G.R. Portal, the first Grand Master of the Order of Royal & Select Masters
The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of England and Wales and its Districts and Councils Overseas is one of ten Masonic Orders based at Mark Masons Hall in London.
The Order of Royal and Select Masters is frequently referred to as the ‘Cryptic Degrees’ or ‘Cryptic Masonry’.
History
The origins of Cryptic Masonry are in America, where it is part of the York Rite, and date to the latter part of the 18th Century. In 1871 four English Royal & Select Masters Councils were chartered by the York Rite Grand Council of New York and they brought the Order to England.
The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of England and Wales and its Districts and Councils Overseas was formally constituted on 29 July 1873 by these four English Councils, who organized themselves as a sovereign body under the leadership of G.R. Portal. He was a Past Grand Master of the Order of Mark Master Masons and became the first Grand Master of the Order of Royal & Select Masters.
Today there are over 250 Councils in the Order and it is administered from Mark Masons’ Hall in London. Most Councils are in England and Wales but some are overseas. The Grand Council controls overseas Districts in South Africa, the Caribbean and the Channel Islands – as well as a few isolated overseas Councils in the Isle of Man and across several nations of Western Europe and the Far East.
Structure and organisation
The Order meets in local Councils, each having an elected presiding officer named the Thrice Illustrious Master, who appoints a number of assisting officers. Councils are grouped into Districts, which may overlap a couple of Craft Provinces – ours is the District of Middlesex. Each District is governed by a District Grand Master, who is assisted by District Officers which he appoints.
Qualification for membership
In England and Wales, all Master Masons who are both Royal Arch and Mark Master Masons are eligible for membership of RSM.
The jewel and unique triangular apron of the Order.
The Degrees of Royal & Select Masters
This wonderful Order, often referred to as the Cryptic Degrees, comprises of a total of six Degrees – providing the missing link between the Craft, Mark and Royal Arch. Four Degrees are conferred on the members of a Council in regular meetings…
Select Master
This Degree builds on the Mark Degree and explains the background to the construction of a secret vault (or crypt) directly beneath the Holy of Holies. In this vault copies of the most sacred treasures were placed to preserve them should the Temple be destroyed.
Royal Master
This Degree takes place within the Holy of Holies very shortly before the completion of the Temple. Hiram Abif inadvertently explains to one of the Select Masters, Adoniram, why the Master Word will never be lost. This disclosure is made in what many Masons consider to be the finest and most beautiful piece of Masonic Ritual.
Most Excellent Master
This Degree is concerned with the final stages in the construction of King Solomon’s Temple and its destruction.
Super Excellent Master
This Degree covers the invasion of Jerusalem, the siege and fall of the city and eventual destruction of the Temple. The Jews are removed to Babylon – where they remain in captivity as explained in the Royal Arch.
The Order of the Silver Trowel. Holders of this rank wear a badge on their aprons.
Going further
A Council of Royal & Select Masters confers four Degrees. The Degrees build on the knowledge that you have gained in the prerequisite degrees, namely Craft, mark and Royal Arch.
There are two additional Degrees that are granted more sparingly – to those who have a history of long or distinguished service to the Order. They are worked only in certain Councils, licensed for the purpose by the Grand Master and are the Degrees of:
Thrice Illustrious Master (commonly known as the Order of the Silver Trowel)
Excellent Master (also known as Passing the Veils)
All the Degrees in the Order are exceptionally colourful and, particularly that of Royal Master, contain some of the most impressive and thought-provoking ritual found in Freemasonry.