Here is a link with a bunch of book titles. Click on one of the book thumbnails at the bottom and an amazon.com description comes up:
www.freemasonrywatch.org...
Any book written by William Poundstone is excellent.
This site has a lot of interesting info, but I doubt if it'd be a good scholarly reference because it's so biased it's embarassing. (It does claim
to describe the actual oaths, passwords, and handshakes. Some are PDFs from a chapter in Nevada.) For those of you that are curious about the rituals
(TgSoe), it has some descriptions. Nothing too scary, if I remember right. They use blindfolds and skeletons, supposedly, and they make people take
walks of faith, etc.
One initiation ceremony stands out in my mind - I don't know if it was the freemasons or a fraternity, but one cult blindfolded initiates and put a
warm bucket of water in their arms (after loudly squirting it in the bucket with a squeeze bottle). The initiate is told it's urine, and in order to
pass, they need to drink it.
But an even better ritual is from The Knights of Pythias. They roll out a bed of spikes and a set of steps. Then you're blindfolded and led up the
steps. In order to pass, you need to jump (barefoot) onto the spikes without making a sound. In reality, the bed is moved away so you jump onto the
floor. If you jump or don't jump, it doesn't matter, because you'll pass either way.
[Edited on 28-12-2003 by logiclock]