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

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Chapter 7 - Rituals
Grand asks the Outside Conductor to take the candidate back to the anteroom, so
that he can re-enter the lodge and take his "next step in fraternity" (p. 86).
Re-entering, the candidate assumes a new name; now, he is "David, the son
of Jesse" (p. 87), and his goal is "to visit Saul, king of Israel." Thus, as in Craft
Masonry and in several of the androgynous orders, the candidate plays the role
of a certain Biblical or legendary character living in the corresponding time and
environment. The candidate is admitted to the presence of the "king," who is
represented by the Noble Grand. Since Saul has but slain his thousands, but
David his tens of thousands, the king is jealous of David and intends to smite
him with his sword. The lodge members, led by the Warden, advise the
candidate (David) to fly away before he can be killed, when the Inside
Conductor, acting the part of the king's son Jonathan, tells David about his plan:
David has to hide himself by the stone Ezel, while Jonathan shoots three arrows
and tells a lad to find them. When he says to the lad that the arrows are on this
side, then there is peace between his father and David, but if he says that they are
beyond, David has to flee. This scene is truly enacted, and the arrows are beyond
the lad. The ritualistic climax consists in the mutual kneeling of Jonathan and
David, their left knees touching, and their right hands clasped (cf. p. 89) - here
we note a slight resemblance to Masonic symbolic forms of touching each other,
like the "five points of fellowship" - while the Inside Conductor (Jonathan) and
the Outside Conductor (for the candidate) solemnly utter the magic formula:
"The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed forever"
(p. 89). This maxim is emblematic for the First Degree and the brotherhood of
Odd Fellows as a whole. The lodge members repeat it, and then exclaim: "Hail to
the covenant of friendship!" (p. 89/90).
Thus end the ceremonies of the First Degree, and the candidate receives the
password, the sign of the degree, the answer to it, the "memento", the Warning
Sign, the Sign of Safety, the Sign of Danger, the grip, and the token. Hereafter,
the Noble Grand confers the concluding charge and welcomes the new brother of
the Degree of Friendship.
Closing Ceremonies
These can be dealt with in a few words, as they fill but merely half a page of
the ritual. Odd Fellow law has it that "after balloting in or conferring the First or
Second degrees, the lodge must re-open in and close from the Third Degree" (p.
77). Thus, the Noble Grand or Degree Master asks the members to rise with
three raps of his gavel, thanks them for their presence and makes them advance
the sign of the Third Degree. Hereafter, he demands the Warden to proclaim the
lodge duly closed, and that was it. In Freemasonry, there is no closing ceremony
so short and unimpressive, and the brethren are not thanked for their attendance,
either, which is a rather succinct formula. Then, the Noble Grand raps once, and
the lodge is duly closed.