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The Obligations in Freemasonry are those elements of ritual in which a candidate swears to (amoung other things) protect the "secrets of Freemasonry". These are the various signs, tokens and words associated with recognition in each degree. In regular jurisdictions these obligations are sworn on the Volume of the Sacred Law, that religious text which is appropriate to the belief of the candidate in question.

The detailed text of the obligations vary amongst the Masonic constitutions with some versions being published and others privately printed. Not all printed rituals are authentic, and some (such as that published by Leo Taxil) are proven Hoaxes. The most well known printed edition is Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor, originally published in 1866. The publication does not itself identify which constitution it may have been used by, and the one Jurisdiction it does mention by name (in his section on the Royal Arch Degree) is incorrect. Thus, the reliability and authenticity of Duncan's text is doubted. While a lecture on Masonic Myths, written by an English Mason, states that some Prince Hall constitutions may use Duncan's ritual, it goes on to state that they may instead use the traditional (and authentic) Webb ritual.

The obligations are known for their so-called "bloody penalties", amongst various sources critical of Freemasonry, an allusion to the apparent physical penalties associated with each degree. This leads to some descriptions of the Obligations as "Oaths". The corresponding text, with regard to the penalties, does not appear in authoritative, endorsed sources, following a decision "that all references to physical penalties be omitted from the obligations taken by Candidates in the three Degrees and by a Master Elect at his Installation but retained elsewhere in the respective ceremonies". The penalties are interpreted symbolically, and not applied by a Lodge or any other body of Masonry. The description alludes to how the candidate should feel about himself should he knowingly violate his obligation.

Despite the differences from the official published text, and the wide range of different rituals in use, some authors claim that the text taken from Duncan's is accurate and equivalent to contemporary obligations.

See also

• Oath

References

1. ^ Emulation Ritual ISBN 0-85318-187-X pub 1991, London Cite error: The named reference "Ritual" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
2. Duncan, Malcolm C. (1866). Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald.
3. Duncan uses "General Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the United States of America" where as the actual style used by the General Grand Chapter of the time was "General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the United States." - Turnbull, Everett R. & Denslow, Ray V., A History of Royal Arch Masonry, Volume I, p. 413, published in 1956
4. Masonic Myth and Outright Falsehoods
5. Metareligion. Masonry
6. ^ Emulation - Preface to the Eighth Edition.
7. Difficult Questions About Freemasonry
8. Zager, Paul R. (1982). So What Does the Bible Say About the Lodge?, Part III

• Freemasonry