Cryptic Masonry is the next step in the completion of the York Rite. In the United States, a Council of Royal and Select Masters confers the degrees of Royal Master and Select Master, with the optional addition of the Super Excellent Master degree, which endeavor to instruct those aspiring to its mysteries on the preservation and recovery of the Lost Word referenced in the Blue Lodge. Freemasons who hold membership in a Council of Royal and Select Masters are styled “Companions”. The Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters in Mississippi governs local Councils throughout the State, and is in turn subordinate to the General Grand Council, Cryptic Masons International.