By Roscoe R. Walcutt (1888 - 1961)
Past Grand Recorder of the Grand Council, R. & S. M. of Ohio; Past General Grand Secretary of the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons.
Our word “Rite” come directly from the
Latin, and perhaps goes back to the Sanskrit “riti” (a stream or a running
way), or “ri” (meaning to flow). Hence
the sense in which Masons use it, to follow a fixed trend or channel, a
customary way of doing things. Webster’s
dictionary, among other definitions of “rite,” gives the following:
The
act of performing divine or solemn service as established by law, precept, or
example; a formal act or series of acts of religion or other solemn duty; a
solemn observance; as, the rites of Freemasonry.
The word “ritual” likewise comes from the
same root, and, the ritual being the customary way in which history and
tradition are portrayed and their lessons taught, of course, goes back to the
primary meaning of the word. It is akin in meaning to the word ceremony.
The lessons of Freemasonry are taught in
certain rites in America; the Symbolic Rite, the Capitular Rite, the Cryptic
Rite, the Chivalric Rite (to which as a group is applied the general term the
York Rite, or American Rite), and the Ancient and Accepted Rite. These descriptive terms applied to the word
“rite” indicate the particular or peculiar manner or custom of ceremony.
The word “cryptic,” of course, comes
directly from the Latin “crypta,” which means a vault, and ultimately stems
from the Greek word signifying “hidden” or “to hide,” and relates to that which
is hidden or secret. For instance, a
cryptonym is a secret name, a name by which a person is known only to the
initiated, and a cryptogram is a writing in cipher or secret arrangement of
words, both of which have a special appeal to Freemasons.
In the early days of the development of
men’s religious beliefs, caves or vaults were deemed to be sacred, and cave
temples were among the original temples, either natural or constructed to
resemble caverns. The ceremonies of the
ancient mysteries were performed underground, or, if above ground, in temples
fashioned to resemble subterranean edifices.
It was only natural that these crypts or vaults or chambers would be
seized upon by the Mason to teach many of the important lessons which he was
attempting to inculcate.
The
Cryptic Rite of Freemasonry, then, is a Rite which teaches the symbolism of the
crypt or the vault, the concealment of that which will later be found, and is
but a part of the age-old Masonic lesson of loss and recovery. Cryptic Freemasonry is a branch of
Freemasonry which is devoted to the investigation and cultivation of the
Cryptic Degrees, or literally, the Freemasonry of the Secret Vault, says
Mackey.
This symbolism of the secret vault does not
appear in the first three, or Craft, Degrees.
It is found, however, wherever the Royal Arch or its equivalent appears
in any system. The use of the vaults or
crypts within the Temple of Solomon to which the Freemason puts them is without
historical authority and comes to us only through the Talmudic legends. Dr. Oliver in his Historical Landmarks, in discussing the Second Temple, gives the
general detail of the Masonic legend of the vault as follows:
"The
foundations of the Temple were opened, and cleared from the accumulation of
rubbish, that a level might be procured for the commencement of the
building. While engaged in excavations
for this purpose, three fortunate Sojourners are said to have discovered our
ancient Stone of Foundation, which had been deposited in the secret crypt by
Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty, to prevent the communication of ineffable secrets
to profane or unworthy persons. The
discovery having been communicated to the Prince, Prophet, and Priest of the
Jews, the stone was adopted as the chief corner-stone of the re-edified
building, and thus became in a new and more expressive sense, the type of a
more excellent Dispensation. An avenue
was also accidently discovered, supported by seven pairs of pillars, perfect
and entire, which, from their situation, had escaped the fury of the flames
that had consumed the Temple, and the desolation of war that had destroyed the
city. The Secret Vault, which had been
built by Solomon as a secure depository for certain secrets that would have
inevitably been lost without some such expedient for their preservation,
communicated by a subterranean avenue with the king’s palace; but at the
destruction of Jerusalem the entrance having been closed by the rubbish of the
falling buildings, it had been discovered by the appearance of a keystone amongst
the foundations of the Sanctum Sanctorum.
A careful inspection was then made, and the invaluable secrets were
place into safe custody."
The Cryptic Rite as practiced in America
includes the Royal Master, Select Master, and the Super Excellent Master
Degrees, which are conferred in Councils holden under the jurisdictions of
Grand Councils.
It should be noted, however, that in the
states of Virginia and West Virginia the Royal and the Select Master Degrees
are conferred within the body of a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. In fact, originally they were generally
conferred in Chapters of even Lodges.
The Super Excellent is not conferred in those jurisdictions. The order in which the first two Cryptic
Degrees are conferred in these Chapters is the reverse of the order followed in
Councils. The justification perhaps of
conferring the Select Master Degree first lies in the fact that chronologically
it comes first. However, in the Councils
which confer them in the order of Royal Master and Select Master justify that
order from the fact that, while the circumstances referred to in the Royal
Master occurred last, the secrets of the Select Master Degree were not brought
to light until long after the existence of the Royal Master Degree as known and
recognized. The Select Masters had done
their work and closed their labors in secret and their existence had been
practically unknown in the construction of the Temple. But the Royal Master Degree was known and
occupied an entirely different situation.
As to whether these degrees should be conferred in a separate body such as the Council has long been a matter of dispute, and a century ago the so-called Mississippi Plan, by which the rights of the Council were surrendered to Chapters, was a subject of the hottest dispute. However, the General Grand Chapter, while adopting a resolution in 1847 granting permission to chapters in states where there was no Grand Council to confer the Council degrees, refused in 1850 to take any action on the subject, and, finally, disclaim all control over them in 1853. Grand Chapters, one by one, fell into line. In 1870, the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite formally relinquished all claims over the degrees. Ultimately the formation of the General Grand Council tended to solidify the Councils and Grand Councils as the rightful possessors of the Degrees.
The Royal Master represents a Fellowcraft
in search of and making his demand for the disclosure to him of the ultimate
secret of Freemasonry. He learns,
however, that the Temple on which he has been laboring is the Temple of this life, and that the ultimate secret can
only be disclosed after that has been destroyed by death and the Second Temple
erected. In the First Temple he must be
content with a substitute. The Select
Master Degree commemorates the deposit of an important treasure in a secret
vault, that future generations may not lose the great secret.
The Super Excellent Master Degree refers to
an incident in the Royal Arch Degree, and portrays the last days of the siege
of Jerusalem, the fall of the City and the destruction of the Temple. It is, strictly speaking, not a Cryptic
Degree, but is now almost universally recognized as a part of the Cryptic
system.
We believe that, because the rituals of the
Cryptic Rite are among the best written in the Fraternity and their lessons are
an integral part of the teachings of the York Rite, they will continue to have
such a strong appeal to the earnest Masonic student that no York Rite Mason may
feel his work complete without them.
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