The Ancient Scottish Rite of Héredom 1807™ – Mother Constitutions of the World

French · Caribbean · American Continuity

The Ancient Scottish Rite of Héredom 1807™

Mother Constitutions of the World

The Ancient Scottish Rite of Héredom 1807™ stands upon foundations laid in the eighteenth century, within the established Masonic culture of France and the French Antilles.

From those waters and ports, the Rite passed through the Caribbean and into North America. In 1807, in New York, Joseph Cerneau organized the Rite on American soil, preserving its character and continuity as it entered a new land.

UNIVERSI TERRARUM ARCHITECTONIS MAGNI AD GLORIAM INGENII

SIT LUX ET LUX FUIT

Grand Orient of the United States of America Seal

Mother Constitution of the World

Grand Orient of the United States of America
of the Ancient Scottish Rite of Héredom 1807™

The Grand Orient of the United States of America works the Ancient French Craft Degrees of Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason as transmitted through the French Antilles and established in the United States in 1807.

It governs symbolic lodges under its obedience and preserves the Craft Constitutions of the Rite within its own sovereign jurisdiction.

Sovereign Grand Council of the 33rd Degree Seal

Mother Constitution of the World

Sovereign Grand Council of the 33rd and Last Degree
of the Ancient Scottish Rite of Héredom 1807™

The Sovereign Grand Council of the 33rd and Last Degree preserves the high-grade system of the Ancient Scottish Rite of Héredom 1807™, working the degrees 4°–33° in continuity with the French and Caribbean transmissions of the eighteenth century.

From the Caribbean, the Rite was preserved in Cuba in 1806 and organized in New York in 1807, where its American jurisdiction took permanent root.

Historical Continuity

1760s — France and the French Antilles.
Systems of Craft and higher degrees were active within French Masonic circles and extended into the Caribbean through colonial networks.

1774 — The Caribbean.
Bodies exercising authority over the higher degrees were functioning through councils and inspectors responsible for continuity and transmission.

1780s — Saint-Domingue and Jamaica.
Saint-Domingue emerged as a central point of activity, with Jamaica operating in parallel, sustaining the Rite across the islands.

1796 — Saint-Domingue.
The organization of the higher degrees reached formal maturity, administered through established councils and tribunals.

1801 — Saint-Domingue.
Despite political upheaval, Masonic activity continued and authority traveled with those entrusted to preserve it.

1806 — Baracoa, Cuba.
Authority was carried from Saint-Domingue to Cuba, where the Rite was preserved intact during displacement.

1807 — New York.
From Cuba, the Rite crossed into the United States. In New York, Joseph Cerneau organized and established the Rite on American soil.

1813 — Paris.
In France, the existing structures of the Rite were formally reaffirmed within the broader continuity of the system.

From these events emerged a complete and independent system, uniting symbolic Craft Masonry and the full progression of higher degrees, preserved through successive custodians and returned to the United States in faithful continuity with its earliest foundations.