women and masonry
From Grand Lodge of Texas
At no time in recorded history
have women been permitted to join a regular Masonic lodge. To find the reason
for this we must delve into the traditions of the Middle Ages when the tenets of
Masonry were being established. The operative Masons of those times, the
craftsmen who built the stately cathedrals, palaces and other public buildings,
lived together, worked together and traveled together. This alone would have
been awkward for women, but perhaps the real reason was that women had very few
rights in the Middle Ages. This was unfortunate but true.
Most of the rules governing the early
Masons have been preserved in the old manuscripts known as the Old Charges or
Constitutions. There are about 130 of these in all, the first being written
around 1390 A.D. They contain this rule concerning apprentices, "You shall not
marry, or contract yourself to any woman during your apprenticeship," and this
statement in 1663 concerning accepted members, "The persons admitted members of
a Lodge must be good and true men, free-born, and of mature and discreet ages,
no Bondmen, no Women, no immoral or scandalous men, but of good Report."
Apparently, Masons, even our early brethren,
have been sympathetic, gallant and gracious. Around 1737, each initiate was
given two pairs of white gloves with this message, "Put on these
gloves--their whiteness is a symbol of purity, and of the innocence of a Mason's
morals. This other pair is for a Lady's use, you will present it to the
one who holds the first place in your heart; we wish by that to prove to the
fair sex that we do not lose sight of them even in our Mysteries. If we do not
open the doors of this worthy Temple to them, it is because we fear their
allurement and the power of their charms."
Apparently, women have always associated with
Masonry. Early lodge minutes indicate feasts and other entertainment under Lodge
auspices to which wives, daughters and female friends were invited.
The City Companies of London, of which the Mason's Company was one, had a
Maiden's Chamber which was a powder room, assembly room, and dining room
exclusively for women.
This is not to say that women have not tried to
gain admittance. Around 1725 to 1750, quasi-Masonic activities were in vogue in
the capitols of Europe, especially Paris. Boredom in court circles caused ladies
to turn their attention to such practices, not only to the Craft itself, but in
frolics and skits including initiation ceremonies. They were often supported in
their actions by active Masons.
There are instances in which women have
been duly initiated either by accident or design. One of the best known was Miss
Elizabeth Saint Leger of Cork, Ireland. One evening, around 1710, she hid
herself in a room adjoining the Lodge, removed a brick from the wall of the
lodge-room and witnessed an initiation. In leaving, she inadvertently ran into
the Tyler who escorted her into the lodge room. The brethren decided to obligate
her, and one story has it that she ultimately became Master of the Lodge. She
was often seen wearing full Masonic regalia, and when she died in 1775, she was
accorded the honor of a Masonic burial.
In the United States, several women have
been obligated not to reveal what they overheard, and there have always been men
who favored Female Masonry. Opportunities for co-habitation have always existed
and still do. These have been called Co-Masonry, Adoptive Masonry, Androgynous
Masonry, and that recognized today as an appendant Masonic body, the Order of
Eastern Star. Adoptive Masonry got its name from a requirement that each female
society had to be adopted by and placed under the guardianship of a regular
Masonic lodge. Androgenous refers to degrees which can be conferred on both
males and females.
One especially interesting chapter of
Adoptive Masonry arose in Paris in 1743 and was called The Order of Happy Folks.
It had a nautical bearing with all the Sisters making a symbolic voyage from the
isle of Felicity in ships navigated by the brethren. There were four degrees:
Cabin-boy, Captain, Commodore, and Vice-Admiral. Two others were called Knights
and Ladies of the Anchor and the order of Wood-Cutters. Adoptive Masonry was
officially sanctioned by the Grand Orient of France on 10 June 1774, which
recognized four degrees: Female Apprentice, Craftswoman, Mistress, and Perfect
Masoness. In 1817, a fifth degree was added: Female-elect Sublime Scottish Dame.
These flourished in France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Poland and Russia. Being
always conservative, England refused to recognize them.
The Rite of Adoption never made it to
America, but in 1850, a man named Rob Morris introduced a form of it here, which
he called the American Adoptive Rite. Albert Pike took great interest in this
movement, saying "Our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters cannot, it is true,
be admitted to share with us the grand mysteries of Freemasonry, but there is no
reason why there should not be also a Masonry for them ... by means of which
... they may co-operate in the great labors of Masonry by assisting in, and in
some respects directing their charities and toiling in the cause of human
progress."
Of course, we don't call the society formed
by Rob Morris the American Adoptive Rite anymore. We call it the Order of
Eastern Star. Morris, an ardent minister and Mason, saw the need for an order in
which Masons and their families could meet and enjoy fraternalism. He invented
it, wrote the degrees for it and published its Rosary. This beautiful
organization, now almost 150 years old, is one of the largest fraternal orders
in the world to which both men and women can belong. And, when you put it
alongside the world's largest fraternal organization for men, it makes you feel
real proud to be associated.
I wouldn't want you to go away thinking
that men haven't found humor in all of this, so I'll read to you the first and
last stanzas of a poem that was published, anonymously of course, in 1765:
"It is oft of the females been said
(But you'll own the report is not true)
That they are not Freemasons made
For they cannot their passions subdue,
That they never can subject their will,
Nor be bound any secrets to keep,
Nor never can keep their tongues still,
Except when in bed fast asleep.
Then ladies attend to advice,
And listen to what I impart,
In virtue and honor be nice,
Learn to govern the tongue and the heart;
In short, you must copy the fair,
Whom I have just mentioned before,
And then we will try, I declare
To admit you within the Lodge door." |
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