The Order of Royal and Select Masters is frequently referred to as ‘Cryptic Degrees’ or ‘Cryptic Masonry’. 

History

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 four English councils that had been chartered two years earlier by the York Rite Grand Council of New York. These four English councils organized themselves as a sovereign body under the leadership of G.R. Portal, a Past Grand Master of the Order of Mark Master Masons, who also became first Grand Master of the Order of Royal and Select Masters. The Order is administered from Mark Masons’ Hall in London.

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. 

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, ours is the District of Cheshire and the Marches , each District is governed by a District Grand Master, in our case this is R Ill Comp Bryan Hughes, who is assisted by district officers which he appoints. 

The Grand Council in London governs around 240 Councils, mostly in England and Wales, but with some overseas. The Grand Council in London controls overseas districts in South Africa, the Caribbean, and the Channel Islands, and also controls a few isolated overseas councils in the Isle of Man and across several nations of western Europe and the Far East.

THE DEGREES

Royal and Select Masters consists of six degrees, in the same way that Craft masonry has 3.  The first four are worked by local councils of the Order, and most members will progress through all four degrees. These four degrees are based on the Masonic legend of King Solomon’s Temple and throws light on the links between the degrees of Master Mason, Mark Master Mason, and the Holy Royal Arch and consist of the degrees of:

Select Master
Royal Master
Most Excellent Master
Super-Excellent Master

The two additional degrees 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 that 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 these degrees are exceptionally colourful and particularly that of Royal Master contain some of the most impressive and thought-provoking ritual found in Freemasonry.