Rabboni

by

N. TRACY WALKER

The word “rabboni” occupies a unique position in our Masonic vocabulary, yet the literature relating to the word, and to the Most Excellent Master degree wherein it comes to our attention, is extremely thin. A great need exists for scholarly additions to that literature – particularly in the areas of historical development and philosophical definition. However, this paper will limit itself to a consideration of certain ramifications implicit in several of the unique aspects of the word.

Every degree now under the control of a recognized rite in the United States contains one or more words which are central to the communication of that degree. Such words are usually characterized as principal and/or passwords, and are always indispensable elements of the degree – in some instances being the only really essential element. Generally they allude to phenomena central to the theme of the degree, to physical objects associated with the degree or its setting, to places or personalities celebrated in connection with the events of the degree, to moral virtues promulgated in the degree, and the like. In many instances the association of word and degree are remote, but an effort is always made to establish a relationship between them.