The Ancient and Primitive Rite, also called the Order of the Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Mizraim, is a Masonic Rite first popularized by John Yarker. It has been considered irregular by Masonic organisations such as the United Grand Lodge of England since at least 1860.Howe, Ellic. Fringe Freemasonry in England 1870–75. Originally published in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum 85 (1972). "In 1869 almost ten years had passed since Grand Lodge issued its warning that the Rite of Memphis was irregular."
History John Yarker's Ancient and Primitive Rite grew out of the Rite of Memphis-Misraim, which itself was a combination, formed in 1881, of the Rite of Memphis and the Rite of Misraïm, both of which appeared in France at the beginning of the 19th century.
Yarker had been introduced to the Rite of Memphis in 1871 during a visit to New York,.Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon, The Antient and Primitive Rite of Masonry (online), accessed 20 June 2015 As well as establishing the Ancient and Primitive Rite, Yarker would later become Deputy International Grand Master (1900) and International Grand Master (1902) of the Rite of Memphis-Misraim. He formed the Ancient and Primitive Rite with 33 degrees by eliminating duplicative degrees from the Rite of Memphis-Misraïm.
Yarker's Rite claimed a history going to Napoleon Bonaparte's armies in Egypt, and traced the development of the Rite until his present day. He professed also that "Its Rituals embrace all Masonry, and are based on those of the Craft universal; they explain its symbols, develope [sic] its mystic philosophy, exemplify its morality, examine its legends, tracing them to their primitive source, and dealing fairly and truthfully with the historical features of Symbolical Masonry. They contain nothing in their teaching but what Mahommedan, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Brahmin, or Parsee may alike acknowledge." Until Yarker's death in 1913, there was never more than a total of 300 members.Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. Antient and Primitive Rite of Masonry. Accessed 13 August 2011.
Degrees The Rite of Memphis confers a set of degrees, numbered from 4° through 32°:Sovereign Sanctuary, 33rd Degree, in and for Great Britain and Ireland. Manual of the Degrees of the Antient and Primitive Rite of Masonry. 1881.
First Series: Chapter
Class I: Intro 1° – Entered Apprentice 2° – Companion 3° – Master Mason
Class II: College 4° – Discreet Master 5° – Sublime Master 6° – Knight of the Sacred Arch 7° – Knight of the Secret Vault
Class III: Chapter 8° – Knight of the Sword 9° – Knight of Jerusalem 10° – Knight of the Orient 11° – Knight of the Rose Croix
Second Series: Senate Class IV: Senate 12° – Knight of the Red Eagle 13° – Knight of the Temple 14° – Knight of the Tabernacle 15° – Knight of the Serpent 16° – Knight Sage of Truth 17° – Knight Hermetic Philosopher
Class V: Areopagus 18° – Knight Kadosh 19° – Knight of the Royal Mystery 20° – Knight Grand Inspector
Third Series: Sublime Council Class VI: Consistory 21° – Grand Installator 22° – Grand Consecrator 23° – Grand Eulogist 24° – Patriarch of Truth 25° – Patriarch of the Planispheres 26° – Patriarch of the Vedas
Class VII: Council 27° – Patriarch of Isis 28° – Patriarch of Memphis 29° – Pontiff of the Mystic City 30° – Perfect Pontiff, Sublime Master of the Great Work
Official Grand Tribunal 31° – Grand Defender 32° – Prince of Memphis 33° – Grand Sovereign
Bibliography Notes
References Prescott, Andrew. The Cause of Humanity: Charles Bradlaugh and Freemasonry Boris Nicolaevsky, "Secret Societies and the First International," in The Revolutionary Internationals, 1864–1943, ed. Milored M. Drachkovitch (Stanford, 1966), 36–56.
See also List of Masonic Rites Rite of Memphis-Misraim