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

374
Chapter 6 - Peculiarities of Masonic Language
which it formed a part, commencing with the Rite of Perfection." 1194 As Coil
states in his encyclopedia, this term was a peculiarity of French Masonry, since
"[n]o Areopagus or any other Third Apartment appears in the degree as
contained in early American rituals of the Scottish Rite [...]." 1195
It is a peculiar Masonic custom to ask the candidate in the ritual "whence
came you?" A candidate of the First Degree answers "[f]rom a lodge of the Holy
Saints John of Jerusalem." He is then asked, "[w]hat came you here to do?"
whereupon he answers "[l]earn to subdue my passions and improve myself in
masonry [sic]." 1196 In the Second Degree, the candidate is asked whence he came
and whither he is travelling, to which he replies: "[f]rom the West, traveling
East. [...] In search of more light in Masonry." 1197 Finally, in the Third Degree,
the candidate answers to the same question, "[f]rom the West, traveling East. [...]
In search of further light in Masonry." 1198 These definitions of the places where
the candidate comes from and where he wants to go are even more elaborate in
the androgynous Masonic orders. The ritual of the Heroines of Jericho, the
female affiliation of Prince Hall Masonry for colored people, exemplifies this.
In the first degree of the Heroines of Jericho, called Master Mason's
Daughter, there is the following question-and-answer dialogue in the lecture after
the investiture of the candidate:
Answer: "I wish to see the faithful of the City of Jericho."
Question: "From whence come you and where are you
travelling?"
Answer: "From Salem to Jerusalem."
Question: "What there to receive?"
Answer: "To learn obedience to the laws of our fathers." 1199
It alludes to Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on the back of an ass's colt, while the
faithful cast their garments and green leaves onto his way. The candidate for the
first degree also carries a bunch of evergreen. In the second degree of the
Heroines of Jericho, called True Kinsman, there is another usage of place names,
this time referring to the Biblical character of Ruth, the Moabitess:
Question: "From whence came ye?"
Answer: "From the land of Moab."
Question: "To where did you travel?"
Answer: "To the land of Promise." [...]
Question: "After being admitted, what did you receive?"
Answer: "A part and lot in the inheritance of our fathers and
mothers." 1200
1194
CME, p. 70. Cf. also IFL, p. 90.
1195
Ibid.
1196
Nizzardini, p. 50.
1197
Ibid, p. 127.
1198
Ibid, p. 198.
1199
Ritual of the Heroines of Jericho, p. 28.