Order of the Pug
TheOrder of the Pug(German:Mops-Orden) was a para-Masonicsociety founded by Roman Catholics. It is believed that it was founded in 1738 byKlemens August of Bavariato bypass the crown'sIn eminenti apostolatusof 1738. The constitution of theOrder of the Pugallowed women to become members as long as they were Catholic. Thepugwas chosen as a symbol of loyalty, trustworthiness and steadiness.[1]
History
[edit]No reliable information has been handed down about the origins of the pug order. It is believed to have been founded in France around 1740, from whence it spread to the Netherlands and Germany, where a lodge is said to have existed in Bayreuth.[2]The founder is said to have been Klemens August, Duke of Bavaria, in 1740.
Members called themselves Mops (the German forPug). Each lodge had a female and a male lodge master, who called themselvesgrand pugsand took turns running the lodge every six months. Other functions, such as secretaries and overseers, were also androgynously filled. However, the lodge grandmaster was always male.[3]
The order was banned byGöttingen Universityin 1748.Loge Louise des ehrwürdigen Mopsordensor "Lodge Louise of the Venerable Order of the Pug" had been formed the previous year as astudent society,mainly drawn from theHanoveriannobility. The lodge fees and their control over their members formed the excuse for the closure, and after a government investigation, the lodge documents were passed to the university authorities.[4]
While German sources state that the order was short-lived,[5]they were reportedly active inLyonas late as 1902.[6]
Initiation ritual
[edit]Novices were initiated wearing a dog collar and had to scratch at the door to be admitted inside. The novices were blindfolded and led nine times around a carpet with symbols on it, while the Pugs of the order barked loudly to test the steadiness of the newcomers. During the initiation, the novices also had to kiss a porcelain pug's backside under its tail as an expression of devotion to the order. Subsequently, the hand of the person asking for admittance to the order was placed by the master on a rapier in the case of a man, and on a mirror in the case of a woman, with a vow being demanded. Finally, the initiate was asked to "see the light", whereupon the blindfold was removed. The members of the order would stand around the initiate in a circle, holding out a rapier or a mirror in one hand and a pug in the other. At the end of the Rococo period, the initiate also had to undergo the ceremonial presentation of hand signals and slogans.[7]
Members of the order carried a Pug medallion made of silver. In 1745, the secrets of the order were "exposed" in a book published inAmsterdamwith the titleL'ordre des Franc-Maçons trahi et le Secret des Mopses révéléwhich included the ritual and two engravings illustrating their rite.[8]
Bibliography
[edit]- Joachim Berger (publisher):Geheime Gesellschaft. Weimar und die deutsche Freimaurerei.Hanser, München 2002,ISBN3-446-20255-2
- Abbé Larudan:Die zerschmetterten Freymäurer, Oder Fortsetzung des verrathenen Ordens der Freymäurer.Edition Cagliostro, Rotterdam 1984 (reproduction Frankfurt/M. 1746)
- Zirkel, Jahrgang 56, Nr. 4concerningWilhelmine von Bayreuth,sister ofFrederick II of Prussia
References
[edit]- ^Masonic TrowelMackey's Lexicon of Freemasonry, 1844, entry for "Mopses", retrieved 18 March 2013
- ^Frick, Karl RH (2005).Licht und Finsternis. Gnostisch-theosophische und freimaurerisch-okkulte Geheimgesellschaften bis zur Wende des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vol. 2.Wiesbaden: Marix Verlag. p. 244.ISBN3-86539-044-7.
- ^Frick, Karl RH (2005).Licht und Finsternis. Gnostisch-theosophische und freimaurerisch-okkulte Geheimgesellschaften bis zur Wende des 20. Jahrhunderts.Wiesbaden: Marix Verlag. pp. 244–245.ISBN3-86539-044-7.
- ^Franz Stadtmüller: Geschichte des Corps Hannovera zu Göttingen, Göttingen, 1963, p10 (ref copied from German Wikipedia)
- ^Welpen.deWas hat der Mops mit den Freimaurern zu tun?, retrieved 17 March 2013
- ^Rues de LyonArchived7 October 2011 at theWayback MachineAvenue de Saxe, retrieved 17 March 2013
- ^Frick, Karl RH (2005).Licht und Finsternis. Gnostisch-theosophische und freimaurerisch-okkulte Geheimgesellschaften bis zur Wende des 20. Jahrhunderts, Band 2.Wiesbaden: Marix Verlag. pp. 245–246.ISBN3-86539-044-7.
- ^Google BooksGabriel Louis Calabre Pérau, L'ordre des Franc-Maçons trahi et le Secret des Mopses révélé, Amsterdam, 2910, pp 119 et seq, retrieved 18 March 2013
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