Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-19


from the Royal Arch degree to that of
knight Templar. The thirtytwo degrees
comprise what is known as the Ancient
Accepted Scottish Rite Masonry" There is
a final degree called the ''thirty-third" but
this is not necessary for admission into the
fraternity of Mystic Shriners. Up to the
establishing of the Scottish Rite Masonry
the american system consisted of Sym
Masonry. in four degrees, and Templar Ma
sonry. in three degrees, or a total of ten
degrees.
There is evidence to show that the Scot
fish Rite. or High Grade Masonry" as 1t
is titled. was introduced in New York in
1861. and in Pennsylvania lodges as early
as March. 1871. That it had not a firm
foundation till some years later is shown by
the following from Mackey. who. in his his
tory Of Free Masonry. says: although one
of the youngest of the Masonic rites. hav
ing been established not earlier than 1901, it
is at this day the most popular and most
extensively diffused Supreme councils. or
governing bodies, Of the rite are to be
found in almost every civilized country of
the world. and in many of them it is the
only Masonic obedience"
Scottish Rite.
The Scottish Rite Masons are divided
into two jurisdictions in the United States,
the northern and the southern All states
north Of Maryland and east of the Ohio.
numbering fifteen. are In the northern juris
diction, and the remainder OF the United
States is in the southern Jurisdiction. The
chief governing body is the supreme coun-
eli in each jurisdiction, consisting of the
Thirty-Third Degree MaSons. In the north
ern Jurisdiction this supreme council con-
Sists of sixty-siX members with term of
three years. In the southern jurisdiction
the supreme council elects for life, and con-
sists of thirty-three members. Belonging
tc both bodies are over 600 honorary
Thirty-Thirds. who for valuable services
or long time of service in high capacity are
thus rewarded. The Scottish Rite MasouS,
like all the rest. have had their ups and
downs. with serious difficulties facing them
at times. but in 1867 all the contendng
forces joined hands to make the highest
degrees Of Masonry a grand success, and
have succeeded in establishing I'M
broken peace.
The Shrine's American Start.
The organization of the Ancient Arabic
Order of Mobiles of the Mystic Shrine in the
United States is of recent date. In 1870 Will
liam ]. Florence. the actor. now dead, WIS.,
tied many foreign cities. where as a Mason
he attended sittings OF emi-Masonic fra
ternities, and finally, in Algiers, he visited
the Shrine of the Mogribins," where he
found a large membership of Arabs. bank
ers merchants, learned Mohammedans and
others. ''all passonately fond of perpetu-
ating ancient customs which increase so
cial pleasures" Mr.. Florence begged the
France. which he had visited. And when
he came back to the United States suggest
ed to number of his pleasure-loving
friends that some such organization in this
others was DIR. Walter NJ Fleming, who had
already received detached and mutilated
sections Of TRANSACTIONS of the ritual of the
Arabic order. This mutilated ritual had
been brought to London by Rick Allah Has
soon Effendi. and a translation from
the original Arabic found In the archives of
the order at Aleppo. When Placed in the
hands of DIR. Fleming he was made n men,
Der and given jurisdiction over the order
for America. In Arabia this ritual is known
as the pillar Of society,"" and called the
'.unwritten law" in distinction from the
Koran. or written law"
DIR. Fleming, Mr.. Florence and Professor
Albert L. Rawson set to work on ritual
for the United States. and on June 16 1871.
at Masonic Hall. No. ia East 18th street,
New York city. Messrs. Fleming and For
ence conferred on twelve thrty-second de-
gree Scottish Rite Masons the rites of the
new order and established Mecca" the
mother temple in the United States.
Eminent Promoters Abroad.
Among the many promoters of the Mys-
tic Shrine in early days in Europe were
Adam Weishaupt. the founder of the IL
luminati in Bavaria in 1916; Frederick the
Great. Mirabeau, Goethe. Spinoza, Kant.
Lord Bacon. Cavour. Mazzini, Garibaldi,
Victor Emmanuel and other well-known
Free Masons. Abroad the order has long
been carried within the Masonic body, but
the American order of Masonry has jeal-
ously guarded the body from any encroach-
ments. so that the Mystic Shriners, though
Masons to a man. remain without the pale
of allied Masonic bodies, within the strict
construction of the law.
The Crescent and -ez.
The jewe! Of the order of Mystic Shrin-
ers is a crescent generally made of the
claws of the Bengal tiger. united at the
base with small gold setting. The Sphinx
Is engraved on one side and pyramid urn
and star on the other. The emblem may also
bear the date of the owners initiation into
the order and an Arabic motto. The creS-
cent Is usually suspended from a Scimitar
and holds a star pendent between its droop-
ig horns. The crescent has been a religious
countries Is a political emblem. The ancient
Greek used the crescent as an emblem of
the universal mother of all living things.
The Shrine, for eSoteric reasons, employs
the crescent with horns pointing downward:
THE setting moon of the old faith at the
moment Of the rising sun Of the faith in the
brotherhood Of all mankind"
The distinctive head covering of the
Shriners Is the fez. Its history Is ancient.
When pilgrimages to Mecca were interrupt
ed by the Crusades, about A. D. $50, the
Mohanmedans west OF the Nile journeyed
to Fee. or "Fas," in Morocco, as to a holy
of the city was head covering called tar
boosh," row known as the fez. which was
dyed scarlet for the students in great
school in that city. In that way it became