What Happens in the Entered Apprentice Degree?

The Entered Apprentice is the first of the three Blue Lodge degrees. In the 1866 text of Malcolm Duncan, the candidate is prepared “hoodwinked, with a cable-tow around my neck,” is received on the point of the compasses, kneels at the altar, swears secrecy “under no less penalty than that of having my throat cut across,” and is given a lambskin apron. The United Grand Lodge of England removed that penalty from the obligation in 1986.

Key Points

• Duncan’s lecture says the candidate was prepared “By being divested of all metals, neither naked nor clothed; barefoot nor shod, hoodwinked, with a cable-tow around my neck” (Duncan, p. 43) (1).
• The Senior Deacon presses “one point of the compasses to the candidate’s naked left breast” and calls it “a torture to your flesh” (p. 30) (1).
• Asked “in whom do you put your trust?” the candidate answers, prompted, “In God” (p. 30) (1).
• The obligation ends with the penalty of “having my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by its roots, and my body buried in the rough sands of the sea” (p. 35) (1).
• The United Grand Lodge of England resolved on 11 June 1986 that “all references to physical penalties be omitted from the Obligations” (Mendoza) (2).

Before the Lodge Room

Duncan prints the questions put to a candidate before he is prepared. The first asks whether, “unbiassed by friends, and uninfluenced by mercenary motives, you freely and voluntarily offer yourself a candidate for the mysteries of Masonry?” (p. 28) (1) He is then dressed as the lecture later recites: “divested of all metals, neither naked nor clothed; barefoot nor shod, hoodwinked, with a cable-tow around my neck.” (p. 43) (1) Hoodwinked means blindfolded. A cable-tow is a rope.

Entering the Lodge

At the door the Senior Deacon presses the compasses to the candidate’s bare left breast and says the point is “to teach you, as it is a torture to your flesh, so should the recollection of it ever be to your mind and conscience, should you attempt to reveal the secrets of Masonry unlawfully.” (p. 30) (1) The Master then asks in whom he puts his trust. The prompted answer is “In God,” and the Master replies, “Since in God you put your trust, your faith is well founded.” (pp. 30–31) (1)

The Obligation and Its Penalty

Kneeling at the altar, “your left hand supporting the Holy Bible, square, and compasses, your right resting thereon,” as the lecture later recalls, the candidate swears to keep the secrets. Duncan’s wording ends:

binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by its roots, and my body buried in the rough sands of the sea, at low-water mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours, should I ever knowingly violate this my Entered Apprentice obligation. So help me God, and keep me steadfast in the due performance of the same.

That is page 35 (1). Duncan’s footnote says that in some lodges, at the words “throat cut across,” a member “draws his hand across candidate’s throat: sometimes they draw the sword.” Freemasons have long said the penalties were symbolic and never enforced. In England the penalties were taken out of the obligation by the 1986 resolution quoted in Mendoza’s paper and moved elsewhere in the ceremony (2). American grand lodges each decide their own wording.

Light and the Apron

At the door the Junior Deacon had announced a man “who has long been in darkness, and now seeks to be brought to light” (p. 29). After the obligation the hoodwink is removed. The Master then presents “a lambskin or white apron, which is an emblem of innocence and the badge of a Mason, more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle.” (p. 39) (1) What Churches Say About Freemasonry quotes the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod on the apron lecture.

How Christians Read It

Matthew 5:34–37Matthew 5:34–37 · King James Version^5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: ^5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. ^5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. ^5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.Matthew 5:34–37 · King James VersionOpen source (3) records Jesus saying “Swear not at all” and “let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay.” Churches cite that passage when they object to oaths of secrecy taken before the candidate knows what he is swearing to keep. Christians also confess that Jesus is the light: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness” (John 8:12John 8:12 · King James VersionThen spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.John 8:12 · King James VersionOpen source) (4).

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Throat-Cutting Penalty Still Used?

Not in the obligation under the United Grand Lodge of England since 1986 (2). Practice in other grand lodges varies, and this page does not claim what any one American lodge says today.

Does Duncan’s Book Say Freemasonry Is Ancient?

Duncan’s own footnote says, “Neither Adam, nor Nimrod, nor Moses, nor Joshua, nor David, not Solomon, nor Hiram, nor St. John the Evangelist, nor St. John the Baptist belonged to the Masonic Order.” (p. 34) (1)