Phi Alpha Theta
Initiation Ritual
1950
The
arrangement of the initiation hall and the kind of paraphernalia used shall be
optional and may be altered to suit the custom of each chapters It is suggested,
however, that the following arrangement might prove effective. Six small tables
or stands may be placed so as to form the points of a six pointed Star. A candle
may be placed on each small table or stand. A small table or stand may be placed
directly behind the station of the Spirit of the Future, from which place the
Spirit of Eternity explains the symbolism and ideals of the fraternity at the
end of the ceremony. Six candles placed in the form of a six pointed star may be
placed upon this table. All the candles will be kept lighted during the ritual,
and they shall be red and blue - the colors of the fraternity. Rather than give
each initiate a rose, it is suggested that six, deep red roses should be placed
in a suitable vase in the center of the six-pointed star formed by the candles
on the Spirit of Eternity's table.
The
members of the initiation team shall stand at their stations during the ceremony
of initiation.
The
audience may be seated directly opposite the point of the star at which the
Spirit of the Future is stationed. Only one candidate shall be taken through the
entire ceremony of initiation while the remaining ones shall be seated in the
front row of the audience.
When
everything is ready for the initiation, the Outer Guide will escort the
candidates to the Chapter Hall.
Outer
Guide knocks three times on the door of the Chapter Hall.
Inner
Sentry replies with three knocks and opens the door.
NOTE:
When the candidates enter the
Spirit
of Eternity: Halt, Sentry! Know
you not that strangers have no right in this Chapter Hall?
Inner
Sentry: Yes, but these students
have commenced the journey along the paths of history and desire to keep company
with us.
Spirit
of Eternity: Are they worthy?
Does their scholarship meet our requirements? Does their character warrant our
confidence? Are they eager to learn the truths of History and put in practice
the ideals of this Fraternity?
Inner
Sentry: I believe these
candidates meet the requirements of Phi Alpha Theta.
Tho
Spirit of Eternity: Present the
candidates.
NOTE:
The Inner Sentry then advances the selected candidate before the station of the
Spirit of Eternity in the center of the Star. It is advisable to have only one
candidate go through the ritual ceremony in order to prevent confusion in going
to each of the stations of the Six Ages. Until the point in the ritual where the
oath is administered the remaining candidates shall be seated in the front row
of the audience.
The
Spirit of the Prehistoric (this is to be memorized): In
the Prehistoric Age the universe evolved and man emerged as a creature capable
of civilization. At first incapable of speech and ignorant of how to make fire,
with nothing but his bare hands to supply his needs, man's progress was
painfully slow. Yet, during nearly four-hundred-and-fifty thousand years man
made shift with a few crude hand tools and at length learned to communicate his
ideas through the invention of language. During the next fifty thousand years
the development of civilization was comparatively rapid, for man learned to make
fire, to improve his tools and weapons, to domesticate animals, to raise
cereals, to weave coarse cloth, and to construct crude permanent shelters. With
the introduction of agriculture and the commencement of trade, man created a
system of enduring human relationships and settled down to primitive community
living. Then came the beginning of government and a more intricate social life.
Late in this age, through a realization that he might create beautiful forms out
of the storehouse of his memory, man discovered art, and with the dawning of a
belief in divine beings and the hope of immortality, there slowly emerged
religious faith.
Finally, after nearly
half a million years, man's crowning achievement was the invention of writing,
which provided him with an artificially extended and verifiable memory of
objects and events not subject to sight, and man at long last emerged from the
prehistoric to the Ancient Age.
NOTE:
The speaker will step back one pace to indicate that the candidate is to be
conducted to the station of the Ancient Age.
The
Spirit of the Ancient (this address is to be memorized): In
the beginning of the historic era, the invention of writing had more influence
in uplifting the human race than any other achievement in the early life of man.
From this time on, the speed of man’s
development
accelerated steadily.
Man organized
powerful states and empires which were sustained by written records and
defended, conquered, or destroyed by force of arms. For centuries many of those
states were ruthlessly totalitarian, utterly indifferent to the dignity of man
or the worth of the individual.
Human activities took
on diverse qualities of intellectual discrimination, of ruthless action, and
unstable splendor. With steadily increasing differentiation social hierarchies
developed, The artists, craftsmen, and engineers made great progress in both the
industrial and fine arts. And, from the world disclosed to the senses, mankind
created by abstractions, the conceptual realms of religion, ethics, philosophy,
and science. Philosophers and prophets taught man to transcend the frustrations
and inequities of life, and led him along the path of religious faith to the
realization of the close relationship between religion and ethics, and the
belief in one true God.
The noble temples and
dignified sculptures which were the products of Greek imagination, and the
brilliance of the Greek mind in recognizing the worth, dignity, and freedom of
the individual, revealed a hitherto unsuspected world of beauty and freedom, and
at the same time raised culture and learning to a height never surpassed and
seldom equaled. Later, splendid roads and practical aqueducts asserted the
supremacy and organized control by which Imperial Rome extended the
international civilization that
NOTE:
The speaker will stop back one pace to indicate to the guide that the candidate
is to be conducted to the station of the Middle Ages.
The
Spirit of the Mediaeval (this address is to be memorized): You
have now reached the third station – the Mediaeval Age.
This era was one in
which barbarian migrations altered the institutions and civilizations of the
ancient world. Although some remnants of ancient culture remained to lighten the
West, the great seats of learning for several centuries were to be found in the
The
It was the time when
representative government, trial by jury, and the Universities first emerged and
developed to a point where they profoundly influenced succeeding civilizations.
To this era man owes many of the ethical and moral concepts of modern
civilization. Toward the end of this age, which had been dominated for centuries
by the universal Church Militant, the rise of national states, the growth of
towns, the beginnings of capitalism, and the rise of the bourgeoisie prepared
the way for the Modern Age.
NOTE:
The speaker will steep back one pace to indicate that the candidate is to be
conducted to the station of the Modern Age.
The
Modern Age (this is to be memorized): he
Modern Age witnessed important developments along all lines of endeavor during
five hundred years. National states arose and evolved until most of the world
was under the influence of a few great sovereign powers. From the three estates
of mediaeval society there grew an increasing number of social classes, each in
turn seeking to become predominant in society, This age saw the rapid growth of
capitalism from primitive beginnings and great changes in modes of production.
New lands were discovered and, in successive waves of imperialism, Europeans
carried both the virtues arid vices of their civilization to all corners of the
earth. In the wake of these enlarged activities came revolutions in religion, in
agriculture in economic life, and in political systems, each of which,
fundamentally affected man's ideas and institutions. All these movements
culminated in the dominance of the theory of progress which lulled men into the
comfortable belief that they lived in the best of possible worlds and were
rapidly nearing a state of perfection both for the individual and human
institutions. This blind optimism received a rude shock at the beginning of the
Contemporary Age. For, unhappily, although great progress had been made toward
human betterment in material things, the high ethical idealism of the Middle
Ages was eliminated from practical affairs in favor of a selfish materialism and
cynical realism. The concentration of attention on material well-being diverted
men's attention from the reality or the meaning of spiritual values. The
widening gulf between man's material and spiritual progress posed seemingly
insoluble problems at the end of this Age.
NOTE:
The speaker will step back one pace to indicate that the candidate is to be
conducted to the station of the Contemporary Age.
The
Spirit of the Contemporary Age (this is to be memorized): At
the beginning of the Contemporary Age, mankind had high hopes that it would be
but a short time before the ideals of Democracy would become an actuality
throughout the world. Many believed that the horrors of war which had haunted
mankind since the beginning of recorded history would soon be dispelled forever
by an era of perpetual peace through international cooperation! This optimism
was soon dispelled, however, by titanic struggles between those nations which
sought to destroy the dearly-bought liberty of the individual and freedom of
thought, and those peoples who desired to put into effect the high ideals of
democracy. Two world wars resulting in untold misery, serious economic and
social dislocations, and an ever increasing complexity of internal and
international relations, tended to promote pessimism. Prophets of Doom appeared
who foretold the approaching end of civilization.
This Age, however,
has been rich in spiritual values. Man has practiced humanitarianism on a scale
far greater than anything known in any other era. The horizons of human
understanding and learning have been widened immeasurably. This historian knows
that human life can be made richer, sweeter, and more abundant, and that mankind
has the opportunity to approach nearer to perfection. The number is constantly
increasing of those who desire to see the progress of an unselfish idealism
which will steadily narrow the gap between the material and the ideal. Sven
though at times the future may look dark indeed, the historian knows well that
to be optimistic is fatuous, while to be pessimistic is ignoble.
NOTE:
The speaker will step back one pace to indicate that the candidate is to be
conducted to the station of the Future Age.
The
Spirit of the Future Age (this is to be memorized): You
have now passed through the stages of history, and how far the path lies ahead
no man can predict. The pessimists may be correct, for the increasing rate of
material and technological progress may end in producing a destroying
Frankinstein, On the other hand, mankind may succeed in producing a civilization
immeasurably finer than any the world has yet seen, - an age in which may be
realized the highest ideals of universal humanity and the freedom of the
individual. Society may then put into application the belief that humanity is
greater than all nations or any type of economic or social system; and, under
the influence of a perfect combination of idealism and materialism create a
civilization where universal peace shall be permanent and perfect justice
enthroned.
NOTE:
The candidate will now be conducted high table for the conclusion of the ritual.
The
President of the Chapter will now administer the following oath: It
will now be necessary to take upon yourselves the following obligation. Raise
your right hand and repeat after me:
"In the presence
of these members of Phi Alpha Theta, I promise that I will obey the Constitution
and laws of the National Organization of the fraternity, and the by-laws and
ordinances of the Chapter of which I an a member; that I will uphold the ideals
and promote the interests of the fraternity to the best of my ability; and that
I shall pursue the search for Truth and shall assist my co-laborers in their
efforts to that same end."
You may lower your
hands.
The
Spirit of Eternity: The
symbolism of our fraternity is a Star, a Serpent, the Colors, and the Flower.
The Star, worked in black enamel and laid on a circular face, the whole
encircled by a Serpent, is composed of two triangles.
Three forces control
man and the universe: they are the Father, the word, and the Holy Spirit, - a
Trinity in heaven which is symbolized by one of the triangles of our fraternity
star. Ancient philosophers believed that man and the world were composed of
three elements: Spirit, Blood, and Water. These are represented by the second
triangle of our Star. The triangle with the apex below the base symbolizes the
heavenly and divine. The Greek letter Pi, in the angle at the right of this
triangle, signifies Pater (Father); the letter Psi in the angle at the left,
signifies Psyche (Spirit), and the letter Lambda, in the angle at the apex
signifies Logos (Word). The triangle with the apex above the base, signifies the
earthly and the human. The letter Alpha, in the angle at the right of this
triangle, signifies Haima (Blood); the letter Upsilon, in the angle at the left,
signifies Hydor (Water) ; and the letter Psi, in the angle at the apex,
signifies Psycho (Spirit). The union of these two triangles thus symbolizes the
intimate relation between the divine and the human. The Serpent was regarded by
some ancient peoples as a symbol of ternity, good fortune, and plenty. In our
symbolism it signifies happiness, fruitfulness, and eternity. The six pointed
star itself is the ancient Assyrian sign of divinity.
Superimposed on the
black enamel within the two triangles are the three Greek letters Phi, Alpha,
Theta, signifying Philia, Anthropos, Theos, - Love, Man, God.
The colors, the deep
red and Madonna blue, also denote the relation between the human and divine. The
flower, a deep red rose, symbolizes beauty, charm, and fervency.
The
Spirit of Eternity: The Ideals
of Phi Alpha Theta. In your endeavor to live up to the ideals of this fraternity
keep in mind the three all-important, ever-present forces contained in the words
Philia, Anthropos, Theos - Love, Man, and God. The invaluable lessons that may
be learned from the study of history, and the ideals of this fraternity are in
reality the same:
The spirit of
toleration, which inculcates a sincere respect for the right of each individual
to freedom of thought.
The belief in the
brotherhood of man, which renders abhorrent all ideas that tend to foment
national hatreds, racial discrimination and all forms of injustice.
The love of Truth,
Frequently it is disheartening to the student to know how little even the most
accomplished and hard-working historian can do towards building a palace in
which Truth may live.
His great
encouragement is that however long it may take or however wearisome may be the
way, eventually he may be able to lighten the way of some future laborer, for
the moment may come when he can contribute to the cause of Truth a fragment of
knowledge. The one reward held out to the historian is that somewhere, sometime,
it may be possible to do good work free from human limitations.
"And only the
Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame,
And no one shall work
for money, and no one shall work for fame,
But each for the joy
of the working, and each in his separate Star,
Shall draw the Thing
as he sees it, for the God of Things as they are."