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 General
Information on Cryptic Rite Masonry
The Grand Council of Cryptic Rite Masons of Western Canada,
Royal & Select Masters is comprised of 18 Cryptic Rite Councils,
scattered from Winnipeg to Vancouver Island . Other regular
Jurisdictions include Ontario, Eastern Jurisdiction of Canada,
England, Germany, Israel, Philippines, Scotland, and 49 in the
USA.
There are three Councils in Manitoba, Winnipeg, Portage la
Prairie, Brandon, three in Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatoon,
Rosetown, three in Alberta, Lethbridge, Calgary, Edmonton, two
in B.C. Interior, Creston & Kamloops, four in B.C. Mainland and
three on Vancouver Island. These draw their membership from
Royal Arch Chapters in their respective areas.
They present the degrees of Royal Master and Select Master
and provides access to the degrees of Super Excellent Master and
Royal Ark Mariner four of the most beautiful and fascinating in
Freemasonry.
The first two, Royal Master and Select Master, are Cryptic in
nature and content. They explain how the Lost Word of the Master
Mason degree, rediscovered in the Royal Arch degree, was
preserved in the first place - in the crypt or secret vault
under Solomon's Temple. They focus on the core material of
Ancient Craft Masonry, without Christian or military emphasis,
and complete the explanation of our Fraternity's most powerful
legend.
The following text explains the popularity of the Cryptic Rite
and its appendant degrees, so the Royal Arch Mason in Western
Canada. who seeks more light in Masonry - further enlightenment
towards Truth - may know his enthusiasm will be welcomed and
matched by Companions who wish to share with him something very
special.
The Cyptic Rite
Symbolic Freemasonry, in the Lodge, begins the powerful story
of how the Word was lost, and another substituted. Capitular
Masonry, in the Chapter, rediscovers the Word, through secrets
found in a Crypt under an Arch. The Cryptic Rite, in the
Council, tells how and why those secrets were preserved there.
The story - Freemasonry's great allegory - becomes clear and
complete, and all the more powerful and effective. And those who
experience that sense of completion help sustain the ongoing
effort to share it with others, to help them complete "the
Circle of Perfection of Ancient Craft Masonry".
Councils of Royal and Select Masters are made up of Masons who
recognize the inherent values of the Rite, and who join and
remain active in their Councils because of those values - not
because they need the degrees in order to gain admission to
other bodies.
Origins
Though the core material is earlier, the modern shape of the
Royal Master and Select Master degrees probably originated in
Ireland, passed to England and Scotland, thence to Sweden, and
finally to Prussia and King Frederick's Lodge of Perfection of
the Ancient Accepted Rite, today known as the Scottish Rite. The
degrees were brought to America in 1761 as Scottish Rite "side
degrees", then including Super Excellent Master. In 1807 they
became popular in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island
thanks to Jeremy L. Cross, an associate of Thomas Smith Webb,
"father of Royal Arch Masonry in America". It was Cross who
described them as "the summit and perfection of Ancient Masonry,
without which the history of the Royal Arch Degree cannot be
complete."
Conferral was assigned to chapters of Royal Arch Masonry for
many years until 1870 when the Scottish Rite, and the General
Grand Royal Arch Chapter, both divested themselves of the
degrees. In 1880 the first General Grand Council was formed.
Today, some compare the York Rite Select Master degree to the
Scottish Rite Secret Master degree. Both refer to guardians of
secrets and signs of secrecy. The idea of a Mason entering the
Sanctum Sanctorum by mistake appears in both the Select Master
and Intimate Secretary degrees. And both the York Rite Council
of Royal and Select Masters and Scottish Rite Lodge of
Perfection are supposed to have only 27 working members, others
being surplus spectators. The senior Officer in one is Thrice
Illustrious Master, in the other Thrice Puissant Master. Thrice
Illustrious Masters are eligible to receive the Order of Thrice
Illustrious Master, and then wear the "Silver Trowel" jewel.
The Name - Cryptic
The focus of the Royal Master and Select Master degrees is a
secret vault beneath the Temple of Solomon. "Cryptic" means
"hidden", from the Latin crypticus, meaning "subterranean" or
"concealed". Vaults beneath many churches are called "crypts".
The expression "Cryptic Masonry" means, therefore, "Masonry of
the Secret Vault".
The Vault and the Mysteries
All biblical students and archeologists know of vaults
beneath King Solomon's Temple, the focus of Freemasonry's
cryptic mysteries. Philostorgius, the Greek historian of 400
A.D., was one who wrote up the story. But initiation into the
Ancient Mysteries of pre-Christian times also involved
underground caves, tunnels, or vaults. Much has been written to
suggest that modern Freemasonry, especially in the group of
degrees known as The Royal Mysteries, sustains some of the
truths presented in the Ancient Mysteries. Certainly, the vault
in the Ancient Mysteries was symbolic of the grave, for
initiation was symbolic of the passage of death, where alone
Divine Truth is to be found. Perhaps Freemasons adopted the same
idea: We teach that death is "the gateway of life through which
we all must pass, before entering into the beginning of a fuller
and larger existence". Today, these degrees are not complex in
basic story presentation, but they are profound in potential
impact on those who study further the words and their history.
Royal Master
The Royal Master, the first Council degree, is conferred in
two parts. In the first, Hiram Abif talks to Adoniram about
death. In the second, a day after Hiram Abif's death, King
Solomon and Hiram King of Tyre cannot communicate the Master's
Word without him - not as agreed. The dramas illuminate both the
Master Mason and Royal Arch degrees. This is the only degree in
Masonry where you can meet - and converse face to face - with
Hiram Abif, our central character. It is an eloquent degree
which beautifully symbolizes the idea of the labourer seeking
his reward, and which discusses the subject of victory over
death. (Click for
More Info)
Select Master
This degree again is set before Hiram Abif's death, and
alludes to preparations to hide the Secret Treasures. And it
provides a much deeper explanation for the meanings of the
inscriptions found on the Masters' jewels and the triangle on
top of the Ark. It also explains why King Solomon selected
twenty-four true, tried and trusty Craftsmen, together with the
three Grand Masters (making "twenty-seven and no more"), to
complete an important part of the Temple.
The historical setting of this degree and its symbolism are
intimately connected with the Royal Arch degree. It is the
symbolic link that binds the Master's degree to the Royal Arch,
and without it the mystery of "The Recovery of That Which Was
Lost" remains in darkness. It is the historical and symbolic
bridge that connects the Hebrew Nation with the sad days of its
captivity - extending from the completion of the first Temple to
the building of the second Temple. "Truth" seemed lost, yet it
was not lost, but only hidden until the generation should come
which by its perfect and unselfish labors should restore
"Truth", and bring to light the Ineffable Secret.
The Select Master degree is said by some to be the most
interesting degree in Masonry, perhaps because it rationally
accounts for the concealment and preservation of those essential
secrets which were buried in darkness for a period of four
hundred and seventy years, and brought to light at the building
of the second Temple. In 1817, Samuel Cole said: "It is strange,
and it is also unfortunate, that very few have received the
useful knowledge made known in the Select ... we may, however,
pronounce it the key to the Arch."
(Click for More
Info)
Super Excellent Master
The Super Excellent Master degree was not originally a part
of the Cryptic system, and is still not presented in all
jurisdictions. Yet it is one of Masonry's best written rituals.
It deals with incidents in the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar when
Zedekiah, last King of Judah, was conquered and carried captive
to Babylon. It enlarges upon the section of the Royal Arch
having to do with the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonian
King, and the final destruction of the first Temple. It
dramatizes the lesson of fidelity. It is not a degree of the
Crypt; it does not deal with Ancient Craft Masonry, but it has
been described as "the best devised, most impressive and
beautiful ritual in Masonry."
In a panorama of exciting events, biblical characters move
across the stage, illustrating history. The great Chaldean
Monarch, Nebuchadnezzar, lives again; the treacherous and
faithless Zedekiah, the last of Judah's Kings, proves the
results of infidelity; the unswerving Ezekiel, and the
melancholy but zealous Jeremiah, prophesy the promises of the
Almighty. The great lesson is about fidelity to a trust. It is a
spectacular presentation, usually conferred by two or more
Councils assisting one another as it requires a large cast.
It is to be noted that in this jurisdiction, ”Western
Canada”, you must be “Greeted” as a Super Excellent Master
before you are considered a “Companion of Royal and Select
Masters”. (Click
for More Info)
Royal Ark Mariner
This degree is based upon the story of Noah and his ark. The
presiding officer of a Royal Ark Mariner lodge, the Commander,
represents Noah, and the Senior and Junior Warden his sons Shem
and Japheth. The ritual emphasizes the cardinal virtues, using
the triangle and the working tools with which Noah built the ark
- axe, saw, and auger - to point the moral lesson.
The principal emblems of the degree are the triangle,
rainbow, and a dove with an olive branch in its beak. The
earliest record of the degree being worked comes in Bath in
1790. Today in our Jurisdiction, Royal Ark Mariner lodges are
"moored" to most Councils – due to the long distances between
Councils Select Masters who receive the Royal Ark Mariner Degree
may then wear the "Rainbow" jewel.
Seek More Light Now
Candidates are "Honoured” as Royal Masters, "Chosen” as
Select Masters and “Greeted” as Super Excellent Masters, usually
on separate occasions. Appropriate dress for both occasions, and
also for every regular assembly, is a business suit. After
becoming a Companion of the Cryptic Rite, a Mason is deemed
worthy of the appellation, "The select of the Craft". As a Royal
Arch Mason, you have the right to petition for Council
membership.
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