The Pythian Sisters are the

female auxiliary Fraternal orders often have "side degrees", auxiliaries or appendant (as opposed to primary). Some of these are created as female "sister organizations", youth organizations or side degrees proper which are organizations associated with or within t ...

to the Knights of Pythias.

History

The origin of the Pythian auxiliaries for women is rather complicated. In 1888 the Supreme Lodge of the Knights of Pythias approved the creation of a female auxiliary with a ritual written by Joseph Addison Hill. However, there were other women who favored a ritual written by Mrs. Alva A. Young. Two organizations were organized: the Pythian Sisterhood, using Young's ritual in Concord, New Hampshire on February 22, 1888 and the Pythian Sisters of the World, that same year, in

Warsaw, Indiana Warsaw is a city in and the county seat of Kosciusko County, Indiana, United States. Warsaw has a population of 13,559 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. Warsaw also borders a smaller town, Winona Lake. Etymology Warsaw, named after the capital of ...

using Hill's ritual. In addition to the differences in ritual, the Concord group did not accept (male) members of the Knights of Pythias as members, whereas the Warsaw group did. In 1894 the Supreme Lodge ruled that its members could not belong to another organization with "Pythian" in its title, so the Warsaw group changed its name to the Rathbone Sisters of the World, in order to keep its male members. In 1906 the Supreme Lodge repealed that prohibition and the two auxiliaries merged into a new order simply known as the Pythian Sisters.

Organization

Local units are known as "Temples", state units are called "Grand Temples" and the national structure is called the "Supreme Temple", which meets biennially with the Supreme Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. In 1979 the Sisterhood did not have a regular headquarters, but the Supreme Temple offices were located in what ever city the Supreme Secretary happened to reside, which that year was in

Lonaconing Lonaconing is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, located along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD- WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,214 at the 2010 census. History The first non- ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Pythian Sunshine Girls

The Pythian Sisters have a youth affiliate, the Pythian Sunshine Girls, started in 1930.Sunshine Girls
at PythianSisters.org It is open to girls 8–20 and has local Councils in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, with some interest expressed in creating Councils in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. Denise Friend of Albuquerque, New Mexico is the current Supreme Royal Princess, apparently the leading administrator. ( Lynette Burnam was the Grand Royal Princess in Arizona in 1968-1969. )

Membership

In 1964 the qualifications for membership included being over 16 years of age, of

good moral character Good moral character is an ideal state of a person's beliefs and values that is considered most beneficial to society. In United States law, good moral character can be assessed through the requirement of virtuous acts or by principally evaluatin ...

, able to speak the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

and be the wife, widow, sister, half-sister, sister-in-law, mother, stepmother or mother-in-law of a member of the Knights of Pythias. Male members who had taken any of the Degrees of the Order were also eligible. Today the membership requirements are only that the candidate be over sixteen, speak English and believe in a

Supreme Being In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

.Pythian Sisters home page
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References

External links

Pythian Sisters home page
{{Authority control Knights of Pythias Organizations established in 1888 Women's organizations based in the United States Women's organizations based in Canada 1888 establishments in the United States