Chi Phi
Initiation Ritual
1993
Preparatory Ceremony
The
candidate shall be hoodwinked and conducted to the outer door of the Lodge where
the following (
Conductor
(without): ….
Zeta
(within): ….
Conductor
(without): ….
Zeta
(within) …:
Who goes there?
Conductor:
One who walks in darkness and
seeks the light.
Zeta:
How shall he find the light?
Conductor:
By entering the place of light.
Zeta:
How
may he enter the place of light?
Conductor:
By means of a secret password.
Zeta:
Advance and communicate the password.
Conductor
whispers ….
Zeta,
opening the door: I admit him
to the Chamber of Preparation in the name of Brotherhood.
The
Chamber of Preparation shall be painted or draped with black; its only furniture
shall be a chair and a table, both in black. Upon the table shall be the book of
The Three Declarations, a three-minute glass, a pen and ink. The rooms shall be
lighted by a single taper standing on the table. The Zeta having seated the
candidate and removed the hoodwink shall say:
Zeta:
..., the obligations of membership in the Chi Phi Fraternity are sacred and
enduring. Do
you in good faith
desire to assume these responsibilities?
Candidate:
I do.
Zeta:
Sign each of the declarations with your name in full. When the sands shall have
run through this glass Zeta inverts the glass, I will
return. Zeta
retires.
When
the sands shall have run through the glass the Zeta shall return.
The
Zeta shall remove the Book of Declarations and shall substitute the Chapter
Register in which the candidate shall, under the direction of the Zeta, make the
requisite entries.
The
Candidate after being hoodwinked shall be robed in white, and seated as before.
Zeta:
Await my return.
The
Zeta shall retire bearing with him the Book of Declarations and the Chapter
Register.
In
the Lodge of the Chapter: the Zeta, having been duly admitted, shall address the
Alpha.
Zeta:
May it please the Alpha, …,
born at … on the .. day of … reads
the entire record of the candidate has made the Declarations exhibiting
Declarations of
Alpha:
Let the candidate be summoned.
The
Zeta shall return to the Chamber of Preparation and say to the candidate:
Zeta:
Follow me taking
the lighted taper
from the table.
The
Zeta with the candidate shall proceed to a door where the following (Southern)
signals shall be given:
Zeta:
….
Epsilon:
….
Zeta:
….
Epsilon,
….: Who waits at the door of
this Lodge?
Zeta:
A candidate for initiation into
the Holy Order of Chi Phi.
Epsilon:
Whence does he come?
Zeta:
From
the outer night.
Epsilon:
Whither would he go?
Zeta:
To the inner light.
Epsilon:
How shall he gain admittance?
Zeta:
By means of an honorable watchword.
Epsilon:
Advance and give the watchword.
Zeta
whispers: ….
Epsilon:
I open the door for his entrance in the name of the Holy Symbols
Sound
of a door being unfastened.
The
Zeta and candidate shall pass through a door and proceed to the inner door of
the Lodge.
Zeta:
…, the gates of Secrecy and
of Honor have been opened to you, and you now stand at the portal of
Here
the Zeta-shall instruct the Candidate, charging him, when the signals have been
given and answered, to open the door and enter. The Zeta shall then remove the
hoodwink, place the lighted taper in the hand of the candidate and say:
Zeta:
Farewell. Zeta
retires.
The
Candidate,
(without): ….
Epsilon,
(within): ….
Candidate,
(without): ….
The
Candidate opens the door and enters. The Lodge shall be in semi-darkness. A
coffin with a human skull or skeleton shall stand upon trestles in the center of
the Lodge, the foot of the coffin toward the door by which the candidate enters.
Members holding lighted tapers or burning torches shall form two lines,
extending from the door to the head of the coffin where the Beta shall stand.
The Candidate shall be caused to advance to the foot of the coffin and the Beta
shall say:
Beta:
Behold, and ponder well the end of man!
Here
the lights held by the members shall be extinguished in succession, the Beta's
last, and the Beta shall resume: All
that is born must die; such is the law,
The stern immutable
decree of fate.
A coffin, coarse and
loathsome at the best,
Awaits to claim thine
unresisting clay.
The flickering taper,
failing in the dark,
Here
the flame in the candidate's hand shall be extinguished.
Is emblematic of the
life of him
Who shuns the kindly
light of friendship's torch
And treads in gloom
his solitary way.
But he who, choosing
wisely, enters here
Shall pass with fleet
step through the shadowy vale
To find beyond the
figured gates of death
The light he seeks
within our Brotherhood.
Burial and
Resurrection
The
candidate, again hoodwinked, his wrists bound together with a cord, his hands
palm to palm, shall be placed in the coffin from which the relics shall have
been removed and the lid fixed thereon in silence. A funeral procession shall
then be formed and the coffin borne in the direction of the sun three times
about the Lodge while the Beta shall recite or chant:
Beta:
Man that is born of woman is of
few days and full of trouble.
He cometh forth as a
flower and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not.
He fadeth away
suddenly like the grass; in the morning it is green and groweth up, but in the
evening it is cut down, dried up and withered, for man walketh in a vain shadow.
This, my brothers, is
the ancient teaching. Behold now the more excellent law. The gates of death are
the portals of life. Death, though a sleep and a forgetting, is a birth and an
awakening. The acorn dies and the oak is born; from the chrysalis rises the
butterfly. So it is with man.
As at the
resurrection of the dead, men rise to a better and more glorious life, so may
the tenant of this rude coffin leave behind him as in the grave all that might
in any wise impair the eternal friendship that shall be his in our Holy and
Glorious Brotherhood.
All:
Amen! Amen! and Amen!
The
coffin shall then be lowered as it were into a grave, when shall be sung:
Chorus
or Quartette: All hail, Chi
Phi! Thy cause shall be victorious,
Scarlet and Blue thy
banner e'er shall be;
Thy sons uphold it,
waving ever glorious,
Steadfast and true to
their Fraternity!
Solo:
Tell me why this joyful sound
ascendeth
O'er the midnight
breezes to the sky.
Answering
Solo: 'Tis because this band of
brothers lendeth
To a stranger's name,
the name Chi Phi.
Solo
or Quartette: Well we know he
never will disgrace it;
Spotless is its
ancient history;
Well we know that
naught can e'er erase it
From the brightest
page of memory!
As the dead awake to
joys supernal;
From the lonely grave
where now he lies,
To a life of light
and love fraternal
Shall a brother,
among brothers, rise.
Solo:
Let us, then, rejoice one with
another,
And renew our
oft-repeated vow;
Answering
Solo: We will love our
newly-welcomed brother,
Youthful manhood's
stamp is on his brow.
Here
the Alpha shall say:
Alpha:
Brothers, rejoice, and let us all be glad,
For it is meet and
right that we rejoice
Whene'er a link is
added to the chain
That binds us in this
Holy Brotherhood.
Then
all shall unite in singing:
All:
All hail, Chi Phi I Thy cause
shall be victorious,
Scarlet and Blue thy
banner e'er shall be;
Thy sons uphold it,
waving ever glorious,
Steadfast and true to
their Fraternity!
The
words of the Alpha beginning "Brothers, rejoice," shall be the signal
for raising the coffin as it were from a grave and while the concluding verse of
"Carmen Initii" is being sung the candidate shall be taken from the
coffin and caused to advance before the altar in the center of the Lodge. The
coffin shall be removed. The candidate shall be caused to kneel upon one knee
before the Altar, toward the
The
members of the Chapter shall gather in a circle around the Alpha and the
candidate, with hands joined (when practicable, left over right). The Alpha
shall stand behind the Altar facing the candidate, and shall say:
Alpha:
Know thou, who as our friend dost kneel within
A living circle of
our Brotherhood,
But one thing more is
needful to perfect
Thy title as a
Brother in Chi Phi.
The words we now
shall cause thee to repeat,
Line upon line,
embrace the solemn vow
That shall,
henceforth, bind thee unto us
With ties that never
shall be rent in twain;
Which vow will join
thee to a Band of Friends
From whom in hours of
sickness as of health,
In time of evil
fortune as of good,
Thou shalt not he
divided. Then repeat:
Vow of the Novitiate
I, … Full
Name -
in the presence of these members - of the Chi Phi Fraternity – do hereby
solemnly and sincerely - promise and vow - that
I will always hail - ever conceal and never reveal - any part of the secrets and
mysteries - of the Chi Phi Fraternity - which I have received - am about to
receive - or may hereafter be instructed in - to any person - save to a true and
lawful - member of Chi Phi - or within the body - of a lawfully - and justly
constituted lodge - of the Chi Phi Fraternity.
I do solemnly and
sincerely promise and vow - that I will never - without its consent, legally
given - leave, withdraw or disconnect myself - from the Chi Phi Fraternity - at
any time – under any circumstances - or for any purpose whatever - and that I
will not - without such consent – connect myself with any other college secret
fraternity.
I do furthermore
solemnly and sincerely promise and vow - that I will submit myself - to the
discipline of the Chi Phi Fraternity - that I will obey - maintain and support -
its constitution and laws - living up to their spirit and genius that I will
ever hold as a Brother - every member of Chi Phi - and that I will endeavor - so
to regulate my speech and conduct - that they shall not impair - the dignity and
sacredness - of this Fraternity.
All this I do
solemnly and sincerely promise and vow - upon my sacred honor - without any
equivocation- mental reservation - or secret evasion of mind whatever.
Vow of the Chapter
Alpha:
Brothers of the Chi Phi Fraternity: do you, who have heard this vow, promise on
your part, ever to hold as a brother, ..., to promote his welfare, to defend his
honor, to warn him of danger, to counsel and protect him?
Here
all except the Alpha shall kneel upon one knee.
All:
We do so promise.
Then
shall be said Psalm 133:
Alpha:
Behold, how good and how
pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together in unity!
Chapter:
It
is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even
Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
Alpha:
As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the Mountains of Zion.
Chapter:
For there the Lord commanded
the blessing, even Life for evermore.
All:
Amen! Amen! and Amen!
The
bonds and hoodwink shall then be removed.
Alpha:
From darkness dost thou enter
into light.
With outward bonds
thou art no longer bound;
For Honor's sacred
pledge links thee with us
In Secret Union
stronger far than chains;
In sign whereof, I
fix upon thy breast
The golden token of
our Brotherhood.
Here
the Alpha shall place the badge of the Fraternity upon the left breast of the
Novitiate.
And by the authority
in me reposed,
Proclaim thee now a
brother in Chi Phi.
Our true and
well-beloved brother, rise.
The
Alpha shall take the Novitiate by the right hand and raise him to his feet: The
Lodge shall be brilliantly illuminated and all, removing their masks with their
right hands, shall rise and, raising their left hands above their heads, shall
say:
All:
Hail, Brother! Hail, our Chi
Phi Brother! Hail!
The
Alpha shall then instruct the Novitiate as follows:
Lecture to Novitiates
Alpha:
Brother, you have been invested
with the badge, which is the outward and visible token of your allegiance to Chi
Phi. The inner and secret signs of membership are the grip and passwords. Give
me your right hand and I will instruct you in the grip of our Fraternity.
The
Alpha shall give and explain the grip to the novitiate, including its
physiological significance, and continue:
Always cover the grip
with your left hand and, that you may further conceal it when giving it in the
presence of strangers, raise your hands to the level of your heart and lean
forward until your head extends as nearly as may be over the left shoulder of
the brother with whom you are exchanging the grip.
Guard the unwritten
law, soon to be imparted to you, with jealous care, lest it become known to
persons not entitled to such knowledge. Maintain a reticence concerning the
affairs of our
Fraternity should
persons other than members attempt to discuss or examine them.
Never permit a person
not a member of Chi Phi to possess our badge. Wear it at all times over your
heart as your dearest possession. Never disgrace it; but ever maintain it as it
now is, a token of honor in the eyes of the whole world.
At
the conclusion of the lecture, the members of the Chapter in succession shall
give to the initiate the grip of the Fraternity, addressing him as
"Brother."
When
two or more persons are initiated at the same meeting, that which follows may be
postponed until the initiation of the last has proceeded to this point, the
Alpha concluding the ceremony with the words:
The traditions of our
Fraternity as exemplified in our history and unwritten law shall be more fully
explained at our next meeting, Until that time preserve silence without this
lodge in all that has transpired herein.
Introduction to
Lecture
The
following shall be used as an introduction to the Lecture when the latter is
delivered to initiates, immediately after the initiation ceremony, or at the
meeting next thereafter.
It
must also be used as an introduction to the Lecture at least once in regular
Chapter meeting during each college term.
BROTHER:
The Chi Phi Fraternity has a triple origin and our initiation rites embody much
of the history and symbolism of the Three Orders from which it sprang.
A secret fraternity
of religious character existed at the
The principle of
Secrecy embodied in our Fraternity dates, therefore, from the earliest known
beginnings of Chi Phi and will be forever associated with the Princeton Order.
This principle is symbolized by the stars which are eternal emblems of mystery
and which were also represented upon the badge of the Southern Order.
During the initiation
ceremonies of Princeton Chi Phi, a cup of wine stood, as a symbol of life, upon
the desk of the presiding officer, and the same symbolism was repeated in the
monogram badge of that Order which bore a representation of a vine with grapes
in natural colors.
The character of the
Princeton Order renders it appropriate that the Beta, whose office embodies
recognition of the religious principle in our Fraternity, should stand, during
our initiations, at the right of the Alpha on the Princeton side of the Lodge
and that he should be the custodian of the wine, the significance of which we
still recognize. The motto of the Princeton Order was …. The password spoken
when a candidate is about to be admitted to the Chamber of Preparation is ….
Before pronouncing this password the signals which are used are … and they
indicate ….
In the year 1858 a
secret college "club" called Chi Phi was founded at the
Meetings of the
Southern Order were marked by literary exercises and, therefore, to the Zeta who
is the literary official of our Chapters, is assigned during our initiations a
position at the Alpha's left on the Southern side of the Lodge.
The name of the
Southern Order was …. The watchword spoken when a candidate is about to enter
the Lodgc is …. The signals given before the watchword is spoken are … and
they indicate ….
In the year 1860 a
college fraternity called The Secret Order of Chi Phi and having, like its
predecessors, a monogram badge of membership, was founded at
refer to … and it
is at the
The constitution
adopted by the united Fraternity in
1873 differed little from that under which the Hobart and Princeton Orders were
consolidated in 1867. The
The Lecture
Constitution, Article
1, section 1: This Brotherhood, founded in friendship, is known and shall be
known as the Chi Phi Fraternity.
The motto of the
Fraternity is …. This motto is known only by tradition, shall never be
written, and shall be spoken only within
the lodge room of a Chapter, or by the Grand Alpha at the Congress.
The Fraternity is
composed of chapters established and maintained solely at colleges, universities
and institutions of learning whose charters allow them to grant degrees.
The Supreme Power of
the Fraternity is vested in the Active Chapters thereof, collectively.
The written names of
the Chapters and the institutions at which they are established, are:
Alpha,
The Grand Officers of
the Fraternity shall be the …, in the written law known as the Grand Alpha;
the …, in the written law known as the Grand Beta; the …, in the written law
known as the Grand Gamma; the …, in the written law known as the Grand Delta;
the …, in the written law known as the Grand Epsilon; the …, in the written
law known as the Grand Zeta; and the …, in the written law known as the Grand
Eta.
The Officers of a
Chapter shall be the …, in the written law known as the Alpha; the …, in the
written law known as the Beta; the …, in the written law known as the Gamma;
the …, in the written law known as the Delta; the …, in the written law
known as the Epsilon; and the … , in the written law known as the Zeta,
The following is the
manner of testing membership: Introductory signs …. Interrogatories and
replies …. Until these are satisfactorily received, the grip shall not be
given to unknown persons.
The colors of the
Fraternity are Scarlet and Blue. The significance of the Scarlet is …. The
Blue signifies ….
This is the poetical
interpretation of the grip and colors: ….
The symbols are ….
The secret alphabet
has as its key …, and special communications shall be made by means of it.
The password
throughout the Fraternity is ….