In November of 1905, seeking to establish what he called "esoteric continuity", Rudolf Steiner contacted the Grand Master of the German Memphis-Misraim Masonic Order and obtained membership. In January of the next year he received a charter to form his own lodge called Mysteria Mystica Aeterna.
Steiner used none of the rituals or teachings of the German Memphis-Misraim. His sole reason for membership was to form his own lodge. Once permission for this was granted, he created a system of nine degrees based on his own Rosicrucian teachings and insight.
The first three degrees make up the Blue Lodge. The Red lodge begins at the 4th degree.
The names of the degrees are:
- Apprentice
- Fellowcraft
- Master
- Knight of the Royal Arch
- Knight of the Rosy Cross
- Knight Kadosh
- Esoteric Rosicrucian
- Illuminatus
- Gnostic
Although the Rosicrucian rites inaugurated by Rudolf Steiner do share a structure similar to that used by the Freemasons, the rituals, content, and work are of a purely Rosicrucian nature and have nothing to do with Freemasonry.
In an effort to distinguish and distance his work from Freemasonry, Steiner later called his rite the Misraim Dienst (Misraim Service). During a Mystica Aeterna class he said, "For the world at large, our occult stream has until now borne the name of Freemasonry, because from an occult standpoint one should always - if possible - link onto what exists. But as regards our temple this name will from now on fall away, and our arrangements will be called 'Misraim Dienst.' ...The term Freemasonry should now finally disappear, and as far as the outer world and all arrangements on a Freemasonic basis are concerned, Freemasonry is thus not present in our movement."
Lodges soon sprang up across Germany and Europe. The first lodges were inaugurated in Berlin, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich, and Stuttgart. In 1988 an Order called "Ordo Merlini & Rosae Crucis" (Merlinorden) was established with lodges in Stockholm and Ödeshög Sweden. In 1992 the Merlinorden was chartered by a German group called "Melchizedek Bund" to work the Misraimriten IX° of Rudolf Steiner. In 2003 they received a charter from the Sovereign Sanctuary of the Antient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraim, as well as the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Another charter was received the same year from a Sao Paulo group, the Rite Ancien et Primitif de Memphis et Misraim.
In August of 2022, the Swedish Misraim Association granted a charter to form the first Grand Lodge in America called Mysteria Mystica Americana.
In 2023 the Swedish Misraim Association united its various lodges under the banner of the International Misraim Alliance (IMA) in an effort to organize it's growing presence across the globe.
In early 2024 the Mysteria Mystica Americana was graciously granted a second charter by the Sovereign Sanctuary of the Rite Ancien et Primitif de Memphis-Misraim World-Wide, based in the United States of America, to establish a Society of Philosophical Study, Esoteric Research and True Fraternity leading to Initiation into the Light of the Rosy Cross as set forth in the teachings of the Rosicrucian Misraim Dienst of Rudolf Steiner.
