Templar Edification

By: Eric Thiem In April’s education on the history of Cryptic Council, a small portion of the article mentioned degrees that were initiated in a Council of Cryptic Masons that were no longer performed. One of those, the Knights of the Round Table was discussed in detail and presented in the August 2025 Beauseant and Buckler. I decided to delve into another of the “Dead Degrees,” the Order of the Garter and determine if I could uncover the history of this degree. A garter is a functional piece, or band of clothing of an elastic nature designed to hold up another piece of clothing, usually a stocking or a shirt sleeve (1) . They were typically tied to the stocking just below the knee. With advances in modern clothing, they have lost their use as a functional piece of clothing. The history of a garter being a functional piece of clothing dates back to at least the Middle Ages, if not earlier. For most of history, they have been associated with a bridal tradition; symbolizing luck at the c...

The history or Cryptic Council has its formal origins in the American Colonies, shortly after winning independence from Great Britain. Cryptic Council at its inception was originally part of the York Rite Chapter Lodges. The Royal Master and Select Master degrees were part of Chapter prior to Cryptic Council separating from York Rite Chapter. The Chronological order of the Council degrees had the Royal Master Degree was conferred just prior to receiving the sublime Royal Arch Degree. The Select Master degree was conferred shortly after receiving the Royal Arch Degree. It is thought that the Royal and Select Master Degrees originated in France in the first half of the 18th century. The Royal and Select Master degrees were known as travelling degrees throughout the Eastern United States in the late 1700’s and 1800’s and were conferred on special occasions similar to how we  in Minnesota and in many other states confer the Super Excellent degree today. Council was split off from Royal...