I recently visited the city of New Orleans. When I travel, if my schedule permits, I try and visit local Lodges. But this trip I came upon something of a complete surprise to me, a "RED" Lodge, Germania Lodge No. 46, F&AM I had only heard of these Red Lodges once before and only in passing, and I did not know this was a Red Lodge until I arrived. I offer no expertise in the history other than my impressions from this single visit. In my world there are "Blue" Lodges and that is the way we all refer to them. In N.O. they refer to "Lodges" as either "York" or "Scottish" or "Blue" or "Red"; they are referring to Lodges which confer the first 3 Degrees, not the appendage bodies... This night, Germania #46 was performing the FC Degree. I won't go into any detail on an open forum, other than to say as a "Blue" Lodge Mason who has never (yet) petitioned or visited the Scottish Rite, I was in for a show! There were many common denominators in the work, but also new aspects in sufficent quantity to keep me and the other two visiting Brothers (one from Australia) in wide-eyed amazement. Kudos and thanks to my Brothers from Germania 46, they had a rip-roaring time before, during and after the meeting, but their degree work was serious, professional and passionately executed! If you ever get the chance to visit New Orleans, put this on your top list of things to do. But be prepared w/ your dues card and for a VERY serious examination before they permit you inside the Lodge Room.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I will have to try and head up that way and attend a Red Lodge. It sounds interesting.
Red Lodges When you become a Scottish Rite (which is commonly abbreviated as SR or AASR for Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite) Master of the Royal Secret (32°, or Knight of Malta), you receive a "passport" which documents the degrees you have seen. The first three degrees of the Blue Lodge are mirrored in the Scottish Rite, but with the slightly different perspective of Brother Albert Pike, who created the Rite. Thus the first three degrees of the SR are referred to as "red lodge" degrees. It is extremely important to remember that the highest degree a brother can achieve is the Master Mason 3°. Ironically, my SR lodge is currently studying the first 3 degrees so we can do the red degrees for our valley in April! Sorry for all of the parentheses. Fraternally yours, Bro. Bill Baxton, 32° Jupiter Light Lodge #340 F. & A.M. Lake Worth Scottish Rite, Valley of Lake Worth Orient of Florida
Brother icarus , you are not saying that Pike created the Scottish Rite are you ? Or am I reading that incorrectly ?
True , Just wondering if he meant something else ,such as Pike re-wrote the ritual for the Southern Jurisdiction .
There is a statue of Albert Pike near the Lodge in New Orleans. According to the Germania Lodge #46 history booklet, the 1st - 3rd Degree rituals they practice were taken from a very old manuscript they discovered in their vault in the mid 60's, written in German and dated from the late 1800's.
As a Brother from what would be the NMJ, I gotta ask...who is the Pike guy....never heard of him......Just messing with you SJ Brothers....
sorry brothers I was out enjoying the weather. I did in fact mean that he revised the rituals, not that he authored them. Sorry for not being clear, my fingers don't keep up with my head when I type most times!
Ah , okay . Don't worry , my fingers get ahead of my brain too , more so when I have not had all my coffee . I am addicted to coffee and my doctor has cut in WWWAAAYYYY back , so I may not be making much sense for a while .
I was told that our local SR Valley will be putting on the Red Degrees at the next reunion. It should be interesting.
