Ancienne et Honorable Fraternité du Mesh
L'ancienne et Honorable Fraternité du Mesh (The Ancient and Honorable Sisterhood of the Mesh) is a female fraternal organization which, in parallel with the Freemasons, teaches a course in sacred geometry and Mesh manipulation to females who have discovered they can view the Mesh. A secondary purpose is to teach moral and ethical philosophy from a woman's point of view.
Because women cannot join the (mainstream) Freemasons, and Ariela Rivers Wolff has a very strong negative attitude about soi-disant female Freemasons, she created the Fraternité du Mesh for the specific purpose of providing a place for women to learn to manipulate the Mesh.
While the Sisterhood provides an experience similar to that of Freemasonry for its members, it does not intentionally follow Masonic organization and teachings (though it does use a similar structure of officers); it was created by women, for women, and is sufficiently different from Masonry that carelessly calling it "female Freemasonry" is considered something of an affront.
The name is French because Ariela thought it was cool.
The Fraternité was established in, and dates from, 2047.
Expectations of initiates
As in Freemasonry, there is an expectation that the initiate will profess belief in a Supreme Being, as otherwise no oath or obligation can truly be binding. Initiates appear before the soeurs barefoot and clad in white robes, their hair covered with a white cloth. The process leading up to initiation is similar to that of the Freemasons, after Matthew 7:7-8:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
And further author sayeth not.
Degree Structure
Within the Sisterhood, there are three degrees. Women are initiated as petites sœurs (little sisters), advance to the degree of sœur aînée (senior sister), and finally attain the rank of matrone sœur (matron sister). These degrees are roughly equivalent to the Masonic Entered Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason.
There is a ceremonial degree conferred upon the newly-elected mère du couvent before she may be installed in the chair and take on the appellation of mère honorée, or "honored mother"; this is known as the degré d'ancienne mère du couvent, or Degree of Past Mother of the Convent. It is NOTHING like the Masonic Degree of Past Master (either Virtual or Actual).[1] It is beautiful and moving, and more like the installation of a priest or bishop in the Catholic Church.
Organizational Structure
The equivalent of a Lodge is a couvent (Convent). The equivalent of the Master of the Lodge is the mère du couvent (Mother of the Convent), and above the Convents is a Grand Convent led by a mère supérieure du Grand Couvent (Mother Superior of the Grand Convent). There is only one Grand Couvent, and it holds authority over all subordinate couvents.
The Grand Couvent is nominally based on Earth, but it actually follows Ariela Rivers Wolff and acts as her (non-military) staff-in-being. It meets quarterly, again, wherever Ariela happens to be at the time, but these meetings are primarily concerned with the operations and reports of the subordinate couvents than with anything else; the quarterly meetings are typically not attended by the mères of the subordinate couvents. There Is, however, a quinquennial, ceremonial meeting on Earth, at which all installed mères are expected to attend, and all past mères are invited to attend. Travel expenses are covered in full by the Grand Couvent.
Chartering
Each subordinate couvent must apply for an official charter of operation from the Grand Couvent, and make periodic reports to the secrétaire supérieure in order to keep their charter active.
Naming Structure
Convents are named and numbered. The name of a Convent is always of the form "Couvent such-and-so", or "Convent such-and-so", not the other way around as is common at least among American Masonic lodges.
Officers of a Convent
Officers of a Convent are the mère du couvent, abbesse première du couvent, abbesse seconde du couvent, trésorière, secrétaire, diaconesse sénior, diaconesse junior, maréchale, and maîtresse de cérémonie. A position comparable to the Masonic tyler is the gardienne du couvent. In normal usage, the top three position titles and that of the gardienne generally omit "du couvent".
It is not considered a requirement that the line officers move up annually. Indeed, most couvents are quite stable and officers stay in their stations for anywhere from five to ten years.
Officers of the Grand Convent
Officers of the Grand Convent are named similarly, except that the word supérieure is inserted -- e.g., abbesse supérieure première du Grand Couvent (which seems like it should be the other way round, but it translates correctly back to English this way.) The honorific la plus honorée is attached to the top office and the honorific très honorée is attached to the other offices. (These honorifics are similar to the Masonic "Most Worshipful" and "Right Worshipful".) So the full title of the top officer is mère supérieure la plus honorée du Grand Couvent, or The Most Honored Mother of the Grand Convent.
When the Sisterhood is first mentioned (in The Lion in Paradise, Chapter 4 of The Lion, Herself), Ariela Rivers Wolff is the mère supérieure la plus honorée du Grand Couvent. Her second daughter Delaney Wolff Fox is the abbesse supérieure très honorée première du Grand Couvent. The other Wolff Fox sisters will end up taking the next five offices over time. A woman named Elise Carter (a friend and co-worker of Devorah Wolff Fox) will take the seventh "line" chair. Sarah Leigh Wolff will be the secrétaire supérieure and Alicia von Barronov will be the trésorière supérieure.
Numbers
At the beginning of The Lion in Paradise (2121 AD) there are approximately a hundred soeurs in four couvents -- on Earth, Al-Saḥra', Coleridge, and New Jamaica.
By the end of The Lion in Paradise (around 2321 AD), there are some 10,000 soeurs in approximately 350 couvents spread across Earth and the hundred-odd colony worlds. The membership of an individual couvent is not limited to a particular number, but they tend to top out at around thirty soeurs each. As a well-known Freemason[2] has observed of his own Fraternity, "A lodge should not be so large that a member cannot greet all of his brothers by name."
Secrecy
The general public has little or no knowledge of the Sisterhood. As Ariela explains it in The Lion in Paradise,
"I will say only this," said [Ariela]. "There is a similar organization, and I am its mère supérieure. And I am not talking about the Order of the Eastern Star, or Le Droit Humain, or any of the other well-known female or mixed Masonic-style organizations. Furthermore you will not find our fraternité splashed all over the conspiracy websites because nobody is aware it exists – except its sœurs and mères." She smiled again. "Well. And a few male Freemasons who keep their mouths shut about it; something they're quite good at. Finally, the organization is not French; we just like the titles."
And they also like the secrecy, it seems.
Notes
- ↑ If you are a Masonic Past Master in a state that has the degree of the chair, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
- ↑ Christopher L. Hodapp, he of Freemasons for Dummies, and a long-time personal friend of the author. They knew each other for years before joining the Fraternity. The quote is a paraphrase.