Freemasonry’s Royal Secret: The Jamaican “Francken Manuscript” of the High Degrees

Many have heard of the Thirty-third Degree and the Scottish Rite, but lesser known is that it sprung from an equally important Masonic system. Created by the Frenchman Stephen Morin in the 1760s, the 25-degree system known as the “Order of the Royal Secret” used many of the most important Masonic degrees of the time. With its genesis in the French Caribbean, by 1764 these “high degrees” were established in New Orleans, and by 1767 they were brought to Albany, New York. Ultimately, its rituals were absorbed into the Scottish Rite at its creation in 1801. This original work, copied from a rare manuscript, provides the complete original system, from 4° Secret Master, to 25° Prince of the Royal Secret. Also included are the detached degrees of Select Master of 27°, Knight of the Royal Arch, and Grand Master Ecose, which appeared at the back of the original manuscript. Read more