The

CRYPTIC RITE
of
FREEMASONRY

Printed by the Educational Bureau

General Grand Chapter, R A.M.
Box 529
Trenton, Mo. 64683

Consult the Recorder of your local Council

if interested in Masonic advancement. You
will never regret this step.

THE CRYPTIC RITE

No Rite of Freemasonry has come into its

own in recent years so much as the series of
degrees known as the Cryptic Rite. And its
popularity is well deserved, for there are no
more beautiful degrees in all Freemasonry
than those conferred in the Councils of Royal
and Select Masters.
There are many reasons for its popularity.
In the first place it is the completion of a
story
of a Masonic allegory. It Is the Story
of the Preservation of a Word Symbolic
Freemasonry treats of the Loss of a Word.
Royal Ard.h Masonry teaches of its Discovery.
And Cryptic Masonry teaches of its Preservation, thus rounding out the Story of the Word
and completing the Story of Ancient Craft
Masonry.

Only those degrees dealing with the Word

may be regarded as true Freemasonry. Hence,

the degree of Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, Mark Master, Most Excellent Master,
and Super Excellent Master are not true
Craft degrees, although contained in systems
which are essentially Craft Masonry.
ORIGIN OF DEGREES

Like many of the Masonic Degrees the degrees of the Cryptic Rite are shrduded in
mystery. Like Topsy, in Uncle Toms Cabin,
they just grew. But they have attained a
lusty growth and one out of every two Royal
Arch Masons is a Cryptic Mason. In recent
years its growth, in percentages, has far outrun other Masonic groups.
Until a few years ago, Cryptic Masonry
was not a series of degrees which one had to
take to reach the Shrine
or the Order of
the Temple. However in recent years a large
number of Grand Commanderies have made
the Cryptic degrees prerequisite for the
Tempiar orders, and it appears that even
more Grand Commanderies will adopt this
policy in the immediate years ahead.

About a century and ~ half ago, the degrees of Royal Master and Select Master appeared as from nowhere. Masonic Lecturers
throughout the East were conferring them up~
on representative Masons, while engaged in
instructing in Craft and Capitular degrees.
Even one Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite
included the degree of Select Master as one
of its detached degrees. But such beautiful
degrees were not to remain detached for
any length of time, and, in the 1870s, a General Grand Council was formed for the U~ted
States, which today numbers most of the
Grand Councils in this country, as well a~ the
Western section of Canada.

They teach that death is but the beginning of Life; that if the first, or
evanescent Temple of our transitory
life be on the surface, we must descend into the secret vault of death
before we can find that sacred deposit
of Truth, which is to adorn our second
Temple of Eternal Life.
The Name

Cryptic

The degrees of the York or American Rite

are classified as Symbolic (Craft), Capitular
(Chapter), Cryptic (c~ouncil) and Chivalric
(Commandery). The Cryptic Rite derives its
claim to the word Cryptic because the scene
of the degrees of Royal and Select Master is
laid in the underground crypt beneath the
Solomonic Temple. The word cryptic means
hidden, hence its use in describing these
degrees. The last of the series of Cryptic degrees is not cryptic
because it does not
comply with the requirement of a vault degr-ee. It might be regarded as one of the
Cryptic Rites detached degrees for it has
no connection either in history or symbolism
with those of Royal and Select Master, as we
shall see later.

The Vault and the Mysteries

All Biblical students and archaeologists

know of the vaults underneath King SOlQmons Temple; they exist there even at this
late day. Whether these vaults were associated
with the conferring of Masonic degrees, we
seriously doubt; but the legend of the secret
vault persists throughout Freemasonry.
Anci~nt initation into the Mysteries is
known to have involved the use of underground caves, tunnels, or vaults It was the
Greek poet, Pindar, who said:
Happy is the man who descends
beneath the hollow earth, having beheld these mysteries, for he knows
the end as well as the divine origin of
life, and thrice happy are they who
descend to the shades after having
beheld these sacred rites, for they
alone have life in ~Iades while all
other suffer there every kind of evil.
And Mackey, writing of the vault,
says:
The vault was, therefore, in the
ancient mysteries, syn~boJic of the
grave; for initation was symbolic of
death, where alone Divine Truth is to
be found Freemasons have adopted
the same idea.

The Royal Master

This is the first degree of the Cryptic

system as conferred in the United States.
Candidates who receive the degree are impressed with its dignified ritual and teachings, for it contains one section which is
quite generally regarded as an outstanding
piece of ritualistic work when properly given.
The lecture of the degree is explanatory of
the articles contained in the Holy of Holies of
the Temple, including the A~k of the Covenant, a knowledge of which is essential to those
who would fully understand the preceding
degrees. The principal characters in the degree are Solomon and his royal associates.

They teach that death is but the beginning of Life; that if the first, or
evanescent Temple of our transitory
life be on the surface, we must descend into the secret vault of death
before we can find that sacred deposit
of Truth, which is to adorn our second
Temple of Eternal Life.
The Name

Cryptic

The degrees of the York or American Rite

are classified as Symbolic (Craft), Capitular
(Chapter), Cryptic (~Jouncil) and Chivalric
(Commandery). The Cryptic Rite derives its
claim to the word Cryptic because the scene
of the degrees of Royal and Select Master is
laid in the underground crypt beneath the
Solomonic Temple. The word cryptic means
~hidden, hence its use in describing these
degrees. The last of the series of Cryptic degrees Is not cryptic
because it does not
comply with the requirement of a vault degree. It might be regarded as one of the
Cryptic Rites detached degrees for it has
no connection either in history or symbolism
with those of Royal and Select Master, as we
shall see later.

The Royal Master

This is the first degree of the Cryptic

system as conferred in the United States.
Candidates who receive the degree are impressed with its dignified ritual and teachings, for it contains one section which is
quite generally regarded as an outstanding
piece of ritualistic work when properly given.
The lecture of the degree is explanatory of
the articles, contained in the I~oly of Holies of
the Temple, including the Ark of the Covenant, .a knowledge of which is essential to those
who would fully understand the preceding
degrees. The principal characters in the degree are Solomon and his royal associates.

The Select Master

The degree of Select Master has not always been associated with that of Royal
Master. Jeremy Cross is given credit by most
writers for having combined the two degrees
into one Rite.
There is strong evidence to support the
theory that the degree came from a similar
degree of the ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite
the degree of Intimate Secretary, or
Grand Tiler of King Solomon. At any rate
the legend of the degree is an old one whatever may have been its origin.
The scene of this degree is also laid in an
underground vault and the events which
characterize the degree are stirring enough
to make it one of intense interest. The lecture
contains the story of the degree without any
further explanation, and the degree is said
to complete the Circle of Perfection in
Ancient Craft Masonry, for having received
the degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry as
contained in Lodge, Chapter, and Council, the
recipient has received all the instruction
which is offered by the Ancient Craft.

The Super-Excellent Master

As we have stated, the degree of SuperExcellent Master is not a degree of the Crypt;
it does not deal with Ancient Craft Masonry,
but it does deal with a period of history in
which all Freemasons are interestedthe
period following the destruction of the First
Temple. The essence of the degree is foretold
in a lecture of the Royal Arch degree, when
the Principal Sojournererefers to the Biblical
reference Zedekiah was one and twenty days
old when he began to reign, and he did that
which was evil in sight of the Lord, etc.
In our estimation, and we have seen a
hundred or more Masonic degrees, the degree
of Super-Excellent Master, as conferred in
certain jurisdictions today, is the best devised,
most impressive, and beautiful ritual we have
yet seen. In a panorama of exciting events,

Biblical characters move across the stage driving home the historical facts of the Holy
Bible in a way that nothing else can. Here
Nebuchadnezzar lives again; Zedeklah proves
the results of tnfldelity; Ezekiel and Jeremiah
prophesy the promises of the Almighty.
Cryptic Rites in Other Countries
The Cryotic Rite is widespread, although
governing bodies exist only in Englaffd, Scotland, Canada. and the United States.
In England the Cryptic degrees are controlled by a Grand Council of the Cryptic degrees. Among the degrees in the English
system are:
Most Excellent Master
Royal Master
Select Master
Super-Excellent Master
In Scotland, the Supreme Grand Royal
Arch Chapter has jurisdiction over the Cryptic
Council degrees, the Royal Ark Mariner de
gree, the Knights of the East, and the Knights
of the East and West; bodies of the Cryptic
Rite are attached to Chapters. In this series
of degrees, we find:
Lodges and Council:
Royal Ark Mariner
Commander Noah
Babylonian Pass or Red Cross
Knight of the Sword
Knight of the East
Knight of the East and West
Chief and President
Cryptic Rite:

Royal Master
Select Master
Super-Excellent Master
Thrice Illustrious Master
It is interesting to note that while Scotland received the first three degrees of the
last series from American sources, the degree of Thrice Illustrious Master, taken over
recently in this country, was of Scottish origin.

Biblical characters move across Vhe stage driving home the historical facts of the Holy
Bible in a way that nothing else can. Here
Nebudhadnezzar lives again; Zedekiah proves
the results of infidelity; Ezekiel and Jeremiah
prophesy the promises of the Almighty.
Cryptic Rites in Other Countries

The Cryptic Rite is widespread, although

governing bodies exist only in Eng1an~, Scotland, Canada, and the United States.
In England t~he Cryptic degrees are controlled by a Grand Council of the Cryptic degrees. Among the degrees in the English
system are:
Most Excellent Master
Royal Master
Select Master
Super-Excellent Master
In Scotland, the Supreme Grand Royal
Arch Chapter has iurisdiction over Vhe Cryptic
Council degrees, the Royal Ark Mariner de
gree, the Knights of the East, and the Knights
of the East and West; bodies of the Cryptic
Rite are attached to Chapters. In this series
of degrees, we find:
Lodges and Council:
Royal Ark Mariner
Commander Noai
B~by1onian Pass or Red Cross
Knight of the Sword
Knight of the East
Knight of the East and West
Chief and President
Cryptic Rite:

Royal Master
Select
Master Master
Super-Excellent
Thrice
I11ustriou~ Master
It is interesting to note that while Scotland received the first three degrees of the
last series from American sources, the degree of Thrice Illustrious Master, taken over
recently in this country, was of Scottish origin.