In the year 1969 The Beatles released an album called Abbey Road. That album has a song called Maxwell's Silver Hammer. This bizarre song is about a student boy, who kills people with a strike of a hammer in the head.
The chorus:
Bang, bang, Maxwell's silver hammer
Came down upon her head
Bang, bang, Maxwell's silver hammer
Made sure that she was dead
Why on earth would Paul McCartney write such a macabre song?
The answer lies in symbolism.
If you know anything about masonic rituals, you see there's a familiar theme. Hammer blow to the head is a ritualistic detail from the masonic initiation ceremony of the third grade. In this ritual the candidate plays the role of Hiram Abiff, who according to masonic tradition was killed with three hammer blows on his head.
"Now, before the completion of the Temple fifteen of the Fellow Crafts conspired together to find out the secrets of the Master Masons and resolved to waylay Hiram Abiff at the door of the Temple. At the last moment twelve of the fifteen drew back, but the remaining three carried out the fell design, and after threatening Hiram in vain in order to obtain the secrets, killed him with three blows on the head, delivered by each in turn." - Nesta H. Webster (Secret Societies And Subversive Movements)
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| Masonic ritual of the third degree |
More about hammer symbolism on the article Three Smiths.
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| Masonic symbolism: the hammer |
The theme of three hammer blows to the head is also in the promo picture of the song. The picture shows George Harrison holding a hammer and nails against John Lennon's head. If you count the nails, you see Harrison holding three nails, and Lennon holding 12. This is straight from the masonic mythology, where 15 men went to kill Hiram Abiff, but 12 of them drew back. 3 + 12 = 15.
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| 12 + 3 nails |
Not the first time The Beatles posed masonic symbolism on their promo pictures.
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| Masonic "hidden hand" |
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| Masonic "hidden hand" |
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| The eye |
