The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

Chapter 7 - Rituals 509
The American Order of the Amaranth is the third degree of the Rite of
Adoption. In 1958, it had about 85,000 members in the U.S. with Courts in the
U.S., Canada, Scotland, Australia, and the Philippines. 1466 Apparently, it is based
on the civil "Royal and Exalted Order of the Amaranth" which was formed by
Queen Christina of Sweden in 1653, to honor the Lady Amarantha, a beautiful,
modest, and charitable woman attached to the Swedish Court. Queen Christina
acted the part of Lady Amarantha herself. This knightly order once enjoyed a
vast popularity in Europe, attracting the most distinguished ladies and gentlemen
(cf. p. 18). The American ritual was supposedly created by James B. Taylor, a
musician and song writer of New Jersey, about 1860. It was re-written by Robert
Macoy in the closing hours of his life in 1873, after the establishment of the
Supreme Council of the Rite of Adoption on June 14 th , 1873, with the purpose to
furnish a higher degree for the Eastern Star. Rob Morris approved of this idea in
a letter to Macoy dated February 22 nd , 1883:
I have given much consideration to your proposal to furnish a series of
substantial degrees in the Adoptive Rite. Your plan is admirable. Ever
since your establishment of Eastern Star Chapters, in 1868, I have
advocated a similar idea as a relief from the ennui experienced by the
want of variety in chapter work. The one complaint of the ladies is - the
monotony of the endless repetition of one degree.
Among Masons this same complaint has led to the organization of
scores of degrees. The degrees of the Chapter, Council, Commandery,
Consistory, etc., all had their origin in the necessity of gratifying the
demand for variety. Why should ladies be less favored? (p. 8)
In this letter, Rob Morris expresses his opinion that "the dullness and lethargy
complained of in Eastern Star Chapters" (p. 8) can be cured only in this way.
The order lagged until 1895-97 but was reorganized in June 1897, when the
Amaranth degree was introduced as an advanced and independent organization
of the Rite of Adoption, which consists of 1. The Eastern Star, 2. The Queen of
the South, and 3. The Amaranth, the latter bearing the title of "Court." 1467 In spite
of the boredom of having only one degree, this enlargement of the Eastern Star
was not always welcomed:
1466 Ibid, p. 13.
1467 Cf. CME, p. 13.
At first, membership in the Amaranth was predicated on membership in
the Eastern Star, but the latter refused to permit this in order to avoid the
embarrassment of having a "higher degree" imposed upon it and thus
becoming merely an introductory degree. [...] In 1921 qualifications for
membership were changed and membership in the Eastern Star was no
longer required. [...] Among many of the Black chapters of the Eastern