In 1879 Albert Pike, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, USA, prepared and authorized for sale a collection of books for general distribution. Among these was also a collection of rituals, virtually unknown today. These included: 1) Degree of Master Mark Mason, being the work of the Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem of South Carolina, and the oldest work extent anywhere; 2) The Wigan Ritual, of the Early Grand Encampment. 3) Grade, Mark Mason, Passed Master, and Royal Arch, Rite Ancient Maconnerie D'York. [Were originally translated from English into French, and used in the French West Indies in 1795.]; 4) Knights Templar, former English Ritual. 5) Grand Maitre Ecossais or Scottish Elder Master and Knight of St. Andrew, being the Fourth Degree of Ramsey. 6) Old Ceremony of Royal Arch Exaltation. This new book includes ALL of the above rituals in one volume. These rituals have become some of the scarcest items ever printed by the Supreme Council. Original copies now sell for between US $60 and US $100 each. All of these rituals are extremely important, each for unique reasons. The Master Mark Mason and Wigan Rituals are, for example, early, little-known versions of these degrees; the former lacking much of the Christian symbolism present today, and the latter (supplied by John Yarker), differing significantly from the current ritual. The MaConnerie D'Yorke rituals were obtained in New Orleans, and contain a wealth of historical information relative to their use, including references to Joseph Cerneau, who had long troubled the Southern Jurisdiction by his irregular branch the Scottish Rite. The former English Knights Templar ritual appears to be the authorized revision of 1851, upon which the current ritual is based. The Grand Maitre Ecossais degree is an Hermetic degree which contends that the essential secret of Freemasonry is the Alchemical transmutation of the initiate. It is rumored to be used by the American C.B.C.S. (Knights Beneficent of the Holy City), an elite Masonic body. The Old Ceremony of Royal Arch Exaltation is the ritual upon which the current English ritual is based. It includes references to the mysterious word J.B.O., which has since been expunged from English Masonry.
