“May this wine I now drink become a deadly poison to me if I ever knowingly or intentionally betray any of the secrets now about to be imparted to me.”

As the initiate says these words; words that have been spoken by countless men generations before him, he raises the hollow skull filled with blood-red wine toward his mouth drinking in long and deep swallows till the last drop.

About an hour before then, the initiate would have entered the temple blindfolded and dressed in loose-fitting white trousers and a tunic. His left leg was exposed to the knee and the left breast of the tunic had been drawn apart to expose that side of the chest. A hangman noose was put round his neck. Tonight, he was dressed as a medieval heretic before the Inquisition.

The ceremony proceeded with the initiate being led into the temple where the worship master will inquire of him to affirm that he is of age and that his desire to join the brotherhood wasn’t influenced by an unworthy motive, mercenary or improper solicitation. The initiate is then reminded of the punishment that may follow if he intentionally betrays the secrets now about to be imparted to him. After which the initiate is made to kneel in front of the altar before the worshipful master and to take the oath of fidelity by placing his right hand on the “Volume of Sacred Law” (The Bible) and reciting the words of the oath.

As the blindfold is taken off, the initiate begins to grasp the world before him. The assembly of brothers encircling him was....


Credit: http://ikengachronicles.com/freemasonry-an-ideal-guide-to-ending-religions-divisiveness-henry-bassey/

Meet on the level, part on the square..