WHAT IS PRINCE HALL SCOTTISH RITE MASONRY
OUR VISION
To edify the principles, foundations, and tenets of what Scottish Rite Masonry is and to guide our Brotherhood’s benevolent and charitable missions with honor, integrity, objectivity, and fiduciary honor.
OUR mission
To INSPIRE our brothers to learn and apply the knowledge of each conferred degree;
To ASPIRE to become better men than we were yesterday;
To PROVIDE charitable opportunities in our communities
WHAT IS PRINCE HALL SCOTTISH RITE MASONRY?
Prince Hall Scottish Rite Masonry comprises Masonic Degrees 4 through 33, separated in four separate bodies or also known as “houses.”
Lodge of Perfection
The degrees of the Lodge of Perfection are better known as the “Ineffable Degrees” of Prince Hall Scottish Rite Masonry because their principal purpose is the investigation and contemplation of the ineffable (unspeakable) name of Deity. We provide a brief statement of the moral teachings found within each degree. The head of this body is named “THRICE POTENT MASTER” and the degrees conferred are:
4° – Secret Master
5° – Perfect Master
6° – Intimate Secretary
7° – Provost and Judge
8° – Intendant of the Building
9° – Elect of the Nine
10° – Elect of the Fifteen
11° – Subline Elect of the Twelve
12° – Grand Master Architect
13° – Royal Arch of Enoch
14° – Grand Elect, Perfect and Subline Mason
Chapter of Rose Croix
The Chapter of Rose Croix attempts to provide the candidate with a deeper understanding of religion, philosophy, ethics and history through a variety of complex “historical degrees”. The intellectual challenges presented in these degrees are numerous, and at times overwhelming and can take years to master. A thorough reading of the chapters related to them in Morals and Dogma and in Legenda and Readings is essential to achieve even a basic comprehension of their true meaning. The head of this body is named “MOST WISE AND PERFECT MASTER” and the degrees conferred are:
15° – Knight of the East or Sword
16° – Prince of Jerusalem
17° – Knight of the East and West
18° – Knight of Rose Croix
Council of Kadosh
The word “Kadosh” is a Hebrew word meaning Holy. The degrees of the Council of Kadosh as chivalric and philosophical, they are also all intensely mystical with respect to the lessons conveyed and symbols employed. The head of this body is named GRAND COMMANDER and the degrees conferred are:
19° – Grand Pontiff
20° – Grand Master of the Symbolic Lodges
21° – Noachite or Prussian Knight
22° – Knight of the Royal Axe or Prince of Libanus
23° – Chief of the Tabernacle
24° – Prince of the Tabernacle
25° – Knight of the Brazen Serpent
26° – Prince of Mercy
27° – Knight Commander of the Temple
28° – Knight of the Sun
29° – Scottish Knight of St. Andrew
30° – Knight Kadosh
Consistory
The Consistory Degrees are very different from each other in form and content. The 31° reveals the dynamic relationship that has existed for centuries between human law as a means of achieving justice, and divine justice as an ideal. The 32° reviews the degrees of the Lodge of Perfection, the Chapter of Rose Croix and the Council of Kadosh. In it we learn the very ancient roots of Masonic Truth – in the East!
31° – Grand Inspector Inquisitor Commander
32° – Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret
The first Scottish Rite organization among African-Americans was the African Grand Council of 1820 in Philadelphia, which was referred to as a Council of Princes of Jerusalem. This Council arose through West Indian migration, for Stephen Morin had propagated the Rite there. The Organization of the King David Supreme Council grew out of the conferring in Philadelphia (1850) of the 33rd Degree by Count DeSaint Laurent (also, Larine) of the Supreme Council of France and the Grand Commander of the Council of Spain on David Leary, the first Black Inspector-General of the Prince Hall Scottish Rite.
33° - Grand Inspectors General (GIG) & Sovereign Grand Inspectors General (SGIG)
The 33° degree is conferred upon those 32° members who have been outstanding in their contributions to Freemasonry, the Scottish Rite, or who have shown in their communities the leadership which marks them as men who exemplify in their daily lives the true meaning of the Brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God. It cannot be sought by application but must be such a man as described above who has been elected by the Deputy of his Orient. He must be at least 33 years of age; have been a 32° for at least 3 years, and be elected at the Annual Session of the United Supreme Council to be a Grand Inspector General of the Thirty-Third and last Degree, and Honorary Member of the Supreme Council. Such election shall be by unanimous vote of the Active Members present taken by ballot.