The Ancient and Masonic Order of The Scarlet Cord was developed in the British Isles in 1889. It was founded upon ancient 18th century documents from the Amsterdam archives. The rituals and ceremonies were rewritten and enriched by one of the authors of the three rituals currently used in our Secret Monitor ceremonies, Judge His Honour Frederick Adolphus Philbrick, K.C.

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The Order became moribund in 1926. However, early in 2000 the then Grand Supreme of the Order of the Secret Monitor, Most Worthy Brother Peter Glynn Williams, became very keen to reintroduce the Order and with the help of well-known members of the Order of the Secret Monitor, searched the archives at Mark Masons Hall, studied all the6 grades of the Order and rewrote them to suit modern Freemasonry. Just 10 years later, on 21 July 2010, the Inauguration ceremony of the Grand Senatus of the Ancient and Masonic Order of the Scarlet Cord was held at Great Queen Street, London, when Most Distinguished Companion Michael William Guest was installed as the primus Grand Summus. He appointed a Deputy and an Assistant Grand Summus and then invested Grand Officers and conferred past rank on many others. Locally the Order is ruled over by a Provincial Grand Summus or a Grand Inspector. The Lodge units are known as Consistories. Depending on the number of Consistories working an area is known as a Province or an Inspectorate. To be a Province the requirement is to have 3 or more Consistories. Given time all areas will become Provinces. The East Midlands is now a Province, having 4 Consistories, Derbyshire Consistory, No.11 “Time Immemorial” meeting at Long Eaton and the Leicestershire & Rutland Consistory, No.63 meeting at Lutterworth, Lincolnshire Consistory, 91 meeting at Alford and Belper Consistory, No. 96 meeting at Belper.

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The requirement for becoming a member of the Order is to be a Prince of the Order of the Secret Monitor. The Consistories are presided over by a President, a Primus of Lectores and a Primus of Ostiarii. There are 6 Grades in the Order, they are known as 1st Grade Ostiarius or Doorkeeper, 2nd Grade Lector, 3rd Grade Fellow or Healer & Exorcist, 4th Grade Councillor, 5th Grade Keeper of the Hidden Secret and 6th Grade Prince of Jerusalem.

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The first three Grades are worked in a Consistory. To receive the 4th Grade, a Companion must be an Installed President and it is conferred in a Council of Elders. The 5th Grade is conferred in a Council of the Entrusted and the 6th Grade in a Council of Princes. The 5th and 6th Grades will only be conferred on companions personally chosen by the Grand Summus. The Grand Assembly is denominated Grand Senatus and the personal bodyguard is the Tzaddikim.

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The regalia for each grade is very low cost. In most Consistories the regalia for the first two Grades is loaned to the candidate as 1, 2, and 3 Grades can be taken with only 1 month interval between them.