The word
“bogus” is a word that has been used for a very, very long time. It can be
traced as far back as 1797. It was then used to define a machine that made
counterfeit coins, it actually meant, “fake”. So why the word “bogus” when
dealing with illegal Freemasonry? Many are use to the word “clandestine” as
mentioned in many of our rituals, but very few know what the word “bogus”
means, its origin or derivation.
Henry
Wilson Coil in his Masonic Encyclopedia reveals that; “the term was first
used Masonically in the Constitutions of 1784 issued by the Grand Lodge of
England (Moderns) but is not eminently appropriate to the use made of it.
It means secret, hidden, private, or concealed, which might be said of the
many Masonic bodies.” Coil then defines the word as meaning;
“underhanded, stealthy, sly, furtive, but many so-called clandestine bodies
are quite open, aggressive, ambitious, and eager to defend themselves.”
Macoy’s Encyclopedia describes clandestine Lodges as “Lodges which have
been formed by avaricious Freemasons, who take money from those people who
have no idea of the difference between warranted Regularly Constituted Grand
Lodge and one that is not Regularly constituted.” This meant that these
Lodges/Grand Lodges were greedy for gain in seeking and attempting to hoard
riches from their members and potential candidates. Brother Kit Haffner, in
Joseph A. Walkes book, “A Prince Hall Masonic Quiz Book” states; “Members
of these organizations are to be treated as if they were not Mason”.
One of
the biggest feuds in Freemasonry in the early to mid 1700’s was between the
Moderns and the Antients. The Moderns undoubtedly regarded any Mason made
in an “Antients” Lodge as having been initiated in a clandestine manner.
The members who assisted in ceremonies or even associated with an “Antient
Mason” could be excluded, censured and even expelled.
As the
practice of illegal Masonry grew within our Fraternity, to keep what was
deemed unlawful, regular bodies tried keeping illegal masonry from
flourishing and hoodwinking the innocent who came across those that were
considered “Irregular”. An irregular lodge is one not entitled to Masonic
recognition no matter how slight the irregularity. Irregularity can vary
and have various degrees in nature. An example of this can be made
mentioned of the hybrid Masonic body of 1847 under the name and title “The
“National Grand Lodge.” This body today is not the same National Grand
Lodge of 1847 and in many instances scholars and researchers of Freemasonry
have considered this body “bogus”. However, we will later speak of the word
“Bogus”, its definition and why it is used today. Some irregular bodies are
irregular for not having a VSL displayed. As far as the irregular Grand
Lodge/Lodge this can be corrected by what is called a healing process. An
irregular Lodge is actually one not being or acting in accordance with the
laws, rules, or established customs of the fraternity. A clandestine body
can be both irregular and clandestine.
Spurious
is another term used to define illegal bodies calling themselves Masonic.
Spurious can be considered bodies of illegitimate birth, outwardly similar
or corresponding to something without having its genuine qualities. It is a
so-called Masonic entity that falsifies or erroneously attributes its origin
to some non-existing Masonic source. It is deceitful in nature. Remember,
if a thing is false, it cannot be a fact in its representation. The only
fact is that a spurious Lodge is a false Masonic body. The word “spurious”
was used in England as far back as 1824 when they considered lodge No. 557
spurious. This spurious Lodge met at an inn called, “The White Bear” and
thereafter “The Royal Hotel. Many who are spurious or even part of a
spurious body do not know the origin of his Grand Lodge/Lodge, and are
hoodwinked with false pretense that he has joined a respectful organization
thinking that its main objective and cause is for the upliftment of
humanity, never noticing fraud or deceit. Many good Men have been sucked
into these organizations by way of ignorance. They, along with clandestine
and irregular bodies, have often used the false history of Masonry and in
particular the history of Prince Hall Freemasonry. They have used the mud
throwing of calling us paupers of charters, beggars of recognition, and even
calling Prince Hall Masons racist of their own kind, not knowing that
although an organization with a make up of predominately men of color, we
have hundreds of white Brothers in our ranks.
Now, for
the word “bogus”. This word has been used as far back as the late 1800’s in
Masonry. One who used the word was the Grand Secretary of Arkansas (PHA),
by the name of J.C. Corbin. This word has been avoided by illegal Masons
and regular Masons alike. The misunderstanding is that they feel it is
disrespectful to use the word. Some have gone on record to say that the
word is”slang” and indeed it has been used as slang in specific accounts;
however, this does not eliminate the truth of the meaning of the word. Mis-education
on such a subject that describes the very false image of “Bogus” outfits is
an injustice to the forefathers of Prince Hall Masonry. I have seen, heard,
and read, how the misunderstanding of this word has taken regular Mason off
their course in protecting this gentle Fraternity because their ignorance of
the knowledge of the word “Bogus.” Some go as far to say that it sounds
“ghetto”.
The word “bogus” comes from the
word “boko”, meaning “deceit” or “fraud” in the Hausa language of West
Central Africa. One theory would be that the word would have been brought
over by Africans sold into slavery in America.
Hausa is the
Chadic
language with
the largest number of speakers, spoken as a first
language by about 24
million people, and as a second language by about 15 million more.
Native speakers of Hausa are mostly to be found in the
African country of
Niger and in the
north of
Nigeria, but the
language is widely used as a
lingua franca
(similar to
Swahili in
East Africa) in a
much larger swathe of
West Africa,
particularly amongst
Muslims.
Hausa is an
official language in
the north of Nigeria.
The West African English word
(Sierra Leone) bogo-bogo, and the Louisiana-French word bogue,
which also means fake, fraudulent, and phony. The ending of the word "bogus"
is part of the words hocus-pocus.
Another theory is that
"bogus" may have arisen in criminal slang as a short form of "tantrabogus,"
which was evidently a 19th century slang term for an odd-looking or menacing
object, having some authorities to believe that "bogus" might be linked to
"bogy" or "bogey" (as in "bogey man").
The word “bogus”, circulated
widely once introduced into our language and began to count for more than
just counterfeit money. In 1827, in Painesville Ohio, a machine that made
fake coins was called a “bogus”. It then meant counterfeit money by 1848.
By the mid 1800s, the word “bogus” meant anything fake, as it does
nowadays. Recorded in our American history is a “bogus” legislature in 1852
and a “bogus’ lottery tickets in 1856. Also in 1859 it is known in the
history of the American courts of the “bogus” life insurance company scams.
By 1860, any jewelry that was not diamond, gold, silver, or any authentic
stone or metal was considered “bogus” jewelry. History even speaks of the
“bogus” piano tuner in 1887. So the word “Bogus” has been around for a very
long time and it defines all things fake and fraudulent.
Many
Freemasons have adopted the word to describe so-called Masonic operations
that perform functions and exert power and influence over blind innocent
men. Masonic operations that work without authority, the common customs and
traditions of Freemasonry are considered “BOGUS”. This is evident,
especially when the word started to be strongly used after the Thomson
Masonic Fraud in 1922. In the recent past though sometime used as a slang
expression, the word “bogus” in not a slang word in the real sense today as
it is now part of our official vocabulary. The reason for this is because
the word “bogus” has been used for so long that it is not an informal
nonstandard vocabulary word composed typically of coinage. To describe these
illegal groups in a sugar-coated manner shows the lack of honest and
effective communication to save innocent people. The late Brother
Joseph A. Walkes Jr., in his article “Bogus Black Groups or Black on Black
Crime” stated, Unfortunately the leadership of both Prince Hall
Freemasonry and its Caucasian counterparts have little or no knowledge of
Masonic common law, and exactly what Freemasonry is all about, and they
continue to make dumb and dumber statements on the subject of bogus frauds
operating within the Black community, such as calling them “non-Prince Hall
Masons”. Some of our leadership do not understand the importance of
educating ourselves of these groups who are bogus. The word “BOGUS”
is NOT a figure of speech but part of our vocabulary and common language.
10
STUPID justifications plus a BONUS given by Bogus Masons as to why they
should be recognized
Misguided bogus Masons say:
1)
We read the same rituals
2)
We take the same degree
3)
We practice the same Masonry
4)
We have the same regalia
5)
We give the same grips, signs and words
6) We
confer the same degrees
7) We
take the same obligations
8) We
Black Masons should stick together.
9) We
believe in God
10)
We belong to the same church
BONUS) He’s my Frat Brother (Greek)
(The word “bogus” is universal. Below is the word “Bogus” in different
languages.)
