The Shaking Hands represent the brotherly love that unites the members of the Order around the world. No-body knows where or when the word ‘brother’ originated. In Greek it was phrater, in the Latin frater, whence our “fraternal” and “fraternalism.” It has always meant men from the same parents, or men knit by very close blood ties. When associated with initiation, which has the general meaning of “being born into” one can see how appropriate its use is in Freemasonry.
