All Brethren will profess that being a mason is a wonderful and fulfilling experience, full of interest and instrumental in making one aware of the duties we owe to other members and society in general. As members of a Craft Lodge, everyone should be encouraged to become a Royal Arch Companion.
However, some are content to remain only in the Craft, at the same declaring their love of freemasonry. It is rather like saying that you enjoy a game of golf but never go further than a driving range! The Craft is the foundation of the whole Masonic structure, but the story of King Solomon’s Temple needs further exploration to be fully understood, and anyone who is interested in the historical side of masonry needs to consider three other important degrees.
Mark Masonry is concerned with the quarries and the Overseers who presided over lodges of operative masons who were preparing the stones for the building of the first Temple. The degree of Mark Master Mason, as a natural continuation of the Fellowcraft, culminates in the symbolic completion of the construction of the Temple with the placing of the all-supporting KEYSTONE in the principle arch. Following a period of 470 years after its apparent loss, the WORD is discovered by the three Sojourners. It is returned to us through the ritual of the Royal Arch Chapter, where the lost secrets of a Master Mason are conveyed to the candidate and the building of the second Temple is studied.
Membership of these two degrees, together with the Craft qualifies a mason for membership of one of the finest and informative degrees in freemasonry, The Order of Royal and Select Masters, also known as the Cryptic Degrees. It goes some way to provide the missing link, by explaining the measures taken by the two remaining Grand Masters to preserve the means of pronunciation, but also to safeguard the holy treasures from the catastrophe prophesied to befall the City of Jerusalem. It gives the whole story from about 974BC up to 534BC concerning the building of the first Temple, the death of Hiram Abif, the dedication of the Temple, its subsequent destruction, and finally the rebuilding and the recovery of the Lost Word. It is the only Order to link the Craft, via the Mark Degree, with the Supreme Degree of the Holy Royal Arch. It is considered to be the summit and perfection of Ancient Masonry and without it the history of the Holy Royal Arch cannot be said to be complete.
The Order consists of four degrees.
Select Master: The most important holy treasure, which plays an intrinsic part within the ceremonies, was the Ark of the Covenant. A copy of this and the other treasures were eventually to be placed into a Secret Vault or Crypt whose existence was known to but a Select few involved in its construction beneath the Holy of Holies.
Royal Master: Work on the Temple is nearing completion and some of the Overseers are anxious as to when they will receive the Master Word. A certain favourite adventures to enquire of Hiram Abif. The disquisition that ensues is rightly regarded, by those qualified to pass comment, as the most enthralling and spiritually uplifting passage of ritual to be found anywhere in the whole of Freemasonry.
Most Excellent Master: Our Grand Master has been murdered and decently interred according to ancient usage – but life goes on. The Temple has been completed and the Ark of Covenant installed in the Holy of Holies. King Solomon prepares to consecrate and dedicate the edifice to the Deity in all its glory and beauty. It is an appropriate time to bestow a distinguishing mark of approval for services rendered.
Super Excellent Master: Time has moved on and the fortunes of the Israelites have taken a downturn. With the vast Babylonish forces of Nebuchadnezzar threatening the city of Jerusalem, the vassal king Zedekiah and his subjects make their respective plans for their inevitable fate.
The main benefit is found in the explanation of the Masonic story, a must for the true student of masonry. Any mason who is interested in developing his knowledge of the Craft should first consider becoming a Mark Master Mason, then a Royal Arch Companion, and finally, for many of us the ultimate pleasure, A Royal and Select Master.
The year book contains details of all relevant Lodges, Chapters and Councils together with the names of various Secretaries who will be only too happy to supply further details.
For further details of the Royal & Select Masters Degree contact Ill. Comp. Nigel Williams (tel: 01945 463446) or e-mail
Why not follow it up?; it could give your masonry a whole new area of interest.