I wonder if this guy is gonna be booted out of the lodge. (click image for larger view)Freemasonry is weird, isn't it. Its origins are shrouded in rumour and arcane mystery. One mooted theory is that the organisation came out of a fraternity consisting of a bunch of stone-masons who were not affiliated with a guild. As you were, if you were a tradesman, at the time.
So that makes them contractors, essentially. The first sub-contractors. Albeit, kinda secretive ones, with their own peculiar set of rituals and symbology.
"Peculiar?" I hear you say. Exactly. Anyone who's ever heard the bunch of tradesmen who regularly assemble down at the Occidental on a Friday afternoon will attest to the bizarre coded language in which they converse.
"Grouting" this... "9/16 locking pipe-wrench" that.
All that remains is for them to do is to bust out the secret handshakes. And anyone who's seen a gasfitter answer his cell-phone while carrying a round of 8, 9, 10 beers to the table knows to look no further.
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An honest to goodness freemason once showed me the secret handshake... I'd miss it, but I guess these guys are on the lookout.
I also once read that in the interests of identifying fellow masons, certain code words are dropped into conversation.
Further, Private Eye magazine once maintained that one of those code words is "shibboleth".
And so, meeting your bank manager goes something like this:
"shake hands" keep eye contact for signs of recognition.
"Pleased to meet you, my, it's a bit shibboleth out there."
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