Past Master, or Fifth Degree | Chapter 5

p. 190

Furthermore do I promise and swear, that I will never open a Lodge of Master Masons unless there be present three regular Master Masons, besides the Tyler; nor close the same without giving a lecture, or some section or part of a lecture, for the instruction of the Lodge.

Furthermore do I promise and swear, that I will not sit in a Lodge where the presiding officer has not taken the degree of Past Master Mason.

To all of which I do most solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, with a fixed and steady purpose of mind to keep and perform the same; binding myself under no less penalty than (in addition to all my former penalties) to have my tongue split from tip to root, that I might forever thereafter be unable to pronounce the word, should I ever prove wilfully guilty of violating any part of this my solemn oath, or obligation, of a Past Master Mason. So help me God, and make me steadfast to keep and perform the same.

FIG. 27. PAST MASTER’S GRIP.

R. W. M. (to candidate.)–Kiss the Book five times.

The obligation having been administered, the candidate rises, when the Master proceeds to give him the sign, word, and grip of this Degree, as follows:

R. W. M. (to candidate.)–You now behold me approaching yon from the east, under the step, sign, and duegard of a Past Master Mason.

The Master now steps off with his left foot, and then places the heel of his right foot at the toe of the left, so as to bring the two feet at right angles, and make them the right angle of a square. He then gives the sign, placing the thumb of his right hand (fingers clinched) upon his lips. It alludes to the penalty of having his tongue split from tip to root. (See Fig. 25, p. 189.)

The Master then gives a second sign by placing his right hand upon the left side of his neck, and drawing it edgewise down-ward toward the right side, so as to cross the three former penalties. (See Fig. 26, p. 189.)

p. 191

R. W. M.–Brother, let me now have the pleasure of conducting you into the oriental chair of King Solomon. (Places a large cocked hat on his head, and seats him in a chair in front of the Master’s chair ) That wise king, when old and decrepit, was attended by his two friends, Hiram, King of Tyre, and Hiram Abiff, who raised and seated him in his chair by means of the Past Master’s grip. (See Fig. 27.)

The Master and Senior Warden now take the candidate by this grip, and raise him on his feet several times, each time letting him sit back in the chair again. The Senior Warden then goes back to his seat, the candidate rises, and the Right Worshipful Master instructs him in the grip and word of a Past Master Mason. They first take each other by the Master Mason’s grip (see Fig. 17, p. 120), and, putting the insides of their feet together, the Master whispers GIBLEM 1 in the ear of the candidate. At that moment they slip their right hands so as to catch each other just above the wrist of the left arm, and raise their left hands, catching each other’s right elbow, the Master saying, and the candidate repeating (in union with these motions), “From a grip to a span, from a span to a grip,” afterward (almost at the same instant) letting the left hand slip up the right arm to the back of each other, the Master saying, “A threefold cord is strong,” and the candidate (prompted) replying. “A fourfold cord is not easily broken.” (See Fig. 27.)

The Right Worshipful Master seats the candidate in the Master’s chair, places a hat on his head, and then comes down in front, and says:

Worshipful brother, I now present you with the furniture and various Masonic implements of our profession; they are emblematical of our conduct in life, and will now be enumerated and explained as presented.