Mystical Seven (Wesleyan)
| Mystical Seven | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Founded | July 17, 1837 Wesleyan University |
| Founders |
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| Color(s) | Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red; or simply White |
| Temples | Eleven, of which two currently exist. |
The Mystical Seven is a society founded in 1837 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. There are two separate groups. Members are called Mystics.
The Mystical Seven was founded in 1837, just six years after the founding of Wesleyan University. It was recognized by the university on October 16, 1837. It was Wesleyan's first society, founded a half year before Eclectic (May 1838). Of the seven founding members, senior Hamilton Brewer was recognized as primus inter pares behind the establishment of the society. The members met each week at their meeting space in the furnished attic of Wesleyan's North College. The society began Wesleyan's first student publication, The Classic, in 1840.
The Mystical Seven is always referred to as a society, but it is one of the early college fraternities. Through the 1840s and 1850s it was a peer organization with Wesleyan's Eclectic Society, Psi Upsilon, Alpha Delta Phi and Chi Psi. However, instead of Greek references, it chose Hebraic. I.K.A. at Trinity (1829), and Skull and Bones at Yale (1832), were other nearby non-Greek inspired college fraternities.
From about 1856 to 1865 the Mystical Seven was partners in the Alpha Eating Club with the Eclectic Society.
The society was especially known for the quality of its arcana. "Never have I seen anything so original, so quaint, so completely unique, or irresistible in its solemn humor, as the Mystical Seven initiation and the ceremonies of its meetings." A similar commentator noted that the Mystical Seven, "in some respects [was] among the most ambitious efforts at creating a college secret society with a good ritual."
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