Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

222 DUAD
DUELING
Crusaders ; all of whom were added, by subsequent
immigrations, to the original stock to
constitute the present or modern race of
Druses . Their religion is a heretical compound
of Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedism
; the last of which, greatly modified,
predominates in their faith. They have a
regular order of priesthood the office being
filled by persons consecrated' for the purpose,
comprising principally the emirs and sheiks,
who form a secret organization divided into
several degrees, keep the sacred books, and
hold secret religious assemblies . Their sacred
books are written in antiquated Arabic . The
Druses are divided into three classes or degrees,
according to religious distinctions . To enable
one Druse to recognize another, a system of
passwords is adopted, without an interchange
of which no communication is made that may
give an idea of their religious tenets . (Tien's
Druse Religion Unveiled .)
Dr . Clarke tells us in his Travels that "one
class of the Druses are to the rest what the
initiated are to the profane, and are called
Okkals, which means spiritualists ; and they
consider themselves superior to their countrymen.
They have various degrees of initiation ."
Colonel Churchill, in his Ten Years' Residence
on Mount Lebanon, tells us that among this
singular people there is an order having many
similar customs to the Freemasons. It requires
a twelvemonth's probation previous to
the admission of a member . Both sexes are
admissible. In the second year the novice
assumes the distinguishing mark of the white
turban, and afterward, by degrees, is allowed
to participate in the whole of the mysteries .
Simplicity of attire, self-denial, temperance,
and irreproachable moral conduct are essential
to admission to the order .
All of these facts have led to the theory
that the Druses are an offshoot from the early
Freemasons, and that their connection with
the latter is derived from the Crusaders, who
according to the same theory, are supp osed
to have acquired their Freemasonry during
their residence in Palestine . Some writers go
so far as to say that the degree of Prince of
Lebanon, the Twenty-second in the Ancient
and Accepted Scottish Rite, refers to the
ancestors of these mystical mountaineers in
Syria .
Duad . The number two in the Pythagorean
system of numbers .
Dualism . In the old mythologies, there
was a doctrine which supposed the world to
have been always governed by two antagonistic
principles, distinguished as the good and
the evil principle . This doctrine pervaded
all the Oriental religions .
Thus in the system of Zoroaster we have
Ahriman and Ormuzd, and in the Hebrew
cosmogony we find the Creator and the Serpent
. There has been a remarkable development
of this system in the three degrees of
Symbolic Masonry, which everywhere exhibit
in their organization, their symbolism, and
their design, the pervading influences of this
principle of dualism . Thus, in the First De-
free, there is Darkness overcome by Light ;
m the Second, Ignorance dispersed by Knowledge,
and in the Third, Death conquered by
Eternal Life .
Dub . In the ancient ceremonies of chivalry,
a knight was made by giving him three
strokes on the neck with the fiat end of the
sword, and he was then said to be "dubbed a
knight ." Dubbing is from the Saxon, dubban,
to strike with a blow . Sir Thomas Smith
(Eng. Commonwealth), who wrote in the sixteenth
century, says : "And when any man is
made a knight, he, kneeling down, is strooken
of the prince, with his sword naked, upon the
back or shoulder, the prince saying= Sus or
sois chevalier au uom de Dieu, and (in times
past) they added St . George, and at his arising
the prince sayeth, Avancey. This is the manner
of dubbing of knights at this present ; and
that terme dubbing was the old terme in this
point, and not creation."
Due East and West . A Lodge is said to
be situated due East and West for reasons
which have varied at different periods in the
ritual and lectures . (See Orientation .)
Due Examination. That sort of examination
which is correct and prescribed by law .
It is one of the three modes of proving a
strange brother ; the other two being strict
trial and lawful information . (See Vouching)
Due Form . When the Grand Lodge is
opened, or any other Masonic ceremony performed,
by the Deputy Grand Master in the
absence of the Grand Master, it is said to be
done in due form. Subordinate Lodges are
always said to be opened and closed in due
form . It is derived from the French word
du, and that from devoir, "to owe,"-that
which is owing or ought to be done. Due
form is the form in which an act ought to be
done to be done rightly. French : En due
forme. (See Ample Form .)
Due Guard. A mode of recognition which
derives its name from its object, which is to
duly guard the person using it in reference
to his obligations, and the penalty for their
violation . The Due Guard is an Americanism,
and of comparatively recent origin, being
unknown to the English and continental
systems . In some of the old rituals of the
date of 1757, the expression is used, but only
as referring to what is now called the Sign .
Dueling . Dueling has always been considered
a Masonic crime, and most of the
Grand Lodges have enacted statutes by which
Masons who engage in duels with each other
are subject to expulsion . The Monde Maconnique
(May, 1858) gives the following correct
view on this subject : "A Freemason who
allows himself to be involved in a duel, and
who possesses not sufficient discretion to be
able to make reparation without cowardice,
and without having recourse to this barbarous
extremity, destroys by that impious act the
contract which binds him to his brethren .
His sword or his pistol, though it may seem to
spare his adversary still commits a murder,
for it destroys his brothers-from that time
fraternity no longer exists for him."