Washington, DC—Valleys all over the United States are starting to send
out notifications to their membership regarding the first ever Scottish Rite
Day, which will take place on November 12th, 2016. In this historic move
the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction and the Southern Jurisdiction will come
together for a day of celebration and unity. This event represents a significant shift in atmospherics in the Scottish Rite given the often
unmentioned tensions which have historically existed between the two “separate but equal”
organizations.
There will be many amazing things happening that day, the
least of which will be a series of statewide 32nd degree conferrals
and a new Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Jewel which features no delineation between either jurisdiction.
The Past Bastard reached out to the PR reps for both
organizations, who explained: “…the jewels were initially struck when the organizations decided
on a policy of mutual forgiveness. The Northern Masonic Jurisdiction forgave
the Southern Jurisdiction for not using the word “Masonic” in their title, and the Southern Jurisdiction forgave the
Northern Masonic Jurisdiction for existing altogether. This act of mutual forgiveness spawned a plan to unify the bodies into one.”
Negotiations for a larger unification effort reportedly fell apart when members on both Supreme Councils “realized there could only be one Sovereign Grand Commander.” However, in true brotherly fashion, the Scottish Rite jurisdictions brought order from chaos when they decided to keep the date anyway and notionally celebrate the Scottish Rite as a whole. A spokesperson for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction commented: "We couldn't just drop the event altogether because we have a contract with Netflix to produce a documentary on the unification effort. Nonetheless, this event is a good way to 'test the waters' and gauge interest for a greater unification effort."
While these jurisdictions might not ever see eye-to-eye, The Past Bastard is certain that this first stab at unification is sure to be a completely underwhelming event with an attendance somewhere in the tens in valleys all over the country.
Worshipful, Dr. Chaz Nagler, Esq. 49˚