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

Chapter 7 - Rituals 493
learned and remembered. The pass-words which Masons use in answer
to the signs are equally so. The other means of recognition, by the aid of
the Signet, are not easily forgotten, and the whole system is available
for practical use at all times when required.
And there is one great merit in the Order of the EASTERN STAR
[...]; it is pure, graceful, and religious. 1442
These "pure and graceful" moral lectures of the ritual are based on five
Biblical characters which stand for the tenets of the Order - Adah, Ruth, Esther,
Martha, and Electa. However, the OES is not expressively for Christians, but
open to all religions and denominations.
The government of the Order is vested in three bodies: General Grand
Chapter, Grand Chapter, and Subordinate Chapter. Five Subordinate Chapters
may organize a Grand Chapter in any State or territory where no Grand Chapter
exists (cf. p. 1). A Subordinate Chapter, in order to act legally, must have a
Charter or Dispensation legally issued, which has to be present at its meetings.
Today, there are 46 U.S. States, eight Canadian Provinces, The District of
Columbia, and Puerto Rico joined by the General Grand Chapter. 1443 However,
New York and New Jersey do not belong to the General Grand Chapter but have
each a slightly different ritual and their own laws. 1444 Thus, according to the OES
homepage of New York, one difference is that in New York, the order is open to
any women 18 years of age or older; no Masonic affiliation is required. There are
about 48,000 members in the State of New York, organized in 395 Chapters,
which are subdivided into 39 regional Districts. 1445
According to the ritual published in 1912 which has been used for this work,
the order is open to Master Masons in good standing and their wives, daughters,
mothers, widows, and sisters, who have attained the age of eighteen (cf. p. 1).
This has been updated by the General Grand Chapter Assembly in November
1997 as enlarged to legally adopted daughters, stepmothers, stepsisters, halfsisters,
granddaughters, stepdaughters of a Master Mason, grandmothers, great
granddaughters, nieces, daughters-in-law, mothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, as well
as daughters of sisters or brothers of affiliated Master Masons. 1446
Among the landmarks of the order, the belief in the existence of a Supreme
Being is the first. The second landmark refers to the five degrees of the Order of
the Eastern Star, respectively Adah, the daughter, Ruth, the widow, Ester, the
wife, Martha, the sister, and Electa, the mother. According to the eighths
landmark, the degrees cannot be conferred unless a brother in good standing
shall preside.
1442
Macoy, Manual of the Order of the Eastern Star, p. 18/19.
1443
Cf. http://www.easternstar.org/ggc/frame.html
1444
Ibid.
1445
Cf. http://www.easternstar-ny.org/whatisny.htm
1446
Cf. http://www.oescal.org/whatisit.htm