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

488
Chapter 7 - Rituals
which is the sign for the Senior Master of Ceremonies and the Mistress of
Ceremonies to blindfold the candidate and take her slippers off.
A strip of carpeting is laid out from where she stands to the altar, and a
second one from the altar to the table in Asia, on which she can walk with her
naked feet. She is made to kneel again at the altar, and this time the members do
not form a circle, but the Sisters form a square around the candidate, Master,
Mistress, Inspectress and Preceptor, and the Brethren form an outer square, with
their swords elevated at a 45° angle, their points equally forming a square above
the candidate's head. The candidate assumes the obligation, and when this is
concluded, all the lights are lighted, while the Most Venerable Master recites a
verse about the end of days and the final judgement: "And it shall come to pass,
in that day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark: but it shall be all one day,
which shall be known to the Lord: not day nor night; but it shall come to pass
that at evening-time it shall be LIGHT." (III., p. 41). At the last word, the
Brethren clash their swords together as "shock of enlightenment," the music
strikes a few wild chords, and the candidate's bandage drops. The Most
Venerable Master explains to her the symbolism of the squares in and under
which she stands:
Being restored to the Light, my Sister, you find yourself enclosed in the
Mystic Square, formed by the Sisters and Brethren: and you are thus
assured that so will they always unite to assist, defend, and protect you,
while you prove yourself worthy [...] by a punctual performance of all
your obligations and duties. (III., p. 42)
Such a proof of association and interrelationship between "real" Masonry and
"Masonry for women," with the inherent Craft symbolism of the square, is not to
be found neither in the Order of the Eastern Star nor in the Amaranth. Now
follows another purification ceremony, which is in allusion to the law of Moses,
according sprinkle people and their garments anointing oil and blood, and to
purify the house in a like manner:
[...] and he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running
water; and he shall take the cedar-wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet,
and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in
the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times, and so purify the
house; but he shall let go the living bird [...] into the fields, and make an
atonement for the house, and it shall be purified. (III., p. 42/43)
The Master sprinkles the Hall and the candidate seven times with the
imitative blood, the red-colored perfume, as a symbol of the purification of the
soul, which is the condition to become a Mistress of the Light. Hereafter, the
candidate has to emancipate herself from the seven chief faults of her life,
whatever they may be. Then, she is led to the other table, on which the Master
lights the alcohol and throws incense with the spoon into the flames, while