What is stated about the penalty for revealing the secrets?

• A. A fine is the penalty.
• B. Exile from the lodge is the penalty.
• C. A public reprimand is the penalty.
• D. Throat cut from ear to ear, tongue torn out by its roots, and buried in the rough sands of the sea, a cable’s length from shore, where the tide regularly ebbs and flows; so help me God and keep me steadfast in the due observance of this, my solemn obligation as an Entered Apprentice Mason.

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is how the ritual oath describes the consequence for divulging secrets. In the Entered Apprentice ceremony, the oath contains a stark, graphic penalty described within the text. That dramatic, severe punishment is what the question is pointing to, and it’s the one that matches the wording of the ritual.

Keep in mind that this is ceremonial language meant to convey how seriously the obligation to keep secrets is taken. In actual lodge practice today, such penalties are symbolic and not enforced. The other possibilities don’t appear in the oath text as the stated penalty, which is why they aren’t the correct match.