Swedish Rite

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The Swedish Rite is a variation or Rite of Freemasonry that is common in Scandinavian countries and to a limited extent in Germany. It is different from other branches of Freemasonry in that, rather than having the three self-contained foundation degrees and seemingly-endless side degrees and appendant bodies, it has an integrated system with ten degrees. It is also different in that, rather than moving through the offices or 'chairs', progress in the Swedish Rite is based on moving through the ten degrees. A fundamental difference is the Swedish Rite's position on religious affiliation: Anglo/American 'Regular' Masonry requires a belief in any theistic religion and Continental 'Liberal' Masonry does not require belief in any religion, whereas Swedish Masonry is specifically Christian, and requires a Christian trinitarian belief in all its members. Nonetheless, the main Swedish Rite constitutions are all recognised as regular by the United Grand Lodge of England, and stand in full amity.

The Swedish Rite is the default and customary Masonic rite in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland. In Finland there exists an agreement of shared jurisdiction between the native Grand Lodge of Finland, working standard Anglo-American tradition Masonry, and a Provincial Grand Lodge of the Swedish Rite Swedish Order of Freemasons. A variant form of the Swedish Rite is worked in Germany by the Grand Landlodge of the Freemasons of Germany, where it is one of five different Masonic systems that co-exist within the umbrella group the United Grand Lodges of Germany.^[1]

Although fully independent of each other, the Scandinavian Grand Lodges work closely together to ensure that their rituals are as similar as possible.

Since 7 November 2006 all laws of the Swedish Order of Freemasons are publicly available on the Internet.^[2] Among others, the laws prohibit any member to gain advantages outside the lodge by using the lodge as an instrument. The laws also stress the charity works of the members and the observance of the Golden Rule.