Introduction to the Higher Degrees of Freemasonry
by Jacques Huyghebaert

INTRODUCTION

In England, the very name of "Higher Degrees" usually causes strong protest and resentment from supporters of Craft or "Blue" Lodges. The Constitution of the United Grand Lodge of England declares indeed that "Pure and Ancient Masonry consists of three degrees, and no more, viz, those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellowcraft, and the Master Mason, including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch." Moreover, many English Brethren consider the Higher Degrees to be but "pure fabrications introduced by those, on the European Continent, to whom the operative tradition was not sufficient ..." [1] The origin of those higher degrees has been and is still the subject of extensive historical research and highly emotional controversies among Masons.

It is however an indisputable fact that those "Higher Degrees", also called "Additional" or "Side" degrees, have played a considerable role in European Freemasonry from the 1750's onwards. Scottish Rite Masonry, which today represents the most developed and widespread system of "Higher Degrees" in the world, counts over six hundred thousand members in the United States only. In Europe and in Latin America these higher degrees, ranking from the 4th to the 33rd degree, are also very popular and are considered as the natural itinerary for all those who are interested in perfecting their Masonic education.

In an official publication issued in 1988, under authority of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Washington, D.C., Bro. Rex R. Hutchinson writes that: [2]

" Modern speculative Freemasonry did not spring full blown upon the historical stage at a London pub or tavern meeting in 1717."  "The operative Masons had already contributed a long legacy of symbolism and tradition that continues to enrich the Craft to this day."

"Also there are persistent references in Masonic ritual, especially in the Higher Degrees, to relationships with Rosicrucians, Illuminati, Gnostics, Alchemists, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans,  Christians, Essenes, Persians, Hindus and Kabbalists."

"Whether these presumed relations demonstrate a continuous heritage, of which modern Freemasonry is the linear successor, or simply emulation is the central question of Masonic historical research."

"Whatever the truth of history, the contributions to the symbolism of Freemasonry by the religions, philosophies, mythologies and occult mysteries of the past lie upon its surface for all to see."

"Rather than being a secret society, Freemasonry is a revealer of secrets.  The great truths of ancient man were, in their time, also great secrets and few were admitted into the sanctuaries where these truths were taught."

"Today Freemasonry teaches these truths to all worthy men who ask to learn them."

"Many of these truths are taught in the three degrees of the Craft Lodge; but many more are taught in the Higher Degrees of various Rites which have sprung up in the course of Masonic History."

THE SCOTTISH RITE

What is the Scottish Rite?

Henry C. Clausen, Past Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, 33rd and last degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Mother Supreme Council of the World, as well as Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California, describes the Scottish Rite as follows: [3]

"Historically, the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry evolved from the Rite of Perfection more than 200 years ago on the continent of Europe under the Constitutions of 1762."

"Later the Grand Constitutions of 1786 were enacted and became the creative and derivative laws for all descendant Supreme Councils of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite."

"The first Supreme Council was organized at Charleston S.C., in 1801, as the Mother Supreme Council of the World, and hence all regular and recognized Supreme Councils throughout the world must trace their pedigree to it."

"But the actual roots of the Scottish Rite go far deeper. Tracing them is a romantic and exciting quest for adventure in the realm of the mind and the spirit. It is a superb story of success - more intriguing than the storied search for the Holy Grail and more rewarding than a successful probe for the philosopher's stone."

"Our teachings and symbols preceded our formal organizations by thousands of years. They go deep into ancient ages. The signs, symbols and inscriptions come from across long, drifting centuries and will be found in the tombs and temples of India to those of Nubia, through the Valley of the Nile in Egypt down to its Delta, as well as in what was then known as Chaldea, Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome and even in Mexico and Yucatan."

"The Scottish Rite, therefore, is a treasure house in which there is stored the ageless essence of immutable laws, the accumulation of thousands of years of human experience."

"We learn our mission in a system of progressive degrees of instruction. We teach our members the highest ethics, the wise expositions of philosophy and religion, the blessings of charity. Our code of conduct stems from the precepts of Chivalry, the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule. We reveal truly the wisdom of the Lesser and Greater Mysteries and their symbols of words and phrases long considered lost. These were the truths that Plato, Pythagoras, Socrates, Homer and other intellects of the ages held in high esteem, that have reappeared in later religions, and that never were disclosed until after timely preparation of selected and trusted Initiates."

"Our degrees represent the study of many men during many years and at a heavy cost, the culling of hundreds of volumes for effective portrayals and illustrations and more labor than the accumulated endeavors of a lifetime engaged in efforts to attain eminence or riches.

"Our members therefore receive a gift of the greatest value. They gain a comprehensive knowledge of our heritage of history, philosophy, religion, morality, freedom and toleration, and of their relationship to their Creator, their country, their family and themselves.

"These may well lead to that understanding of identity, clarity of mind and energy of will that propel toward personal success in life."

"We carry our mission in a series of spiritual, charitable and moral programs. We make living, breathing, vital parts of our activities the recovery and maintenance of moral standards and spiritual values, the pride of patriotism and love of flag and country, the dispensing of a charity without regard to race, color, or creed."

"We stand for positive programs but fight with moral courage and enthusiasm every force or power that would seek to destroy freedom, including spiritual despotism and political tyranny. We believe and teach that sovereignty of the state resides in control by the people themselves and not in some self-appointed dictator or despotic totalitarian. We therefore advocate complete separation of church and state, absolute freedom and protection of religion, press and assembly, and the dignity of every individual. Those we consider vital for the ultimate liberties and independence of our people."

CHEVALIER RAMSAY

Cfr. "Chevalier Ramsay, a new appreciation", by Cyril N. Batham, Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, 1967, Volume 81, pp. 280-315. "Little scientific evidence is available about the beginnings of Freemasonry in France and French Masonic historians vary greatly in their
accounts."

"Masonic tradition reports that Freemasonry had been in existence in France long time before the arrival in France of contingents of the defeated Jacobite army in 1688."

"Indeed, according to Chevalier Ramsay, Freemasonry had managed to "preserve its splendor among those Scotsmen to whom the Kings of France confided during many centuries the safeguard of their Royal persons". "The first authoritatively documented foundation of a Lodge in Paris however dates only from 1725 [4]. One of the pioneers in this development was Charles Radclyffe, a Stuart exile, who later assumed the title of Earl of Derwentwater and was Grand Master in Paris from 1736 to 1738." [5] "On 17th March 1730, the London Evening Post announced that Chevalier Ramsay had been made a Mason by the Duke of Richmond at the Horn Lodge in westminster." [6] [7]

"Chevalier Ramsay, who had been staying in England since 1729, had been admitted previously to the Royal Society and to the Gentlemen's Society of Spalding. It should also be recorded that he was the first Catholic since the Reformation to receive the degree of Civil Law at Oxford University." 

"After his return to France, we note both Ramsay and Radclyffe as members of the Grand Master's [St.Thomas] Lodge."

"It is obvious that Chevalier Ramsay must have derived great satisfaction from Masonry and devoted himself to the Craft with zeal and enthusiasm, for we soon hear of him as Grand Orator of the Order." [8]

"It is widely believed that Ramsay prepared his famous oration for delivery at the Grand Lodge meeting in Paris on 21st March 1737."

"From 1738 onwards, it seems that reprobation of the Order by Prime Minister Cardinal Fleury as well as a failing health may have caused a falling off in Chevalier Ramsay's Masonic activities." [9]

RAMSAY'S ORATION

In his oration, Ramsay referred to Masonry as having been founded in remote antiquity, but said that it was renewed in the Holy Land by the Crusaders who had united in Palestine for a noble purpose and to whom he referred to as our Ancestors.

In saying this, unless of course we believe the full content of his oration to be pure truth, which Masonic scholars are not inclined to do, by lack of sufficient historical evidence, we can only speculate that Ramsay, who had been granted a Certificate of Nobility and created Knight and Baronet by King James, the Old Pretender, may perhaps have been inspired by the references made to medieval orders when he was dubbed a Knight of St. Lazarus.

The order, it should be stressed, into which he was admitted was not a Masonic Order, but a very real and prestigious Order of Nobility, founded about 1220 in Jerusalem by the Crusaders. Its full name was " the Military Order of the Hospitallers of Saint-Lazarus of Jerusalem" [10] In addition, we can assume that his interest in the Crusades may have been aroused by his professional connections with the Turenne family, who was descended from the Divinefrey of Bouillon, the leader of the first Crusade, and who owned the old ancestral castle in the Ardennes. [11]

It could also have been that he was anxious to make Freemasonry attractive to the many members of the nobility who had joined Masonry or that he had been given some directions as to the content of this particular address by his friend and Brother Charles Radclyffe, who was Grand Master at the time.

Somewhat similar considerations may have prompted him to refer to Kilwinning, whose Masonic history was no doubt well known to him through his association with that town.

An anonymous "Letter from the Grand Mistress" which had been published in 1724 stated indeed that : "The famous old Scottish Lodge of Kilwinning, of which all the Kings of Scotland have been, from time to time, Grand Masters without interruption, down from the days of Fergus, who reigned there more than two thousand years ago, long before the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, or the Knights of Malta, to which two Lodges I must nevertheless, allow the honor of having adorned the ancient Jewish and Pagan Masonry with many religious and Christian rules ... " 

Nowhere however in his speech did Ramsay refer or suggest the actual creation of any additional degrees. We also have no trace that Ramsay himself was ever made a member of any Higher Degree Masonic Body.  Prior to his Oration, there is little trace of what is known as "Scots Masonry", but it appears in France soon afterwards and spreads rapidly.  By coupling the Crusades and Masonry in Scotland in his Grand Lodge Oration, Chevalier Ramsay gave authority and honorability to the nascent Higher Degrees. 

Indeed, since these rites could not be put forward as modern inventions, respectable ancestry had to be found for them in order to make them acceptable.

Cotland was the obvious choice. It was remote enough, it had a long political alliance with France and many of its countrymen were living in France, either by choice or as Stuart exiles. Ramsay, a Scot, a Grand Lodge Officer and a prominent Freemason at that time, was on hand and had made a speech providing Masonry with an ancient, noble and romantic history and he had referred to its existence from prior to 1286. Nothing could have been better.

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