Use of phrases directly from your rituals, signatures, etc.

[naraht]

I'm really torn when I see a brother use (often as a sig) a phrase that I know first came into existence as part of my fraternity's ritual. It doesn't reveal any secrets/privacies, but on the one hand showing pride and on the other privacies...

Feelings on this?

[33girl]

The only signature my APO chapter ever used was "In L, F,S" so I'm really curious as to what you're talking about.

As far as my sorority, I've seen some sisters including "big bugs" using signatures that I thought were dangerously close to revealing ritual. But I guess you could say that no one would know unless you knew, if that makes sense. It still makes me uneasy.

[Sister Havana]

I'm curious too - I've also only seen "In LFS" or "Yours in LFS" used as signatures from people in my chapter and alumni association.

[naraht]

I don't quite remember off the top of my head. This was sparked by the article about the chartering of Rice University http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/675...th230827/m1/8/ The line in the newspaper story that includes the word 'envy' and surrounding...

[MysticCat]

That's a newspaper article without a by-line. (Or if there is one, I missed it.) Presumably, if there's a ritual reference there, a brother either wrote the article or at least provided background info to the writer.

In my experience, this kind of reference to ritual is not unusual. Our early leaders did it, though granted in writings intended mainly for brothers. I imagine other groups do it too. The key is that, like with the article you posted, no one outside the fraternity would have a clue what is being referenced—unless, that is, someone calls attention to it (like you have just done. )

Sigs can be a different thing, which is why I prefer that brothers stick to traditional closings in letters. That said, I haven't encountered signatures that give anything away. I have, a few times, encountered strings of letters about which I and others had to ask "what in the world does that stand for?"

[KDCat]

I don't mind at all. I could tell you what "AOT" means and you'd say "Huh. Interesting." It isn't meaningful to you because you're not a KD. Every bit of our ritual could be out there and it wouldn't matter. The meaning is created from the relationships we have to each other.

[naraht]

The strings of letters that I have seen for Alpha Phi Omega are both from the Toast Song. STCW (Strong the Circle We) and MWAB (May We Always Be)

[StealthMode]

I recently did a group interview and another applicant casually said something that is from the DST ritual. My head jerked up and I saw she was smirking at me--she'd noticed my DST necklace and that phrase let me know she was also a soror.

Things like that make me nervous so I don't ever make references from rituals in conversation or on social media. Aside from being shocked to hear another person know the reference, I had a little flutter of panic that she was saying it in public. But KDCat is right--the meaning is created from the relationships we have. It sounded like perfectly normal conversation to everyone else in the room except me and no one would know she'd said a sacred phrase unless I told them.

[MysticCat]

I've had a similar experience, StealthMode, only it was online. Back in the days before I was on GreekChat, I was participating in another online Greek group. One day, I read a post in which the poster had used a sentence from our ritual. No quotation marks or anything, and I doubt anyone other than me noticed, and that post is what clued me in that he was a Sinfonian.

While I know it was used such that no one would have had a clue unless he or I clued them in, and while KDCat is right about the real meaning coming from relationships and shared experiences and values, I still was a bit uncomfortable with just planting a sentence from our ritual in an online post.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by KDCat

I don't mind at all. I could tell you what "AOT" means and you'd say "Huh. Interesting." It isn't meaningful to you because you're not a KD. Every bit of our ritual could be out there and it wouldn't matter. The meaning is created from the relationships we have to each other.

Agreed.