The Degree Rituals The Supreme Council, 33 ... - Scottish Rite, NMJ

6 The Degree Rituals
Preface
More than 30 years have passed since publication of The Rituals of the
Supreme Council, 33°, for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, U.S.A. This
unique work traced the obscure and complex origins and development of the
29 Scottish Rite degree rituals through the course of 200 years from the earliest
surviving source, Henry Francken’s 1783 manuscript of 300 pages, believed
to be based on earlier French rituals entrusted to Francken by Stephen
Morin.
The author of The Rituals, Ill. Irving E. Partridge, 33°, Active Member
for Connecticut, was eminently qualified for the task. A member of the
Supreme Council Committee on Rituals1 since 1951, he had served as chairman
for 15 years, 1957-72, and would be called upon to resume that post in
1977-78. Despite the credentials he brought to the project, Partridge readily
conceded credit for the content of The Rituals to his predecessor, Ill. McIlyar
H. Lichliter, 33°, Active Member at-Large and committee chairman in 1945-
57. Brought to the Supreme Council by Sovereign Grand Commander Melvin
Maynard Johnson in 1942, Lichliter emerged as the preeminent scholar and
authority on the degree rituals of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction during the
20th century. Lichliter devoted more than a dozen years to research and analysis
of the rituals of the jurisdiction, compiling voluminous notes which described
their content and traced their development. Lichliter continued his
studies until 1958.
Lichliter was more than an antiquarian. He believed that Scottish Rite Masonry
was not simply the working of ritual for its own sake. Ritual was the
means of presenting Masonic philosophy that men might understand the reason
and purpose of life, and thereby gain the knowledge and inspiration to
better themselves and society. The logical extension of this belief is that as life
and society are continually changing, so the ritual must be adapted from time
to time to remain relevant. Lichliter’s copious notes included recommendations
as to how the degree rituals might be revised and improved. In this conviction,
he probably was influenced, and certainly was encouraged, by Grand
1 The Supreme Council Standing Committee on Rituals and Ritualistic Matter was renamed
in 2002 as the Committee on Ritualistic Matters. The term “Committee on Rituals,” wherever
used throughout this work, refers to the same committee.