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FM a She?

Lowcarbjc

Registered User
I often see that this male fraternity is referred to as "she". 'She has made good men better men.' - English is not my first language, is it just the way English speaking people refer to fraternities or is there more to it?




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Lowcarbjc

Registered User
I also read that the word Fraternity is derived from the Latin word Frater that means Brother. So why the "She"?


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marty15chris

Premium Member
I'm not exactly sure but I think it's for easier understanding. If you used "he" for the lodge it might get confusing since "he" could refer to a brother or god. Also the term "mother lodge",the lodge that "raised" you is used often so I think that is wear the "she" comes from.


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BEDickey

Premium Member
This is a very interesting concept, I bet it is linked with the reason that church's are often called "holy mother church". I could answer it but it would take a long time, there is a lot to it....
 

Bro Darren

Premium Member
Don't know exactly why but I call my car, my phone, computer and just about anything else that's had no real gender a "she".

"My car, she's playing up"
"I love my phone, she's great"
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
I have heard and I use the term "mother lodge". So far I have not yet heard lodges referred to as "she" but it would not surprise me for either linguistic reasons (English lacks gendered nouns) or having to do with the events of the third degree. To me my lodge is "we" and other lodges are either "we" or "they".
 

Lowcarbjc

Registered User
dfreybur it's not so much the lodges itself, but often when Freemasonry as a fraternity is mentioned it's referred to as she. 'She is not a secret society but a society with secrets' etc.


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dfreybur

Premium Member
That does sound like a translation issue to me. La Logia or similar in various languages. What I've learned of German, Spanish and bits of other languages is they often have gender and it often has no meaning even though there''s a tendency to keep the gender anyways when translating into a language without noun genders.

Nice quasar image.
 

JTM

"Just in case"
Premium Member
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Could it be asking the same line as calling a boat in the feminine? A bunch of guys together, it's the only lady.
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
Off the top of my head, I can think of only one country which is not given the feminine attribute.
 

hiram357

Registered User
Well, I remember seeing a reference in ritual to the effect that when Hiram died, the craft was his widow, being left without its Grand Master, but now I can't find it. More to follow....
 
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