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Most Illustrious Companion
Lawrence McInnis
Grand Master of Cryptic Rite Masons
Royal and Select Masters of Western Canada
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What is Cryptic Rite Masonry? |
The Cryptic Rite is one of the smallest but one of the most important and certainly one of the most curious of all the rites, according to Coil's Masonic
Encyclopaedia, Crypt comes from a Greek
word meaning hide, conceal, or secret, and thus has come to mean a vault, cave, or other place of underground concealment. The Cryptic degrees are centered on stories involving a vault or crypt where certain treasures were hidden beneath King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem for very specific purposes. They were first called
Cryptic by Rob Morris, a very influential Mason in the 1800's.
Which degrees are included in the Cryptic Rite?
Cryptic Masonry now consists of the two degrees
that concern the crypt or vault under King
Solomon's Temple, the Royal Master degree and the
Select Master degree. These originally had no
relation to each other, and were only combined
into a Rite until after they had each existed for
many years.
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In some jurisdictions the Super Excellent
Master degree is also included in the Cryptic
Rite, but some say it should not be because it
does not deal with the crypt story and it is not
really a degree but a ceremony.
However, it is described as a beautiful
ceremony, and it is not clear why some call it a
ceremony rather than a degree. |
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Office
of the Grand Recorder
Right
Illustrious Companion
Edward Wilson
35188 Spencer
Street,
Abbotsford, B.C. V3G 2E3
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In what order should the Cryptic degrees be conferred?
Masons have disagreed for many years whether the
Royal or the Select degree should be conferred first,
and whether they should both be
conferred before or after the Royal Arch degree. Both
should precede the Royal Arch degree, which is based on
the rebuilding of the Temple after it had been
destroyed, yet in most States only those who have first
gone through the Royal Arch degree can obtain the Royal
and Select Masters degrees.
from Paul Bessel
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