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NM Freemason · Skills & Drills · Chapter 8

The Square

Drawn from published Masonic monitor content. See site Credits for source citations.

Vocabulary (7)

Square
A right-angled instrument used by operative builders to prove the accuracy of two surfaces or lines. Speculative Masonry adopts it as the published emblem of morality.
Right angle
The 90° angle the operative square is constructed to prove. The same precision the operative seeks in his stone, the speculative Mason seeks in his actions.
Squaring our actions
The published moral of the symbol: testing one's conduct against the rule of right, just as the operative tests his stone against the square. The phrase appears repeatedly in the monitorial lectures.
Try-square
Another name for the operative builder's square. In some published lectures the Mason is reminded that the Master tries the work upon the square, implying the brother's actions are tried in the same way.
Jewel of the Master
The Square is the published jewel of the Worshipful Master of the Lodge, worn suspended from his collar. It identifies his office and the standard his Lodge is expected to meet.
Square and Compasses
Together with the open Volume, the Square forms half of the most recognizable Masonic device worldwide. Most published depictions show the Square's points down and the Compasses' points up, overlaid.
Operative origin
The square's place in speculative Masonry follows directly from the medieval guilds, where it served as the working tool of the master mason measuring stone before it is set. Its symbolic adoption preserves that lineage.

Multiple-choice (4)

1. What angle does the operative builder's square prove?
  1. 45 degrees
  2. 60 degrees
  3. 90 degrees ✓
  4. 180 degrees
2. What virtue does the Square publicly symbolize?
  1. The control of passions within due bounds
  2. Morality: squaring our actions toward all mankind ✓
  3. Hospitality to the stranger
  4. Diligence in study
3. Whose published jewel of office is the Square?
  1. The Senior Warden
  2. The Worshipful Master ✓
  3. The Junior Warden
  4. The Secretary
4. Why is the Square adopted from the operative builder's trade?
  1. Because it was Solomon's personal tool
  2. Because the medieval guilds donated it to speculative Masonry
  3. Because speculative Masonry preserves the lineage and forms of the operative craft from which it descends ✓
  4. Because no other right-angled tool existed