Page 36 - MFM May 2015 C

Montana Freemason May 2015 Volume 90 Number 2

Gavels in Freemasonry
Jack Levitt, PGM-CA, (6,18)

Masonic bodies and many other groups have The gavel represents the force of conscience. It is our
generally adopted the gavel as a means to call will power that governs our actions and frees us from
meetings to order, keep order, announce the results debasing influences. It requires repeated exercise of
of votes, and otherwise punctuate actions of the our will power to subdue our passions. Will power
group. is common to all. It is fittingly symbolized by the
In a larger sense, gavels symbolize executive power, “gavel”, but just as the gavel is of no worth unless it is
as this is the instrument that strikes blows, or it can used, so is our will power.
be a symbol of authority without the use of force.

The gavel is an emblem of the authority of the
Master in governing the Lodge. At the installation of
a Master, he is informed, upon being tendered this
implement, that it constitutes the essential element
of his authority over the assembled brethren, without
which his efforts to preserve order and subordination
would be ineffectual. It is the symbol that inducts
him into the possession of the Masonic Lodge.

In the Middle Ages mallets were thrown, and all
ground over which they traversed were acknowledged
to be possessed by the thrower. This practice led to
the symbolism of the mallet indicating the Master’s
possession of his Lodge. A somewhat different use of
a thrown hammer is seen in an English ordinance of
1462 which is said to have declared that lewd women
should remain as far from the territory of Masonic
Lodges as a hammer could be hurled.

The gavel is sometimes confused with the setting
maul, which is a different instrument used for
different purposes. The gavel is an implement of
both the Master and his Wardens, and is an emblem
of power, while the maul is a heavy wooden hammer
with which the mason drives his chisel. The maul is
also the weapon with which the Master traditionally
is said to have been slain, so it is an emblem of
violent death.

The gavel of the Master is also called a “Hiram”
because, like that architect, it governs the Craft and
keeps order in the Lodge as Hiram did in the Temple,
or because of the use made of the maul in the third
degree. As early as 1739 both gavels and mauls were
referred to by that name.

The gavel used as a hammer has one flat face opposite
the sharp end so that from the top it resembles a
gabled roof on a house, hence “gable” became the
German word “gipfel” (meaning summit or peak)
and then “gavel” in English. In German Lodges it is
called the “hammer”, although the name “gavel” was
not known in England before the nineteenth century.

Page 36