The Level
The tool that proves horizontals, taught as equality: all Masons meet on the level. It is the Senior Warden's jewel.
Also called: the Senior Warden's jewel
What it means
A Fellowcraft working tool. The lesson is that Masons meet on the level whatever their station outside the Lodge: the one room where a man's rank in the world is left at the door.
It is also the jewel of the Senior Warden, the officer in the West, who in most Lodges is next in line to preside.
"Meet on the level, act by the plumb, and part on the square" is the old saying that sums up all three tools.
In context: The Working Tools of Freemasonry, Explained
Related Lodge offices: Senior Warden
Frequently asked questions
What does the Level mean in Freemasonry?
The tool that proves horizontals, taught as equality: all Masons meet on the level. It is the Senior Warden's jewel.
Who can wear the Level?
As a working tool or a gift it implies nothing. As a collar jewel it belongs to the Senior Warden during his term.
Sources
Drawn from the published monitors and from what the bodies concerned publish about themselves. Nothing here comes from, or goes beyond, any obligated material.
- Thomas Smith Webb, The Freemason's Monitor; or, Illustrations of Masonry (1797)
- William Preston, Illustrations of Masonry (1772)