I attended a Masonic conference where the use of what some Masonic presenters termed “hazing” was illustrated from European rituals and from the Masonic rituals of old manuscripts. There was a question as to what the reason was for having activities resembling “hazing” in Masonic ritual, and why were they so prevalent in the past, and still more popular outside the USA? These Masonic presenters, who are the top Masonic scholars in American Masonry (I shall not name them, as t