Adonhiram Rite

Development of the Adonhiramite system as a structured Rite is primarily attributed to Louis Guillemain de Saint Victor, who published its first four degrees in 1781 in Recueil Précieux de la Maçonnerie Adonhiramite, followed by the higher degrees in 1785 1. Although Jean-Baptiste Ragon ascribed the Rite's origin to the Baron de Tschoudy, Albert C. Mackey discounts this assertion, noting that Saint Victor either created or substantially modified the system 1. Arthur Edward Waite further observes that Saint Victor collected and edited the grades, though they were likely never actively worked as a functioning system 2.

The Rite formed during an eighteenth-century schism centered on the identity of the Temple architect 1. Rejecting the orthodox Craft legend of Hiram Abif, Adonhiramite Masonry substituted Adoniram—the son of Abda and collector of tribute—as King Solomon's principal architect and the central figure of the Third Degree legend 121. Guillemain introduced the spelling Adonhiram due to an error in Hebrew orthography, a convention subsequent writers maintained despite its inaccuracy 1.

In its complete structure, the Rite comprised twelve degrees: Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, Master Mason, Perfect Master, Elect of Nine, Elect of Perignan, Elect of Fifteen, Minor Architect, Grand Architect or Scottish Fellow Craft, Scottish Master, Knight of the Sword (or Knight of the East or Eagle), and Knight of Rose Croix 1.

The first ten degrees focus on events surrounding the First Temple, the eleventh relates to the construction of the Second Temple, and the twelfth incorporates Christian symbolism 1. Guillemain explicitly designated the Rose Croix as the ultimate degree of his system, though later commentators like Claude-Antoine Thory and Ragon mistakenly added a thirteenth degree, the Noachite 1. All twelve degrees were borrowed from the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite with minor alterations 1.