Masons, set off an intense anti-Masonic period which lasted until ca. 1842. The fraternity, which was once called the “handmaid of religion,” was denounced as an institution of the devil.

Although not widely used in the United States, the Scottish Rite (the largest Masonic system in the world) has a unique type of ritual which is used in more countries than any other.

LES PLUS SECRETS MYSTÈRES des Hauts Grades de la Maçonnerie Dévoilés (The Most Secret Mysteries of the High Degrees of Masonry Unveiled), edited by M. de Bérage, was an exposé published in 1766 and was the first printed book to give the rituals of the hauts grades (high degrees) of Masonry.

The study of the development of the ‘Higher Degrees’ after 1730 has, for the past century, failed to produce new insights. Previous research has been geographically narrow or limited to one degree or order and thus failed to offer new insights. The authors decided to take a holistic approach, and so geographically covered England, Ireland, Scotland, and of course France, along with Germany and the Netherlands. The study adopted a forensic approach to the available evidence by undertaking detailed reading of the documents found. The discoveries exceeded expectations and the book details their ‘archaeological finds’ – and offers a novel perspective on the development of the Higher Degrees during the eighteenth century.

Étienne Morin: From the French Rite to the Scottish Rite presents a fresh perspective on the ancestor of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the Order of the Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret from the perspective of the founder of the system himself.

Many have heard of the Thirty-third Degree and the Scottish Rite, but lesser known is that it sprung from an equally important Masonic system. Created by the Frenchman Stephen Morin in the 1760s, the 25-degree system known as the “Order of the Royal Secret” used many of the most important Masonic degrees of the time. With its genesis in the French Caribbean, by 1764 these “high degrees” were established in New Orleans, and by 1767 they were brought to Albany, New York. Ultimately, its rituals were absorbed into the Scottish Rite at its creation in 1801. This original work, copied from a rare manuscript, provides the complete original system, from 4° Secret Master, to 25° Prince of the Royal Secret. Also included are the detached degrees of Select Master of 27°, Knight of the Royal Arch, and Grand Master Ecose, which appeared at the back of the original manuscript.

This book, focused on the French Rite, covers the founding principles of the Enlightenment and their influence on the birth of modern Freemasonry as we know it today. The authors revisit the fundamental values of the Enlightenment, from a rational approach to religious tolerance and cosmopolitanism. The French Rite is the direct heir of the Grand Lodge of England founded in 1717/1721. The philosophical, religious, and political culture of the Enlightenment permeates the French Rite today.

The Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in 33 degrees is the most widespread system of masonic higher degrees worldwide. It was developed in the 18th century, drawing on the most diverse well springs of esoteric traditions and philosophical currents. It is represented wherever Freemasonry is active.

Brethren: Behold Your Supreme Council is a reference volume about the Leadership of the Scottish Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States from its inception on May 31, 1801, to present time. During these 222 years, 565 Deputies and Sovereign Grand Inspectors General passed the torch of the “sacred fire” through nine generations.

Jewel P. Lightfoot. Former Attorney General of the State of Texas. Past Grand Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas. From humble beginnings in rural Arkansas, he worked to become an educated man who excelled in law and Freemasonry. He was a gentleman of his time, well-known as a scholar, public speaker, and Masonic philosopher.

This book contains Brother Lightfoot’s recently discovered speeches, essays, and personal notes. In these pages, he walks us through a journey of Masonic symbolism and customs originating in ancient Brahman practices, which were transmitted through the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Hebrews, and into Renaissance Europe.

There is a need for a third edition of Essai sur les mystères. The first English translation (W.H. Reece, 1862) is long out of print and contains errors that may hinder readers’ comprehension of the anonymous 1771 letter it contains. This version, discovered in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, has edits made to the French by an unknown editor in 1776, potentially making it more faithful to the original. The revisions range from minor corrections to significant changes, such as altering the recipient’s gender. However, the identity of the author and recipient may not be all that germane to the timeless message here: Freemasonry’s role as a society of symbolic philosophers who cultivate their minds, practice virtues, and engage in charity. Additionally, this work compares Freemasonry and ancient mystery groups, underscoring the importance of brotherhood, morality, and goodwill, and also addresses the deceitful attacks Masons have endured for centuries.

Female Emancipation and Masonic Membership: An Essential Combination is a collection of essays on Freemasonry and gender that promotes a transatlantic discussion of the study of the history of women and Freemasonry and their contribution in different countries such as Cuba, Chile, France, Mexico, Spain, and the United States.

The Grand Crosses of the Court of Honour: Concise Scottish Rite Biographical Dictionary is a commemorative reference volume that provides a brief description about each Scottish Rite Brother awarded the highest honor bestowed by the Supreme Council, 33°.

Freemasonry is one of the few organizations whose teaching method is still based on symbols. It presents these symbols by inserting them into legends that are told to its members in initiation ceremonies. But its history itself has also given rise to a whole mythology. Freemasons are the heirs of the builders of cathedrals. They were protected by the Stuart kings in Scotland from the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century, and the Stuarts were their secret Grand Masters. Freemasonry preserves the teachings of a primitive Judeo-Christian gnosis. In order to better understand these legends and myths and their significance, Pierre Mollier has studied their origins and attempted to find their sources.

The papers presented here represent over twenty-five years of publications by S. Brent Morris. They explore his many questions about Freemasonry, usually dealing with origins of the Craft.

by Emanuela Locci Purchase Questo volume è la traduzione italiana di un libro precedente nato con l’intento di colmare una lacuna bibliografica, infatti, fino alla sua pubblicazione non era presente nella letteratura massonica un libro che trattasse in maniera organica la storia della massoneria in Italia, scritto in inglese. Questo volume si proponeva di eliminare… Continue reading Storia del Grande Oriente d’Italia (Italian Edition)

by John Slifko Purchase Plato, Aristotle, Baron Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau argued that you could never have a democracy bigger than the geographic size, intimate oral habits, and embodied rituals of face-to-face communication, and walking distance of a Greek city-state, French town, or small Swiss city. However, in the years surrounding the 1776 American… Continue reading Worlds of Print: The Moral Imagination of an Informed Citizenry, 1734 to 1839