First, my beginning in the cult called "Freemasonry".
Everyone on both sides of my family, mother and father alike, have been involved in Freemasonry. I am, in every sense of the word, a legacy. I have pictures of my mother, aunt and grandmother at the head table of Masonic dinners. Pictures of my father posing with his apron and the other members of his lodge. My mom belonged not only to The Eastern Star, but also The Rainbow For Girls, The White Shrine and The Amaranth. My father was the upper crust of the Shriners, Masons and Scottish Rite.
Go figure I'd join one day, eh?
Starting at the time that I do believe I started to walk, I attended hundreds of spaghetti dinners, pancake breakfasts, Shriner circuses, craft fairs, you name it, all in the name of making a buck or two for the Masons. That is actually how I learned to cook the way I do. At a young age, I was standing with the other OES women, cooking, cleaning, setting up, serving and catering to the every whim of whatever was the get-together of the day. You knew that you served the Masons with all the dignity and pose one would give the Queen of England. They wanted more food, you gave it to them before they even asked. They need more coffee, you are already there with a hot pot waiting for them. (Please note: the opposite, ie, the men waiting on the women, *never* occurred). And, no matter how many episodes of the "Flintstones" you watched as a child, there was never alcohol at any event. Just saying...
As a Rainbow Girl, starting at age 11, I learned exactly how to properly serve coffee, tea and water to Masonic dignitaries, all while smiling, and speaking as genteel as humanly possible. I also knew exactly how to set up a dinner plate, how much food to put on and how to set it down in front of the person you were serving: meat to the front, veggies at the back, potato on the side, salad at upper right, rolls and butter at upper left. I would have made a fabu waitress. I would spend countless hours on my feet in 4 inch heels, dressed to the nines, shaking hands, accepting and giving compliments, and saying a lot of, "Yes, Grand Master (complete with slight curtsey), I am Murrell Fassett/Gwen Fassett's daughter. Why, yes, I am being elected as Worthy Advisor again for El Paso #4. Thank you, the appointment to a Grand Station was quite a shock for me. Oh, Grand Matron, I am proud of having received the Grand Cross Of Colors."
Yada.
Yada.
Yada.
When I say I was proud, I was P R O U D. I worked my ass off. I memorized entire ritual books...not just a single ritual...the ENTIRE book. Hundred of pages worth of meeting rituals/marriage rituals/funeral rituals/etc. It was what was expected of me. I was raised to be a people-pleaser. They weren't happy, you killed yourself until they were. You learned that, unless you had a man present, you were not allowed or able to do anything on your own...ever...and you accepted it.
Probably explains my resistance to any type of male dominance now, but I digress.
Quite the existence, eh? Well, that is just the outer shell. The synopsis at the back of the book. The shells underneath are even more colorful and fun. Or demented, whichever.
Got ya on the edge of yer seat, don't I lol???
Until we meet again,
Peace, Love and (get your formal ready) Zombies \IiiI
7 comments:
very interesting, some skills would have been worthwhile in a different context and if evenly applied to boys - like I think waiting tables is not the worst occupation in the world, there's tons good about it actually contrary to popular belief, but it didn't come naturally to me, so I don't often think about doing it again, and good manners do help out in little ways in life, but I defo get the oppressiveness/boxines/sexism of it all
I went to a dinner for the Lions, had won an award, and I remember when they called on us all the boys got raucous cheers and the girls mild applause. I was not pro-those kind of things after that.
though I'm quite saddened to have my Flintstones fantasy exploded
This is REALLY interesting! I'm reading along to the Mister. He dvr's all of the shows on freemasons. He thinks it's cool that you know first hand. So do I! It's like having a front row seat to the History Channel. Thank you for that and please do post more on this! :)
I remember when I discovered my grandfather and several uncles (on both father and mother's side of the family) went to these meetings. I questioned everyone...what do they do at these meetings. It all sounded so mysterious. No one ever told me what went on...not necessarily because it was a deep secret but even at a young age, I was never one to keep certain opinions to myself and I was not a fan of the partiarchal society as it were. Cousins were involved but I imagined them all saying "don't tell her or we will never hear the end of it". :) My mom is currently in Eastern Star
I still can’t get past the “unless you had a man present, you were not allowed or able to do anything on your own ever” In general, I have a problem with the whole ‘a man validates a woman’ concept. Well, let me look at the positive aspect of it: You learned poise – having to withstand hours on end in four-inch heels. I would have fallen on my face. And you learned grace – having to live in a world with antiquated notions of what a woman is (a servant) instead of seeing what we are (empowered beings).
By the way, I tend to be on the shy side but still…I would’ve been shunned and ex-communicated. I can only keep quiet for so long. I understand your resistance.
Hopping over from Magaly's site. Thank you for enlightening us, this is fascinating, and not surprising about the patriarchy of it all, ugh. You make beautiful jewelry. Hugs, Deb
I was also a rainbow girl but I think we belonged to two distinctly different clubs.
Miss me?
Haven't been over here in a while and just read this post. Whew-wee...I was "sponsored" as a Rainbow Girl, until the moment I had to don some white robe gown and whatnot. Got the deer in the headlight look, tore that robe off and went running out the building. LOL!
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