7. The Essence and Task of Freemasonry from the Point of View of Spiritual Science I

The candidate must then take the oath. Everything about him is horrible, dark, the room only lit by one or two tiny flames. I want you to consider this oath in its full portent: ‘I hereby swear that by Word, Sign and Grip I shall never disclose anything which is henceforth revealed to me within this Lodge. Should I betray any of the secrets, I will allow any of the Brethren who may get to know about it, to slit my throat and wrench out my tongue.’ That is the oath of the apprentice. Still more dreadful is the oath of the journeyman, who consents to having his breast cut open and his heart torn out and thrown to the birds. The oath which the Master has to swear is so terrible that it cannot be repeated here.