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

Second, or Degree of Brotherly Love
Chapter 7 - Rituals 605
The Degree of Brotherly Love, as we can already guess from its title, enacts a
Biblical story of brotherly love, respectively the legend of the good Samaritan.
The candidate hereby plays the role of the traveler who is assaulted by robbers,
ignored by the popular, and finally saved by a despised one.
The Conductor leads the candidate, who is not blindfolded, to the inside door,
giving the alarm of three raps, and reports to the Inside Guardian that a brother
who has taken the covenant of the order seeks to advance further into its
mysteries. Asked for the reason, he answers, "[b]ecause he would learn how to
discharge his obligation" (p. 103). This is a parallel to his answer in the First
Degree, where the candidate's desire was to be "more fraternal," while in Craft
Masonry, the purpose is the quest for light. The Vice Grand admits him, that he
may "be instructed in the divine lesson of humanity" (p. 103). We see from all
these reasons given that the Odd Fellows aim at the perfection of the moral state
of the candidate, and that from the original benefit organization there seems to be
not much retained in the ceremonies. The candidate is obligated and has to return
to the anteroom, in order to re-enter and take "another step in fraternity." This
means that the candidate is going to play his role in the legend of the good
Samaritan.
Giving the alarm at the inside door, the Conductor announces the candidate
as a traveler from Jerusalem on his way to Jericho on a mission of humanity (cf.
p. 105). The candidate is now blindfolded and wears a cloak. The Conductor
walks around the room with him, which resembles the Masonic travels, and tells
him how pleasant the way and how fine the weather is. Suddenly, he mentions
that they are entering a narrow defile of the hills, and several members as robbers
surround them, crying "Stand and deliver!," "Strike," or "Death!" (cf. p. 106).
The Conductor strikes the candidate on the shoulder and causes him to lie down
on a low bench. The ritual (as it is also done in Woodmen lodges, for example)
says several times in annotations that no rough usage is allowed, and that nobody
except for the Conductor may touch the candidate (cf. p. 106).
In the following, the Conductor speaks for the candidate, calls for help, and
relates in a soliloquy how the priest and the Levite pass by and forsake him.
Then, the Warden acts as Samaritan, takes hold of the candidate, puts a cloak
upon him for protection, and asks him to lean on him. The candidate has to travel
again around the lodge room, and is led to the side facing the Past Grand, where
the Warden as Samaritan says there is an inn. The Past Grand acts as host and
accepts money from the Warden to provide for the wounded traveler.
Then follows a pause, after which the candidate is assisted to rise and taken
slowly around the room twice. The Conductor informs the Noble Grand that the
traveler has returned, and the principal officer asks the candidate who of the
three passers-by was his real brother. The Conductor answers for him that it was
the one who had mercy, and the candidate is told to act likewise in his life. All
the brethren have to repeat: "He is my brother and friend who had mercy on me"
(p. 109), which summarizes the lecture of this degree. Hereafter, the blindfold is