But Morris may have been making his own jibe about the term in vogue at the time, 'fatal beauty,' which meant a woman 'to die for.' Or he may simply have been too close to his Biblical sources to see the trees for the fatal forest: Morris' proper explanation of F.A.T.A.L. Anti-Masonic accusers point to that deadly word, fatal, as proof of a dark motive of the Masonic fraternity and the Eastern Star. Some of the oldest images of Eastern Star symbols include the initials “F.A.T.A.L.” at the bases of each star point (like the image at the top of this article). At the center of the symbol stands an altar with an open Bible upon it. OES Chapter rooms are traditionally laid out with a large floor cloth or carpet representing the pentagram and its star points. It's 'upside down' to modern sensibilities because the bottom white point (the brightest and purest color) symbolically points viewers to the place on Earth of Christ's nativity. The pentagram as used in the Order of the Eastern Star depicts these five star “points,” and also represents the Star of Bethlehem. The degree ceremonies of the Order of the Eastern Star tell stories about five heroines of the Bible: Adah, Jephthah’s daughter from the Book of Judges who symbolizes fidelity Ruth, the daughter-in-law of Naomi, symbolizing constancy Esther, the brave Hebrew wife of Xerxes, as a symbol of loyalty Martha, Lazarus’ sister, from the Gospel of John, symbolic of faith and Electa, the “elect lady” mentioned in II John, symbolic of love. Morris based his OES ritual on Biblical sources. Masons were deemed to be unquestionably trustworthy, and members to this day swear to protect the welfare and chastity of a fellow Mason's wife, widow or daughter. You couldn't have unescorted women roaming about after dark without a man to protect them throughout the nineteenth century. And in a hat tip to the Victorian sensibilities of the period, the group's meetings required at least one male Freemason to belong to an OES Chapter just to act as sort of a propriety lifeguard. Morris, an inveterate lover of Masonic rituals, created a ceremony that was initiatory as in Freemasonry, but was dissimilar enough so he couldn’t be accused by Masonic grand lodges of making women into Masons. Men who are Masons may join, as well as women who are married or otherwise related to Masons. That separate organization was created in the 1850s by Kentucky Freemason Rob Morris and his wife as a group that allowed both men and women to mix in a lodge-like setting. But it appears most prominently as the primary symbol of the Order of the Eastern Star, part of the Masonic family of related groups known as the appendant bodies. The pentagram has only occasionally appeared in the symbolism of American Craft Freemasonry (the garden variety Masonic rituals you find in the lodge down the street) over the last 270 years or so. Yet, even the earliest Masonic rituals never mention it. This was exciting stuff in the early 1700s when Freemasonry was forming its modern structure in London, and the five-points of Venus symbol was a popular topic in lecture halls at the time. When drawn, it forms a fluffy five-pointed star. As Venus coasts to its closet point in the sky to Earth over time, it does so five times before repeating. His result can be seen in the illustration above, as looking down on the appearance of its orbital path. Enlightenment-era brainbox Sir Issac Newton made a precise mathematical and astronomical study of the unique retrograde motion of the path of Venus in the sky over a period of many years.
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