Dysmal crypt?

Cryptic Freemasonry, literally the Freemasonry of the Secret Vault 1, is governed by Councils of Royal and Select Masters, which in turn answer to State Grand Councils or the General Grand Council 21. The system centers on two primary degrees—Royal Master and Select Master—to which the Super-Excellent Master degree is sometimes added as an honorary or supplementary rite, though its legend has no actual connection to the crypt 1. The Cryptic degrees claim to explain elements of the Royal Arch that would otherwise remain difficult to understand 2.

In masonic sequence, the Royal Master is conferred before the Select Master 13. Symbolically, its meeting place represents King Solomon's private apartment 3. Its colors, black and red, signify grief and martyrdom in reference to the chief builder of the Temple 3. Legendary events in the Royal Master degree take place during the brief period between the discovery of the builder's body and its interment 3.

By contrast, the events commemorated in the Select Master degree occurred prior to those in the Royal Master degree, creating a historical anachronism 1. According to masonic tradition, this is reconciled by the fact that the secret work of the Select Masters—who performed their hidden tasks unknown to the wider Craft during the construction of Solomon's Temple—was not brought to light until the building of the second Temple under Zerubbabel 1. The traditional history records two distinct deposits: the deposit of the Substitute Ark made by the three Grand Masters, and the deposit of the Word made by Hiram Abif alone 1.

Historically, the Cryptic degrees originated within the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, where they were originally conferred as honorary degrees by its Inspectors 1. The Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction maintained a claim over them until formally relinquishing control in 1870 1. Throughout the nineteenth century, jurisdiction remained a point of debate 1. In Maryland and Virginia, the degrees were placed under Royal Arch Chapters to be worked before the Royal Arch degree, whereas other jurisdictions placed them under independent Councils worked after it 1. The General Grand Chapter briefly permitted Chapters without local Grand Councils to confer them in 1847, but rescinded the policy in 1850 and disclaimed all control over the degrees in 1853 1.