THE
CIRCLE OF PERFECTION
IN
ANCIENT CRAFT MASONRY
A presentation on the Cryptic Rite
to Chapters of Royal Arch Masons
by three members of a Council
of Royal and Select Masters
including a handout of the Cryptic Rite pamphlet and the application form
This is the reading script for a presentation to Chapters of Royal Arch Masons by
three members of a Council of Royal & Select Masters who read clearly, loudly
and happily.
When invited to come forward, the three speakers, uniformed as Royal & Select
Masters, should form an inverted triangle west of the altar, the first speaker
standing farthest west, the second on the north and the third on the south, facing
inwards, and speaking enthusiastically to the farthest corner of the room.
The presentation is less than 8 minutes long.
It will be effective only if well presented to audiences that have been prepared well
in advance.
Most Councils draw members from three or more Chapters. The presentation
should be made separately to each Chapter.
To maximize the audience, the visit should be advertised in the Chapter Summons
more than once (the Summons for the month before the presentation day as well as
the Summons for the actual presentation day), using an attractive description such
as:
“At our convocation of (insert date) three Cryptic Rite Masons will make a special
short presentation to our Chapter to provide information some may never have
heard, and from which all Royal Arch Masons can benefit – an occasion not to be
missed! Encourage others to attend. Offer them a drive!"
The High Priest should be asked in advance to encourage a Question & Answer
period after the presentation, and for his permission to you to hand out literature.
First speaker: Most Excellent High Priest and Companions, we three are
members of a Council of Royal and Select Masters.
Second speaker: We also are Royal Arch Masons, the basic requirement for
advancement into a Council.
Third speaker: And first, last and always, we are Master Masons. But by taking
those two steps beyond the Lodge, into a Chapter and a Council, we have travelled
the Circle of Perfection in Ancient Craft Masonry, and are here to speak to those
who have not. We want you to join us, to take the same extra step, and gain the
same rich rewards.
First speaker: Councils of Royal and Select Masters present two degrees which,
it might amaze you to learn, are called the Royal Master degree and the Select
Master degree.
Second speaker: Council membership also provides access to a Royal Ark
Mariner Lodge and the degree of Super Excellent Master.
Third speaker: But it is the Council degrees that fill in those gaps in the Temple
and Hiram Abif stories which still puzzle some Royal Arch Masons, and so
complete the Circle of Perfection in Ancient Craft Masonry.
First speaker: In Lodge we received the third degree and a Substitute Word, and
learned we must quest further for the True Word.
We asked, where should we begin, and heard many answers:
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Perhaps the wisest said, take time in the Craft Lodge.
Study the depth and history in the rituals.
Experience the offices.
Visit other Lodges.
It was excellent advice, enough to satisfy many.
But others said the Master Mason degree presents only part of the story of the
Temple and Hiram Abif, and is meant to imply we should search further.
Second speaker: Like you, we searched further by joining a Chapter, and in the
Royal Arch degree received what has been described as the second half of the
Master Mason degree, in which the true word of a Master Mason is rediscovered
and restored to the Craft.
Third speaker: But still, for us, the Royal Arch degree raised yet more questions,
and seemed to urge us on, to search further, quest onwards.
First speaker: The Royal Master and Select Master degrees 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.
Second speaker: 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.
Third speaker: The enthusiasm of the Royal Arch Mason who seeks more light
in Masonry – further enlightenment towards Truth – is welcomed and matched by
Companions who wish to share with him something very special.
First speaker: 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.
Second speaker: The Cryptic Rite, in the Council, tells how and why those
secrets were preserved there. Masonry’s great allegory becomes clear, complete,
more powerful and effective.
Those who experience that sense of completion want to share it, to help others
complete the Circle of Perfection in Ancient Craft Masonry.
Third speaker: The degrees were brought to America in 1761 as Scottish Rite
“side degrees”. Jeremy Cross described them as “the summit and perfection of
Ancient Masonry, without which the history of the Royal Arch degree cannot be
complete.”
First speaker: Conferral was assigned to Royal Arch Masonry chapters 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.
Second speaker: 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. Both the York Rite Council 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.
Third speaker: 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’.
‘Cryptic Masonry’ means, therefore, ‘Masonry of the Secret Vault’.
First speaker: The Select Master degree is set before Hiram Abif’s death, and
alludes to preparations to hide the Secret Treasures. 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.
Second speaker: 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
Third speaker: It is the symbolic link that binds the Master’s degree to the Royal
Arch.
Without it, for many the mystery of “The Recovery of That Which Was Lost”
remains in darkness.
First speaker: It 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.
Second speaker: In 1817, Samuel Cole said, “we may pronounce it the key to
the Arch.”
The dramas illuminate 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.
Third speaker: The Royal Master degree has two parts.
First, Hiram Abif talks to Adoniram about death. Then, 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 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.
First speaker: Royal Arch Mason candidates for the Cryptic Rite degrees are
“received” as Royal Masters, and “greeted” as Select Masters, usually on separate
occasions. Then, after becoming a Companion of the Cryptic Rite, a Mason is
deemed worthy of the appellation, “The select of the Craft”.
Second speaker: If you have not already done so, for we recognize some here
who have, we urge you to take one more step into a Council of Royal and Select
Masters.
Third speaker: Most Excellent High Priest, having already received your
permission, we will shortly distribute application forms, and copies of a pamphlet
on the Cryptic Rite which provides even more details, but which – like this
presentation – cannot replace the actual experience of our degrees, nor of the
greater depth of companionship we offer.
First speaker: To all we say, God speed you in your quest, whatever you decide.
The three of us, who represent the three steps, into the Lodge, the Chapter and the
Council, wish you well, and thank you for listening.
Hand out to every individual present a copy of the officially approved pamphlet,
'The Cryptic Rite of Freemasonry in Councils of Royal & Select Masters'.
Give everyone a copy, even to those who already are Council members. They
possibly haven't read it themselves, but anyway can pass it on to a Royal Arch
Mason not present at this time.
Also hand out application forms to every individual present, even if some already
are Council members. They can speak personally to others not in attendance.
Afterwards, try to speak personally to as many as possible, to encourage them to
complete the application or give it serious consideration and contact you if they
decide to take 'the second step'.
Authorized by Roy Lively, MPGM,
on behalf of the
Grand Council
Eastern Jurisdiction of Canada
Royal & Select Masters
June 2011