Rite of Memphis-Misraim
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Among the Masonic Rites, Memphis-Misraim has occupied a particular position since its origin. It is considered to be among the Egyptian rites that drank from the source of the ancient initiatic traditions of the Mediterranean basin: Pythagoreans, Alexandrian hermetic authors, neo-Platonics, the Sabbeans of Harrân, and others. It is said that it was necessary to wait until the 18th century to find any traces in Europe, but evidence seems to show that this is when these rites originated, and with most rites, it therefore has a constructed history. These two would associate and then merge under the influence of General Garibaldi in 1881.
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[edit] The Rite of Misraïm
From as early as 1738, one can find traces of this Rite filled with alchemical, occult and Egyptian references, with a structure of 90 degrees. Joseph Balsamo, called Cagliostro, a key character of his time, gave the Rite the impulse necessary for its development. Very close to the Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of Malta, Manual Pinto de Fonseca, Cagliostro founded the Rite of High Egyptian Masonry in 1784. He received, between 1767 and 1775, from Sir Knight Luigi d’Aquino, the brother of the national Grand Master of Neapolitan Masonry, the Arcana Arcanorum, which are three very high hermetic degrees. In 1788, he introduced them into the Rite of Misraïm and gave a patent to this Rite.
It developed quickly in Milan, Genoa and Naples. In 1803, it was introduced by Joseph Marc and Michel Bédarride. During this period of time, the Rite recruited not only aristocrats but Bonapartists and Republicans, and sometimes even revolutionary Carbonari.
It was forbidden in 1817, following the incident of the Four Sergeants of La Rochelle and the uneasiness caused by the Carbonari. Lodges became meeting-places for opponents to the regime, which led to the decline of the Rite, and around 1890, the last Masons of the Rite regrouped in the only remaining Lodge: Arc-en-Ciel.
[edit] The Rite of Memphis
The Rite of Memphis was constituted by Jacques Etienne Marconis de Nègre in 1838, as a variant of the Rite of Misraïm, combining elements from Templarism and chivalry with Egyptian and alchemical mythology. It had at least two lodges (“Osiris” and “Des Philadelphes”) at Paris, two more (“La Bienveillance” and “De Heliopolis”) in Brussels, and a number of English supporters. The Rite gained a certain success among military Lodges. It took on a political dimension and in 1841 it became dormant, probably because of the repression following the armed uprising of Louis Blanqui’s Société des Saisons in 1839. The Order of Misraim may also have advocated its being banned. With the overthrow of Louis-Philippe in 1848, the Order was revived on March 5, with its most prominent member being Louis Blanc, a socialist member of the provisional government with responsibility for the National Workshops. From April 21 the Conseil Supreme de l’Ordre Maconnique de Memphis flourished until the defeat of the revolution in October, when it was banned in France.
In 1850 Les Sectateurs de Ménès was founded in London which proved popular with refugees fleeing France for London at that time (the fees were less than that of La Tolerance No. 538 rstablished by French refugees in 1847 and warranted by the United Grand Lodge of England. About ten lodges were set up by French refugees, the most important being La Grand Loge des Philadelphes chartered in London on January 31, 1851, which continued to exist until the late 1870's. During this time it had about 100 members, often called Philadelphes. Between 1853 and 1856 other lodges of the Rite of Memphis were established: Gymnosophists; Fraternité des Peuples; Disciples d'Hermès; Conseil des Grands Régulateurs de la Maçonnerie in London and L'Avenir in Birmingham. Further daughter lodges were established in New York, Belgium, Switzerland and Ballarat]], Australia.
In 1856, Benoît Desquesnes, the exilsed secretary of the Société des Ouvriers Typographes de Nord proposed that the higher degrees of the Rite of Memphis were not only superfluous, but undemocratic and inconsistent with the Masonic ideals of equality. Despite the attempts of Jean Philibert Berjeau to dissolve the Philadelphes, they implemented this proposal and elected Edouard Benoît as master. This group became renowned for their involement in revolutionary politics. However the Gymnosophists and the L'Avenir' lodges remained with Berjeau. In 1860 the number of degress was reduced to 33, and by 1866 berjeau dissolved them, most of the Gymnosophists joining the Philadelphes
In Egypt, from 1873, the Rite of Memphis developed quickly, under the direction of Brother Solutore Avventure Zola, Grand Hierophant until the reign of king Farouk. In the United States, Marconis de Nègre implanted the Rite around 1856. There was a noticeable emphatuation, particularly under the Grand Mastery of Brother Seymour in 1861. In Egypt, the Rite developed quickly under the direction of Brother Solutore Avventure Zola, Grand Hierophant from 1873 until the reign of King Farouk. Marconis de Nègre implanted the Rite in America around 1856. This was developed under the energetic Grand Mastery of Harry Seymour in 1861.
[edit] The Rite of Memphis-Misraïm
In 1881, General Garibaldi was preparing to fuse the two Rites, which would be effective as of 1889. From this moment, the Rite of Memphis-Misraïm became implanted on the many different continents of the world.
The Rite of Memphis-Misraïm is an international masonic organisation which operates in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Spain, France, Martinique, Mauritius, New Caledonia, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Uruguay, USA and Venezuela.
[edit] International Grand Masters since 1881
- 1881 Giuseppe Garibaldi
- 1882 Giambattista Pessina
- 1900 Francesco Degli Oddi
- 1902 John Yarker
- 1913 Theodor Reuss
- 1924 Jean Bricaud
- 1934 Constant Chevillon, executed by Gestapo 1944
- 1945 Henri Charles Dupont
- 1960 Robert Amberlain
- 1985 Gerard Kloppel
- 1998 Georges Claude Vielledent
- 2003 Claude Tripet
- 2004 Alain Dumaine
[edit] References
Andrew Prescott, The Cause of Humanity: Charles Bradlaugh and Freemasonry
Boris Nicolaevsky, “Secret Societies and the First International,” in The Revolutionary Inernationals, 1864-1943, ed. Milored M. Drachkovitch (Stanford, 1966), 36-56.
