Rite of Misraim
The Rite of Misraïm is a Masonic degree system associated with the Bédarride brothers and a hierarchy of 90 degrees. It preceded the Rite of Memphis and remained a separate rite in some organisations after the combinations later called Memphis-Misraïm.
Documentary beginnings
Accounts commonly connect its development with Italy and its introduction into France with the brothers Marc, Michel and Joseph Bédarride around 1814–1815. The historian Ellic Howe cautioned that its early origin stories do not readily yield a reliable single chronology.[1] Michel Bédarride's BnF authority record identifies him as a co-founder of the rite and records his earlier employment supplying the imperial army at Naples.[2]
A firm documentary point is the publication in Paris of the Statuts généraux de l’ordre maçonnique de Misraïm et de ses quatre séries pour la France in 1816. The BnF copy includes a dedication by Bédarride identifying the 90th as the final degree. This establishes the existence of the French organisation and its advertised structure by that date; it does not authenticate stories of remote antiquity.[3]
Character and structure
The four-series arrangement gathered a large collection of Masonic grades into one system. The high total should not be taken to mean that each member attended ninety separate ceremonies. A degree list, the body's administrative constitution and its actual programme of meetings answer different questions. See Degrees and organisation of Memphis-Misraim.
Misraïm is usually grouped with the Egyptian rites, but its degree collection also drew on biblical and other Masonic material. The Grand Ordre Égyptien Mixte's historical account contrasts that older collection with Marconis's later emphasis on Hermetic and Greco-Egyptian subjects.[4]
Relations with Memphis
Bricaud and Chevillon's historical account places the union of Memphis and Misraïm under Garibaldi in 1881. It also states that the French governing body of Misraïm declined to join the confederation and retained its own 90-degree hierarchy. Their account is useful evidence of how later leaders understood the relationship, including its exceptions.[5]
Misraïm therefore cannot simply be treated as an earlier name for every modern Memphis-Misraïm organisation. The present Grande Loge de Misraïm maintains a distinct organisational identity under the Misraïm name.[6] Its existence alone should not be used to infer uninterrupted institutional continuity from 1816.
Cagliostro and origin stories
Cagliostro promoted an earlier form of Egyptian Masonry in the eighteenth century.[7] That is part of the background to later Egyptian Masonic traditions, but calling him the founder of the Bédarride organisation confuses different systems. Claims about particular transmissions require evidence beyond a shared Egyptian vocabulary.
References
- ↑ Ellic Howe, “Fringe Masonry in England, 1870–85”, paper dated 14 September 1972, Ars Quatuor Coronatorum; transcription hosted by the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Bibliothèque nationale de France, authority record: Michel Bédarride (1778–1856). Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Bibliothèque nationale de France, catalogue record for Statuts généraux de l’ordre maçonnique de Misraïm et de ses quatre séries pour la France, Paris: A. Bobée, 1816; including the copy’s dedication by Bédarride, 90th degree. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Grand Ordre Égyptien Mixte, “Histoire du RAPMM en 33 degrés”, sections on the union and the modern revival. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Jean Bricaud, historical notes on Memphis-Misraïm (1933), updated by Constant Chevillon (1938), reproduced by L’Initiation as “Historique de Memphis-Misraïm”; an account written by leaders of the rite. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Grande Loge de Misraïm, “Connaître la Grande Loge de Misraïm”. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Giulio Natali, “Cagliostro, Alessandro, conte di”, Enciclopedia Italiana, 1930, Treccani. Accessed 25 September 2026.
Memphis-Misraïm: Overview · Misraïm · Memphis · History · Degrees and organisation · Egyptian symbolism · Organisations and recognition · Regalia and imagery · Sources and further reading
People: Bédarride brothers · Marconis de Nègre · John Yarker · Giuseppe Garibaldi · Papus · Jean Bricaud · Constant Chevillon · Robert Ambelain
Background: Hermeticism · Martinism · Masonic glossary · Comparison with related traditions
| Explore the Freemasonry Wiki: Full article index · All articles · All categories · Random article |