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

Chapter 7 - Rituals 637
Modern Woodmen of America, this order offered financial security to its
members:
The Endowment Rank, with its beautiful Ritual, provides safe and
economical insurance for every Knight. It has already paid over two and
one-half millions of dollars to the widows and orphans of our deceased
brothers, and our members are now carrying over forty-five millions of
dollars of life insurance in the Endowment Rank. 1587
There are two further parallels between Masonry and the Knights of Pythias -
both have established rites for their female relatives, and both have a "fun" order.
Thus, in August 1888, the ritual and organization of the Pythian Sisters was
approved by the Knights of Pythias. Interestingly, there were two different rituals
created for the ladies, one by Joseph Addison Hill, and the other one by Mrs.
Alva A. Young. This brought about two rivaling organizations, the Pythian
Sisters of the World and the Pythian Sisterhood. One of the differences was that
the former also admitted men, while the latter was exclusively for women. In
1907 these two women groups consolidated and adopted the name of Pythian
Sisters. 1588 Schmidt sums up the main similarities of the Pythian Sisters, the
Rebekahs (female order of the Odd Fellows), and the Eastern Star Masons:
By comparison, the Pythian Sisters have several things in common with
the Order of the Eastern Star and the Rebekah Assembly: (1) neither
group is accorded the status that is given to male lodges, even though
each of these female orders was organized by a Mason, Odd Fellow, and
Knight of Pythias, respectively; (2) neither group may initiate someone
who is not related to a male lodge member [...]; (3) all three have a
ritual patterned to some extent after the male rituals; (4) all three
support their respective male lodges. 1589
According to Schmidt, the Pythian Sisters, like other fraternal associations,
are characterized by a decreasing membership. Thus, the Grand Temple of
Nebraska boasted 1,595 Sisters in 1925, of whom were but left 918 in 1958, a
number that sank in 1967 to 725. 1590 As the Masons have their "Master Mason's
playground," the Shrine, the Knights of Pythias also have their past-time order:
"The Pythians, like some of the other Lodges, have their 'fun' group, the
Dramatic Order of the Knights of Khorassan (DOKK, referred to as 'Doakes' by
the members). This order was founded in 1894." 1591 Membership is limited to
Knights of Pythias, just as the Shrine is reserved for Master Masons, and the
1587 Ibid.
1588 Cf. Schmidt, p. 40/41.
1589 Ibid, p. 41.
1590 Schmidt, p. 41.
1591 Ibid, p. 39.