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

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Chapter 7 - Rituals
by the letters FNDOZ,BTKC. 1479 As we shall see later, this comes very close to
the content of today's ritual of the Heroines of Jericho. The degree of "Mason's
Wife" originally was only conferred to the wives of Masons, but later also
included other female relatives.
The earliest mentioning of the term "Mason's Daughter," according to Coil's
Masonic Encyclopedia, was in 1779 in the minutes of American Union Lodge,
where it was the name of a piece of music in an account of some celebration 1480 .
Wherever the Heroines of Jericho originated, and by whom they were
founded, seems to be of no importance to the ritual's publishers, the Grand High
Court, since they proudly date their ritual back to the pre-Christian era. Thus, the
Ritual and Guide from 1963, which has been employed for this work, states in its
introduction: "These Degrees existed in an organized state many years before the
Chapter, Council or Encampment were heard or thought of. In fact these Degrees
were known and given when we had nothing but the good Ancient Craft
Masonry, which is almost as old as creation." (p. 5). It also fervently distances
itself from the reputation of being inherent to Royal Arch Masonry:
We ask those who claim the Heroines of Jericho as the exclusive
property of the Holy Royal Arch to investigate the matter and history of
these Degrees, and then tells (sic) us which is right. The unmistakable
evidence of Masonic history and tradition makes the Heroines of Jericho
the property of the Master Mason House, and it will only create
confusion and discontent to try and take any one of the Degrees from
them. History plainly tells us that as far back as A.D. 1283 the Heroines
of Jericho was well known and practiced by Master Masons, and their
wives and daughters. Read the Masonic History of Sir William Wallace,
and others of Scotland; that of the Reign of the House of Valois, in
France; and from A.D. 1248 to 1500 in England and other countries.
(p. 5) 1481
We will refrain from commenting on this statement and instead refer to our
chapter on history and background, where we have already described some
Masons' custom to date their origins back to antiquity; e.g. to the Egypt of old,
or, even worse, the Ante-Deluvian theory, etc. With a tint of self-glorification,
the ritual further claims that "[t]hese degrees are the oldest and most perfect of
all the Female Degrees [...]. Among the many hundred that have been born in the
1479 Cf. ibid, p. 12.
1480 Ibid.
1481 One might think that from the 1960s until now, the tradition of placing the origin of the order in
the pre-Christian era may have changed; this is not so, for we read in the brief historical sketch on
the homepage, http://www.connecti.com/~joelbee/hoj.htm: "History tells us that the Heroines of
Jericho Degree was organized by Ancient Craft Masonry back in the times when the Jews were led
into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. The Jewish Masons consulted with
each other as how best to care for their females and preserve their family ancestry. After careful
study, the Jewish Masons instituted the Heroines of Jericho Degree and conferred the entire set of
degrees on their females and these degrees are known to this day." Cf. also the peculiar black
historical tradition mentioned in our chapter 3.3 on Prince Hall Freemasonry.