# "I hail..." Vs. "I hele"...



## Deonrwms (Jul 6, 2013)

I see, quite often in fact the interchangeable usage of the terms "hele" and "hail" in written correspondence between brethren and SisSTARS. My question is, does the literary definition of "hele", being old English, lose it's resonance when improperly applied in today's Masonry? 

Does your lodge champion Masonic education, so as to reflect on why certain "lost" words are used in ceremony versus others? Do we really still "hele" as dutifully as we should with the advent of social media and viral communication? 


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## crono782 (Jul 6, 2013)

I did a paper on this recently. Hele should be read as "to conceal" (based on old english as you stated) and reads properly when placed nearby its other words. Hail in the non-weather sense makes not a lot of sense in the same place. You'd be amazed how many bros don't ever ponder the word usage and just take it to mean "antique nonsense". Such a shame. 


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## Deonrwms (Jul 6, 2013)

Truly @Crono. The lessons of Masonry are many, and they lay in wait before us, yearning to be discovered in plain sight. I really don't want to see Masonry lose its teeth and message due to lack of expository learning amidst the brethren. 


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## dfreybur (Jul 8, 2013)

Hail in modern English means something like cheering at a sports event or a returning war hero.  It is also a loud wave and shout like hailing a taxi.

Those meanings make no sense and the Old English hele pronounced like them makes no sense as a result.  It's an anachronism.  Masonry is many things and one of them is a vocabulary expander and history teacher.


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## ThanatosTA (Jul 8, 2013)

"Masonry is many things and one of them is a vocabulary expander and history teacher."

The phrase that got to me was "From who's bourne".  It was driving me crazy.  I couldn't remember any of that sentance untill I looked up the word and then it all fell in place.


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## Deonrwms (Jul 8, 2013)

ThanatosTA said:


> "Masonry is many things and one of them is a vocabulary expander and history teacher."
> 
> The phrase that got to me was "From who's bourne".  It was driving me crazy.  I couldn't remember any of that sentance untill I looked up the word and then it all fell in place.



Funny how that works @ThanatosTA. Masonry does indeed cause us to grow in many arenas and avenues, but only if we apply the working tools appropriately. The nuances of the verbiage in the degrees and in the recited verses all have measure, all have meaning. It is up to us to seek it out. 


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## Trufflehound (Jul 8, 2013)

I just gave a very small lecture on this last month in lodge.  A lot of words in the catechism are paired with like-words.  "Hele" and "conceal" are two (depending on your jurisdiction).  They are synonyms, as has been pointed out, but the former is Anglo-Saxon, and the latter is Norman.  Another example of this would be "parts" and "points".

It has been speculated by some authors and researchers that these types of words were often paired together so that there could be absolutely no mistaking what was being said -- that the meaning of particular phrases would be clear no matter your dialect.  

I think that's a very, very interesting notion.  That suggestion implies strongly that Freemasonry's roots go back further than I initially thought.  How far back in history would one have to go to find these languages merging?  Would that put us into a time where the Craft was almost purely operative?  If so, we're discussing "hele" and "conceal".  When building structures out in the open, what use is there for secrets?  What can you hide when your work is unfurled slowly before anyone who would stop and look?  I think I've heard this train of logic comes from the book "Born in Blood", but I haven't read it yet.  In my (unscholarly) opinion, it lends credibility, maybe, to the idea that speculative Masonry goes back pretty far, though.

It's something I fully intend on reading about when my work schedule permits.  In the mean time, I guess I'll have to wait.


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## Mike Martin (Jul 9, 2013)

It seems to me that the original question just shows that the people involved have not noticed or not realised that the different spellings means that they are different words.

As to the Pronunciation, here in England different versions of the Ceremonies use one or other of the 2 possible pronunciations. The devolopment of the english language was different in the North of Britain where, following the exit of the Romans, the Danes held sway for 300 years compared to the South where the Saxons and then Normans did, hence why English, Scots and Welsh all talk differently. However, the actual meaning of the word is unchanged by how you say it.

I always find it useful to look at old dictionaries when i get stumped by how a word has been used Masonically, my favourite is the Meriam Webster Dictionary from 1828 because it can be searched on-line: http://1828.mshaffer.com/


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## BryanMaloney (Jul 10, 2013)

Technically, if one is using the pronunciation of the word when it was not obsolete, "hele" should have two syllables ("hay-lay")
Just saying...


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## crono782 (Jul 10, 2013)

For reference: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hele#English


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