Skeletons Used In fraternity Ritual
 

Now this is one ritual I would like to see.


KEMPTON, Pa. -- An auctioneer has some unusual items to sell Saturday at the Kempton Community Recreation Center -- three skeletons in wooden coffins.

The auctioneer said the skeletons are more than a century old and belonged to a defunct chapter of an international fraternal organization that used them in secret rituals. He said he promised the seller he wouldn't reveal the identity of the organization, but said the Pennsylvania chapter closed because too many members died.

He said the organization bought the bones in the early 1900s from a catalog it used to purchase items for its rituals.

Kempton is in Berks County, about 20 miles west of Allentown. http://www.wgal.com/news/7877856/detail.html

That is....weird.

If this is for real at all, I *wonder* if they might have been from a fraternity that was, ummm, removed from its campus. I recall hearing about a coffin...hmmmmm...

One of the fraternity's at SLU had a "Fashion Show" where the girls dressed the guy's up in funny outfits based on themes. They had a full size wooden coffin with their letters on it in the room - not a chapter room, an old chapel that is now a multipurpose room, so public.

I'm not avoiding naming them because of privacy, I just can't remember for sure who it was. They did after all have it out in front of everybody. It was either SAE or SigEp I think, and I'm not confusing them because of their letters, but because of the guys in the fraternity.

Many GLOs use skeletons, coffins, daggers, and all sorts of macabre devices in their rituals. Many others use flowers, ribbons, and loving cups in theirs. Each one is beautiful and hopefully impresses their initiates for life.

What's a loving cup?

Google Images is your friend
 

Re: Google Images is your friend
 

Oh duh! I never knew what the real name of it was. I always called it the cup full of pig blood.

I can neither confirm nor deny the presence or absence of pig blood.

On that thought, as the newest alumna, I'm in charge of brining the goat for.. well... I can't really say, but does anyone have a goat? ;)

I tried doing some internet based research on these bones and may have discovered the origin of them. The now defunct group is The Secret Order of the Bonnet. It is a secret society deeply rooted in the amish country of PA, so I hear.

They do

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...threadid=73251

But, but, it's been stolen! I can't use a stolen goat!

Re: Skeletons Used In fraternity Ritual
 

We are strongly encouraged to instruct our families to return our secret-ritual-skeletons to National Headquarters after we die lest they end up at live auction or on eBay.

Not sure if all SAE chapters have a Paddy Murphy party, but the one at my college had one every year and they had a coffin for it. That could be what you saw. Can't say for sure; just a possibility.

Goats are to blah anyway, you should try to get hold of some unicorn blood. Or better yet pegasus.

Re: Re: Skeletons Used In fraternity Ritual
 

You become the secret-ritual-skeletons when you die . . .

Re: Re: Re: Skeletons Used In fraternity Ritual
 

Eeew, no we don't. The skeletons we use belong to members of a sorority our founders initially petitioned to absorb us but they chose not to. We hold grudges.

KR - you crack me up.

Good Thread.:) :)

Re: Google Images is your friend
 

Is this related to the Lovin' Spoonful?

Paddy Murphy at Pitt is so incredibly creepy... I only went once. That was enough.

Re: Re: Google Images is your friend
 

I believe in magic....

There is only one loving cup. Ya-betta-recognize, beatch:

http://mybeta.net/index.php?option=c...100&Itemid=135

We only hold a life leasehold on our coffins, after our death they are to be returned to HQ lest they become new collectible items on eBay. ;)

Coffins, the new collectible.

Denise

Too bad you aren't allowed to be buried with your coffins. ASA's have the choice to be buried with our coffins. Or we can pass them on to legacies, or return them to HQ for archives.

See, there's a situation where it would totally make sense to circle the fat on pledges. You'd want to make sure they can fit into the coffins. Imagine the embarrassment if, say, a girl's thighs have to be squished into the coffin and then the lid won't stay down? The mind reels! :eek:

Of course.;) But we only invited top-tier fraternities over to participate in the circleing of the fat. And, needless to say -the pledges had to wear bikinis from only Elite designers.

wow, you allowed your pledges to wear bikinis? Ours could only wear their birthday suits. How else could they be properly fitted for the cat suits?

That was a different night. I can say no more...;)

You're right, it would have been for Paddy Murphy (I've seen them used for this purpose). SAE doesn't use coffins for anything ritual-related.

yes, we dont use coffins. and, i have never seen bones at our rituals either.

off topic: i saw some tribal show on the discovery channel whose relative had past away. they burned the body on an open fire. then, they took the ashes and crused it up, mixed it in some soup, and had everyone eat it. :eek:

what is paddy murphy??

I know there is a Irish folk song called "The Day Paddy Murphy Died" and I've been to a bar or two with the name Paddy Murphy's.

Goat
 

saw two mountin' goats yesterday mornin' in the Walgreen (he's
a TKE) parking lot. One was spotted brown and the other was a
white one, and they were a mountin'
TNE used a goat in some chapters

Re: Goat
 

Do you mean

mountain goats
or
mounting goats?

On another note, I have a funny goat story from when I was about 7 years old. I was at my family's farm one weekend and decided to go into the goat barn to feed them, which I had done before many times. This time however I decided it would be fun to actually go into their pen and "hang out" with them. Big mistake. Long story short I got my ass kicked when three of them pretty much turned my body into a head butting bag. I've hated goats ever since.

Like I said, I'm not sure if it was a Sigma Phi Epsilon or an SAE event I was at, but it wasn't Paddy Murphy's, not yet at least. IT could very well have been made for it and just be hanging around though.

to SAEalumnus and AZNSAE.. of course you'd say that... ;)

but i'll keep it quiet, if you can lend me a goat... or unicorn's blood... that might work too...

PiKA2001 this should help to answer who/what paddy murphy is. My boyfriend is a SAE so i know a little about it.

Paddy Murphy, according to SAE legend, was a bootlegger who was doing deals with Al Capone. During one of the arrangements, Elliot Ness and his company of crime fighters stormed in on the affair to apprehend Murphy. However, when Ness signaled for Murphy to surrender, he instead reached for a gun, and Ness shot him down.

As Murphy fell to the ground, dying of a wound inflicted by Ness, he gave Ness the secret handshake that only the brothers of SAE know. Ness, an SAE himself, realized that he had killed a brother of his fraternity. Ness ordered that Paddy Murphy have an honorary burial, in recognition of his fallen brother.

SAEs all have different ways to honor Paddy Murphy, most which include a day/ night or formal devoted to him.

The Skull and Bones at Yale have bones apparently.

Geronimo's (the Apache chief) specifically are rumored to be there.

I might be able to help with the unicorn's blood, that's our mascot. We keep her at HQ in St. Louis where I will be visiting this weekend for a Council meeting. ;)