Ordo Templi Orientis openly declares that we do NOT make Masons. Yet the influence of Masonic tradition on a number of our practices are hard to ignore. Thankfully NONE of those details in this DM article on equipment sold for Masonic “side degrees.” Here’s an excerpt:
“Founded by three brothers in 1892, DeMoulin Bros. & Co. put out their final ‘side degree’ (a term used to define other Masonic bodies or orders) catalog in 1930. The catalog offers a wide variety of sophisticated devices used to haze incoming Masonic candidates before the practice of hazing new initiations was banned some time in the 1930s. According to people familiar with Masonic history, there was a large influx of membership to the Masons following WWI. This influx drove an increase in the popularity of hazing, thus making the business of selling hazing contraptions quite profitable until the arrival of the Great Depression.”
read the whole article:
Thanks to Soror Amy for the tip.
