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

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Chapter 7 - Rituals
first station of lecture, leaving the altar on the right and passing out between
Electa and Adah, leaving Adah on the right, all around the outside of the Star,
and returning to Adah (p. 43). This march is similar to the Masonic travels,
through which knowledge is acquired. During the march, there might either be
vocal or instrumental music offered, or the Worthy Patron may recite a Biblical
text.
The first point of the Star is Adah's station. The Manual explains why the
creator of the ritual has expressively chosen this character:
The structure of Freemasonry, in its obligations and principles is
peculiar, and we, as Master Masons, are taught to respect the binding
force of a vow. Therefore, when we find in Bible history a person who
submits to wrongs, to suffering and death, to secure the sanctity of a
vow, we seize upon that character as our own. We adopt or surround it
with fraternal protection. We hail it as a Masonic character, and we
claim whatever credit or honor may be associated with it.
Such a character [...] we discover in the Book of Judges, under the
title of JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER. And we have so surrounded the
SACRIFICE of that noble and heroic woman with emblems, legends
and tokens of recognition as to make of it a section in ADOPTIVE
MASONRY. 1451
Sister Adah rises and tells the candidate her story: She was the daughter of
Jephthah, the ninth judge and one of the mightiest men of Israel, who, prior to a
battle, had vowed unto the Lord to give to him as a burnt offering whatsoever
came forth of his house, if the Lord deliver the children of Ammon into his
hands. Returning home after a successful battle, the door opened and his
daughter, his only child, met him with timbrels and dances. Hearing that she has
been promised as a burnt offering, she retired among the mountains for two
months to prepare for death, and then returned to her father. He threw her veil
over her face and drew his sword, but Adah unveiled herself because she was not
afraid of death, and did not want to die in the dark, since she had been promised
to the Lord: "She said it was the practice to cover the faces of murderers and
criminals when they were about to be put to death, but for her part she was no
criminal, and died only to redeem her father's honor. 1452 Her father tried to cover
her face a second and a third time, but she cast the veil off, finally holding its
ends firmly in her hands, looking upward and receiving the fatal blow.
After this lecture, the candidate is communicated the sign of this degree and
learns that its color is blue, which symbolizes fidelity. The emblems of the
degree are the Sword and Veil, because by the sword Adah was slain, and the
veil alludes to her "determination to die in the light, suffering no stain to rest
upon her memory" (p. 46). According to the Manual, the symbolism is further
explained thus: "The color BLUE alludes to the cerulean hue of the mountains in
1451 Macoy, Manual of the Order of the Eastern Star, p. 25/26.
1452 Macoy, Manual of the Order of the Eastern Star, p. 30.