Rituals

[brownsugakdphi]

I just have a question, I actually know quite a few traditions from an organization that is on my campus. Not because I wanted to, but because I was around when I saw their members being hazed. They basically do most of their traditions on campus, and because they have no nationals to worry about (they are the only chapter of their organization.... they're not at any other schools). My questions is what would you do if you knew another organization was deliberately hazing their pledges? Further, they wear shirts and stuff that alude to their "tough" pledgship. It places my org and other orgs in a tough spot cause you want to tell someone, but we dont' want to look like bad guys. I mean we don't want to get nipped in the butt because of this...


It's not a secret that we know what this group does... we just choose to keep our mouths shut... but is that good?

[SigmaKappaKelly]

We were having a Scavenger hunt for actives and new members and part of our trip was to get something from the Sig Eps (who live next door to us.) So we went over not knowing that they were having ritual and walked into thier ritual room, good thing they had already been finished but still havent taken down or covered some things up. The next weekend when I went to see my boyfriend (who is a Sig Ep at another campus) I asked him what I saw. His brothers were VERY angry that a chapter would just leave a room unguarded which was housing some VERY secretive things. But I never told anyone what I saw. If someone had run across my ritual I would hope they would have enough respect to keep it to themself.

[AOX81]

Me and an exboyfriend of mine (of 5 1/2 years) were initiated into our organizations very close to the same time. After he was initiated he came over to my house proudly displaying his new letters...and he started telling me everything he had done through the entire night. I told him that I didn't want to know because that should be between him and his brothers but he didn't listen. A tried to get him to stop but he kept saying, "oh, you just don't want to listen to my stories." After he was done he proceeded to say, "so what do you guys do?" I was like screw you...this is exactly why I didn't want him to tell me anything about his ritual because I knew he was going to ask about mine. Even though we are no longer together I have never told anyone about anything that he told me although I'd like to tell his brothers that he has a really big mouth!

[Optimist Prime]

I know some handshakes, but I think they're just rumors. I think whoever showed/told me them was screwing around. It might be true though. I hope not.

[sairose]

A friend of mine transferred from another school where she was a Kappa Kappa Psi. Since it is a music fraternity and so is mine we were talking about them(not the ritual parts though). Then all of a sudden she said, "for our initiation, we had to [insert ritual here]" What does SAI do?" Of course I didn't tell her! Not only are we not allowed to tell non-members our ritual, but we are under NO circumstances allowed to photocopy, type up, or write down ANY PART of our ritual. So I couldn't believe she had so little respect for her fraternity that she would tell me their ritual!

You wanna know the REALLY funny part? She asked me when SAI had rush because she wanted to become a member. As if we would give a bid to someone who can't keep her mouth shut!

[FuzzieAlum]

Ritual is private! But not all questions about it might be bad-intentioned. For example, some GLOs have letters that do not have a secret meaning. So if someone is in one of those groups and asks you what your letters mean, they may not realize they are asking to know a secret.

[PiKA2001]

I dont mean to sound rude, but I could give two shits about someone else's ritual. I'm sure everyone has heard the saying that in the greek alphabet only three( or two) letters matter, well that is how I feel. People have asked me what phi phi kappa alpha means all the time. Do you know what I tell them? To you it means nothing at all, to me it means the world.

[sairose]

well said, Pika2001.

[DigitalAngel126]

some people are so retarded ..seriously... i have a few sisters have have been told about rituals from other GLO's... all but one of them have the decency to not breathe a word of it... but one of them gets off on telling people, i swear. its like she thinks its funny that she can tell other peoples secrets but not her own.. i dont know if she still does that, i havent talked to her much since i got initiated...

[OnePlus69Is70]

Does anyone have a punishment for revealing the ritual? We're a local, so our rules are usually different, but we have a set rule that revealing any significant part of the ritual is grounds for immediate expulsion. We don't write it down, which means it's always someone's job to memorize the entire thing, word for word. Even mentioning it around outsiders is taboo. It's ours.

As for knowing other people's rituals.....I know some careless Sigma Pi's and SAE's who've let things slip, but I've really no interest in their rituals. It's indecent to be interested.

[MoxieGrrl]

OnePlus: Rock on!!! Anyone who can memorize ritual is awesome!

To address an earlier question of "what would someone do if they saw another group hazing?" Hmm....I would have told the Greek Life Coordinator. That way, he can ask the group about it. If it turns out to be a misunderstanding, no harm done.

My boyfriend said, "I'd call their Nationals." I don't know if I could go that far because I tend to misinterpret things a lot.

[PiKA2001]

Usually the punishment for revealing ritual is a good ass kicking.

[kdonline]

Lots of unhappy (former) members, jilted ex-boy/girlfriends, and initiates who don't care anymore are the reasons why GLO rituals are revealed to non-members.

Any well-rounded greek would realize that all GLO's have the same basic purposes for existing - it's just the way we all state them which makes us different.

You'll realize this when you meet other greeks throughout life.

And, by the way, I have found copies of ritual information of many GLOs on the internet (including my own). Sure, it's interesting reading, and you can see how similar our groups all really are. But my conscience told me that reading others' ritual was not right.

I feel sorry that initiates were careless enough to reveal ritual. It's disappointing to see any of it on the internet.

But really, once you know, what's the big deal? You certainly won't make friends with members of that GLO if you go around saying what you know. And when you're 30something like me, no one really cares that you know [insert GLO here]'s handshake. So what!?

BTW, I have mentioned my findings to other sisters (in our Yahoogroup, alumnae association meetings and at our National Convention), but I have never revealed what I have found out, nor have I told anyone where to find it.

It's just not right.

I would hope that other greeks who find out my ritual would extend the same courtesy.

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by Pi Kapp 142
There was once a study done by a respected scholar on fraternity rituals. I can't remember who did it, but a quick search on google will bring it up. About 20 GLOs voluntarily gave him the ritual handbooks and what not, wiht out revealling any secret meanings or grips, just the handbooks. No one particular fraternity was named, the guy just talked about certain similarities and historicle parts. He devided them up by certain periods. It was quite an interesting study though.

Actually, it was Bobby McGinn's doctoral dissertation in 1979. He asked 67 fraternities to allow him to study their rituals, with the promise that his dissertation would keep all rituals confidential and would be worded in such a way as to avoid identification of any particular ritual with any specific fraternity. 22 fraternities honored his request. Somewhere on the web (I can't remember where) there is a place where doctoral dissertations can be ordered, if anyone is interested.

There is information that can be found by clicking on this link to Duncan's Greek Pages that, as I recall, is culled from McGinn's dissertation.

I will add that I have, from time to time, run across ritual information from other fraternities. I will also admit that I have found that information interesting for two reasons: I like studying the form of secret rituals -- I guess as a social science study -- and I am particularly interested in the use of symbols and symbolism. For this second reason, I find it interesting how GLO's (and other groups with secret rituals) use their secret symbols on public items: badges, coats-of-arms, seals, etc.

That said, I will add two other things very quickly: I would never ask anyone to reveal secrets of their GLO -- I would respect their vow to secrecy just as I would hope they would respect mine -- and I would never reveal the few things that I have come across. I would never even admit that I knew any secrets of any GLO, and certainly would not divulge any secret that I know. I consider it my obligation to keep the information that I have come across just as secret as I would if it were information of my own fraternity.

[Zeta Eta]

Originally posted by OnePlus69Is70


As for knowing other people's rituals.....I know some careless Sigma Pi's and SAE's who've let things slip, but I've really no interest in their rituals. It's indecent to be interested.

I'd Like to meet this "careless Sigma Pi" .....and after he dislodges my sketchers from his arse...I'd like to talk to him.

Thanks for respecting Sigma Pi's rituals