The structure of Freemasonry is only slightly less complicated than its history. To be admitted a candidate must be: male, of full age (usually 21), of good character, and have a belief in a supreme being. Note that this requirement does not exclude those who believe in multiple gods. Some of the higher York Rite degrees require a belief in Christianity.
Craft Masonry
Sometimes called “Blue Lodge”. This is the basis of Freemasonry. Every Mason belongs to a craft
lodge. The first three degrees – Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master Mason – are conferred
here. A Mason cannot proceed to anything else in Freemasonry until he is a Master Mason. Most
Masons do not go any further.
Click for a list of Craft Lodges in Ontario
Those who do choose to go further have a choice between two routes, Scottish Rite or York Rite. Both names are erroneous: they do not indicate where the rite originated. Both rites vary somewhat depending on the country 1.
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite2, 3<
Scottish Rite appears to have originated in France in the 1750s. The name Scottish may have
some relation to the Stuarts who were in exile in France at the time. The Rite spread to the United
States, then to England and from there to Canada. Scottish Rite bodies were organized in Hamilton
(1868), London (1868), and Toronto (1873). A Supreme Council was established in 1874.
Lodges of Perfection
Only Master Masons may be admitted. The fourth to the fourteenth degrees are conferred.
Click for a list of Lodges in Ontario
Chapters of Rose Croix
The fifteenth to eighteenth degrees are conferred.
Click for a list of Chapters in Ontario
Consistory
The nineteenth to thirty-second degrees are conferred.
Click for a list of Consistories in Ontario
York Rite
Royal Arch (Capitular Masonry)4
Only Master Masons may be admitted. The degrees conferred here are: Mark Master, Most Excellent
Master, and Royal Arch Mason. The local unit is a Chapter. The Grand Chapter (governing body)
is in Hamilton. Under the Grand Chapter are 15 Districts.
Click for a list of Chapters in Ontario
Cryptic Rite
Only Royal Arch Masons may be admitted. The degrees are Royal Master, Select Master, and Super
Excellent Master. The Royal Ark Mariner is a companion degree. These degrees came into Canada
from the USA in 1866 to New Brunswick 5. The Grand Council of Ontario formed on 1871
Aug 8 as an offshoot of the New Brunswick Grand Council. There is a “side” degree, the Order of
the Silver Trowel. The local unit is a Council. The governing body is the Grand Council of
Royal and Select Masters of Ontario 6. It was originally the Grand Council of the
Dominion of Canada but as other provinces set up their own, it became the Grand Council of
Canada, Western Jurisdiction, then finally as it is today. Note that a number of Councils in
other provinces were once under the jurisdiction of this Grand Council. The Grand Council
ceased to exist from the 1880s to 1922.
The local unit for the Royal Ark Mariners 7 is a Lodge, which is associated with a
Council. At one time there was a Grand Lodge of Royal Arc Mariners, Dominion of Canada, which
was in Toronto in 1875. Later there was a Grand Lodge of Royal Arc Mariners of Ontario which
now appears to be a subset of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of Ontario.
Click for a list of Councils in Ontario
Click for a list of Royal Ark Mariners Lodges in Ontario
Knights Templar (Chivalric Masonry)8
Only Royal Arch Masons may be admitted, ie Cryptic Rite can be bypassed. Some of the ritual is
Christian The orders (degrees) are: Illustrious Order of the Red Cross, Order of Malta, Order of
the Temple – Knights Templar.
The local unit is a Preceptory (in the USA they are called Commanderies). The governing body is
the Sovereign Great Priory of Canada 9 (known originally as the Grand Priory of
Canada and founded in 1868). To be precise, the title is the “Sovereign Great Priory of Canada
of the United Religious and Military Orders of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes, and
Malta, and of the Temple” 10.
There are numerous other York Rite associations, some of which may be found in Canada. There is
a body called the Allied Masonic Degrees of Canada which administers some of these “degrees and
orders”. Although there is brief reference to this group in the 1880s, the current organization
was started in 1963.
Click for a list of Preceptories in Ontario
Red Cross of Constantine11
Formed in 1865, admission is by invitation only. To be considered a man must be a Royal Arch
Mason, a Christian, and believe in the Trinity. There are three orders in the Canadian
jurisdiction:
Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine
Knight of the Holy Sepulchre
Knight of St John the Evangelist
Other jurisdictions have five.
The local unit is a Conclave. The Canadian governing body is the Grand Imperial Conclave of
Canada of the Red Cross of Constantine, which is divided into a number of Divisions. There are
five Divisions covering Ontario, with overlaps into Quebec and Manitoba.
Click for a list of Conclaves in Ontario
Knight of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine12
This may be just an earlier name for the above. It had a lodge, the Hold Hand Lodge, in
Toronto in 1875.
References:
(1) www.masonicdictionary.com and www.ontariodistrictmasons.com/BeyondMM.htm will help with
terminology
(2) www.scottishritecanada.ca/
(3) Stevens p43
(4) www.royalarchmasons.on.ca/
(5) An 1888 history of the Cryptic Rite by John Ross Robertson is online at
https://archive.org/details/cihm_09313
(6) http://www.grand-council-rsm-on.ca/
(7) http://www.masonicpaedia.org/showarticle.asp?id=99
(8) www.knightstemplar.ca/
(9) http://www.knightstemplar.ca/
(10) http://www.masonicdictionary.com/ktemplar.html
(11) Stevens p80
(12) http://www.redcrossofconstantine.ca/
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