The Freemason’s Work

By Julian E. Ortiz

In many Spanish speaking Masonic lodges in South America, the Right Worshipful Master prepares to open work with the words “Silence…and in Lodge!” I do not find these words in rituals like Duncan, and I think this to be a loss for the brethren that could learn their first meaningful Masonic lesson early in their work, and one that must be repeated constantly.

“Silence” certainly refers to maintaining a solemn pose where all attention should be centered on the proceedings. As in everything Masonic, this mandate transcends the mundane realm of verbal noise to imply also the discontinuance of thought processes. At that moment, every brethren present is supposed to empty the vessel of his mind of whatever he has brought with him from the outside -the profane world, meaning outside the walls of the temple.

“…and in Lodge,” is the mandate from the Worshipful Master to transport oneself to the intramural work of the mason within the temple, free of all external influence, and ready the empty vessel of the mind to fill it with the Masonic teachings. “Silence, and in Lodge,” becomes then the end of a mental stage and the beginning of another (As a W:.M:. I found it useful to conduct a meditation period of fifteen minutes prior to the work opening.)

The Freemason’s main work is on the rough stone or ashlar that is himself as he is initiated. The first tools he learns to use are the gavel -or mallet-and the chisel. The gavel would seem to have a double meaning, since it is also the symbol of authority of the Worshipful Master. Not so, the gavel is the Masonic symbol for Will, and thus the power to master that which its user intends to master. In the Worshipful Master, it is the symbol that he who wields it calls forth the power to unite, guide, and enlighten the Brethren therein; therefore, it acquires the meaning of Authority. In the hands of the Wardens, it elevates the Junior to the level of the Teacher, and the Senior to that of the Judge.

In the hands of the Apprentice, the gavel and the chisel are the tools that will remove the rough edges (vices) from the ashlar (his inner self); and shape it into a thing of perfection: the perfect square. The gavel is the power of the new Mason’s Will to enter a new discipline and better himself. The chisel is the tool for perfecting oneself through Learning; learning what to remove and what to shape…Thus the double edge of the chisel to expunge what is harmful and to give form to the temple of virtues. Mackey gives the chisel the connotation of education…If that was so, every person with a degree would be a beacon in his surrounding. But the Masonic Light can only be brought forth by the type of Understanding that is the product of true Wisdom, and this can only be achieved by the Will to Learn…to reach the horizon of our minds, only to envision the next horizon…That is the reason for all the degrees in Freemasonry, step after step, Knowledge after Knowledge, the work of the Mason never rests.

For once we reach the final stage, we start all over, like the serpent biting its tail. The lesson for the Mason is that he never stops using the Apprentice tools: the gavel and the chisel. And we shall ever be like an Apprentice, enthusiastically raising our Will… against any threat to humankind, and toward the betterment of the society.

For the work of the Mason as he starts by clearing his mind from the profane and elevating his thought to Lodge work -Silence and in Lodge- has the final purpose of bringing the best of himself back to the world and make of this a better place. As it corresponds to a true workman of the Great Architect. May all work go to His Glory.

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