Note: In 1986 The Grand Lodge of England removed the candidate's speaking out of the traditional physical penalties shown in the illustration.. However they are still within the wording, only more subtly.. The pledge now states 'Do you likewise pledge yourself that you conceal what I shall now impart to you with the same strict caution as the other secrets in masonry?' The worshipful master explains to the candidate '..to the symbolic penalty at one time included in the Obligation in this degree (as below) had he improperly disclosed the secrets entrusted to him, which implied that, as a man of honour a Master mason would rather have been severed in two, the bowels burnt to ashes and the ashes scattered over the face of the earth and wafted by the four winds of heaven so that no trace or remembrance of so vile a wretch may longer be found among men, particularly Master Masons'
 

 

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