Death On The River Jordan
On old stories, and passwords
To be honest, I’ve always been a little bit disturbed by our Fellowcraft Degree password. Not the word itself, but the story we tell about the word’s origin. To my mind, it just doesn’t seem to fit with a Craft built upon Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth.
Not a lot disturbed, but a little.
I grow a bit more disturbed when that story is continued within the ritualistic work of the Order of the Eastern Star.
But the stories are truly ancient, from thousands of years ago, with little reflection of reality today. Not much harm is to be found in their recounting one must assume.
Last night before bed I read the following passage. I must admit that my disturbed dial was turned up a notch or two:
“Freemasonry followed a similar trajectory in the Dominican Republic, including under General Rafael L. Trujillo, who governed as a dictator, directly or through others for thirty years. Trujillo, a thirty-third degree Scottish Rite Mason, kept the Craft separate from his government dealings with few notable exceptions. In the 1930’s, for example, thousands of Haitians entered the country illegally through its porous border. To halt said crossings, Trujillo ordered the army to kill, in a single night, as many Haitians as they could locate. To differentiate black Haitians from black Dominicans, Trujillo had detainees pronounce the Spanish word ‘perejil,’ which, for the French speaking Haitians was difficult to pronounce. Although it may be tempting to draw conclusions, it is unknown if Trujillo derived this biblical strategy from exposure to fraternal lore or simply the former.”1
True, we can not know for sure where the murderer got his idea, but it does seem reasonable that a line can be drawn to our old story. At the least, it is plausible.
And that is, more than a bit disturbing, to me.
Freemasonry in the Spanish Antilles by Jorge Luis Romeu - Heredom Volume 32
I believe this to be a reference to "pass" words in general. It's always been my conjecture that the importance lies in the difference between true words and pass words. Purging the lodge becomes different in this degree and we have this as the reason.
It's the reason we are "passed" to this degree.
Without divuldging too much, I think there's a lot to think about on this transition. Even in the 1700's, this reference would have seemed forced and outdated. It's not unlike the lessons we learn in architecture. In the early 1900's, there is a reference to our jurisdiction considering changing some of the architectural lessons due to them being seen as simplistic to many. What a very wise PGM of our jurisdiction said in his speech at our annual communication was that the lesson wasn't on Greek architecture specifically. It was, like so many of our lessons, allegorical and represented the entire body of the craft.
I would encourage you to look at this from a different angle. One that explains transitions. I believe there is a lot of allegorical value in this speech. One that could be seen to represent our own transitions and one that could represent guarding the west gate.
I could go into more depth here, but I'm currently on a park bench in Paris overlooking the Seine River... I'm going to get back to it.
Regardless of where they get it, sick minds find justification for their perverse actions. Sometimes they just make stuff up.