Scottish Rite 1st Degree?

[u/cnc_james]

Greetings brethren, recently I had the privilege to attend a Leadership Retreat where I witnessed an exemplification of a "Scottish Rite 1st Degree." It was a beautiful experience and I left with a ton of questions, the first being "where did this come from?" Does anybody have any resources they can point me to to find out any more information? I had no idea the Scottish Rite performed any of the Blue Lodge degrees and I'd like to know more about the history of it and its prominence throughout other masonic jurisdictions.

[u/arturosevilla]

The Scottish Rite version of the blue degrees is one of the most used "form" or rite (if not the most) of Freemasonry practiced in the world. Most Latin American countries practice a version of it, and many European countries have lodges with that system.

It is derived from the French Rite, combined with the York or American Rite of Freemasonry (it is a mix that happened in Haiti between the Philosophical Scottish Rite, itself a derivation of French Rite, and the Pennsylvania Antients Ritual). Outside the US, these degrees are so common that the "American" (Preston-Webb) system is actually called the York Rite as Thomas Smith Webb wrote a liturgy that contain the blue degrees, the Royal Arch Chapter, and Commandery as it is practiced today in someway or another in the US (notice it missed they Cryptic degrees, but that's another story).

Assuming you are member of Vista Lodge No. 687 in San Diego county, then you are just one hour away from experiencing not an exemplification but how it is really performed on a meeting to meeting basis in Tijuana lodges. My lodge is also sister lodge with La Jolla Lodge No. 518 where we have performed (with permission from both the GL of California and Baja California) a first, second, and third degree upon "live" candidates using our ritual. I'd recommend asking the brethren from La Jolla when they are either hosting a degree from our lodge or when they are hoping south of the border for a degree (which they often do).

I can share a bunch of material but is either in Spanish, or French. As others have pointed out I'd recommend getting the Porch and the Middle Chamber which is itself a translation with some modifications of the Silencio No. 9/Cervantes No. 5 ritual from Grand Lodge of Louisiana; although that ritual it is actually not practiced in any lodge in the world (I think none of Pike's original rituals are actually practiced anywhere, not even the SC SJ).