Transfer to other Countries

[Ozymandius 13]

Does anyone know if it is possible for a UGLE Member to move to Sweden and join the Swedish Rite?

What would be involved?

[3GP441 30]

My first question would be are they Christian as it is an exclusively Christian organisation there.

I would enquire with UGLE via your Provincial Secretary

[lewis 21]

The Grand Lodge of Sweden (The Swedish Order of Freemasons) is recognised by UGLE

[seekeroftruth 1]

Hi Ozymandius,

As long as you are a member of a grand lodge that is recognized by the Order of Swedish Freemasons and are living in Sweden, you can request (once you have found a lodge, that you would like to join and continue your masonic journey) to join the Order. In the Swedish Craft this is called an "adoption".

Pay attention, that apart from the usual paperwork proving that you are a member is good standing etc, you have to declare that you profess the Christian faith and that you undertake to obey the laws and regulations of the Order. In addition, you must also state whether you wish to remain a member of the foreign Grand Lodge you are coming from.

So while joining the Order is possible in theory, it would only work if you are a Christian. If not, then I imagine you could visit as a mason from a recognized GL as often as you wanted, but not join. As 3GP441 wrote, involve your Prov. Sec.:

[Ozymandius 13]

I understand the Trinitarian Christian requirement and this is a requirement of many Orders that I am in already.

I also understand that the Swedish Rite does not have many of the Orders we have in the UK, such as Mark but are there any parts of the Swedish Rite that carry over that I am already a member of, such at Rose Croix, KT, RCC, etc

 

[seekeroftruth 1]

If you mean, by what I understand from your statement, that you can, if there is an equivalence between the U.K. side degrees and the higher degrees of the Swedish Rite, join them (i.e. the Swedish Rite higher degrees) as well, my understanding is no.

I can only say from personal knowledge that dual membership of both the Scottish Rite and Swedish Rite is not allowed. While i can visit meetings up to the Xth degree, as a member of the Scottish Rite, were I to wish, after a potential membership of a blue lodge of the Swedish Rite, to continue in the Swedish system and not simply visit my brethren in the higher degrees as a Scottish Rite visitor, I would have to resign completely from the Scottish Rite and then be initiated in the equivalent Swedish Rite degrees as any other brother. (while there are equivalences between the degrees, the Swedish Rite degrees, in their content, vary a lot from the Scottish Rite degrees, so even if you resigned and were initiated into the degrees of the Swedish system, you would be experiencing an initiation and not simply a repeat of the a Scottish Rite degree in a different form. Of course with the proviso that you have not been present during the working of the degree as a visitor in the past, because then, in my view, you will not experience anything initiatory. The Swedish Rite is a complete closed system, whereby every degree is based on the one below. Each time you progress up the ladder, the teachings of all the previous degrees that you have had, are further impressed onto you with the additional teachings of the new degree you are being initiated into.

If you are moving to Sweden and intend to be there for some time, I would advise you to get your papers sorted out with UGLE so that you can visit blue lodges once you get there. Then once you are there and settled down, ask the local brethren for their advise on this issue.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sontaran 91]

I hope you're not mixing up Scottish Rite with the Ancient & Accepted Rite; whilst there are similarities, they are not the same (and the former is recognised as being incompatible with English Frremasonry).

Under the Scottish Rite (as I understand it), a Christian belief is not a requirement. It is however, a requirement of the Ancient & Accepted Rite as practiced under the English system.