Français
In November 2011, the island of Saint-Barthélemy saw the rebirth of a freemasonry lodge: the Athanor de Sudermanie, inherited from the Swedish period in the 18th century. Another lodge was installed in 2015: Lumen de Lumine. In both cases, these lodges were open to men only. Some of the island's Freemasons felt that a change of obedience would not be out of place in order to be able to open up to co-education. The Grand Master of the Misraïm Lodge, Laurent Couasnon, was therefore contacted with a view to making this change. It's the result of almost a year's discussions," says the Grand Master, who was in Saint-Barth last week. I came to Saint-Barth for the consecration ceremony, which gave us the authorization to hold regular meetings throughout the year. "The ceremony, which took place on Saturday November 23, officially established the Misraïm lodge on the island. The Grand Lodge of Misraïm is a secular, republican and spiritualist obedience," explains Laurent Couasnon. It doesn't matter what the culture, religion, social class, orientation or opinions of the person wishing to join us are, as long as he or she adheres to our values. "The Grand Master emphasizes the absence of dogma and the fact that the Grand Lodge of Misraïm has its roots in ancient Egypt. It's not a cult," asserts Laurent Couasnon. Everyone comes and goes as they please. The idea is to try to enrich ourselves spiritually, to elevate ourselves and to strive to do good around us. To be in search of truth, to want to look for other things to raise yourself to another level. "
Misraim means Egypt in Hebrew. It's also a biblical character in the Book of Genesis. For history buffs, the Misraïm Rite originated from the "Primitive Rite of Paris" in 1721 and the "Primitive Rite of the Philadelphians of Narbonne" in 1779. It was born in Venice in 1788, and regularly established in France in 1803 following the Napoleonic army's Egyptian campaign. It developed in France from 1810 onwards. The Grand Lodge of Misraïm has several hundred members in lodges in France, the Caribbean and several African countries. An association under the law of 1901, its head office is based in Paris, in the 18th arrondissement.
