Secret handshake

For other uses, see Secret Handshake.

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.^[1] This is most frequently associated in the popular consciousness with college fraternities, fraternal orders and secret societies.

The Pass grip of a Fellow Craft, a Masonic recognition sign

Examples

In the Roman mystery religion Mithraism, members were initiated with a handshake, and members were known as syndexioi (united by the handshake).^[2]

Freemasons are among the long-standing users of secret "grips" (similar to handshakes) as tokens.^[3]

Some (but not all) of the denominations from the Latter Day Saint Movement also use secret grips as tokens, adopted and adapted from the concept of grips used as tokens in Freemasonry.^[4]

Secret handshakes are also used by college fraternities in the United States, and used by members as recognition symbols in later life.^[5]

See also

• Collegiate secret societies in North America
• Gesture
• Kushta
• Shibboleth