Order of the Eastern Star
The Order of the Eastern
Star has a tangled history. Originally conceived as an American form of Adoptive
Masonry as early as the 1840s, it took until 1876 for the General Grand
Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, to be formed; and there are at least two
separate organizations that both say that they are dedicated to the unification
of all Eastern Stars, but which lead a separate existence from the General Grand
Chapter and were founded in 1947 and 1962 respectively. There is also an
African-American organization, dating from the days when American Masons
officially barred blacks from membership.
The
General Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star was founded in 1876. It
currently extends worldwide, in association (where appropriate) with the Supreme
Grand Chapter of Scotland. It is open to Master Masons in good standing, and
their female relatives over the age of 18 years. There were 2,087,063 members in
1994.
Robert
Morris, Master Mason, schoolteacher and poet, first attempted in the 1840s to
establish Adoptive Masonry in the United States, using a ritual of his own
devising. At first reviled by fellow Masons for betraying Masonic secrets, he
nevertheless persisted and throughout the 1850s conferred various degrees on
female relatives of Master Masons, with varying levels of cooperation from other
Master Masons. His Families of the Eastern Star dated from 1857.
Real
acceptance was slow in coming, and it was not until Morris’s rituals were
revised by the Masonic publisher Robert Macoy in 1866 that any greater success
came. Macoy added the degrees of Queen of the South, Past Matron’s Degree and
the Amaranth Degree. Even then, it was 10 years before the Central Grand Chapter
was organized, and the Grand Lodge of England still does not admit that the
Eastern Star has anything to do with Freemasonry. Indeed, the U.G.LE. has in the
past threatened with expulsion any Master Mason who receives any O.E.S. Degree
or serves as Worthy Patron.
The
order as now constituted works five degrees, based on the story of five women in
the Bible — an example of the way in which organizations adhering to deism
have become progressively more Christian in the United States, especially where
women are involved. The slogan of the order is, “We have seen His star in the
East, and are come to worship Hun.” The order even awards scholarships to
those involved in religious training.
The
ritual also illustrates powerful patriarchal values, and, of course, the degrees
must be conferred by a (male) Master Mason. The degrees are:
1.
Obedience, symbolized by Adah daughter of Jepthah (daughter)
2.
Devotion to religious values, symbolized by Ruth (widow)
3.
Fidelity, exemplified by Esther (wife)
4.
Faith in the Redeemer, symbolized by Martha sister of Lazarus (sister)
5.
Charity, symbolized by Electa, identified as the “Elect Lady” in the second
epistle of St. John (mother)
The
initial choice of characters certainly seems strange to an outsider, as Adah was
a human sacrifice, and Jepthah the Gileadite appears from the description in
Judges 11 to have been an outstandingly unattractive and inflexible fellow. In
return for being allowed to win a battle against the “children of Ammon,” he
promised Jehovah to slaughter as an offering the first thing that came to greet
him when he returned home (verses 30—31). He was apparently expecting his
daughter’s pet lamb, but the daughter beat the lamb to the portals. He was,
therefore, convinced he ought to kill her.
Equally
strangely, she wished to go to the mountains to bewail her virginity (verses
37—38), which he permitted; and when she came back two months later, not
having had the sense to stay away, he killed her. It is one of the most
unedifying passages in Holy Writ.
Much
the same form of ceremony is used for all five degrees, which are very
milk-and-water compared with the Masonic originals: no swords pointed at bared
breasts, no tongues torn out and bodies buried at the tide-line. A further
degree, Queen of the South, is honorary.
According
to the Eastern Star Ritual, when a lady claims to have taken these degrees, and
has given one or more of the Signs, a Mason may examine her in the following
manner:
Question: “Are you a sister of the Eastern Star?”
Answer:
“We have seen his star in the East.”
Question: “For what came you here?”
Answer:
“We came here to worship him.”
Question: “Have you the cabalistic word?”
Answer:
“I have.”
Question: “Will you give it to me?”
Answer:
“I will, with your assistance.”
Question: “Begin.”
Answer:
“No, you begin.”
Question: “Begin you.”
Answer:
“F.”
Question: “A.”
Answer:
“T.”
Question: “A.”
Answer:
“L.”
Question: “Has that word any signification?”
Answer:
“It has, two. First, that it would be fatal to the character of any
lady for truth who should disdose the secrets of these degrees unlawfully.
Second, each of the letters of this word stands for one or more words, which
words make the cabalistic motto.”
Question: “Have you the Cabalistic motto?”
Answer:
“I have.”
Question: “Will you give it to me?”
Answer:
“I will, with your assistance.”
Question: “Begin.”
Answer:
“No, you begin.”
Question: “Begin you.”
Answer:
“Fairest.”
Question: “Among.”
Answer:
“Ten thousand.”
Question: “Altogether.”
Answer:
“Lovely. Fairest — among — ten thousand —altogether lovely.
Note
that it is the Mason who interrogates the woman, reinforcing her position of
inferiority. It is not hard to sympathize with the U.G.L.E. in its disdain for
the order.
Functionally,
the Order of the Eastern Star is something between a female version of Masonry
in its own right, and an organization riding on the shirt-tails of Masonry; one
cannot help wondering how many women would join without the prompting of
husbands, fathers, and other male relatives.
Charitable
giving includes scholarships for students in religious training, and more.
Another
branch or sect of the Eastern Star is the Federation of Eastern Stars, founded
in 1962 and purportedly dedicated to the unification of Eastern Star orders
worldwide. It had 105,000 members in 1994 and was a female auxiliary of
Federation of Masons of the World.
The
Federation of Eastern Stars of the World was founded 15 years earlier, in 1947,
and is also purportedly dedicated to the unification of Eastern Star orders
worldwide. It had 57,000 members in 1994.
With
such a strong fraternal spirit — two separate organizations dedicated to unity
(but not with each other) and both separate from the main body, to say nothing
of excluding the Prince Hall (Black) Order—it is not surprising that the
Eastern Star is in decline. The total membership given above is under 2.6 million,
which is less than the membership of the General Grand Chapter alone in the
1970s.
This order has never been active in The Netherlands. before founding a Dutch female order, the Order of Weavers (Orde Vitae Feminea Textura), the founders had an idea of starting a Dutch branch of the O.E.S. This, however, was prohibited by the Dutch Grand Orient.
In 1921 the degree of Amaranth
became a separate order.
From the Order of the Eastern Star, a organization for young girls was founded:
the Order
of Rainbow for Girls. There is also the Order of
Job's Daughters for girls between 13-19, of which many girls join at a later
age the O.E.S.
We have published a large number of rituals and
other texts of this order on our CD-Rom Adoptive Rite
Library.