The Obedience and the Rite
What the Obedience is, what the Egyptian Rite of Memphis Misraim carries, and the principles by which both are governed.
A house built to keep a promise
The International Obedience of the Egyptian Rite of Memphis Misraim — the I.O.E.R.M.M. — is a fraternal order dedicated to Egyptian Freemasonry. It exists so that a tradition older than any of its members should not depend on any of them: so that the rituals are performed as they were given, the degrees conferred in their order, and the teachings handed on entire.
In Freemasonry, an Obedience is the governing body of a rite. It charters lodges, watches over their regularity, keeps the rituals and the archives, and answers for the integrity of the work done in its name. Authority, in this sense, is not privilege — it is responsibility for something held in trust.
The Egyptian Rite of Memphis Misraim
The Egyptian Rite of Memphis Misraim gathers into one body of work two great streams of masonic tradition — the Rite of Memphis and the Rite of Misraim.
It is distinguished by the breadth of its scale of degrees and by the place it gives to symbolism, philosophy and the Western esoteric heritage: the Egyptian mysteries, the hermetic sciences and the initiatic path understood as a work of inner transformation rather than a collection of titles.
The Obedience does not treat this inheritance as a museum piece. Each degree is worked, each symbol is studied, and what is learned in the temple is expected to show itself outside of it.
What the work rests upon
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Wisdom
Knowledge sought patiently and without vanity. The Rite offers symbol, ritual and philosophy as instruments of study — never as ornaments.
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Light
The initiatic path is gradual by design. Light is received in degrees, and each degree asks of the candidate exactly what the previous one prepared in him.
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Fraternity
Equality within the lodge, discretion outside it, and a word that holds. Fraternity is measured in obligations honoured, not in sentiment.
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Fidelity
The Obedience remains faithful to its foundations, its rites and its teachings. Where the tradition is clear, it is followed.
Knock, and the door shall be opened
Those who feel called to the Initiatic Tradition are invited to write to us. Every enquiry is read and answered in confidence.
Write to the Obedience