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

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Chapter 8 - Categorization of Rituals
staging entertainment which will make Grand Lodge officers want to
visit. 1704
The "swinging door" with its allusion to taverns already anticipates the
drinking involved in fun "Masonic" activities, and the exaggerations of "roller
skates" and "cock fight" remind us of the goat riding in lodges to make them
more attractive for candidates. This social brother certainly has confused
Masonry with its "playground," the Shrine - with which we will introduce our
next topic, the publicity of the Shrine and Grottoes.
the Shriners - as the American public knows them
They are a favorite of the American public (cf. our chapter 8.4.1 on
"Charity"), composed of Master Masons and well-known for their dedication to
social purposes on the one hand and their funny escapades, mirrored by
processions, hilarious social events, etc. on the other.
A French Masonic dictionary sees this institution as typical of America with
its unlimited generosity and its unhidden infantilism:
L'ordre est paramaçonnique, et s'est fait une réputation tant par ses
défilés et cavalcades publiques, souvent tapageuses, que par son réel
esprit de charité, notamment en faveur des enfants infirmes. Un certain
infantilisme, associé à une générosité sans bornes, lui donne un
caractère nettement américain. 1705
1704 Commission on Masonic Education, Masonic Temple, Detroit, Mich. And Board of Gerneral
Activities, Masonic Hall, New York (ed.), Dollar Masonic Library In Ten Volumes, vol. IV: Our
Lodge Portrait Gallery by Roe Fulkerson, p. 12/13.
1705 DFM, p. 202.