From the book
Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry
R. Swinburne Clymer · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe Lost Word is the missing or incompletely understood knowledge that motivates the initiatory search.
- In Ancient Mystic Oriental MasonryHiram's death creates the narrative loss.
- In this editionWord is a broad form and occurs outside the technical expression.
- A place to readD.4: … “with the death of the Widow's Son, the Master's Word and the secret manner of using” …
Meaning
The Lost Word is the missing or incompletely understood knowledge that motivates the initiatory search. It can be represented by a verbal formula without being exhausted by one.
Use in the book
Hiram's death creates the narrative loss. The later discussion contrasts a substituted word with understanding, connects the Word to the ineffable divine name, and describes recovery through spiritual work. The rediscovered stones in the Templar story make restoration visible as a recovered foundation.
Places to read
- Degrees of the Mystic Oriental Rite · Block 4… “with the death of the Widow's Son, the Master's Word and the secret manner of using it had been lost. Therefore, Solomon in his extremity called a secret council at low-twelve” …
- Mystic Masonry · Block 45“45. "The tradition of the Master's Word, of the power which its possession gives to the Master; the story of its loss and the search for its recovery; the tradition of” …
- Mystic Masonry · Block 48… “on his journey for the discovery of the Lost Word. The method by which he undertakes to obtain it, and the names of the three Fellow-crafts, have a very deep significance.” …
- Mystic Masonry · Block 54“54. "The True Word of a Mason is to be found in the concealed and profound meaning of the Ineffable Name of Deity communicated by God to Moses" (rather to the” …
- Foundations of Mystic Masonry · Block 138… “the Mysteries of the Copt — the sacred word which, by the murder of the Master Builder, had been lost, and which, according to the legend of the first degree, -Hiram” …
In this edition
Word is a broad form and occurs outside the technical expression. The source's straight and curly possessive spellings are searched as separate exact forms where attested.
Reading the argument
Ask whether a passage concerns sound, meaning, moral capacity, or authority. The book connects these dimensions, but possession of a formula does not automatically establish the others. Its criticism of empty repetition makes that distinction explicit.
Lost Word
“Lost Word” — 18 occurrences in 10 text blocks: M.21, 45–46, 48, 52–53, 58, 62, 68; N.47.
Master's Word
“Master's Word” — 5 occurrences in 4 text blocks: D.4, 6; M.45, 58.
Word
“Word” — 50 occurrences in 27 text blocks: I.11; D.4, 6; M.21, 45–46, 48–54, 57–58, 62, 68–69, 76; F.45, 70, 138–139; S.6, 60; R.4; N.47.