The Lost Word

The Lost Word is a subject of Masonic symbolic interpretation. Albert G. Mackey treats it as an image of the search for divine truth. In his discussion, the idea of seeking knowledge matters more than the narrative particulars attached to the symbol.

Published interpretations

Mackey relates the search to the limits of human understanding and to the hope of fuller knowledge beyond mortal life. This is his theological reading of the symbol.

Walter Leslie Wilmshurst develops a related interpretation in The Meaning of Masonry. He describes a person who recognises moral imperfection and incomplete self-knowledge, and who seeks to recover a fuller spiritual understanding. His discussion draws on the religious idea of humanity's fall from an earlier condition of completeness.

Allegory and historical evidence

Mackey explains his method in the preface to The Symbolism of Freemasonry. He distinguishes a legend, transmitted through tradition, from a documented historical narrative. For him, the value of a Masonic legend lies in the philosophical idea it communicates. Applied to the Lost Word, this makes the search a subject for moral and religious reflection rather than evidence for a missing ancient document.

The interpretations of Mackey and Wilmshurst were published as authored books. Their discussions are useful evidence for how individual Masonic writers understood the symbol, and should be cited as such. A comparison of the two brings out the difference between Mackey's emphasis on divine truth and Wilmshurst's account of spiritual self-knowledge.

See also

• Walter Leslie Wilmshurst
• Historical Origins and Evolution of Freemasonry
• Summary of the different rites