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Cryptic Masons
Membership in the Council of Cryptic Masons (or the Council of Royal
and Select Masters in Great Britain and several states in the USA) is
not required for membership in the Knights Templar in some
jurisdictions, so it is frequently skipped. It is called Cryptic
Masonry or the Cryptic Rite because a crypt or underground room
figures prominently in the degrees. |
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Royal Master - This
is the first of the Council degrees. It is conferred in a place known
as the council chamber, which represents the private apartment of King
Solomon's Temple, where he and his two associates met for consultation
and deliberation during the construction of the Temple, and the drama
portrayed in it sheds additional light on both the Master Mason and
Royal Arch degrees. It and the following degree are essential to a
clear understanding of the events of one section of the Royal Arch.
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Select Master - In the
Select Master's degree which is the second of the Council, the place
of meeting represents a "Secret Vault" or crypt beneath the Temple.
The historical object of the degree is to commemorate the deposits of
an important secret or treasure which, after the preliminary
preparations, is said to have been made by our three Grand Masters. |
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Super Excellent Master -
This degree was not originally a part of the Cryptic system, and is
not in all jurisdictions as yet. It has one of the best written
rituals in Masonry. It deals with the incidents in the reign of King
Nebuchadnezzar when Zedekiah, the 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 teaches in most dramatic fashion the lesson of
fidelity.
Without the Royal and Select Master degrees, neither the Master Mason
degree nor the Royal Arch degree is complete, for they rationally
account for the concealment and preservation of the treasures revealed
in the Royal Arch.
The Super-Excellent Master is an honorary degree, to which any Cryptic
Masons is entitled by virtue of his being in good standing in his
Council. This is classed as the most dramatic and spectacular degree
in all Masonic systems. |
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New 2011 Grand Council and
Council Constituents Logos
(300x300px and 150x150px; all on clear backgrounds) |
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