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

Chapter 7 - Rituals 473
America to Asia. They stop at a table with a basin of water. While the aspirant
washes and wipes her hands, which have therefore been released, the Venerable
Master explains this ceremony:
We are all in bonds to our appetites, infirmities and passions. In the
ancient Initiations the Candidate was required to wash her hands in pure
water, as a symbol of purification, and as a solemn pledge of future
innocence and rectitude. If you are willing to give us the same pledge,
do so, by the same symbol! 1420 (I., p. 30)
After this ceremony of purification, the candidate's hands are confined again,
and she has to make the circuit of the Lodge once more, halting at the table with
the burning alcohol. During her travels, the Venerable Master reads a
metaphorical text, according to which she should practice charity and hospitality,
in order to be rewarded by the "Chief Shepherd" with a "crown of glory that
fadeth not away" 1421 (I., p. 30). Another purification ceremony awaits the
candidate; the Venerable Master explains to her that they are all bound to their
prejudices, follies, and frivolities, from which they must be purified by fire.
Since two is the sacred number, the Senior Master of Ceremonies frees the
candidate's hands and passes her right one twice through the flame:
Are you willing, by the proper symbol of purification, to give us your
pledge that you will endeavor to free yourself from the weights and
impediments that hold the soul chained down to earth, and restrain its
aspirations toward the Infinite and the Divine? [...]
[T]he flame, the smoke and the perfume of incense, ascending
heavenward, are eloquent symbols of the aspirations of the Soul, and of
the thoughts of adoration unutterable in words. (I., p. 31)
When the Senior Master of Ceremonies has reported to the Venerable Master
that the aspirant has made the two symbolic journeys and passed through the
"baptisms of water and fire" (I., p. 31), the Venerable Master burns incense in
token of their gratitude to God. The Inspectress and Preceptress likewise throw
incense into the pan on the table; the first as a token of trust in His Mercy, the
second as a token of penitence and hope of pardon by the "Infinite Love" (I., p.
31).
In the silence which follows, the Brethren, with drawn swords, which point to
the floor at a 45° angle, step in front of the Sisters, who sit down behind them, so
as not to be seen by the candidate. All is in gloom and the air is filled with
incense, when the Mistress of Ceremonies removes the candidate's bandage,
"who sees herself almost alone among men" (I., p. 32). This is a strange "shock
of enlightenment," not to be found in the other androgynous orders dealt with in
1420
This procedure, as Ceremony of Ablution, is also practiced by the Order of the Amaranth.
1421
The Wreath of Amaranth, with which the candidate for the Order of the Amaranth is crowned,
also is a "crown that does not fade."