The true definition of the Free-Masonry of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is this: It is an advance toward the LIGHT; a constant endeavor, in all its Degrees, to elevate the Divine that is in Man, the Spiritual portion of this compound nature, his Reason and his Moral Sense, above, and make it dominant over, and master of, the human, earthly, and material portion of his nature, his passions, and his sensual appetites.
— Albert Pike, 33 degree
Sovereign Grand Commander, S.J., 1859-91
