Should Eastern Stars be allowed to wear Masonic items?

[lilhancock]

Brothers,

Recently there has been a lot of discussion or buzz about OES members vs Masonic items.

Do you believe the members of the Eastern Star should be allowed to wear Masonic pics or t-shirts? For instance the OES Worthy Grand Patron currently sells ties with both logos on it to men and women.

What is your take?

 

[Bro. Stewart P.M.]

IMO, you ladies of the Eastern Star have just as much right to wear the Square & Compasses as we do, and for the same reason you have the ablity to join OES.

As far as I am concerned the more visible your masonic ties are the SAFER you travel! You go right ahead and wear it with pride!

 

[Blake Bowden]

Do you believe the members of the Eastern Star should be allowed to wear Masonic pics or t-shirts?

Male members yes, ladies no.

 

[Bro. Stewart P.M.]

Some of the items created for women of masonry (wives, widows, Mothers, daughters, & sisters) the slipper pin:

History of the Slipper Pin

Are you familiar with the Masonic blue slipper? It is a small lapel pin in the shape of a blue slipper. Over the years it has been my habit to ask my wife and my daughters to wear one of these slippers on a coat or dress when traveling alone away from home. What is the meaning of this blue slipper and why should female relatives of Masons wear one?

Some 50 or 60 years ago, while I was still living at home, a widowed lady who was a cousin of my Dad's came to visit our home. She vacationed with us for several weeks every summer. She always wore this type of pin-The Blue Slipper. Her doctor husband was a Mason. The pin that she wore made a lasting impression on me. Through my curiosity and questioning, she told me it was a Masonic pin and served to identify her as a Masonic widow. She declared that Masonic men gave her extra attention while traveling, especially on the railroad (conductors, etc.).

To find out the meaning of this pin, let us go back in history to Boaz' time-the Book of Ruth. It will be remembered that Elimelech, his wife, Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilon, fled to the land of Moab to escape the famine in their homeland of Bethlehem-judah. Things went well for a while. Then life fell apart for them. Elimelech died. The two sons married Moabite girls-Orpha and Ruth. Again tragedy struck. Mahlon and Chilon died. This left Naomi a widow in a foreign land with two widowed daughters-in-law from the land of Moab.

In time of trouble, people think of home and more importantly of God. Naomi found out that the famine back home had subsided, and there was grain and food again. So she confided with Orpha and Ruth that she would journey back home and be among her kinsmen.

Certain laws, rules, or customs governed her thinking at this time. Of first consideration was the fact that Naomi was too old to bear a son for her daughters-in-law to marry. Even if she could, the daughters-in-law would not wait for the son to grow up. So the girls should remain among their own people. The girls resisted and started to go with Naomi. Orpha was finally convinced she should stay in Moab. But Ruth remained steadfast and went with Naomi to her homeland.

Naomi and Ruth arrived back in Bethlehem-judah at harvest time. The Scripture passage on which this is based is well-known. "And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." This passage of Scripture is unsurpassed as a declaration of love and devotion of one person for another. It has been said that it would made a good marriage vow. But, to me it is a different type of devotion.

Naomi also had to take into consideration another law. When Elimelech died, his next of kin was duty bound to redeem his possessions and take care of his widow and her family. Since Naomi was getting old, Ruth tried to earn a livelihood. While gleaning in the fields, she was seen by Boaz. And when he found out about her (that she was Naomi's daughter-in-law, etc.), he arranged special treatment for her. She could work with his girls in the field, and the young men were warned not to bother her. Since Boaz was not married and was kin to Naomi, Naomi decided that she should somehow make Boaz understand his duty to Elimelech's family. So Naomi advised Ruth to bathe and anoint herself and go to the threshing floor after dark and lay at the feet of Boaz. Boaz awoke at midnight and discovered her there. So as not to create a scandal, he gave her some barley and asked her to leave before dawn so that watching eyes would not recognize her.

Business among the tribe of Bethlehem-judah took place at the gate of the city. So Boaz sat down at the gate the next day because he knew there was a kinsman more closely related to Elimelech than he. So when the kinsman came by, Boaz called him aside and asked 10 men of the elders of the city to sit with them. Boaz bargained with his kinsman. The kinsman said he would redeem Elimelech's property. But, when he found out that he would have to take care of Naomi and Ruth, he reneged and told Boaz he would not redeem or protect Elimelech's interest. He would leave it to Boaz. The passage from Scripture for these events is the following: "And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it., Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor: and this was a testimony in Israel."

So the kinsman drew off his shoe and gave it to Boaz. Boaz held it up for all in the gate to see. He asked them to be witnesses that he became Naomi's protector, Ruth's husband, and a redeemer of Elimelech's property. Thus, today we have the little blue slipper as an emblem of the protective influence of Masons for their wives, widows, and daughters.

Reprinted:
This article first appeared in the July 1986 issue of the New Age Journal, now called the Scottish Rite Journal
Clyde H. Magee, 32°


Of course the Slipper Pin has the Sq&Css incorporated into the design intentionally for our ladies to wear. Every lady in my life (qualified for OES) has one either as a jewelry item or vehical decal or both.

 

[Blake Bowden]

That's a separate issue. We're talking about OES members displaying the S&C, not emblems typically worn by our wives, widows or immediate family. Would it be okay if I displayed the OES logo even if I wasn't a member? This really is a non-issue as most people in the OES have a very close connection to a Brother Mason. I voted no, but we have more things to focus on than who wears what. :001_cool:

 

[Bro. Stewart P.M.]

See that is my point though Blake. In order to qualify to join the Order of the Eastern Star, you have to be the Wife, Widow, Mother, Sister or Daughter of a Master Mason. The same which if not OES Members wear our other items.

The Worthy Patron's Emblem encompasses both the OES Star & the Sq&Css already. Unless I am mistaken as to the intention of the question at hand. We are being asked if OES members could wear some of our Blue Lodge jewelry etc. So I see no reason that these ladies not be able to wear our Sq&Css if they want to.

As to us wearing the OES Star and not being a member, well I believe that would be less likely to happen. The only Brothers I know that wear or display the OES Star, are members of the Order....

 

[Blake Bowden]

The following are eligible for OES membership:

• Affiliated Master Masons in good standing,
• the wives
• daughters
• legally adopted daughters
• mothers
• widows
• sisters
• half sisters
• granddaughters
• stepmothers
• stepdaughters
• stepsisters
• daughters-in-law
• grandmothers
• great granddaughters
• nieces
• mothers-in-law
• sisters-in-law
• majority rainbow girls
• majority jobs daughters

http://www.grandchapteroftexasoes.org/membership.asp

 

[JEbeling]

The women can put on anything they want too... ! we have no control over what they pins they put on...?

Yes... ! they should be proud to have a S&C... !

One nite coming in from Chicago to Houston was waiting in line to get on a plane.. ! a little girl 10-12 ask me if I would help her get her bags on the plane and could she sit with me.. ! I ask her why me..? she showed me the S&C pin she had on and told me her grandfather told her to put in on and if she saw someone with that on a ring to ask for help.. ! we had a nice trip and when we got to Houston her mother was waiting at the airport and she introduced me as one of her grandfathers friends.. ! I didn't correct her and we walked to get her bags I carried her carry-on.. ! her mother ask me how long I had known her father.. ! told her I had never met him but knew he was a mason.. ! she just smiled and o.. yea.. !

 

[RedTemplar]

Would 99.9% of all females wear the Square and Compasses without having a Mason in their lives with whom they respect and adore? Anyways, what Mason would ask a female how old her granny is? I submit to you that in a lot of cases, our OES family can wear the Square and Compasses with as much or more pride and dignity than Brothers who have so so called "earned" the right to put them on display.

 

[js4253]

That's a separate issue. We're talking about OES members displaying the S&C, not emblems typically worn by our wives, widows or immediate family. Would it be okay if I displayed the OES logo even if I wasn't a member? This really is a non-issue as most people in the OES have a very close connection to a Brother Mason. I voted no, but we have more things to focus on than who wears what. :001_cool:

The S & C are displayed in Eastern Star meetings just as they are in Mason meetings. I think it is appropriate.

 

[robert leachman]

No.We've got our S&C and the ladies have their ES. (12 yoa little girls excepted )S&C is only for Masons. ( I've seen lapel pins, on line, for all three degrees. )Robert

 

[Kwcanada]

Personally, being the daughter of a master mason and someone who is intensely curious and eager to learn and understand the spiritual teachings and symbolic meanings of the Masonic beliefs, I think the genitalia of a human being has nothing to do with the strength of their obligation and spiritual beliefs. If you knew half of the history of women involved in freemasonry and their commitment to the brotherhood or how much more they have figured out in their lifetime than you ever will, maybe you would change your opinion...... Just saying.....Women who believe in your way and your God should proudly where the S&C!

 

[tom268]

Well, no offence intended, but men, who believe our way, but are no masons, don't wear the S&C either (or should not, as it is a mark of membership in my eyes). And, what do you mean with "your God"?

 

[Ol Kev]

Some of the items created for women of masonry (wives, widows, Mothers, daughters, & sisters) the slipper pin:

Got one of those for my better half

Being and EA, I don't think I have been around long enough to really say much intelligently about it. But, the blue slipper pin aside, it would seem to me that it, even in such a small way, it further enables the argument, perhaps in the future and through shared symbols, for women trying to enter the fraternity. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but I can understand the resistance based upon that alone.

 

[Christopher]

I think if a woman wore a Masonic ring, with only the Square and Compasses, just like what MMs wear, I think it would look very strange. I think a lot of people who saw it would mistakenly think the woman was somehow a member of a Blue Lodge, not the OES. If a woman wants to indicate her membership in the Star, or her relation to a Mason, there are forms of jewelry specifically for both of those purposes. I don't see a reason to use Blue Lodge-style jewelry to indicate membership in the OES.

 

[davidterrell80]

If I see a distressed auto on the side of the road displaying a S&C, it's as good as a distress call to me. I put S&C om all my autos, hoping other brethren will do the same. I tell my kids that, if they are alone or in trouble, to find a Lodge in the phone book and call them...

Should my wife, daughter and granddaughter be denied the opportunity for fraternal assistance when they are not in the car? Would you be more inclined to "get involved" if you see a woman wearing the S&C struggling in some way? Would you want me to be more inclined to help your female relations if they are in need and God puts them in my way?

We should have been encouraging this for a long time.


... my two sestercies...

 

[Ol Kev]

If I see a distressed auto on the side of the road displaying a S&C, it's as good as a distress call to me. I put S&C om all my autos, hoping other brethren will do the same. I tell my kids that, if they are alone or in trouble, to find a Lodge in the phone book and call them... Should my wife, daughter and granddaughter be denied the opportunity for fraternal assistance when they are not in the car? Would you be more inclined to "get involved" if you see a woman wearing the S&C struggling in some way? Would you want me to be more inclined to help your female relations if they are in need and God puts them in my way? We should have been encouraging this for a long time. ... my two sestercies...

As a side note to this above, some of you may find this interesting: A Brother Came to Our Relief

I know that I have been working my butt off with the esoteric work, which will eventually grant me the privilege of wearing the S&C. The privilege is earned. If somebody else earns it in the same manner, so be it and I will congratulate them for it. I don't think, in Texas anyway, that the "fairer sex" is going to have that opportunity.

The bottom line to my thinking in all of this? It still seems to me that the routine wearing of the S&C in jewelry and other items, other than the "Blue Slipper" which has its own specific designation for who may wear it and its meaning, treads on the representation of identifying oneself as a Master Mason and membership in the Masonic Fraternity and THAT is the underlying element to the issue.

My .02 . . . now we have .04 in the pot . . .

 

[davidterrell80]

At the battle of the Alamo... "One of the few who survived the massacre at the Alamo was Mrs. Almaron Dickenson (Suzanna) who had been advised by her husband to display his Masonic apron over herself and the child during and after the battle. Santa Anna saw to her needs and even offered to adopt her child. She declined the offer declaring that she would "crawl and work her fingers to the bone to support the baby, but that she would rather see the child starve than given into the hands of the author of so much horror." (http://www.grandlodgeoftexas.org/node/1099 emphasis added)

I see this issue less about a female being mistaken for a MM and more about ensuring my female relatives will get the fraternal consideration I promise to give yours, should God place them in my way.

 

[Bill Lins]

I see this issue less about a female being mistaken for a MM and more about ensuring my female relatives will get the fraternal consideration I promise to give yours, should God place them in my way.

I agree with Ol' Kev- that's what the blue slipper is for.

 

[davidterrell80]

Fair 'enuf, Bill. I'm not going to get my britches in a twist over this. Nor will I be ugly to a woman if I see her displaying a S&C.