Quali sono le origini del Rito Scozzese?

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite developed from the Rite of Perfection, a twenty-five degree system created by the Council of Emperors of the East and West, which was organized at Paris in 1758 1. Despite the name, the system did not originate in Scotland 1. Arthur Edward Waite notes that while some have suggested the Rite derived from the Chapter of Clermont, no supporting evidence exists for this link 2.

In 1761, the Council granted a patent to Stephen Morin to spread the Rite in the Western Hemisphere 1. Morin traveled to Santo Domingo and appointed Inspectors across the West Indies and North America to disseminate the system 1. One such appointee, Moses M. Hayes, conferred the degrees on Isaac Da Costa, who introduced the Rite to South Carolina in 1783 by establishing a Grand Lodge of Perfection in Charleston 1.

Up to 1801, only the original twenty-five degrees of the Rite of Perfection were officially recognized 1. In May 1801, John Mitchell and Frederick Dalcho opened a Supreme Council at Charleston 1. With this organization, eight additional continental advanced degrees were incorporated into the system, expanding the Rite to thirty-three degrees and establishing the Thirty-third Degree as its summit 1.