Masonic Miscellany

Question What does the word ‘hele’ mean in the obligation?

Answer

The origin of the wordhelecomes from the Anglo Saxonhelan, meaning ‘to cover or conceal’, and its significance to the Initiate is that, by its use in the Obligation, not only does he undertake to not to reveal the secrets of Freemasonry, he undertakes to cover them up or conceal them. The use of the word prepares him for the Masters warning – cautiously to avoid all occasions which may inadvertently lead him to disclose any of those Masonic secrets which have been entrusted to his keeping.

Chaucer and much earlier writers used it. The first Masonic reference is found in the Cooke MS written in the early fifteenth century “That he can hele the counsel of his fellows in the Lodge and in chamber and in every place where masons be.”

In the early days, undoubtedly, ‘hele’ rhymed with ‘mail’ or ‘male’ and for this reason, we suppose, some printed rituals include an instruction to pronounce the word in that way; but the matter was not quite as simple as that. When the editors of the early eighteenth century ritual brought together those three words, ‘hele’, ‘conceal’, ‘reveal’, it is quite obvious that they meant them to form a sequence known as rhyming assonance, and the words ought still to rhyme, a practical purpose was intended to fix these three words in the memory. The original intent of the phrase was undoubtedly that all three words should rhyme. Then, if they are to be intelligible, the pronunciation ‘hale or hail’ is a nonsense –“Hale, consale and never revale” is meaningless. Therefore despite what the rubric says in some rituals, the correct pronunciation is undoubtedly “Hele, conceal and never reveal” !

Thanks to the PGL Warwickshire.