The Order of Ancient , Free & Accepted Masonry for Men & Women
1911 , she founded the first mixed Mark lodge , and in 1916 , the first mixed Royal Arch chapter . She attained the 30 th degree in 1912 and the 33 rd degree in 1914 in Paris ; she became a member of the Supreme Council in 1922 .
Although she was a theosophist herself , Aimée Bothwell-Gosse conducted the task given to her by the Supreme Council with impartiality and rigor . This inquiry clearly revealed that the malaise was serious and widespread throughout the English branch of the “ Droit Humain ” and extended as far as Australia . It was chiefly the result of an overwhelming theosophist domination in the administration positions : all the members of the English Aeropagus were theosophists , starting with the president Annie Besant , the international president of the Theosophical Society ; and her Grand Secretary James Wedgwood , also general secretary for the English section of the same Society . More seriously , all these brethren were members of the secret , internal group of the Theosophical Society known as the E . S . ( Esoteric Section ), consisting of the Society ’ s elite members . This meant the lodge members who were not theosophists were never allowed to rise to the higher degrees .
Confronted with the gravity of the situation , Miss Bothwell-Gosse ’ s report recommended a complete restructuring involving the following steps :
1 . The creation of local Grand Lodges , regional administrative structures that would counterbalance an overly dominant central power .
2 . The replacement of the national Areopagus , whose members had been co-opted , with a National Council that would meet once a year and would include one delegate from each lodge , thereby guaranteeing an overall parity between theosophists and nontheosophists .
3 . The president of this Council would be a delegate appointed by the International Supreme Council for a three-year , renewable period .
4 . To require that this delegate be a permanent resident of Great Britain .
This last provision was motivated by the permanent absence of the sitting president , Annie Besant , who lived in Adyar , India , the world headquarters of the Theosophical Society . Annie Besant was widely admired by the quasi-totality of Brethren , but they criticized her for not being able to prevent the abuse they suffered within the administrative structure of the English branch of the Order , because she was so far away from the situation .
This report and its conclusions created a serious dilemma for the Supreme Council : If it applied the proposed measures , which were clearly fair and necessary to reestablish a normal situation , a considerable number of theosophist members , first among them Annie Besant , would probably withdraw from the lodge . Yet the exceptional personality of Annie Besant , First Premier Lieutenant Grand Commander of the Supreme Council , as well as her influence and authority as president of the Theosophical Society , 6 ensured a worldwide dissemination of the Order , which was , thanks to her , expanding widely internationally — without mentioning that fact that the Society provided premises for the lodges and Masonic administrative structures throughout the world . Giving up this assistance would seriously impede the growth of the Order on an international level ,
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 The Theosophical Society had 36,000 members in 1920 and 45,000 members in 1928 .
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