The Plumb, The Square, The Level

Introduction

Summary of officer's jewels

The Plumb

Etymology

As an adjective term, "plumb" refers to a line or feature that is perfectly vertical. "Plumb" being vertical is the counterpart to the horizontal plane of "level". In order to ensure effective load-bearing capacity, floors must be perfectly level whilst the vertical elements such as columns, pillars, and uprights must be perfectly plumb.

There are several words in the English language are derived from the plumb-bob, including aplomb (i.e. self-confidence or assurance), plummet (i.e. rapid descent), and to plumb (i.e. putting in the water pipes). “Aplomb” was taken directly from French and literally means “on the plumb-line.” To plumb something, as in the saying “To plumb the Depths,” is related to plummet, and also refers to soundings done by sailors investigating the depths of the seas. Plumb also derives from the latin, plumbum, which is the Latin word for lead (i.e. lead weight).

Design

The traditional tools for determining plumb are the "plumb bob" (or "plummet") and the carpenter's level.

The plumb bob is the oldest, simplest, and still one of the best tools for establishing plumb. It consists of a round or teardrop weight hanging at the end of a string or line. Gravity ensures that the string or line is perfectly horizontal and this can be compared to the upright structure under construction or consideration.

Ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptians used a plumb line attached to the top outer part of a tool resembling a letter E; when placed against a wall, the plumb line would indicate a vertical line. A variation of this tool has the plumb line hung from the top of an inverted T shape. This T form plumb can be seen in the ancient Egyptian artworks depicting the heart of a deceased person being weighed against the feather of Ma'at (goddess of truth and justice) for judgement. The scales were watched over by Anubis and the results were recorded by Thoth (the Scribe, the god of writing).

Attributions

With the plumb being both commonly made from the metal lead and deriving from the Latin word for lead, there is also the astrological and alchemical connection with Saturn (lead being the alchemical metal attributed to Saturn. Both Saturn and lead are dark and deep, cold, distant, and judgmental; they represent difficulty, challenge, and discipline. Key astrological attributions to Saturn are maturity, responsibility, discipline, and stewardship.

Biblical

Isaiah 28:16-17:

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Amos 7:6-8

6 The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God.

7 Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

8 And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more

In the Lodge

In Freemasonry, "The Plumb is a symbol of uprightness of conduct. By understanding the Plumb, a Mason is to judge his Brothers by their own standards and not [by] those of someone else. When the Plumb line is thought of in this way, it becomes a symbol of an upright life and of the conscience by which each person must live." Ref: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7156001/

When the lodge is open in the Fellowcraft degree, the VSL should be open on Amos 7:7-8

The Plumb is the working tool and symbol of the Junior Warden in the lodge.

In Literature

"A line to which a piece of lead is attached so as to make it hang perpendicularly. The plumb-line, sometimes called simply the line, is one of the working-tools of the Past Master. According to Preston, it was one of the instruments of Freemasonry which was presented to the Master of a Lodge at his installation, and he defines its symbolism as follows: "The line teaches the criterion of rectitude, to avoid dissimulation in conversation and action, and to direct our steps in the path which leads to immortality." This idea of the immortal life was always connected in symbology with that of the perpendicular-something that rose directly upward. Thus in the primitive church, the worshiping Christians stood up at prayer on Sunday, as a reference to the Lord's resurrection on that day. This symbolism is not, however, preserved in the verse of the prophet Amos (vii, 7) which is read in the United States as the Scripture passage of the Second Degree, where it seems rather to refer to the strict justice which God will apply to the people of Israel. It there coincides with the first Masonic definition that the line teaches the criterion of moral rectitude."

- Source: Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry

The best logician is our God,

Whom the conclusion never fails;

He speaks – it is; He wills — it stands;

He blows — it falls; He breathes — it lives;

His words are true .– e’en without proof,

His counsel rules without command,

Therefore can none foresee his end –

Unless on God is built his hope.

And if we here below would learn

By Compass, Needles Square and Plumb,

We never must o’erlook the mete

Wherewith our God hath measur’d us.

Poem by J.V.A. Andreae printed in 1623.