Square Hammer

There's a lot of reference to Freemasonry in this song.

On the title, "Square Hammer":

"The Masonic gavel is an emblem of authority used by the Master of the lodge to show his executive power over the assemblage by punctuating its actions.

In this capacity, order is maintained and a structured outcome to the proceedings is achieved.

The common gavel is also one of the working tools of the Entered Apprentice.

Operative Gavel

In the operative stonemason era, the common gavel was a tool used to hew (break) the rough edges from the stones (ashlars) in order to perfectly fit them into place.

Speculative Gavel

In speculative Freemasonry, the Masonic Gavel is used to symbolically divest the heart and consciousness of all the vices and superfluities (excesses) of life in order to ready ourselves as if we were living stones, open to be shaped into a spiritual being that is pleasing to our Creator.

A True Masonic Gavel

What does a true Masonic gavel look like? The head of the gavel is rectangular, flat on one end and can be slightly pinched or come to a point on the other end."

Source: http://www.masonic-lodge-of-education.com/masonic-gavel.html

Now, onto the lyrics - more specifically, the line: "Are you on the square? Are you on the level? Are you ready to swear right here, right now"

If you look at the poetry of Rob Morris (who was a Freemason), his most famous poem was called "The Level and the Square"

This poem starts off with:

"We meet upon the Level, and we part upon the Square, What words of precious meaning those words Masonic are, Come let us contemplate them, they are worthy of our thought, With the highest and the lowest and the rarest they are fraught.

We meet upon the Level, though from every station come, The king from out his palace, and the poor man from his home; For the one must leave his diadem outside the mason's door, And the other finds his true respect upon the chequered floor."

Finally, an interesting insight by a Reddit user named killcokidd on the Ghost subreddit:

"On the Square - When a stonemason cuts a block to use in the construction of a building, it must be perfectly shaped so that it will support the other blocks that surround it. The block’s sides must all be perfectly straight with no faults, so that it will do its part as just one small piece of a much larger building. To check the reliability of his workmanship, the stonemason uses a tool called a square shaped like a right angle, to determine whether the sides and angles of the stone are perfect. Freemasons use the term "on the square" to describe their trust in each other. A man who is on the square is honest and reliable, and is a strong part of the whole community around him. The term is also used to mean “just between you and me.” When one Mason tells another Mason something he’d like to be kept private, he’ll often say “This is on the square.”

On the Level - To a Freemason, means just that — all Freemasons are Brothers who meet on the same level, regardless of their social or economic status outside the lodge. Princes, presidents, and captains of business are no better or more important than bus drivers, plumbers, and paper boys when they sit in the lodge together. Masonry does not detract from a man’s accomplishments, nor does it exalt him above his Brothers because of his position outside the lodge."

It seems Ghost is delving into the clandestine underworld of Freemasonry and satirising that establishment the same way they do to organised religions.

Intelligent, fascinating, and a kick-ass song.

It may indeed be about the Masonic induction ritual, but in the chance that it isn't I will add my (likely incorrect) thoughts on it. I would caution everyone to first look to the music video for Square Hammer before going too deep into the weeds on their personal theories. It may just be as simple as that: A supposed vampire slayer seeking admission to the ancient stronghold that is the undead terror's home. Posing as a defender of virtue, this person is actually covertly planning to free the supernatural figure and pledge his loyalty to this demon in return for being granted immortality. I say this because the lyrics "...You call on me to solve a crooked rhyme ... As I'm closing in, imposing on your slumber ... Hiding from the light ... Hammering nails into a sacred coffin, you call on me for powers clandestine" more closely track with a Van Helsing-type figure coming to kill a Dracula character more so than they describe Masonic ritual scenarios. It makes sense this would be the real basis for the song since the band themselves have stated (albeit behind Nameless Ghoul masks) that the overall idea behind the Satanic cult stage show concept has more to do with their love for horror movies than actual Satanism. Although it's true the phrase, "Are you on the level", and "Are you being square with me?" were originally Masonic phrases, it doesn't mean the entire song is all about Freemasons. There's a chance Tobias wrote those lyrics totally unaware that these now common, everyday phrases have their origins in Freemasonry. Again, I don't know what the true meaning is any more than the rest of you do. This is just my alternate theory to also keep in mind instead of leaping right away to the Masonic connection.

The possibility of Masonic allusions is certainly interesting, but I couldn't help but catch hints of the story of Faust and the selling of his soul to the devil through the demon Mephistopheles. The line "'Neath devils torn asunder" conjures the fate of Dr. Faustus in Christopher Marlowe's play "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus." Of course, in Marlowe's play, Faustus is torn to pieces by demons at the end as his contract with the devil matures. Could the song be the voice of Mephistopheles?

I think that Joe 164 got it right with the Freemason allusions and it makes perfect sense, let me elaborate, starting with the chorus:

„Are you on the square? Are you on the level?“

These questions basically ask „Are you a Freemason“ ? Because as Joe pointed out level probably means equality (equal level) among members and square means being morally and mentally fit enough to be a building block of the better new world Freemasons believed to be building.

„Are you ready to swear right here, right now Before the devil“

This one has several explanations while all of them may apply at the same time:

1. This may be a parody of American vows „I swear before the God“ - I swear before the Devil
2. It could play with a popular trope in conspiracy theories that secret societies worship the devil and are inherently evil through and through
3. It could point to the fact that Freemasons were progressives of their time, standing in stark opposition to the old world ruled over by religion (by the God) and celebrating values of Humanism and Enlightenment. In John Milton´s Paradise Lost, the Devil is exactly this – a tragic rebel figure representing human potential rebelling against the God. In Wiliam Blake´s books, the Orc, son of fire is associated with the spirit of rebellion (which sparked the great French Revolution). Given that the devil is also called Lucifer – the light bringer – he himself could be associated with enLIGHTment – thus the devil could be used as a metaphor for the spirit of Humanism – the potential of mankind (mainly in terms of scientific progress) + if you watch the video closely, you will notice that it is full of lightning (light + electricity = science) as well as with back-then-modern technologies like cars, first moving film etc.

„That you're on the square That you're on the level"

here we have an explanation of what is the listener supposed to swear: that he is a true stonemason AND

„That you're ready to stand right here, right now Right here, right now“

Standing probably alludes to each stonemason „cutting“ himself to become perfect „stone“, fitting into „square“ that Joe wrote about. Such perfect stones (members) will be used in building the better future – so are you ready to stand probably means „are you ready to play your part in building the better world? „Right here, right now“ – meaning in this world and now, not in afterlife and after we die – again standing in opposition to Christianity.

So, we have analyzed the chorus, now lets analyze the rest

Living in the night – without the light of the LightBringer – Lucifer – the Devil? Or perhaps it is simply a metaphor for dark age? Not sure.

'Neath devils torn asunder - These are in fact flawed lyrics as they clearly sing „Neath heavens torn asunder“ – So we live under heavens, meaning under the sky – under the sky but why is the heaven torn asunder? I have two possible interpretations:

1. It alludes to religious wars and disputes – one heaven torn asunder as a metaphor to one Church being torn asunder into Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox which further fell apart into thousands of denominations – imagine heaven being parceled for every denomination...
2. If heaven is clouded and clouds are torn asunder, light can reach us with light being a metaphor for knowledge (Lucifer - the lightbringer)

"You call on me to solve a crooked rhyme As I'm closing in Imposing on your slumber You call on me as bells begin to chime"

To be honest, I don´t have an interpretation for this one yet but here we see that the listener is supposedly calling on the singer but who does the singer represent? It is someone who: a) is supposed to be able to solve a crooked rhyme b) is being called when bells begin to chime c) is closing in d) imposes on listener´s slumber e) holds secret powers (last line of the next verse: You call on me for powers clandestine)

I don´t see who could that be a master Freemason, lecturing a novice?

„Hiding from the light Sacrificing nothing Still you call on me for entrance to the shrine“

Here we see two statements of what the listener does: a) Hides from the light b) Sacrifices nothing It seems to me that hiding from the light and sacrificing nothing is a bad/wrong conduct despite of which the listener calls for something - asks for something (still you call). Hiding from light might mean a) Ignorance if light is indeed a metaphor for knowledge? b) Secrecy – if light is to be understood as a metaphor for publicity?

Still you call for entrance to the shrine – for an access to something deeply valued? Shrine can be a metaphor to many things like the sacred knowledge, the contact with the sacred – some sort of divinity, it can be a font of power etc. Not sure...

"Hammering the nails Into a sacred coffin"

This part is very interesting for two reasons

1. It is probably an allude to Friedrich Nietzsche´s famous statement „The God is dead, and it is you who killed him!“ – so Freemason with their hammers (their actions) build a better world as well as hammer nails into a sacred coffin – God´s coffin – they want to make sure that the God stays dead, the Church won´t return to power and that Secularism (faith in man and science) will prevail.
2. At the same time the video says something very intriguing – it says that in that sacred coffin „our father takes his final rest“ – it could mean the Father-God but then something strange happens – once the coffin is opened, we can see the Stonemason Square Hammer lying there, charged with electricity, representing probably a power to create. It could be a beautiful metaphor of Nietzsche´s vision of what happens after the death of God – Over-man (Ubermensch) who is a slave to no God, who is truly Free replaces the God – in this case is the Overman the Freemason? And if so, is Freemasonry the Father that lies in the Coffin? Or is it recognized that from the death of a father (God) Freemasons arose?

And before you dismiss my interpretation as „reading too much into it“ let me tell you that every choice we make is motivated by something and the author of these lyrics certainly did some interesting choices – the question is why and no, „chance“ is not a good explanation :D

Land sakes this is just a fine, kicking tune Ghost did on purpose. And, according to TF, that purpose was to come up with a stomper for an arena filling show opener. And at that, they succeeded.

It reminds me of like the relationship between Dracula and Van Helsing in a sense.

The relationship between the undead and the slayer.

Hiding from the light (ex.) Dracula hides from light and if the song is being sung from the hunter, HE would be imposing on the vampires slumber. Calling on Dracula to obtain the entrance to his crypt, his shrine. So it almost seems that Dracula is singing to the slayer or possibly Van Helsing. Hammering the nails, into the sacred coffin.. Asking the hunter, are you ready to stand right here right now before him Dracula the devil, the damned . Testing his foe, asking ARE YOU READY TO STAND BEFORE ME, RIGHT HERE! RIGHT NOW?!! Like to almost challenge the slayer, his adversary.

It's snowing among rituals of old societies and even the older Freemason the original ones with the reenacting I think it might even date back to the times with the Egyptians I used to have various different occult books that talked about it actually it was pretty interesting.

And yes some of these words have been misspelled because I'm using the microphone I'm talking cuz it's too much to write