Albert Pike's Magnum Opus

In 1855 the Scottish Rite's "Mother Supreme Council of the World" at Charleston, S.C., appointed a committee of five persons to review and standardize its initiation ceremonies and rituals. Only one person completed the task-46-year-old Albert Pike who would ultimately become the most influential Scottish Rite Mason in history. After two years he printed 100 copies of an untitled text which Albert G. Mackey called the Magnum Opus (great work). Although never officially adopted, Pike's revision was a monumental step forward, as it served as the basis for ritual revisions used worldwide. This valuable work allows us to trace the development of both Scottish Rite ritual and philosophy. The lectures which accompany the rituals were the foundation for his most famous work, Morals and Dogma. In his introduction de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's "Grand Historian," provides an overview of the rituals used from the Scottish Rite's beginning in 1801 up to Pike's time.

Arturo de Hoyos is Grand Archivist and Grand Historian of the Supreme Council, 33 , S.J., and an executive officer at the Scottish Rite's headquarters, the "House of the Temple," in Washington, D.C. The author, editor, and translator of more than 25 books and many articles, he's considered America's foremost scholar on the history, rituals, and symbolism of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, and most other Masonic orders, rites, and systems. He has travelled and lectured extensively on Freemasonry, and been featured on numerous television and radio programs, including NBC Dateline's "Secrets of the Lost Symbol," CNN's "The Situation Room," ABC Nightly News, Washington D.C.'s FOX 5 News, WAMU Radio's "Metro Connection," The History Channel, The Voice of America, and more.