Squaring the Lodge

Squaring the lodge refers to moving around the lodge room in a clockwise direction, stepping around the four corners of the floor or carpet. The physical practice historically originated to avoid stepping on the tracing board when it was drawn on or laid out in the middle of the lodge floor, as an article on the Provincial Grand Lodge of North and East Ridings of Yorkshire website notes. Depending on the ritual used by a lodge, this clockwise movement may be strictly required whenever the lodge is open or followed as a customary practice to maintain a structured pattern of movement around the room.

Symbolically, turning corners at right angles reinforces the primary implement of the stonemason—the square 1. Claudy notes that the initiate walks around the lodge turning corners on the square, mirroring the broader moral lessons of the tool, which represents virtue, uprightness, and fair dealing 1. Just as an operative mason uses the try square to ensure that stones are cut true and fit for the building, the movement serves as a symbolic reminder to apply the try square of conscience to one's own words and actions 1.