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Working Tools

Working Tools in MM Degree (Ancient Workings) etc.

by MasterMason

THE WORKING TOOLS IN THE MASTER MASON DEGREE (Ancient Workings)

“The Working Tools of a Master Mason are all the tools in Masonry indiscriminately but more especially the TROWEL”

In beginning, I will first provide you with the definition of the TROWEL as provided in The Lexicon of Freemasonry by Albert G. Mackey.  It is, in part, as follows;

“An implement of operative Masonry, which has been adapted by speculative Masons, as the peculiar working tool of the Master’s Degree”

By this implement, and its use in operative Masonry to spread the cement which binds all the parts of the building into one common mass, we are taught to spread the cement of affection and kindness, which unites all the members of the Masonic family, wheresoever dispersed over the globe, into one companionship of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.

THE TROWEL –

The Trowel is an important symbol and working took in Craft Masonry in many parts of the world, although it has become obsolete in England and in those rituals based on English workings.  However, the Trowel was still being used in England in the 18th Century, when Masonry was being spread abroad, and, perhaps, as a result, American Lodges still use it as the only “Working Tool” in their Master Mason’s Degree.

An early English book, Preston’s Illustrations of Masonry dated 1792, says: “The Trowel is mentioned as one of the things presented to the W.M. on his installation.”  But when the ritual was revived in 1813 the trowel appears to have been dropped from the English craft Masonry altogether and is now completely obsolete in the system.

However, in Scotland today (1966) the Trowel is used as the collar jewel of the Junior Deacon, and the Grand Junior Deacon also wears this jewel as part of his regalia.  They explain the use of the Trowel this way: “The Trowel teaches that nothing can be united without proper cement, and the perfection of the building depends on the suitable disposition of the cement.  So Charity, the bond of perfection and social union, must unite separate minds and interests that, like the radii of a circle which extend from the centre to every part of the circumference, the principle of universal benevolence may be diffused to every member of the community.”

“As it is used by the operative Brother to spread cement which unites the building into one common mass, so the Freemason uses the Trowel emblematically for the noble and glorious purpose of spreading the cement of brotherly love and affection, that cement which unites the members of the fraternity into one sacred band or society of Brothers among whom no contention should ever exist.”

However, in the Scandinavian countries, all Masons in Craft Lodges wear the Trowel as a jewel.  Entered Apprentices and Fellowcrafts wear a silver Trowel and Master Masons wear a gold Trowel.

These countries use two sets of Working Tools, both sets being explained in the First Degree.  The first set consists of the square, level, and plumb rule.  The second set consists of the Trowel, hammer and compasses.

The Trowel is also well known in European Masonry.  In one French working, (if not more) the candidate in the Fellowcraft Degree is made to take five ‘voyages’ around the Lodge and on each ‘voyage’ carries a different Working Tool, namely the mallet and chisel, the square and compasses, the rule and crowbar, the level, and on the fifth and last ‘voyage’, the Trowel.

In U.S. Lodges, and therefore also in those Canadian Lodges which have taken their ritual and form from the various American states, the Trowel is the only Working Tool used in the Third Degree.

To quote Mackey’s Encyclopedia:

“This implement is considered the appropriate Working Tool of a Master Mason, because, in operative Masonry, while the Apprentice is engaged in preparing the rude materials, which require only the gauge and gavel to give them their proper shape, the Fellow Craft places them in their proper position by means of the plumb, level, and square; but the Master Mason alone, having examined their correctness and proved them true and trusty, secures them permanently in their place by spreading, with the Trowel, the cement that irrevocably binds them together.”

Robert Macoy, in his book, The Masonic Ritual, informs us that

“the Trowel is an implement made use of by operative Masons to spread the cement which unites the building into one common mass; but we, as Free and Accepted Masons, are taught to make use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of spreading the cement of brotherly love and affection; that cement which unites us into one sacred band, or society of friends and brothers, among whom no contention should ever exist, but that noble contention, or rather emulation, of who best can work, and best agree.”

This charge, as Macoy gives it, has remained relatively unchanged to this day, and is still used by most American and some Canadian Lodges.

The Trowel has been, and still is, a respected Working Tool in the Craft throughout much of the world and, even though we may not use it ourselves, it may still provide us with much symbolism on which to moralize.

By: R.W.Bro. Kenneth Melsted; Published in

THE TRACING BOARD, G.R.S, 1966 and 1988.

Choose the Happier Thought

The next time you’re faced with a challenging situation that gives rise to negative thoughts and bad feelings, find an equally true thought about the situation that makes you feel better and lean into it. This doesn’t mean that you deny the negative it just says that you pay more attention to the positive part of the truth.

The classic measure of optimism, seeing the glass half full rather than half empty, is the perfect example of leaning into the equally true but happier thought.

Here is a real life example:  Have you ever been on a deadline and thought, “I can’t get this done on time”? The next time you are having this type of negative, self defeating thought, search your mind for  positive thoughts that are equally true. Such as “I always manage to get things done” “I can always seek help with this” The more I relax the more the ideas flow through me”

Lean into these Positive Thoughts and you will find yourself feeling better.

Adapted From Ladies Home Journal May 2008.

Friendship Believes All Things

Friends are patient and kind, they are not jealous or boastful, they are not arrogant or rude.

Friends do not insist on having their own way, they are not irritable or resentful, they do not rejoice at wrong, but delight in what is right.

Friendship bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Friendship NEVER ends.

Adapted from Corinthians 1.

Conclusion

It is my personal belief that each of us is a very special person, with very special needs and having said that, it seems to me that what we cherish most is the understanding of our family, friends and brothers. May we learn to always keep our hearts and minds OPEN to one another.

 

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The Common Gavel etc.

by MasterMason

The Common Gavel.

Pursuing the same metaphor, it might be said that the second great gift with which we are endowed at our birth is the gift of energy.

Healthy children simply bubble and boil with it (as we grandfathers know all too well!) and if it be true that, in the words of our ritual,

“labour is the lot of man”,

then it is also true that our God-given energy is the means whereby we accept that lot, and wield the Gavel of our allotted tasks in life.

To conserve the sources of our energy by right-living and temperate habits seems to me to be a duty implied, if not explicitly stated, by the charge concerning the Common Gavel.

As we pile on the yeas of our age, our energy becomes less overflowing, and sapped by normal fatigue, we become a set-up for one of the “Seven Deadly Sins” – Sloth, – or as we should now call it, Laziness, a tendency to procrastinate, to put off, or to neglect moral tasks which should go to the building of our character into

“a stately and superb Edifice, perfect in its parts and honorable to the builder.”

Say, we have a kindly impulse to write a letter to a distant or lonely relative or friend, whose spirits we know would be lifted by a message from us.  But – oh, well, I’m a bit fagged this evening and there’s a very good program on the television.  Or, say again, there is a meeting of some organization to which we belong, at which some special knowledge we possess would be a valuable help to the committee if we did but attend the meeting as we should; but, oh well, it’s been a rough day at the office, and it’s not a very nice night out, and anyway I might get stuck with a job to do!

So, we let it go, and our reputation for dependability suffers!  Which of us, alas, does not recall some good, kindly or helpful action which on first impulse we might have taken, but we have let time slip by, and the opportunity is lost.  The Gavel was in our grasp, but we did not wield it!

Truly, the road to Perdition is paved with good intentions.

“For the heart may conceive and the head devise; in vain, if the hand be not prompt to execute the Design”!

Editor’s Note:  Brother Phil J. Croft ,of King David Lodge No. 93, West Vancouver, B.C. where the Canadian Ritual is followed, gave in Lodge a series of lectures on the working tools.  His talk on the Entered Apprentice Tools appeared in the March and April 1972 issues of the MASONIC BULLETIN, B.C.R.

 

God is the Answer

We read the headlines daily and we listen to the news, We are anxious and bewildered with the World’s conflicting views.

We are restless and dissatisfied and sadly insecure, and we voice our discontentment over things we must endure.

For this violent age we live in, is filled with nameless fears, that grow as we discuss things that come daily to our ears.

So instead of reading headlines, that disturb the heart and mind, let us open up the Bible and in doing so we’ll find.

That this age is no different, from the millions gone before, But in every hour of crisis, God has opened up a door, for all all who sought his guidance and trusted in his plan.

For God provides the ANSWER that can not be found by man. And although there’s hate and violence and dissention all around, we can always find a refuge that is built on “ Solid Ground”

If we go to God believing that he hears our smallest prayer and that nothing can befall us, when we are in his care.

For only by believing in the things we cannot see, can all the Nations be United in a Peace that makes men Free.

For the skill of man can conquer new worlds in Outer Space,  but only our Creator, can endow mankind with grace. And only Grace, that is divine, can unite us with each other and make our enemies our friends and.

EVERY MAN A BROTHER.    Helen Steiner Rice from “Loving Thoughts” (published 1985)

 

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The 24 inch Guage etc.

by MasterMason

The 24-inch Gauge

The first implement placed in the hands of the new apprentice, we are told, is the 24-inch gauge, or as we should nowadays say, the two-foot rule; that common implement in the hip-pocket of every working artisan.  Its purpose, we are taught, is :-

“to ascertain the extent of the work in which are about to engage, and to compute the time and labor it may cost.”

 The first tool given to us as initiates, when we come forth as entered apprentices in the business of Life, is the priceless gift of our intellect – that faculty by which we are enabled to distinguish one thing from another, the good from the bad, the gold from the dross; our ability to assess, to compare, to measure, as with a two-foot rule, the worth of everything we say and do.

Intellect, added to years of experience and self-discipline as we progress into mature age, ripens into sagacity, a quality which should surely characterize all Masons.  The sagacious man measures, as with a twenty-four-inch gauge, the true worth of his every word and act – its honesty, its integrity, its sincerity, and above all, its effect on other people.

Again, we are admonished to observe that this humble tool is divided into twenty-four parts, as the day is divided into twenty-four hours, and bids us make proper use of our time, that ever more precious commodity.

When I was a schoolboy, in those bad old days when children were taught penmanship, one of the aphorisms I sometimes had to write as an exercise (and sometimes as an imposition for misconduct) went as follows:-

“Lost, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, one golden hour, studded with sixty diamond minutes.  No reward is offered for it has gone forever.”

It will also be noted that the two-foot rule, in its usual form, is folded into four equal lengths.  We are told that the proper uses of the hours of the day are four-fold –  “Prayer, Labour, Refreshment and Sleep”.

We must not, of course, be too literal, and I do not really think we are admonished to spend, each day, six hours praying on our knees, six hours at the office or shop, six at the dinner-table and six in bed!

It does suggest, rather, the equal importance of all four of these functions in the proper use of our time and the making of the full Man.  Nourishment of our bodies by refreshment and sleep; Enlightenment of our minds by labour and prayer,

Real prayer! – not just  “Please God gimme, gimme, gimme”  on Sundays, but that prayerful attitude of mind in which, every hour of the day, we feel the Great Architect at our shoulder, supervising and encouraging our work and ready to answer any true and sincere yearning for guidance and strength.

And real labour!  Not just putting in time at the office, shop, or whatever, but real all-out dedicated effort; for who has not experienced the joy which comes when we put everything we’ve got, heart and soul, into a task which we know we can accomplish!

Wholesome refreshment – food, drink, and entertainment taken with honest enjoyment, but without gluttony or lust; and finally, sleep – in Shakespeare’s lovely words –

“Sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of Care”! and prepares us for the rich experience of another day.

So many lessons from this humble little tool!

Editor’s Note:  Brother Phil J. Croft ,of King David Lodge No. 93, West Vancouver, B.C., presented in Lodge a series of lectures on the working tools.  His talk on the Entered Apprentice Tools appeared in the March and April 1972 issues of the MASONIC BULLETIN, B.C.R.

 A thought to Ponder.

Only barbarians are not curious about where they come from, how they came to be where they are, where they appear to be going, whether they wish to go there, and if so, why and if not.  Why Not.

Isaiah Berlin, British Philosopher.

Friendship

Man strives for glory, honour, fame,  That all the world may know his name.

Amasses wealth by brain and hand;  Becomes a power in the land.

But when he nears the end of life And looks back o’er the years of strife,

He finds that happiness depends On none of these, but the Love of Friends.                Anonymous

 

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Level & Plumb Rule etc.

by MasterMason

Level and the Plumb Rule.

You will recall the relevant Section of the Tracing Board reads as follows:-

“ The Jewels of the Lodge are three movable and three immovable. The three movable jewels are  the Square, the Level and the Plumb Rule. Among operative Masons the Square is to try, and adjust rectangular corners of buildings, and assist in bringing rude matter into due form; the Level is to lay levels and prove horizontals; the Plumb Rule is to try, and adjust uprights, while fixing them on their proper bases.

Among, Free and Accepted Masons, The Square teaches morality, the Level equality, and the Plumb Rule justness and uprightness of life and actions. They are called the movable jewels, because, they are worn by the Master and his Wardens, and are transferable to their successors on nights of Installation. The Master is distinguished by the Square, the Senior Warden by the Level and the Junior Warden by the Plumb Rule.”

You will note that I have highlighted the subjects for this edition and it is my hope, with the assistance of good reference material, to shed some further light on both the Level and the Plumb Rule.

The reference material I am about to share with you has been taken from “Freemasons’ Guide and Compendium. Written by Bernard E. Jones (a good addition to any Masonic library)

Levels and Plumb Rules

Levels and Plumb Rules are closely related.  In each of the time honoured patterns a line is caused to hang dead vertically by means of a weight, or bob. The bottom face, or edge, of the level is at right angles to the line, and indicates horizontals, while the sides of the plumb-rule are parallel with the line, and indicate verticals. (Similarly, a spirit level may at the same time be a plumb-rule)

The Freemason is taught that the purpose of the level is to lay levels and prove horizontals, and that of the plumb-rule to try and adjust uprights, while fixing them on their proper bases.

“TRY and ADJUST”      not      “TRY to ADJUST”  for the word “TRY” here is used in the old sense of  testing.

Symbolically, the level teaches equality and the plumb-rule justice and uprightness of life and actions. We are taught the level demonstrates that we have all sprung from the same stock and are partakers of the same nature and sharers in the same hope, while the plumb-rule, the criterion of rectitude and truth, teaches us to walk uprightly before God and man.

At Pompeii (destroyed A.D. 79) a table was discovered bearing the representation of a skull, level and wheel, the whole being interpreted as meaning that death is the great leveller.

They are also the subject of significant Biblical references. In Isaiah xxviii, 16-17 we read:

“Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet.”

The BALANCE is an old Masonic emblem, but the close relationship between it and the level is seldom recognized, although to the Romans the craftsman’s level was libella or libra, both words meaning “balance “, and their word for “leveling” also meant “weighing”. The balance is the symbol of justice and impartiality, and the figure, too, of man’s merits and demerits, one weighed against the other, and also of the things of the soul in one pan outweighing all the things of the earth loaded into the other pan.

Hopefully this material has beneficially added to your current understanding of these tools.

Strangers Are Friends We Haven’t Met

God knows No Stranger, He loves us all,

the poor, the rich, the great, the small….

He is a friend who is always there

To share our troubles and lessen our care……..

No one is a stranger in God’s sight,

For God is Love and in His Light

May we too, try in our small way

To make New Friends from day to day…

So pass no stranger with an unseeing eye,

For God may be sending a NEW FRIEND by.

Taken from “Someone Cares” by Helen Steiner Rice.

Some Interesting Thoughts (for your amusement)

  1. Can an atheist get insurance for” Acts of God”?
  2. If quitters never win, and winners never quit, what fool came up with “Quit while your ahead”
  3. What was the best thing BEFORE sliced bread?
  4. We are all born naked, wet and hungry, then things get worse.
  5. Be nice to your kids. They are the ones who will choose your nursing home.
  6. Does Fuzzy Logic tickle?
  7. Do Lipton Tea employees take coffee breaks?
  8. How come we never hear about “gruntled” employees?

And Finally.

I don’t have a solution, but I do admire your problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

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