The "lost word" and its substitute, "Mah-hah-bone" (US, 1826 and 1866)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingCode: a stated code
Year: 1826
SUMMARYThe "lost word" and its substitute, "Mah-hah-bone" (US, 1826 and 1866) [Connections: Word coding & Masonic method, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDIn Morgan's Hiram legend: "I fear the Master's word is forever lost!" (p. 83). The Master rules "that the first word spoken after the body was raised should be adopted as a substitute for the Master's word" (p. 84). The word is "Mah-hah-bone" (p. 85), and "Mah-hah-bone signifies marrow in the bone" (p. 85). Duncan prints "MAH-HAH-BONE, in low breath" (p. 120) and says "this is a substitute, for, according to Masonic tradition, the right one was lost at the death of Hiram Abiff" (p. 120)
CODEThis is a stand-in word with a meaning the ritual itself states ("marrow in the bone"). The ritual says openly that this is not the real word
PATTERNThe system is built around an absence: the "true" word is said to be lost, and a placeholder takes its place
LENS (WW9)By the ritual's own account, the word everyone is given is a stand-in. Treat any claim to have the "real" lost word as needing a receipt
SOURCEMorgan, Third Degree (mirror), pp. 83–85; Duncan, Master Mason (mirror), p. 120.