A warm welcome to the website for the Order of Royal and Select Masters in the District of Kent. If you are a Master Mason, and a Companion of the Holy Royal Arch, you have discovered “the completion of pure and ancient freemasonry”. If you are a Mark Master Mason, you have discovered its beginning. Combining the two, you are now qualified for membership of this most enlightening of Masonic Orders, so why not discover the whole story?
Sometimes known as “The Cryptic Degrees”, this fascinating Masonic Order has nothing to do with either crosswords or riddles but refers to the steps taken by King Solomon to safeguard the treasures of his Temple at Jerusalem, by building a secret underground vault in which they could be hidden in times of trouble.
The Degrees
The Order of Royal and Select Masters, often known as the Cryptic Degrees, form a vital and interesting link between the Craft and Royal Arch, making the connection much more logical and completing the legend of King Solomon and his Temple. It is open to those who are both Royal Arch and Mark Master Masons and consists of four highly dramatic degrees. These outline the initial steps taken during the building of the Temple to preserve copies of the holy vessels and sacred treasures in a secret vault; the burial of the Word by the two surviving Grand Masters after Hiram’s death; the completion and dedication of the Temple and finally the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar and his army.
The Order consists of these four basic degrees, plus two more that may be conferred on Past Masters. The four degrees that everybody takes are: Select Master; Royal Master; Most Excellent Master and Super Excellent Master. They are taken in that sequence. These degrees cover the 500 year period between the building of the first and second temples. It is a fascinating story, being demonstrated by some of the most beautifully constructed ritual in the whole of Freemasonry and is laced with intriguing moral precepts. The discerning ritualist and the Masonic historian will be delighted by what they discover.
The four initial degrees came from the General Grand Council of America, which was formed in the early 1870’s. The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of England and Wales and its Districts and Councils Overseas, (as it is now known), was formally constituted on 29 July 1873 by four Councils chartered just two years earlier by the Grand Council of New York. The first Book of Constitutions, (published in 1874), records that the early Councils originally met in Red Lion Square in London later moving to what is now the Connaught Rooms and various other temporary homes before finally settling down in the present Mark Masons’ Hall.
Regalia consists of a triangular jewel, worn when first admitted (or “chosen”) and a triangular apron worn once you have completed the first four degrees.
If you are qualified to join and would like to do so, please ask, a step I am sure you will not regret.
I always look forward to warmly greeting new members personally, in each of the eight Councils of this District.
Trevor M Sharpe
District Grand Master