Right hand

Use in the book

The book compares the hand given in initiation with sacred and social pledges. A contrast between the right hand of fellowship and a right hand of falsehood gives the emblem its moral force. The act matters because it promises a person’s truthfulness, not simply because one hand has been selected for a ceremony.

Places to read

1. Masonic Symbolism · Block 80“284. "The right hand has in all ages been deemed an emblem of fidelity and the Ancients worshipped Deity under the name Fides, or Fidelity, which was sometimes represented by two” …
2. Masonic Symbolism · Block 81… “Numa. Fides was a Goddess of honesty and fidelity; and the writer adds, when they promised anything of old they gave the right hand to pledge it, as we do, and” …
3. Masonic Symbolism · Block 82… “find frequent references to the use of the right hand, either in confirmation of an agreement or as an emblem of truth and fidelity. Thus St. Paul says: ' When James,” …

In this edition

The phrase is counted as a phrase. Fidelity also has its own entry because the virtue extends beyond this bodily emblem.

Reading the argument

The symbol can be tested by the conduct that follows the pledge. A handshake or formal obligation cannot establish fidelity independently of the person’s actions. This makes the passage a practical extension of the book’s argument about inward initiation.

Related texts

Galatians 2:9 uses the right hands of fellowship; Psalm 144:8 and 144:11 use the contrasting image of a right hand of falsehood. These are textual parallels for the symbolism of trust.⁹

right hand

“right hand” — 14 occurrences in 6 text blocks: S.74–75, 80–83.

fidelity

“fidelity” — 7 occurrences in 4 text blocks: M.48; S.80–82.