Working Tools of the Fellowcraft
Why this matters
Three new tools come to the Fellowcraft. The plumb tests verticals against gravity. The level tests horizontals against the line of true rest. The square tests the right angle where the two meet. Together they are everything an operative builder needs to put a wall up that will still be standing in a hundred years. The published Fellowcraft lecture takes the same three tools and applies them to the second great work: the building of a man.
The Fellowcraft tools are the published mid-course of Masonic self-work. The EA tools (gauge, gavel) teach you to start. The MM tool (trowel) teaches you to finish among brothers. The Fellowcraft tools (plumb, level, square) teach you to stand upright, to walk among men as their equal, and to act on the square with all mankind. Knowing them is half the published curriculum of moral Masonry.
What this chapter is
Plumb, level, and square: the published working tools of the second degree. Each carries a moral lesson the Fellowcraft is expected to live by.
How to practise it
A lesson walks the same seven steps every time. Read the intro, study the material, then drill it through Quick Fire, Matchup, Sequence, Flashcards, and the Mix capstone. Each step opens to the next; no choices to make in the middle of the work.
What if · take it further ▸
Sit with this
- Pick one published tool (plumb, level, or square) and apply it to one relationship in your life this week. Plumb your honesty in it, level your standing alongside the other person, or square your conduct against what you owe him. The exercise is the published practice.
- Why three tools rather than (say) one or six? The published curriculum is deliberate about both number and order. As you read, ask why these three, in this order.
Connect to
- Working Tools of the Entered Apprentice
Working Tools of the Entered Apprentice. The previous set in the published curriculum.
- The Trowel
The Trowel. The Master Mason tool that completes the published set.
- Officer Jewels
Officer Jewels. The Fellowcraft tools are the published jewels of the three principal officers.