CONSPIRACY CLAIM #28

A YouTube channel called “Watchwoman65” published a video titled “The Satanic Beliefs of the Eastern Stars”, claiming that the Order of the Eastern Star, a Masonic organisation open to both women and men, is satanic. Like most claims of this kind, it relies on the viewer not knowing anything about the Order. So here is what it actually is, in the words of the man who created it.

What is the Order of the Eastern Star?

The Order of the Eastern Star was created in 1850 by Rob Morris, an American lawyer, teacher and Freemason, and was adopted as an appendant body of Freemasonry in 1873. It is open to Master Masons and to women connected with the fraternity, and today to other members of good character. Every applicant must believe in a Supreme Being. The Order is based on teachings from the Bible, while welcoming people of all religious beliefs.

Its name says it all. The “star in the east” is the star of the Nativity, which, in the words of the Gospel of Matthew, the Wise Men followed to Bethlehem: “for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2). The emblem of the Order is a five-pointed star whose white ray points downward, towards the manger.

Five heroines of the Bible

Rob Morris explained exactly how he designed the Order. Each point of the star stands for a woman from Scripture, chosen to illustrate a virtue. In his own words:

“1. Jephthah’s Daughter, as illustrating respect to the binding force of a vow. 2. Ruth, as illustrating devotion to religious principles. 3. Esther, as illustrating fidelity to kindred and friends. 4. Martha, as illustrating undeviating faith in the hour of trial. 5. Electa, as illustrating patience and submission under wrong.”

Rob Morris, The Rosary of the Eastern Star (1865), quoted in Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry

Jephthah’s daughter (whom Morris named Adah), Ruth, Esther and Martha are all women of the Bible, and Electa is the “Elect Lady” to whom the Second Epistle of John is addressed, an early Christian woman. Morris added that he barely needed to look up his references: “Familiar from childhood as I had been with the Holy Scriptures, I scarcely needed to look up my proof texts.” An order whose lessons are drawn entirely from the Old and New Testaments is an odd candidate for devil-worship.

What about the upside-down star?

Videos like this one usually rest on a single “proof”: the Eastern Star emblem has one point facing down, and so, they say, it must be a satanic inverted pentagram. But the Order’s star points down for a simple reason: it is the star of Bethlehem shining down on the manger. The five-pointed star has been used for thousands of years by cultures and faiths of every kind, and its “satanic” reading is a modern invention, as we explain in detail in Claim #02.

What the Order actually does

The Order of the Eastern Star is best known for charity. Between 1986 and 2001 its charitable foundation contributed more than half a million dollars to research into Alzheimer’s disease, juvenile diabetes and juvenile asthma, and it provides bursaries for students of theology and religious music. Many jurisdictions also support retirement homes for older members, some of them open to the public.

Conclusion: The Order of the Eastern Star is not satanic. It was built in 1850 around five heroines of the Bible, takes its name and emblem from the star of Bethlehem, requires belief in a Supreme Being, and devotes itself to charity, including bursaries for theology students. The claim depends entirely on the viewer not knowing any of this.