These letters are the initials of the words Ancient Arabic Order Noblea Mystia Shrine (see shrine).. They may be rearranged to spell out the words A Mason. The claim has been made in all sincerity that this peculiarity was prearranged and is not at all accidental. Such a probability is not as rare as in type as may at first be imagined.
For instance the York Roll No. 1, about 1600 A.D., starts out quaintly with such an endeavor in the form of an anagram, the letters of words or phrases transposed to make different words or phrases, thus:
Arguably the largest philanthropic fraternal organization in the world today, The Shriners or "The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine," as they are properly known started out as a luncheon club for Master Masons residing in New York and surrounding areas.
In 1879 Manhattan had 900,000 residents of which several thousand were Masons. Many of these men enjoyed taking their lunch at the Knickerbocker Cottage on Sixth Avenue, where they met on the second floor. The luncheons were greatly enjoyed by all and were a welcome respite from the seriousness of the degree work in which each man was engaged in his home lodge. A common conversation, resulting from the jovial attitudes of the diners was to form a new Masonic fraternity based on fun, good times, and fellowship. While little came out of the conversations two of the regulars, William J. Florence, a well known actor of the day, and Walter M. Fleming, a medical doctor, decided to take matters to hand and do something about the idea.
As a celebrity of the New York stage, Florence had occasion to travel throughout Europe and the Middle East. While on tour in Marseilles, France, Florence took part in a private party given by an Arabian diplomat. The entertainment for the evening was elaborate musical comedy, which concluded with the guests becoming members of a secret society.
Florence felt that this production may be just what his colleagues at the Knickerbocker Cottage needed to implement there idea of a new fun based Masonic fraternity and to this end made all sorts of sketches and notes while in France. While on tour he had the opportunity to attend the production in Cairo and also in Algiers and expanded his notes at both events. Upon his return he explained the idea to his friend Walter Fleming, who agreed to assist him.
Fleming was born in 1838 and had served in the Civil War as a surgeon with the 13th New York Infantry Brigade of the National Guard and moved his practice to New York following the war. It was Fleming who converted Florence's notes and sketches into what would become the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
The etymology of the name Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine has raised some question as to its origins. However, if one rearranges the letters of the name they see possibly that it was nothing more than an attempt to code, in a humorous way, the phrase A M A S O N.
Once completed, Fleming and Florence took the idea back to their friends at the restaurant and together the group formed the ritual, costumes, salutation and emblem of the order. It was these men that decided members would wear the red fez.
The founders of the order had some assistance in the persons of Charles T. McClenachan, William Sleigh Paterson and Albert L. Rawson, who wrote the initiation rites of the new group. McClenachan and Patterson were both experts on Masonic ritual and were likely the chief workers on the ritual portion, while Rawson, a noted scholar, is likely to have provided much of the Arabic background for the same.
The group chose the crescent as the jewel of the order. Any material can be used in forming the crescent, but the most valuable are the claws of a Royal Bengal Tiger, united at their base in a gold setting. In the center of the emblem is the head of a sphinx, and on the back are found a pyramid, an urn and a star. The motto inscribed on the jewel is "Robur et Furor," which means "Strength and Fury." Later additions to the emblem were the scimitar from which the crescent hangs, and a five-pointed star beneath the head of the sphinx. It is this later form that is used by the order today as shown above.
The fez, which is the official headgear of members then and today, has been accused by many to have unchristian origins. While we will not continue this point here, the interested reader can see our response to this accusation in our article on the Baphomet, found on this Web site. Suffice to say the Fez originates from the city of the same name where it was developed to bolster the economy of that city in the 9th century AD.
The first meeting was held on September 26, 1872 at the New York City Masonic hall where the first Shrine was formed. This first Shrine Temple was called Mecca. Like many new organizations, the shrine was not an immediate success and the second temple was not established until 1875 when one formed in Rochester, New York. By 1878, the order had grown to 13 Temples and a decade later in 1888 the order had grown to include 48 Temples and over 7,000 members. Growth was most prosperous between 1900 and 1918 with many new members joining and many new Temples forming.
During this later period of growth it was decided that there should be an official Shrine charity. While individual Shrines undoubtedly contributed to charity, there was no one central goal for the order. This changed in 1919 when Freeland Kendrick visited a Scottish rite hospital for crippled children. Kendrick was moved by what he saw as a great need for these children. The rest is history.
Today there are 22 Shriner's hospitals for children serving various needs. Twenty are locate din the United States and there is one in Canada and one in Mexico. The hospitals are involved in orthopedic care, burn care and spinal cord injury.
Until recently a member of the Shrine had to be either a 32-Degree Scottish rite Mason or a Knight Templar in the York Rite System. It is perhaps this requirement that has led to the false notion that membership in the Shrine is the top degree of Masonry. While it cannot be argued that, to its millions of members, membership in the order and the philanthropy practiced is a pinnacle in anyone's Masonic career, there is no higher degree than the third degree (see 1813 articles of Union U.G.L.E.)
Recently the previous requirements for membership have been removed and one need only be a Master Mason to join the Shrine. This removal of previous requirements has caused great controversy among freemasons and their governing bodies the Grand Lodges. Great efforts are being made to restore the harmony.
We are grateful to Sonja Monsen, Web Site Operations Manager for the Shrine and Shriners Hospitals, for her kind permission and assistance to include material from the official web site in writing this article.
