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About
Cryptic Masonry
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Here we take another
step in our
Masonic education and progress to the Council of Royal and Select
Masters - known
as Cryptic Masonry or the Purple Lodge. The council degrees are largely
and elaboration and explanation of the Royal
Arch Degree and to a lesser extent, the Master Mason degree. The
degrees of the council of Royal and Select Masters are necessary to
fully complete your education Ancient Craft Masonry. The degrees of our
Masonic system are not chronologically arranged and in the degrees of
Royal and Select Master, which many believe, are the most beautiful
and impressive of all, you learn of additional incidents in the
building of the first temple. During these degrees
you represent the Master Builder, Hiram Abif, and learn why the work
was lost and the secret of it preservation
and recovery. The first council degree, the Royal Master, develops more
fully the story of recovery of the "lost"
word and the Holy of Holies of the Temple of King Solomon. The Royal
Master degree further explains the Master Mason
degree by telling of a Fellowcraft, a workman in the quarries, who in
true humility asked, "Grand Master Hiram Abif,
when do I receive the Master's Work?" After patiently listening to the
explanation of why he may never receive it, he returns to his place in
the quarries.
The next degree,
Select Master,
concerns itself with the construction and adornment of the subterranean
vault introduced in the Royal Arch degree of the Chapter. The Select
Master degree explains where and how the sacred treasures and the
secret word were buried. Here we are taught fidelity to vows, the
wisdom of worshiping GOD, and the punishment for purgery. Here we are
welded into a circle of friendship, in an unending chain of fraternal
union, as symbolized in
the Blue Lodge by the point within the circle that is displayed upon
our Altars.
The last degree is
that of Super
Excellent Master, and tells the story of the Babylonian Captivity, and
of Zedekiah and his perfidy. Council Masonry is also referred to as
"Cryptic Masonry" in allusion to the continuance of the vault, or
crypt. The Super Excellent Master degree, though having no connection
with Ancient Craft Masonry, is a vivid dramatization of truth and
fidelity and never fails to impress those who witness it, either for
the first time or after many times. The degrees of the Council will
enable you to more fully understand your third degree of Symbolic
Masonry and the degree of Royal Arch. With this background information
it is now possible to examine these degrees in much more detail.
Royal Master
This degree consists
of three
relatively brief sections: (1) a optional prologue, in which the tie-in
of events of
the degree to the degrees which have preceded it are called to the
candidate's attention. (2) a scene in the unfinished
Sanctum Sanctorum (SS), which consists of a monologue by GMHA
concerning death. (3) a third section in which the candidate
is obligated, given the words and signs, and made acquainted with the
furnishings of the SS, and especially the details
of the Ark of the Covenant.
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Let us now consider (2) and (3) in somewhat more detail. In the second
scene, as the candidate (representing a Temple
craftsman, Adoniram enters the unfinished inner Temple area, he
observes GMHA expresses his approbation of the work,
and retires to the SS to render up his noontime prayer and then draw
his designs upon the trestleboard. Accosted by the
candidate upon finishing these exercises, Adoniram demands to know when
he can expect to receive the Master's Word.
After demurring to this inquiry, GMHA conducts the candidate around the
Alter in the SS, commenting on each circuit on the nature of death and
in his firm belief in a resurrection. |
At the end of each
circuit, he
stops, points to the Altar,
and informs the candidate that, should he die, the Word will be found
there. This soliloquy on death is one of the most impressive and stark
expositions of the Masonic philosophy on the subject. It touches the
reality of physical decay
and death, but culminates in an unswerving and firm conviction in the
certainty of a resurrection to eternal bliss. GMHA foreshadows his own
demise, but tempers its horror and sadness by his
expression of immovable faith in God.
As Adoniram is evidently highly thought of by GMHA, he is made privy
not only to Hiram's most private feelings, but
also given a broad clue as to where the Master's Word will be located
if Hiram should die before the Temple is completed. In the third part,
during the circumambulations and the brief concluding lecture, the
candidate receives
and exposition of the adornment of the SS and particularly the
construction of the Ark of the covenant, which is the particular symbol
of this degree. The grand sign and words of this degree further allude
to the death of GMHA and of the reluctance of the two remaining Grand
Masters to communicate the Word, even among themselves. The degree is
readily seen as a memorial to GMHA and a suitable lead-in to the one
succeeding it. This Degree takes us backward
in time to a day prior to the death of the builder, who is again the
central character. He imparts sublime
teachings of a useful labor on earth to the candidate and gives him
instruction as to the preservation of our valuable secrets.
This is one of the
most beautiful
Degrees in all Masonry. Its lessons are so impressive that they are
seldom forgotten. It is especially illustrative of the Master Mason and
the Royal Arch Degrees.
Select
Master
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Historically, this Degree
occurs also prior to the third Degree and deals with incidents that
occurred at the
building of the first Temple. It is closely connected with Royal Arch
Degree and affords the explanation needed
for its perfect understanding. It is highly dramatic. This degree
explains how the Subterranean Vault introduced in the Royal Arch Degree
of the Chapter cam to be. A
particular friend of King Solomon's, named Zabud, misunderstands a
remark by the king and unwittingly gains entrance into a special
construction project one night. Being detected as an intruder, he is
almost killed
by the guards, but is spared upon intervention by King Solomon,
influenced by the mild council of GMHA. |
| Zabud
is permitted to take the place of a guard found wanting in
trustworthiness, and, upon being duly obligated and
instructed, Zabud gains admission to that point beneath the Temple
chosen by the Grand Masters to conceal the treasures of the Craft and
the Word.
Being detected as an
intruder, he
is almost killed
by the guards, but is spared upon intervention by King Solomon,
influenced by the mild council of GMHA. Zabud
is permitted to take the place of a guard found wanting in
trustworthiness, and, upon being duly obligated and
instructed, Zabud gains admission to that point beneath the Temple
chosen by the Grand Masters to conceal the treasures of the Craft and
the Word. The candidate then witnesses the reenactment of the
disposition of those
treasures, which will not be recovered until the rebuilding of the
second Temple as related in the Royal Arch Degree.
This degree teaches
attentiveness
to duty, to setting a watch over one's words and actions, and
illustrates that zealous attachment to duty and to the principles of
Masonry will result in advancement in its ranks as
well as in life. This degree is the culmination of what has been
Ancient Craft Masonry, or Masonry related to the building of Solomon's
Temple.
Super
Excellent Master
This degree deals
with 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. This optional degree consists of four sections. It is usually
conferred at irregular intervals
and/or large classes.
In the first section,
the
candidate assumes the obligation and is instructed in the signs, grips
and words,
as well as in the symbolism of the special symbols of this degree: square,
circle and equilateral triangle.
In the second
section, the
candidate witnesses the desolation and sorrow of some Jewish captives
in a grove in Babylon, who are subsequently given words of comfort by
the prophet Ezekiel.
In the third section,
the scene
shifts to the court of the dissolute and perfidious Jewish King
Zedekiah who, influenced by two evil councilors, refuses to hearken to
the voice of the prophet Jeremiah urging him to repent
and return to God. Zedekiah, to his later grief, learn the answer to a
riddle he proposes to Jeremiah, and immediately afterwards the King and
his court are forced to flee before the besieging armies of King
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
In the final section,
the
captured Zedekiah is brought before Nebuchadnezzarat Riblah, and
receives a severe
judgment for his past infidelities, misdeeds, and insensitivity. This
degree is one of the most dramatic in Freemasonry. It strikingly and
forcefully teaches the great lesson of loyalty to friends and fidelity
to promises and vows. Dry oral instruction is subjugated to teaching
through observation of dynamic acting and dialogue. Few who see this
degree done correctly and in full costume ever forget it.
Thrice
Illustrious Master Degree
This is a side or
"chair" degree,
and is conferred on present or Illustrious Past masters, usually during
the time of the State Grand Council meeting. In some jurisdictions, it
goes by the name of the Order of the Silver
Trowel. It consists of two sections - the candidate representing young
King Solomon in both sections.
In the first section,
the
candidate learns of the conspiracy by his half-brother Adonijah, to
wrest the throne by cunning from Solomon. He also learns of his mother
(Bathsheba) interceding with the aged and ailing King David to prevent
this. After securing David's approval, Solomon is symbolically
conducted to Gihon by Benaiah where he is duly obligated, anointed, and
hailed as King by Nathan the prophet and Zadok, the High Priest.
In the second
section, the newly
anointed King is brought before his father, David, who, in his dying
moments, instructs him in moral wisdom and counsels him to govern
uprightly and to serve the Lord with all his strength. Upon Solomon's
assest to all this, the King expires.
For further information about Cryptic Masonry, CONTACT
a San Diego York Rite Council.
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