Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters

Golden Jubilee Council No: 239

Date of Warrant: 19th February 2003

Second Monday in March, May and October
Day of Inauguration: Second Monday in October

The Grand Council of Royal & Select Masters of England and Wales was set up in 1873 under a Charter issued earlier by the Grand Council of New York, and is administered from Mark Mason' Hall, London. Membership is open to all Mark Master Masons who are also Holy Royal Arch Masons, as the Order forms the link between these two Degrees. The regalia is a unique triangular Apron and a Breast Jewel. There are a total of four Degrees within the Order of Royal & Select Masters, sometimes known as the Cryptic Degrees. The Degrees are as follows:

1. Select Master. The construction of the Secret Vault and the consequences of an innocent intruder straying into the presence of the three Grand Masters whilst in the vault.

2. Royal Master. Refers to the completed vessels for the Holy Temple and a certain Fellow Craft trying to obtain the secrets of a Master Mason, plus how the secrets came to be deposited in the secret vault.

3. Most Excellent Master. The completion of the Temple and the installation of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy Place.

4. Super Excellent Master. The destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar and the burial of the secrets under the rubble.