MEMPHIS MISRAIM
THE NETHERLANDS
Esoteric Freemasonry
For Women and Men
1784
Count Cagliostro starts his rite
1788
Rite of Misraim
1815
Rite of Memphis
1881
The rites join together
Count Cagliostro
Count Alessandro di Cagliostro saw no separation between Freemasonry, Hermeticism and Alchemy. He viewed these three entities as a pathway to divinity and to perfection of the soul. In his mind Freemasonry, Hermeticism and Alchemy coexisted and without one the other could not exist.
For some, Cagliostro was an egotistic charlatan and for others he was a mysterious alchemist, healer and theurgist. Anyone who reads a translation of the rituals of his Egyptian Freemasonry will discover what kind of man he was for themselves.
The aim of Cagliostro’s “Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry” was the moral and spiritual regeneration of mankind; the restoration of the state of innocence which mankind was deprived of as a consequence of the Fall.
Between 1778 and 1780, Cagliostro stayed in Holland where he organized gatherings with clairvoyants. A lodge at The Hague which belonged to the “Strict Observance” is said to have worked a mixed Rite that was written by him. This Rite would eventually develop in the later “Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry”.
Cagliostro was employed as the physician and alchemist of the Bishop of Strasburg where he was reputed to have healed over 15,000 people during the 1780´s. Aside from being an accomplished healer he was also known for his alchemical operations
Even if he started out as a charlatan, his transformation into a kind and compassionate healer is an indication of the transformative power of the practices in which he was involved.
The Rite of Misraim
The Rite of Misraim was established in Venice in 1788 by a group of Socinians to whom Cagliostro had given a patent for their constitution. It is asserted that the Rite was founded by Charles Lechangeur, Francois Joly and the Michel Bedarride. Misraim is the Hebrew word for Egypt and it is a reminder of the Egyptian Rite which gave their obediential personality.
The Rite spread quickly to Milan, Genoa and Naples. Michel Bedarride had received the Grand Mastery (ultimate powers) in 1810, in Naples, from Br∴ DeLasalle and it was then that the Bedarride brothers also introduce the Rite of Misraim to France.
During the White Terror, a period during the French Revolution in 1795 when a wave of violent attacks swept across France, the Rite was considered a social and political threat to the French Government and it was targetted by the political powers in place. The Rite of Misraim has always wanted to perpetuate, in parallel to its spiritual dimension, a Tradition of adherence to the principles of tolerance and the freedom of thought.
The Rite of Misraim has 90 degrees.
The Rite of Memphis
Most of the members who accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte during the Egyptian campaign were Masons belonging to the initiatic Rites: Philaletes, African Brothers, the Primitive Rite, and most were Masons of the Grand Orient of France.
In Cairo they discovered a Gnostic-Hermetic survival and in Lebanon they met the Druse-Masonry which dates back to operative Masonry. This allowed all these Brothers who were battling against the English, to be able to open a new path that owed nothing to the Grand Lodge of England.
This new Masonic current developed in Montauban, France, in 1815, under the direction of Samuel Honis and Marconis de Negre. As the Rite of Misraim regrouped the Jacobites who were nostalgic of the Republic and the Carbonari, the Rite of Memphis regrouped the Bonapartists.
In 1816 the Rite of Misraim and the Rite of Memphis had the same Grand-Master which became a prelude to their future merger.
The Rite of Memphis has 95 degrees.
“In Cairo they discovered a Gnostic-Hermetic survival and in Lebanon they met the Druse-Masonry which dates back to operative Masonry.”
The Rite of Memphis-Misraim
Until 1881, the two Rites existed in parallel even though encounters between the two Rites were made. Garibaldi, the Father of the Italian independence, was appointed as Grand Master of each of these two ways and in their merging was seen the birth of a new Rite with a common scale of 95 degrees.
The Egyptian Rites gathered together Masons who were interested in Hermeticism, Kabbalah, Alchemy, Occultism, and Gnosticism.
Many famous occultists and mystics have been found among its members such as John Yarker, Franz Hartmann, Papus, Arthuro Reghini, Arnold Krumm Heller, Theodor Reuss, Jean Bricaud, Charles Detre, Constant Chevillon, Charles-Henri Dupont, Harvey Spencer Lewis, Victor Blanchard, Jean Mallinger and Robert Ambelain.
In France and Belgium, it is under the name of the “Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraim” that the union of Rites allows the development of Lodges.
In Italy, this same union sees the birth of the “Oriental Rite, Ancient and Primitive of Memphis and Mizraim”.
Today there are notable differences between these two Rites, as much in their own history, as to those encounters with other traditions and the personalities of those who led them.
Some Masons of these Two Rites have not accepted the merger and there are still today Lodges and structures recognizing only one of the two.
Question
What sets the Egyptian Rites apart?
Within the framework of Freemasonry, the first step is on the moral refinement of each individual Mason. This concept applies to our profane life but does not strictly relate to the greater lessons of a Mystery School.
The initiations are intended to bring the candidate to full blossoming of their potential offering surprising and invigorating elements within the rituals and atmosphere for Masons already belonging to other Obediences, thus enhancing their Masonic growth.
Members receive education through a combination of live instruction, study materials, suggested readings, and certain simple exercises that compose our inner alchemy. Through this inner alchemy, the practitioner develops a new psychological state that will enable them to perceive the world in a new way.
Within the Egyptian Rites we explore the three noble questions. These questions form the basis of all our inquiries. Our approach to the Craft is distinct, as our Rite views human beings not as inherently flawed and in need of “self-improvement,” but rather as beings on a journey of “self-awakening.”
The essence of who we are is pure and cannot be tainted by any events occurring on the surface layers of consciousness. However, the confused activity on the surface often prevents the pure communication of our original being from emerging undefiled. Our initiatory work and daily practice has the purpose to unveil our true nature to us.
Conflict resolution differs from conflict liberation. While learning to resolve conflicts can be valuable, “self-awakening” ultimately frees us from conflict altogether. If it broke at the roots, why try to solve it at the level of branches? The outer result of our Work is the same but the inner rationale is quite different.
Parable of Zoroaster
Zoroaster asked the royal dignitary: “Do you know the fruit Kikalia, which surpasses all other fruit in taste?” He gave the dignitary a pot filled with earth. “Search, the earth.” Zoroaster said.
The dignitary searched but could not find the fruit. In anger he threw the pot against the wall.
“That’s it!” said Zoroaster. “The pot is useless. But a fruit was put in it; but the gardener let it rot. You are a pot filled with living earth. The seed of the most glorious fruit is put within you; but you if allow it to rot, and if you bear no fruit, it is natural that you will be thrown away just like the clay pot.”