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

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Chapter 7 - Rituals
gleanings were, raising her hands to Boaz to prove that she had not taken from
the sheaves. Then, she "placed them meekly upon her breast as proof of her
willingness to submit to whatever lot she might be called upon to endure, casting
her eyes upward, as appealing to God" (p. 49). Boaz was merciful and ordered
his reapers to drop handfuls of barley to make sure that Ruth gathered a supply.
Having heard this lecture, the candidate obtains the sign and the pass of this
degree, and is told that the appropriate color is yellow, "whose golden hue
symbolizes constancy, teaching faithful obedience to the demands of honor and
justice" (p. 49). The emblem of the degree is explained thus: "The Sheaf is an
emblem of plenty, and from its collection of minute parts, teaches that by patient
industry, gathering here a little and there a little, we may provide for the
infirmities of age." (p. 50). According to the Manual, the color yellow,
represented by the sunflower, alludes to the ripened grain that composed the
barley sheaves of Boaz, and the emblem of the Sheaf is to remind us of the
liberality of Boaz. 1457
Then, the Conductress leads the candidate in a march as described before to
the station of Esther. Again, Macoy explains in his Manual the motivation which
caused him to include the Biblical figure of Esther in the lecture of the Eastern
Star:
The principles and obligations of Freemasonry are fraternal, and we, as
Master Masons, are taught to respect fidelity to kindred and friends. We
are introduced into Freemasonry by a friend, vouched for by a friend,
conducted by a friend. Friendly hands support us through life, close our
eyes in death, and consign us tenderly to the bosom of mother earth.
There is no offense in Masonry more degrading than a breach of
friendship.
Therefore, when we find in history a person, exalted in station, rich
in this world's goods, learned and beloved, who casts all these
advantages aside in her fidelity to kindred and friends, we seize upon
that character as our own. We adopt and protect it. 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 ESTHER, under the
title of ESTHER. And we have so surrounded the EFFORTS of that
noble and heroic woman with emblems, legends and tokens of
recognition as to make of it a section in ADOPTIVE MASONRY. 1458
The officer Esther, to whom the candidate is presented, rises and relates her
story: She was a Jewish damsel who lived approximately five hundred years
before the Christian era, when the Jews were held in captivity within the Persian
empire. The Persian king, after having divorced Queen Vashti, searched the
empire for the most beautiful woman, thus making Esther the queen of Persia.
1457 Macoy, Manual of the Order of the Eastern Star, p. 34/39.
1458 Ibid, p. 43/44.