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

12. Summary
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Freemasons employ a special way of communicating. This dissertation evaluates
many different aspects of this communication: sign language, metaphors,
symbols, neologisms, technical terminology, ritualistic travels, etc. The problem
under investigation is the Masonic claim to possess a "universal language" that is
understood by members world-wide. The organizing construct of this
dissertation is a comparison of the whole range of Freemasonry - male, female,
youth orders, orders for the Black, and quasi-Masonic fun orders - with imitative
fraternities, such as early American benefit societies, the International Order of
Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and their inherent diction. The
experimental method used by the author included the location and research of
Masonic and other fraternal sources of the last three centuries, visits to Masonic
institutions and interviews with Freemasons. These activities led to the findings
that, while the symbols are generally applicable, the written Masonic language is
not totally uniform internationally. Thus, while symbols like the "brute stone"
are the common basis of all Masonic Rites and orders, Masonic rituals differ
more or less in their arrangements and occasionally use various ciphers. This
suggests that the ethical teaching which is to be drawn out of the symbolic
Masonic communication has reached an international level, and it is a fact that it
is still alive since the official founding of Freemasonry in 1717, but the ritualistic
phraseology of comparable early trade unions and mutual benefit societies of the
United States either has ceased to be employed or merely forms a pompous but
hollow shell around a worldly issue, such as insurance.
12.1 On the Author
Christina Linda Voss studied English, French, and Russian combined with
special studies in technology at the School of Applied Linguistics and Cultural
Studies of Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz at Germersheim. She spent a
term at the University of Burgundy in Dijon as an Erasmus scholarship holder,
and another term as a direct exchange student at Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale. In 1998, Ms. Voss received the degree of graduate translator for
English and French. She completed her degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 2003.