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.