Kappa Sigma Question

I guess that that only applies if you're paying your dues and toeing the line.

While the guy that may or may not have posted fraternity secrets he may or may not have been sworn to keep secrets is of questionable morals, I think the moderators should be commended for putting this thread back up. Sticking up for one's freedom of expression can be difficult at times, and when one courageously takes a stand, they should be commended.

Could it not be that brothers are taught one meaning of the symbols, when really there is an entirely different intention behind them?

Many have suggested that this might be the case with the Masons, and that it is only the highest tier of membership that has true understanding of the symbols.

And then, there is the possibility that the original meaning of the symbols was lost in the past, and that the new meanings make sense, but are not original . . .

I don't know what AEKDB means. While Kappa Sigma's crest does look a little sinister, I don't believe you have anything to worry about. Delta Delta Delta and Gamma Phi Beta use the crescent moon on their badges. Kappa Kappa Gamma uses the key. Several sororities use the skull. The meanings will vary for each organization, but it is never about anything sinister.

I'm interested in the influence of Kappa Sigma on the rituals of Sigma Kappa and Sigma Sigma Sigma. A Kap Sig helped wrote both.

According to another website, and I have the pictures right in front of me, Alpha Kappa Kappa professional fraternity uses the crest in the badge. Iota Alpha Pi, a defunct national Jewish sorority, uses the skull for its crest and badge. It's all good.

I agree wholeheartedly with the statements made by some_random_guy, dave8753 and hotpinkurinalmint...

Look, it's cool to unlock secrets, discuss conspiracies and debate whether events have occured exactly as the 'official reports' stated but divulging fraternity secrets over ATS so 'matter of fact'ly is disgusting.

I graduated as a member of Kappa Sigma at the University of Arizona, and yes rotarychris7 I see the Wildcat logo that you have.

It's not cool to denature the basis on what these college organizations are rooted from, secrets. Without a sense of mystery, there would be no appeal to the thousands of Kappa Sigmas joining each year.

Nygdan, what satisfaction do you get out of comparing the Kappa Sigma star and cresent to the 'Shiner symbol'? The OES Symbol? You're wrong, and I'm happy that you are. The person that divulged the meaning of AEKDB because he had a 'bitter feud' with his brothers is wrong also.

In all honesty, I don't advocate the discussion of the secrets of Kappa Sigma, simple as that.

I can see why you would be upset if you are indeed a KS and what was divulged was really a KS secret, but I think the wrong that was commited if secrets really were divulged was that some guy turned his back on his friends. You probably never met the guy nor will ever meet the guy. Even if he had a legitimate beef with the people at his school, he had to have been friends with at least one of the people at his chapter. By divulging secrets, he not only hurt those he had a beef with, but those who were his friends that he had no beef with.

Supposedly all or many of freemasonry's secrets are no longer secret. It is just a matter of time before any fraternity's secrets eventually leak out. The veil of secrecy over fraternity's is not as thick as many would think. It is not uncommon for someone to overhear a fraternity's secret password or see their handshake. I remember some guy who used to be in Beta and was drunk was at are frat house once. He thought everyone he was talking to was in beta and gave everyone the beta secret hand shake.

Just because fraternity's secrets are or will be let out, it does not mean that the prospective member will be exposed to those secrets, that they will know all the secrets, or that rituals can evolve or change to incorporate new surprises.

Satisfaction? None really. I merely note that it in some ways looks like it. When the symbols used between occult groups are similar, it hints at a possible connection between the groups. Of course, thats a really weak hint, since a symbol might merely be popular.


I know its not the OES symbol, but whats intersting is that the OES star 'points down' or is 'upside down' because it is supposed to represent the Christmas star, pointing to the birth of jesus. The star in this KS symbol is also 'upside down'. SOme could speculate that it means they are satanic, others could speculate that its a reference to knowledge pointing 'the way', etc.




As far as secrets in general go, if a person swears on their honour to not tell a secret, and then does, short of having a rational reason (ie, its about a criminal case, or something other than idle discussion), then its a poor reflection on the person divulging the secrets. The rest of us, of course, are free to speculate. Also, the secrets, especially someting like an acronym, are really irrelevant, the only reaosn to keep them secret is because you've sworn on your honour not to tell anyone. THe frat hasn't been damaged by some guy, who's had a bad experience (in his opinion anyway) with the group, breaking oaths that he doesn't feel bound by. The only person 'damaged' by it is the person breaking their oaths. And since the whole thing is sort of silly anyway, I am sure that they're not too upset by it.

[edit on 8-12-2006 by Nygdan]

[edit on 8-12-2006 by Nygdan]

to randomsidekick:
quit trying to pose as a brother. but if you were a kappa sig and what you said is true about working hard to study the ritual is true, there is a definite reason why you got kicked out...you dont know it.

to the rest of you:
even if you were to "find out" the literal translation it would mean nothing to you because you didnt go through the selection process to become a member or the ritual.

A.E.K.D.B.

FOR: RANDOMSIDEKICK

please reply to this message....I personally commend you on your openess about the fraternity....I personally do not see that point in keeping all that # secret....I also know that there are other things that are stated that you aren't supppose to do (drinking) and the brothers do that for SURE...

[edit on 9-4-2007 by fallen21]

As a past president of a thriving chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, I am sorry to tell you that you are all terribly incorrect on almost everything you have said. ESPECIALLY "brothers" (who should be ashamed for pathetic attempts to divulge secrets of the order). I WILL tell you this: general members of the Fraternity who are/were not whole hearted TRUE brothers (like the guys whining about being kicked out for stupid reasons, ect ect) will not be able to tell you any information on the fraternity, since they were not active enough to learn the ritual and study it, let alone live it. If you were terminated as a brother, you were obviously not worthy.

An example of this would be the numerous "translations" of AEKDB, which you will NOT learn from anyone on this board. Even at face value, it means nothing. You learn this meaning over time. No one can read a literal translation and expect to know a secret. Our founders were not fools.

If you want to know about Kappa Sigma rituals, then pledge the damn fraternity. It has to do with respect. Nonetheless, even if you were to find some mysterious manuscript listing our "entire ritual" in it, you would be a complete fool to think you know everything about the order.

The "brothers" attempting to ramble on about ritual (that the obviously are beyond confused about) should be ashamed of themselves.

Take my word for this: you will not learn anything about the Kappa Sigma rituals without living through it. And to the person who claimed it is a "ritual that is over in 4 years", you couldn't be more wrong! The ignorance is almost laughable if it wasn't so disrespectful.

To my brother who took offense to the previous post and asked people to write nationals... I think a road trip is in order, if you know what I mean.

Incase there is any confusion, I will not answer any of your questions about the Kappa Sigma Ritual. If you have questions about becomming involved in starting a chapter, or are interested in becomming a pledge, I will surely point you in the right direction.

-Ryan PJ Mulholland
RyanPJMulholland@comcast.net
Past Grand Master 2005
Past Grand Master of Ceremonies 2004
Epsilon 51, April 13 2002.
A.Alumni Advisor to the GMC
Kappa Sigma, Xi-Rho Chapter.

a road trip is in order...see you in miami this summer

I'm not Kappa Sig or any other college fraternity, but I'm a mason.

Interesting read. I was impressed that Nygdan didn't immediately assume that the "masonic ring" on ebay contains historic "masonic symbolism." If I saw a fellow wearing that, I'd think he was a poser/infiltrator/antimason . . . And it's been interesting how many "poser masons" I've met lately. They have a decal on their car, or a ring, and I ask them about it, and about what lodge they are in, and they don't know how to answer.

My main thought is about the Rep from Kappa Sig's reply. He mentions something along the lines of "those words are meaningless unless you've experienced the ritual."

I just want to add that, to someone who's never participated in a complicated ritual, you really can't appreciate the impact of study, on catching the implications hidden within a ritual.

For instance . . .

After I had just become a fellowcraft mason, I took up the hobby of photographing old Texas masonic lodge buildings and architecture. I was in a suburb of Dallas, and was standing outside a Masonic lodge building taking pictures of it from various angles. A guy came out, a bit confrontationally, and asked what I wanted. I told him that I was a "brother," and just collected pictures of such old buildings. He said they had trouble with vandals, but if I was a scholar or texas historian or something, I was welcome to come in.

he asked me if I was really a brother, and I said yes. I tried to give him "masonic signs." So he took me into the lodge room, and he and a couple of other fellows set things up for a certain point in the ritual. He said, "tell me the next word." The ritual is extremely long and complicated, and I just looked at him blankly. "Then you're not really a fellow craft yet, are you?" was his only response. "I guess not."

I kind of felt like, "gee, there are a bunch of guys in my lodge that couldn't do that either. They only come to meetings about once a year, if then. But on second thought, are they really masons?

It's sort of like some people will call themselves a hunter, when they haven't been in the woods in five years. Or "easter catholics" who don't know when to stand or sit during mass. Or folks who call themselves a christian, but don't know the Lord's prayer.

Since that time, I have been a guest during a stated meeting. I was asked to recite the "oath" that you can find on the web. Of course I couldn't remember all of it. So I said, "but I can tell you that if you say to me x, I'll ask you for y." and I was vouched for on the spot by the senior deacon.

In summary, real brothers keep (live by) their word. And they do more than memorize a handshake or a slogan. They have internalized the entire ritual. They can live by the password, and apply it in a crisis.

The rest are just onlookers and eavesdroppers.

.

My daughter is a Kappa doesn't seem sinister to me; it seems like a group of ladies dedicated to good works, education and sisterhood. What the rituals if any are I don't know and frankly it isn't any of my business. Even if I were to ask my daughter she wouldn't tell me and out of respect for her I won't put her in that position. A member or former member should repect their promise to maintain secrecy. You are only as good as your word.

I enjoyed your response. I am currently an active member of a Kappa Sigma chapter and am about to become an alumni (since I am graduating from the university). I have heard some rumors about the similarity between masonry and kappa sig organizations and have become more interested in the subject as I become more ritual proficient. While I plan on maintaining complete confidentiality of our organizations secrets (and understand and applaud the fact that you will maintain yours), I would like to know how one can become a mason (among other simple questions). Do you have to be invited by a member, or must you simply attemp to join? I understand if you cannot answer this, but I would like to know since I am considering entering the masonry. Thanks.

By the way, I am truly ashamed that a chapter would even consider accepting candidates like those who have ATTEMPTED at divulging the organizations secrets on this website. It is not only representative of your personal attitude towards the fraternity, but it is a testiment to your quality of charachter as well. I'm sorry that you have a personal vendetta against the members in your chapter, but any decent human being would have the common manners of not TRYING to reveal something others consider sacred (even though your attempts were quite humerous). I suggest that if you want to "bust out" some secrets of an organization, you should have become more active and actually LEARNED the secrets first. However, this is one reason our secrets will always be protected... those who don't have the character and attitude required for membership in Kappa Sigma often don't have the mental ability to reveal some of the fraternity's sacred secrets. So, had you become a REAL Kappa Sig, this whole conversation wouldn't even be necessary (you would have learned to become a better man in all walks of life, including character and personal morality). Nice try though. Unfortunately, you only get a D for effort.

AEKDB

This thread was a very interesting read.

I am a Kappa Sigma brother. I was in a financial situation similar to that of the one who didn't pay his dues. I was having a hard time coming up with the money, so I resigned my membership on good standings, but still remained a brother. After a talk with my GM of the chapter, I decided it would be best to part ways, so that I could pay my outstanding dues while not accumulating more debt to the chapter.
I parted on good terms with most of the chapter, but there were a few who chose to be real @$$holes about everything even after I payed my debt. I remained close friends with everyone else and they still to this day consider me a brother, as I do them.

The fact that a former EXPELLED member tried to divulge information is laughable. Because like others have said before me, they don't know the real meaning behind anything.

I am a second generation Kappa Sig, and still maintain in my heart the brotherhood and the experience I had in going through the ritual and performing the ritual for following pledge classes, as the best experiences of my life. There is nothing more fulfilling than taking a pledge brother through the experience, immediately following your own. And initiating my pledge son, was one of the proudest moments of my college career. Kappa Sigma Nationals (IMH) recognizes me as an alumni and I still take part when and wherever I can. The true meaning behind everything is a secret, that if divulged to the uninitiated, holds absolutely no meaning. But to those who have gone before, it means everything.

AEKDB

I was a member of a fraternity. I did not consider my fraternity experience as a whole to be positive and would generally not recommend joining a fraternity. (This is not to say that there are no worthwhile fraternity experiences to be had out there, but generally it is not a good idea to join.

I would say experiencing an initiation ritual, especially when the ritual is a surprise, is a lot different than reading about the ritual. An initiation ritual is like a football game, rock concert, or grand monument. Experiencing it personally is a lot different than reading about or seeing a videotape of it.

We can get together with ryanatxp2002 and after we leave Miami in July we can take that road trip and handle things.

I know that you can't generalize but EVERY person that I have ever met that joined a college fraternity did it to get drunk and laid,not because they were seeking some ancient wisdom or esoteric knowledge.

[edit on 24-5-2007 by brotherforchrist]