Secret Sisterhoods

i think if someone mentions the eastern star once more ill scream, another member on here was quoted as saying 'they only created it to stop their wives from asking if they could join the masons' and i think that sums it up

And they dont share their secrets with them

Does anyone know the story of Sisterhood that practiced in Dover the day of the Normandy Invasion in WWII? I heard it years ago and cannot find any mention of it.

Their is a ladies equivalent to one of the Orders i am in. The Ladies Orange Lodge. We are a Protestant Fraternity who admit Evangelical Christians.

Hear is a picture of an African Ladies Lodge i do believe their rituals are done in public but hear in Scotland the ladiess is a closed door ritual and i believe different in nature although i have never attending their rituals.

if you go to google images and type African Orange Lodge you will find a picture of it it's the first picture i believe.

David

[edit on 8-3-2009 by orangeman dave]

There are plenty of women-only secret societies.

A few of them are fronted by collegiate-based sororities such as AKA (Alpha Kappa Alpha).

There's a group called "The Goddesses" which is more like a sorority "with secrets" than a secret society. The word "goddess" is code for an over-weight woman.

I've also heard of groups with the word "Isis," "Nephthys," "Lilith" or even "Eve" in them.

The International Order of Rainbow Girls, ostensibly, only allows females.

There's also a secret society for female registered nurses.

As for the secret society for registered nurses, are you thinking of Sigma Theta Tau? There's alsoAlpha Tau Delta, which is now co-ed.

The first secret society for Jewish women wasThe United Order of True sisters. UOTS was founded in the USA in the mid-1800s.

There is also Jobs Daughters, which is Masonic.

Of course, the most popular "secret societies" would be the collegiate social and/or service sororities and the civic sororities. (Although these groups have secret mottoes and closed ceremonies, their membership isn't secret.)

Originally posted by inkbottle
Does anyone know the story of Sisterhood that practiced in Dover the day of the Normandy Invasion in WWII? I heard it years ago and cannot find any mention of it.

I know of a similar event where witches met around Southern England to perform rituals to prevent a German invasion. Gerald Gardner was involved in it. I have a vague memory that Doreen valiente described something similar, but a cursory internet check has not verified that. I may be confusing Valiente with another of Wicca's early 'leading lights'.

Section 8.2 lists Women's only Masonic Organisations
en.wikipedia.org...-only_Masonic_Organisations

Has a section on Sororities
en.wikipedia.org...

Fraternities and Sororities
en.wikipedia.org...:Fraternities_and_sororities

You may also find some useful info in these links
en.wikipedia.org...:Search?search=women%27s+grand+lodges

Also, there were two collegiate sororities with actual ties to the Order of the Eastern Star. Membership, at one point, required members to be OES or be related to a Mason.

Achoth was the first one, founded in the 1910s. The name means "sister" in Hebrew. The exoteric symbolism was very OES. in the 1920s, Achoth changed to "Phi Omega Pi". In the early 1930s, the OES/Masonic requirement was dropped. (Phi Omega Pi merged with Delta Zeta in the 1950s.)

Omicron Epsilon Sigma was the second group. It was founded in the 1920s at Emporia State University. It changed names to "Omega Epsilon Sigma". Again, membership was open to OES girls. There was a second chapter at Fort Hayes. Both chapters died out by 1928.

Daughters of Penelope, a Hellenic cultural organization founded in the 1920s. Open to women of all backgrounds. They also use the Greek letters "Theta Pi".

Daughters of Isabella and Catholic Daughters of America, but I'm not sure how secret their rituals really are!

There is a sisterhood in South Africa - The Kolobetsa Sisterhood. Their main focus seems to be on charity and they are involved in a project I found while browsing the net. It looks like they also take part in some sort of "ritual" by wearing aprons, making use of pseudonyms, painted spots on their faces, etc. BTW these women are not ethnic Africans - all seem to be European.

See this link: Kolobetsa Sisterhood See the "pictures" page, indicating that some sort of ritual is taking place.

Kolobetsa looks like a modern, off beat sisterhood. And by off beat, I mean not the prim and proper we think of with women's societies. I do agree there is some sort of ritual occurring. Maybe it has to do with the aprons, maybe just some sort of naming ceremony (Courage, Freedom, etc.)