As powerful as the allegory of HA is in the Master Mason degree, we must not overlook the deeper lessons hidden in the actions of the Ruffians. Their role is more than merely setting the stage for the central drama. In truth, their presence in the ritual is deeply personal and profound. It’s about the struggle we all face between who we are and who we are trying to become on our spiritual journey. They symbolize the very real internal obstacles we face on the spiritual path. In the grand tapestry of Masonic teachings, they hold a tragic and transformative role.
The Ruffians are symbolic of the darker parts of ourselves. The parts that want to take shortcuts, that fear doing the right thing or that let pride cloud our judgment. These forces, when left unchecked, destroy the part of us that seeks the divine light within. The lesson is not just that the Word was lost, it’s that we lose it every time we give in to ignorance, weakness, or arrogance. And just like the legend, if we surrender to these vices, we will not be able to complete the building the Temple of our soul.
In the story, the Ruffians sought the Master’s Word, the key to the secret of the Master Mason degree. Yet their desire and impatience lead them to stray from the path causing them to became unworthy to receive it. They demanded what could only be earned through personal labor, spiritual growth, and moral purification. When denied the Word, they chose violence believing they could threaten HA and obtain the divine truth through physical means. But divine truth is not physical and it can only be bestowed upon those properly prepared.
This is the heart of our legend, that the lost Word is not a syllable or sound. It is the reflection of the divine in the soul of a man. And when the Ruffians strike HA, they symbolically sever man from the divine. Each blow is a disruption of harmony. Each attack corresponds to a part of the inner being.
Before we go any further, it’s important to remember that what is being built is not a physical Temple, but a spiritual one. At the center of this great work are three key figures, each symbolizing a divine quality that we all need in order to grow. King Solomon represents Wisdom or the insight and guidance that gives direction to the work. King H of T stands for Strength or the support and stability that keep the work going. HA, the Master Architect, symbolizes Beauty or the harmony and perfection that brings it all together. When the Ruffians struck down HA, they were destroying the part of us that can recognize and create our inner temple. They were cutting off that part of us that connects to the divine beauty which can only come when wisdom and strength work together. In a way, the whole story of the ruffians is a warning that without beauty, wisdom becomes harsh, and strength becomes brute force.
Now let’s look closely at each of the Ruffians, and the inner lesson each one carries.
J-a, the first of the Ruffians, strikes HA at the throat which is a gesture rich with esoteric meaning. In traditions such as the Kabbalah, the throat symbolizes the power of voice, truth, and manifestation. A channel through which inner wisdom becomes outward expression. J-a represents willful ignorance not simply a lack of knowledge, but a deliberate refusal to listen, a rejection of truth and a fear of accountability. His blow seeks to silence understanding before it can be spoken or shared.
He wields the 24 inch gauge, a working tool which is intended to teach the proper division of time among worship, labor and refreshment, as a weapon. Where the Junior Warden ensures balance in work and rest, and the proper conduct of the Craft, J-a’s use of the 24 inch gauge becomes a weapon of imbalance used not to measure and build but to harm and disrupt.
J-o strikes HA in the breast with the square, targeting the heart, the symbolic center of conscience, compassion, and moral strength. Unlike J-a’s ignorance, J-o represents moral weakness, the failure to act on truth despite knowing it. His blow reflects the corruption of will and the surrender of virtue. A warning that when the heart chooses comfort over conviction, the soul becomes spiritually hollow.
In Kabbalah, this attack wounds Tiferet, the sephirah of harmony, beauty, and moral balance which lies at the center of the Tree of Life. The square which is meant to represent alignment with divine order and our integrity in our actions with all men, becomes in J-o’s hand a weapon of betrayal. Within the Lodge, the Senior Warden governs the West and embodies strength and judgment. His role is to uphold the integrity of the work, to support truth, and to ensure that just wages are paid. But when that strength is misdirected and it is used to maintain comfort rather than uphold righteousness, J-o emerges. We become the man who knows what is right but lacks the courage to act, who allows justice to falter not through denial, but through fearful silence.
J-m, the final and most dangerous of the ruffians, strikes HA in the head. This is where reason and spiritual light reside. J-m symbolizes pride, the belief that we can reach divinity on our own terms, without discipline or humility. He wants the Master Word not to build, but to dominate. To receive awards that he has not achieved. He kills not out of desperation, but out of entitlement. J-m is the embodiment of pride and spiritual arrogance. He believes himself entitled to that which only humility and inner light can reveal.
He is the most dangerous of the three, for he corrupts the very faculty that distinguishes man from beast: the mind. His weapon, the setting maul, is wielded not to help shape rough ashlars but to destroy them. In Kabbalistic terms, this is an attack on Kether, the crown, the divine spark in man. J-m seeks to become God by force, not by grace. His fall is greatest because his ambition is highest but untampered by love or truth.
In the lodge, the Worshipful Master rules in the East representing wisdom. He uses the Maul to gently help shape men into perfect ashlars so they can be used in the building of their inner Temples, ensuring each stone rests firmly and truly without cracking. The maul is not a tool of brute force, for if struck too hard, the stone will shatter. Rather, it requires measured guidance and precision, reminding us that true mastery leads with restraint, not force. He is an example of the light that guides the Craft and brings order to the chaos. But when wisdom is corrupted by ego, it becomes tyranny. J-m is a dark reflection of a Master who would lead not in light, but in arrogance.
The legend of HA tells us the ruffians sought what was not theirs to receive without proper preparation. In this, we see a profound esoteric warning that the higher mysteries cannot be taken by force but only received in grace and by merit. The Master Word is not a literal word at all but a symbol of the lost unity between God and man, what we call the state of Reintegration. It is the harmony of the soul with the divine Architect and which we labor to recover in the inner Sanctum of our own hearts.
Now let us ask, did the Ruffians regret their deed? The ritual does not dwell on this question directly but we find ground for contemplation. The Ruffians are captured, confess their crimes and are brought to justice. What does this suggest? Perhaps that these elements of the self, the ignorance, weakness, and pride, must not only be acknowledged but symbolically slain or buried with the past self. Regret, in an esoteric sense, is the first flicker of light in the chamber of darkness. It is the stirring of the soul’s conscience when it realizes what it has done in the absence of truth.
Therefore, if we approach the legend not as spectators but as initiates, we must ask ourselves not merely who killed HA and why but what within us still conspires to silence the divine voice? Where in our lives have we sought the reward without the labor? Where has ignorance led us to strike down wisdom rather than submit to it? When have we allowed the voice of the soul to be suppressed by fear or permitted pride to smother understanding?
In this way, the Ruffians are not simply villains but are lessons to learn from. Each an example that can delay the building of the inner Temple. Together, they conspire to kill the Master and in an esoteric sense our higher self, the divine image within us. But there is hope in this tale. Though the Word is lost for now, the Craft does not end in tragedy. For out of this death comes the truth and with it the labor to recover that which was lost. The rough ashlar, containing sharp and unshaped stones, must be submitted to the chisel of self-reflection and the square of moral truth. Only then may we truly become Masters and build the inner temples within ourselves. That Sanctum Sanctorum worthy of our Divine Father.
Thus, the story of the three Ruffians is not a dead tale, but a living cipher. It enhances the legend of HA and should be held as a mirror of reflection for the initiate and all masons so our egos do not cast a shadow over the light we are trying to achieve.
Robert Easton, PM
