Secret handshake
{{Short description|Distinct form of handshake or greeting which indicates membership}}
{{otheruses|Secret Handshake (disambiguation){{!}}Secret Handshake}}
File:Pass grip of a Fellow Craft.jpg]]
A secret handshake is a distinct form of handshake or greeting which indicates membership in or loyalty to a club, clique or subculture. The typical secret handshake involves placing one's fingers or thumbs in a particular position, one that will be recognized by fellow members while seeming to be a normal handshake to non-members.{{Cite book |last=Duncan |first=Malcolm C. |title=Duncan's Masonic ritual and monitor: or, Guide to the three symbolic degrees of the ancient York rite, and to the degrees of mark master, past master, most excellent master, and the royal arch |date=2005 |publisher=Sweetwater Press |isbn=978-1-58173-530-7 |edition=3rd ed. with additions and corrections |location=Florida}} This is most frequently associated in the popular consciousness with college fraternities, fraternal orders and secret societies.
Examples
In the Roman mystery religion Mithraism, members were initiated with a handshake, and members were known as syndexioi (united by the handshake).M. Clauss, The Roman cult of Mithras, p. 42: "That the hand-shaken might make their vows joyfully forever"
Freemasons are among the long-standing users of secret handshakes, known as "grips".{{Cite web |last=Buck |first=Kate |date=2018-02-08 |title=Do Freemasons really have a secret handshake? |url=https://metro.co.uk/2018/02/08/freemasons-definitely-do-have-a-secret-handshake-but-they-wont-tell-us-what-it-is-7295849/ |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=Metro |language=en}}
Mormonism also uses secret handshakes, modeled on the handshakes used in Freemasonry.{{Cite web |title=Temple Ceremony / Masonry |url=https://www.mormonstories.org/home/truth-claims/temple-ceremony-masonry/ |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=Mormon Stories |language=en-US}}
Secret handshakes are also used by college fraternities in the United States, and used by members as recognition symbols in later life.{{Cite web |date=December 23, 2013 |title=Secret handshakes greet frat brothers as Wall Street women trail |url=https://financialpost.com/executive/executive-women/secret-handshakes-greet-frat-brothers-as-wall-street-women-trail |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=Financial Post}}