The adornment of silence: secrecy and symbolic power in American Freemasonry
The post-civil war period in America - the same era that witnessed an unprecedented growth in industry, science, technology and urbanization - was also the golden age of secret brotherhoods, and above all, the more elaborate orders such as Scottish Rite Freemasonry. While a variety of historians hav...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Creighton University
2001
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| In: |
The journal of religion & society
Year: 2001, Volume: 3 |
| Further subjects: | B
Freemasonry
B Initiation rites B Social status B Pike B 1809-1891 B Albert B Official secrets B Knowledge B Sociology of |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The post-civil war period in America - the same era that witnessed an unprecedented growth in industry, science, technology and urbanization - was also the golden age of secret brotherhoods, and above all, the more elaborate orders such as Scottish Rite Freemasonry. While a variety of historians have discussed the importance of Masonry and other fraternal organizations in Victorian America, few have explored the central role of secrecy, esoteric ritual and occult symbolism in these traditions. This article suggests a fresh interpretation of the phenomenon of American Freemasonry, and a new approach to religious secrecy in general, by examining the deep connections between secrecy and social power in Scottish Rite Freemasonry. Using some insights from Georg Simmel and Pierre Bourdieu, this article argues that secrecy operates as kind of "adornment," which, like fine clothing, enhances one's status even as it conceals one's person. In Bourdieu's terms, secret information thus serves as powerful form of "symbolic capital" - that is, a rare and precious resource that enhances one's prestige within a particular social hierarchy. |
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| ISSN: | 1522-5658 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of religion & society
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| Persistent identifiers: | HDL: 10504/64507 |