The modern form of the Rite of Misraim appeared in 1728 in Naples, Italy. However, its symbolism is much earlier rooted in ancient Egypt and from there in the primordial Oracles of Atlantis.
The Rite of Misraim appears historically in Naples, as in 65 AD a colony from Alexandria settled in Naples, Pompeii and Cumae. This colonization was desired by two high initiates, one Christian, St. Mark, and one Hermetic, Ormus. In 45 A.D., the Hierophant of the temple of Serapis Ormus was baptized by St. Mark is thus the Hermetic mysteries were united with the Christic ones, giving rise to the modern consecration of the "rose," symbol of Isis, united with the "cross," symbol of Golgotha.
Then, from Naples, the Rite was later taken to several cities with which Naples had trade relations, including Venice in 1778 and Genoa. In the 18th century, the Misraim Rite was a branch of what is called "Egyptian Freemasonry." The word "Misraim" is in fact the Hebrew name for Egypt itself, a word whose plural form refers to both Upper and Lower Egypt.
On the other hand, the Memphis Rite can be considered a "parallel" to the Misraim Rite, formed in 1815 in Montauban, France, created from collections of degrees from the Scottish Rite and Misraim. Both of these Rites were united by Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1881 into the Misraim-Memphis Rite as a vehicle for the regeneration of human society.
Rudolf Steiner founded the Rosicrucian Esoteric School shortly after receiving a license of the Misraim Rite from Theodor Reuss on November 24, 1905. Steiner developed the Misraim Rite to adapt it to the human needs of the present age of the conscious soul. Contrary to what is usually thought, Steiner celebrated symbolic ceremonies of worship, just as he considered this the highest and at the same time most profound form of esotericism possible for humanity at this stage of evolution.
The Rosicrucian Esoteric School is divided into Classes with a total of 9 degrees:
1. The First Class consisting of esoteric lectures and meditations;
2. The Sixth Class consists of 3 degrees, in which symbolic worship is practiced in bringing the past to consciousness;
3. The Third Class consists of 6 degrees, in which worship is practiced in anticipating the future.
In the path of the Classes, occult exercises are practiced for the development of inner faculties. There is also the Temple Service where holidays are celebrated in the esoteric sense throughout the year.
The first meeting of the Second Class also called the Cognitive Worship Section, was led by Rudolf Steiner on January 3, 1906. In 1907 Steiner had to separate his Rosicrucian Esoteric School from the one founded by H.P. Blavatsky, which was not only based on the Eastern tradition, but under Annie Besant came to contrast with the esoteric principles and knowledge held by the Rosicrucians. Then the work of the First and Second Class temporarily ceased due to World War I in 1914. When the work was resumed after the war, a few meetings were held before Steiner's death in 1925 and again after his death.
According to Steiner's teachings with 1879 the time has come when Rosicrucian secrets can be revealed. We are in the midst of a paradigm shift between hermetically sealed societies protecting the teachings of initiates, and an era in which these same secrets can be communicated openly into the world to nourish the souls who seek them.
Indeed, this is how Steiner expressed himself when addressing members of the Anthroposophical Society on April 20, 1924:
"The Mysteries themselves go back to that time when the free development of man still had to come. Now is the time when man must again find the Mysteries [...] it really becomes necessary to find a place on Earth where the Mysteries can again be founded. The Anthroposophical Society must, in its future development, be that path to the renewed Mysteries. Such is also your mission, my dear friends!"
This "place on Earth" is wherever men gather as Brothers and Sisters in the building up of the being of the Temple of Misraim Service. Thus, seizing on Steiner's exhortation, after his death, several anthroposophical groups in Europe resumed work in the Second and Third Class on the basis of Rudolf Steiner's Misraim Rite, as well as on the basis of specific materials from the Misraim-Memphis Rite.
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