Editing Scottish Rite (section)

===France===
==== History ====
When Comte de Grasse-Tilly returned to France in 1804, he worked to establish the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite there. He founded the first Supreme Council in France<ref>[[Pierre Mollier]], "Naissance et essor du Rite écossais ancien et accepté en France : 1804–1826", in ''1804–2004 Deux siècles de Rite Ecossais Ancien Accepté en France'', Dervy, 2004, pp. 70–113.</ref> that same year.

The [[Grand Orient of France]] signed a treaty of union in December 1804 with the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree in France; the treaty declared that "the Grand Orient united to itself"<ref>In the original: ''Le Grand Orient unit à lui''.</ref> the Supreme Council in France. This accord was applied until 1814. Thanks to this treaty, the Grand Orient of France took ownership, as it were, of the Scottish Rite.

From 1805 to 1814, the [[Grand Orient of France]] administered the first 18 degrees of the Rite, leaving the Supreme Council of France to administer the last 15. In 1815, five of the leaders of the Supreme Council founded the ''Suprême Conseil des Rites'' within the Grand Orient of France. The original Supreme Council of France fell dormant from 1815 to 1821.<ref>The only known evidence of activity by this Supreme Council in this period is a rent receipt. Source: CG.</ref>

The ''Suprême Conseil des Isles d'Amérique'' (founded in 1802 by Grasse-Tilly and revived around 1810 by his father-in-law Delahogue, who had also returned from the United States) breathed new life into the Supreme Council for the 33rd Degree in France. They merged into a single organization: the Supreme Council of France. This developed as an independent and sovereign Masonic power. It created symbolic lodges (those composed of the first three degrees, which otherwise would be federated around a Grand Lodge or a Grand Orient).

The {{ill|Suprême Conseil de France|fr|vertical-align=sup}} (emerging from the Supreme Council of 1804 and restored in 1821 by the Supreme Council of the ''Isles d'Amérique'' founded in 1802 in [[Saint-Domingue]], the modern [[Haiti]])
In 1894, the Supreme Council of France created the [[Grand Lodge of France]]. It became fully independent in 1904, when the Supreme Council of France ceased chartering new lodges.<ref>{{harv|Revue "Points de vue initiatiques"|1980|p=17}}</ref> The Supreme Council of France still considers itself the overseer of all 33 degrees of the Rite. Relations between the two structures remain close, as shown by their organizing two joint meetings a year.

France has two additional Supreme Councils:
* The ''Suprême Conseil Grand Collège du Rite écossais ancien accepté'' (emerging from the Supreme Council on 1804 and constituted in 1815), affiliated with the [[Grand Orient de France]].
* The ''Suprême Conseil pour la France'' (emerging from the Supreme Council of the Netherlands, constituted in 1965), affiliated with the [[Grande Loge Nationale Française]]. In 1964, the Sovereign Grand Commander Charles Riandey, along with 400 to 500 members,<ref>{{Harvard citation|Daniel Ligou et al.|2000|pp=185–188}}</ref> left the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council of France and joined the [[Grande Loge Nationale Française]]. Because of his resignation and withdrawal of hundreds of members, there was no longer a Supreme Council of France. Riandey then reinitiated the 33 degrees of the rite in Amsterdam.<ref>{{harvard citation|Riandey|1989|p=169}}</ref> With the support of the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, he founded a new Supreme Council in France, called the ''Suprême Conseil pour la France''.
The distinction between the symbolic degrees (1st-3rd) and the high/side degrees (4th-33rd) has not always been as clearly defined as it is today, especially in France, where symbolic lodges practice the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite from the first degree onward. Nowadays, some of the rituals for certain high degrees still make reference to "prerogatives" dating back to their origins, predating the establishment of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

In 2004, a noteworthy milestone was achieved when the AASR officially commemorated its establishment in [[France]], marked by the founding of the Supreme Council under the leadership of de Grasse-Tilly. This momentous occasion marked the beginning of a developmental trajectory intricately linked with the activities of Masonic obediences in the country, resulting in a richly diverse and multifaceted network.

The year 2015 witnessed a pivotal commemoration, namely the AASR's historic alignment with the Grand Orient de France (GODF) in 1815. This event provided historians with a valuable opportunity to engage in a comprehensive and scholarly examination of the AASR's evolution in France, tracing its roots back to 1804. International symposiums, notably hosted by the Supreme Council and the Grand College of the REAA-GODF in cities such as Lyon and Paris, featured distinguished speakers who represented both the Southern Jurisdiction and the Supreme Council for France. These symposia were conceived with the overarching objective of transcending partisan debates and fostering a platform for erudite discourse within the Masonic community.

Beyond France, this distinctive pattern is observed in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, where the AASR demonstrates relative vitality, albeit in proportionate terms.

==== Practices ====
In France and Belgium, depending on the jurisdictions, the degrees typically practiced and initiated include the 4th, 9th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 22nd, 26th, 28th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, and 33rd degrees. In some Belgian jurisdictions, initiation into the 5th and 29th degrees are also conducted. Differences in the number of degrees practiced exist from one jurisdiction and country to another. Generally, French jurisdictions practice fewer Areopagus degrees than Belgian jurisdictions and prioritize capitular degrees.

In present-day the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite has been growing rapidly in France, which prompted some changes to make it more difficult to be invited, in 2023, the G.N.L.F. changed the requirement from three years as a Master Mason to being a Past-Master to be invited into the Scottish Rite's upper degrees (4th onwards).