Freemasonry Structure & Branches

 
The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of England and Wales etc, was formally constituted on 29 July 1873 by four Councils chartered just two years earlier by the Grand Council of New York. They organized themselves into a sovereign body under the patronage of the Rev Canon G. R. Portal, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons, who was installed as the Grand Master of the Order.
This Grand Council had its vicissitudes but continues to prosper and today has many Councils overseas which are controlled by District Grand Councils. The degrees in this group are frequently referred to as ‘Cryptic Degrees’ but this description is not strictly correct, as only two actually refer to a crypt. It is somewhat surprising to note that to many, these ceremonies constitute nothing more than interesting side degrees or a random collection of unrelated incidents in the story of King Solomon's Temple, but to the serious and understanding masonic student, they prove to be the essential link between the degrees of Master Mason and Royal Arch Mason.
Administered from Mark Masons’ Hall, Grand Council governs over 160 Councils and exercises authority over the following degrees:

 

The Cryptic Order, or, to give it its correct title, the Order of Royal and Select Masters of England and Wales and its Districts and Councils Overseas, consists of four separate and distinct ceremonies, each one relating to a specific period in Biblical history.

It is often thought that the term cryptic refers to the cryptology or extreme secrecy.   This is not the case; Cryptic simply refers to the Crypt or Secret Vault as we find in the Royal Arch, in other words a room specially constructed beneath the Sanctum Sanctorum or Holy of Holies of the Temple at Jerusalem.

The Cryptic Order is one of the essential links in the history of the Temple and the four degrees cover the time between the building of the Secret Vault and the building of the second temple (c.586 BC).

These degrees are entitled:-

• Select Master

• Royal Master

• Most Excellent Master and

• Super Excellent Master

Now let us briefly relate those four degrees to the history of the Temple.

The degree of Select Master takes for its scenario the point where we are into the fifth year of the building of the Temple (i.e. 969 BC) and the Secret Vault is being constructed to house the sacred treasures and other important artefacts of the Jewish people in order to keep them safe from attack by enemy forces.   The construction of the vault and its approach tunnel is carried out by specially selected craftsmen and the existence of the vault is known only to the three Grand Masters and those actually engaged in the work.   A craftsman not entitled to be there accidentally enters into the vault and is sentenced to death; however, his fortunes turn and he is eventually pardoned and admitted to the elite band of Select Masters.

The Royal Master degree follows chronologically, where the vault has been completed and is in the process of being loaded up with the sacred treasures, Adoniram, one of the senior overseers, engages in conversation with H.A. and the latter inadvertently explains how he intends to ensure that the Master Word shall never become lost; in the course of this explanation the candidate hears some truly magnificent ritual which is certain to remain in his mind for a long, long time.   H.A. realises, too late, that he has revealed to Adoniram something he should not have done and Adoniram is sworn to secrecy.   Shortly after this, H.A. is slain and it is only through Adoniram's knowledge of H.A.'s intentions that the Master Word is indeed preserved.

The degree of the Most Excellent Master takes for its scenario, the point where the Temple is being dedicated to the glory of God and King Solomon determines to reward some of his most skilful craftsmen with the rank of Most Excellent Master.

The fourth and final degree in this series is built around the invasion of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the siege and fall of the city and the eventual destruction of the Temple and the removal of the Jews to Babylon, where they remain in captivity for  seventy years until, by the good grace of Cyrus, King of Persia, they are allowed to return to Jerusalem and make a start on building a second temple on the site where the first formerly stood.

All Royal Arch Masons will, of course, be very familiar with the course of events from this point.

The various ceremonies last between 25 and 45 depending on the degree and it is usual to go through the first three degrees at one meeting, followed by the fourth degree at the next.

Having read thus far, it will be evident that the Cryptic Degrees, along with the Mark Degree, fill in the spaces between the Third Degree of Craft Masonry and the Exaltation ceremony of the Royal Arch.   This is not the only reason for my recommending the Cryptic Order, there are some very moving and beautiful passages in the ritual and some good lessons to be learned.