The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

Chapter 5 - Technical Terminology 281
without accompanying ceremonies. German Masonic language has another
technical term for this instance: "C[ommunication] of degrees heißt die
mündliche Überlieferung eines Gradinhaltes, ohne Durchführung der
zugehörigen Zeremonien. Im Deutschen: historische Beförderung." 817
15. Declare oneself off
This is an American expression. According to the EOF, one explanation of
this technical term is the following: "When a brother ceases to visit a Lodge, and
to pay his monthly subscriptions, he thereby declares himself off the Lodge." 818
According to the same source, in England, a brother does not "declare off," but
"resigns." In the United States, such a member then is "dropped from the role,"
and in some states he is punished by "suspension." In England, such a brother
receives a "clearance certificate." In Scotland, such a member would receive a
"demit" issued by the Daughter Lodge and countersigned by the Grand
Secretary. 819
However, "to declare oneself off" can also have a less severe denotation:
"When a brother requires to leave the lodge for a few minutes, either at labor or
at the banquet, he must request leave to do so. Many brethren whose bad conduct
is brought before the lodge, and who are afraid that they will be excluded or
expelled, take this means of declaring off." 820 Apart from having been used to
describe members, this technical term seems to have been employed for lodges
as well: "We also make use of this expression when any lodge has ceased to
assemble for a length of time." 821
16. Demit
The word 'demit' is peculiarly and technically Masonic, and has no
relation to the obsolete verb 'to demit,' which signifies 'to let fall, to
depress, to submit.' A Mason is said 'to demit from a Lodge' when he
withdraws from all connection with it. It is, in fact, the act which in any
other society would be called a resignation. 822
The German expression for "demit" is "Deckung" (corresponding to the
technical term of "gedeckt," i.e. properly tiled), the French one is "démission." A
817 Ibid.
818 EOF, p. 199.
819 Cf. EOF, p. 199.
820 MD, p. 190.
821 Ibid.
822 MD, p. 194.