CLC - Master Mason - 05.30.17

S ETTING M AUL

The setting maul is a hammer consisting of a mass of wood, either globular or barrel shaped, with a handle for one or two-hand use, depending on the size of the instrument. It was used by operative masons to set polished stones firmly into a wall without damage to their surface finish. As a symbol, it signifies that tools employed for beneficial purposes can also be tools of

destruction when in the hands of a ruffian worker. The setting maul, because of its size and hardness, has been portrayed in mythology and elsewhere as a symbol of destruction. The setting maul, of course, is notorious in Masonry as the instrument by which Grand Master Hiram Abiff was slain.

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