The History of the Esoteric School 1904–1914, Volume Two

GA 265 — Berlin

A. W. Sellin to Rudolf Steiner

Hamburg, December 20, 1904

Dear Dr.,

With reference to my letter of 14 December, I am sending you the latest issue of Oriflamme, which contains an article by Dr. Franz Hartmann that may be of interest to you.

In the September 1903 issue of Oriflamme, I found the following remarkable report:

"In North America, 50,000 women belong to the Eastern Star order, which consists only of Freemason wives, daughters and widows. This year, a so-called ‘mixed lodge’ was founded in London by the well-known Theosophist Mrs. Annie Besant, who was admitted to the Freemason Federation in Paris.

The latter note is to be understood as meaning that the “mixed lodge” founded by Mrs. Annie Besant in London has received a charter from Paris.¹

Do you know anything about this?

“Mixed lodges” have only existed since 1893. On March 14 of that year, Maria Deraismes in Paris was the first to initiate 16 women into the Freemasons' Association and founded the Scottish lodge “Le droit humain”.

These “mixed lodges” are no more recognized by our German grand lodges than the Memphis and Misraim lodges and the adoption lodges, as they operate in the Order of the Eastern Star.

I would be very grateful if you would return the enclosed booklet, as well as the two federal newspapers and my lecture. Hopefully, your attendance in January will allow you to grant me a dialogue about personal questions concerning my inner development.

With fraternal greetings and best wishes for the coming celebration, yours truly, highly esteemed and faithfully devoted:

A.W. Sellin

Adoption of Freemasonry and Annie Besant Until the end of the 17th century, women were completely excluded from Freemasonry. It was only when similar associations emerged in France at the beginning of the 18th century that the so-called adoption masonic lodge came into being. These were women's lodges that were subordinate to the men's lodges, i.e. each female dignitary was adopted by an equivalent male dignitary. The first such adoption lodge - emanating from the Grand Orient de France - was established in Paris in 1775. At that time, Cagliostro had also admitted women to his Egyptian Freemasonry. The first woman to be admitted to a regular men's lodge a century later is usually said to have been the French women's rights activist Marie Deraismes (1828-1894). After her admission, she gave a speech in which she said: “Why did Freemasonry exclude us women? Does it perhaps possess superior truths that are only accessible to an enlightened elite? Does it deal with abstract, transcendental problems that require preparatory study? No. You can be admitted without any kind of certificate or diploma. Does Freemasonry perhaps have secrets, arcana or mysteries that should only be shared with a select few? No, because the time of mysteries, secrets and arcana is definitely over!” (Quoted from A. Mellor in ‘Logen, Rituale, Hochgrade’, 2nd edition German edition 1985, without publisher and place of publication, p. 202) However, since her admission to a regular men's lodge in 1882 remained an exceptional case, she founded a new order in Paris in 1882 together with a few masons of the Scottish 33°-rite, the “Ordre Magonnique Mixte International” (International Mixed Freemasonry), known under the name of the French grand lodge “Le droit humain”, whose legitimacy, however, is disputed. Annie Besant was admitted to this order in 1902, received a foundation charter for London in 1903 and, alongside her Theosophical activities, helped it to spread in the English-speaking world, where it is known as the “Order of Universal Co-Masonry”. According to a message from Emil Adriänyi to Rudolf Steiner, Reuss told him, in response to his question as to whether Annie Besant was a member of the Memphis-Misraim Rite, that she had indeed sought admission to Yarker and Reuss, but had been rejected by both sides. ↩