Secret society

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"Secret Society Buildings at Yale College" by Alice Donlevy c. 1880. Pictured are: Psi Upsilon (Beta chapter), 120 High Street. Left center: Skull and Bones (Russell Trust Association), 64 High Street. Right center: Delta Kappa Epsilon (Phi chapter), east side of York Street, south of Elm Street. Bottom: Scroll and Key (Kingsley Trust SSS Nonse Association), 490 College Street. Secret Society Buildings New Haven.jpg
"Secret Society Buildings at Yale College" by Alice Donlevy c.1880. Pictured are: Psi Upsilon (Beta chapter), 120 High Street. Left center: Skull and Bones (Russell Trust Association), 64 High Street. Right center: Delta Kappa Epsilon (Phi chapter), east side of York Street, south of Elm Street. Bottom: Scroll and Key (Kingsley Trust SSS Nonse Association), 490 College Street.

A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla warfare insurgencies, that hide their activities and memberships but maintain a public presence. [1]

Contents

Definitions

The exact qualifications for labeling a group a secret society are disputed, but definitions generally rely on the degree to which the organization insists on secrecy, and might involve the retention and transmission of secret knowledge, the denial of membership or knowledge of the group, the creation of personal bonds between members of the organization, and the use of secret rites or rituals which solidify[ clarification needed ] members of the group.

Anthropologically and historically, secret societies have been deeply interlinked with the concept of the Männerbund, the all-male "warrior-band" or "warrior-society" of pre-modern cultures (see H. Schurtz, Alterklassen und Männerbünde, Berlin, 1902; A. Van Gennep, The Rites of Passage, Chicago, 1960).

A purported "family tree of secret societies" has been proposed, although it may not be comprehensive. [2]

Alan Axelrod, author of the International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders, [3] defines a secret society as an organization that:

Historian Richard B. Spence [4] of the University of Idaho offered a similar three-pronged definition:

Spence also proposes a sub-category of "Elite Secret Societies" (composed of high-income or socially influential people) and notes that secret societies have a frequent if not universal tendency towards factionalism, infighting, and claiming origins older than can be reliably documented. Spence's definition includes groups traditionally thought of as secret societies (Freemasons and Rosicrucians) and other groups not so traditionally classified such as certain organized crime cabals (the Mafia), religious groups (Order of Assassins and Thelema) and political movements (Bolsheviks and Black Dragon Society).

Historian Jasper Ridley argues that Freemasonry is, "the world's most powerful secret Society". [5]

The organization "Opus Dei" (Latin for "Work of God") is portrayed as a "secret society" [6] [7] [8] of the Catholic Church. Critics such as the Jesuit Wladimir Ledóchowski sometimes refer to Opus Dei as a Catholic (or Christian or "white") form of Freemasonry. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] Other critics label Opus Dei as "Holy Mafia" [14] or "Santa Mafia" [15] as the organisation is connected with various questionable practises including intense "brainwashing" of its members to exploit labor force [16] as well as the direct involvement of members in severe crimes such as baby-trafficking [17] in Spain under the dictator Francisco Franco.

Realms

Politics

Because some secret societies have political aims, they are illegal in several countries. Italy (Constitution of Italy, Section 2, Articles 13–28) and Poland, [18] for example, ban secret political parties and political organizations in their constitutions.

Colleges and universities

Many student societies established on university campuses in the United States have been considered secret societies. Perhaps one of the most famous secret collegiate societies is Skull and Bones at Yale University. [19] The influence of undergraduate secret societies at colleges such as Harvard College, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Emory University, the University of Chicago, [20] the University of Virginia, Georgetown University, New York University, [21] and Wellesley College has been publicly acknowledged, if anonymously and circumspectly, since the 19th century. [22] [23]

British universities have a long history of secret societies or quasi-secret clubs, such as The Pitt Club at Cambridge University, [24] [25] Bullingdon Club at Oxford University, [25] the Kate Kennedy Club, The Kensington Club and the Praetorian Club at the University of St Andrews, and the 16' Club at St David's College. [26] Another British secret society is the Cambridge Apostles, founded as an essay and debating society in 1820. Not all British universities host solely academic secret societies; both The Night Climbers of Cambridge and The Night Climbers of Oxford require both brains and brawn.

In France, Vandermonde is the secret society of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. [27]

Notable examples in Canada include Episkopon at the University of Toronto's Trinity College, and the Society of Thoth at the University of British Columbia.[ citation needed ]

Secret societies are disallowed in a few colleges. The Virginia Military Institute has rules that no cadet may join a secret society, [28] and secret societies have been banned at Oberlin College from 1847 [29] to the present, [30] and at Princeton University since the beginning of the 20th century.

Confraternities in Nigeria are secret-society-like student groups within higher education, some of which have histories of violence and organized crime. The exact death toll from confraternity activities is unclear. One estimate in 2002 was that 250 people had been killed in campus cult-related murders in the previous decade, [31] while the Exam Ethics Project lobby group estimated that 115 students and teachers had been killed between 1993 and 2003. [32]

The Mandatory Monday Association is thought to operate out of a variety of Australian universities including the Australian Defence Force Academy. The Association has numerous chapters that meet only on Mondays to discuss business and carry out rituals. [33]

The only secret society abolished and then legalized is that of The Philomaths, [34] which is now a legitimate academic association founded on a strict selection of its members.

Internet

While their existence had been speculated for years, Internet-based secret societies first became known to the public in 2012 when Cicada 3301 began recruiting from the public via Internet-based puzzles. [35] [36] The goals of the society remain unknown, but it is believed to be involved in cryptography. [37] [38]

By location

The following contemporary and historic secret societies formed in Africa, by country:

Africa

Cameroon

Ghana

Guinea

Ivory Coast

Liberia

Mali

Nigeria

Sierra Leone

South Africa

Zimbabwe

Asia

A Hongmen seal, 19th century Sha Men Hong Men Yao Pai .JPG
A Hongmen seal, 19th century

China

Secret societies played a major role in Chinese affairs for centuries. They were a key aspect of the Anti-Qing sentiments of the 20th century. After the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, they were tacitly supported by and actively collaborated with the Nationalist government. Having played prominent roles in history, they were targeted by the anti-secret society campaigns of the newly established government of the People's Republic of China during the 1950s. [40] Examples of Chinese secret societies include:

India

Secret societies in India include:

Japan

Secret societies in Japan include:

Malaysia

Secret societies in the Malaysia include:

Philippines

Secret societies in the Philippines include:

Singapore

Australia

Secret societies in Australia include:

Europe

Several secret societies existing across Europe, including:

Other organizations are listed by country.

Albania

Bulgaria

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Ireland

Italy

Poland

Portugal

Russia

Serbia

Spain

United Kingdom

North America

Canada

Secret societies in Canada that are non-collegiate include:

Cuba

United States

Secret societies in the United States that are non-collegiate include:

Mexico

South America

Brazil

Opposition

The Catholic Church strongly opposed secret societies, especially the Freemasons. It did relent somewhat in the United States and allowed membership in labour unions and the Knights of Columbus, but not the Masons. [43] [44] Some Christian denominations continue to forbid their members from joining secret societies in the 21st century. For example, the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Seventh-day Adventists. [45] [46]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freemasonry</span> Group of fraternal organizations

Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their descent from the guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 14th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients. Modern Freemasonry broadly consists of two main recognition groups: Regular Freemasonry, which insists that a volume of scripture be open in a working lodge, that every member professes belief in a Supreme Being, that no women be admitted, and that the discussion of religion and politics do not take place within the lodge; and Continental Freemasonry, which consists of the jurisdictions that have removed some, or all, of these restrictions.

A magical organization or magical order is an organization or secret society created for the practice of initiation into ceremonial or other forms of occult magic or to further the knowledge of magic among its members. Magical organizations can include Hermetic orders, esoteric societies, arcane colleges, and other groups which may use different terminology and similar though diverse practices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ordo Templi Orientis</span> International fraternal and religious organization

Ordo Templi Orientis is an occult secret society and hermetic magical organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner, Theodor Reuss, Heinrich Klein, and Franz Hartmann. In its first incarnation, O.T.O. was intended to be modelled after and associated with European Freemasonry and as such in its early years only Freemasons could seek admittance.

The Typhonian Order, previously known as the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis (TOTO), is a self-initiatory magical organization based in the United Kingdom that focuses on magical and Typhonian concepts. It was originally led by British occultist Kenneth Grant (1924–2011) and his wife Steffi Grant, and is now led by their deputy Michael Staley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grady Louis McMurtry</span> American poet

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Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), or the Gnostic Catholic Church, is a Gnostic church organization. It is the ecclesiastical arm of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), an international fraternal initiatory organization devoted to promulgating the Law of Thelema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Kellner (mystic)</span> Austrian chemist, inventor, industrialist, Ordo Templi Orientis founder

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knights Templar (Freemasonry)</span> Fraternal order affiliated with Freemasonry

The Knights Templar, full name The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, is a fraternal order affiliated with Freemasonry. Unlike the initial degrees conferred in a regular Masonic Lodge, which only require a belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religious affiliation, the Knights Templar is one of several additional Masonic Orders in which membership is open only to Freemasons who profess a belief in Christianity. One of the obligations entrants to the order are required to declare is to protect and defend the Christian faith. The word "United" in its full title indicates that more than one historical tradition and more than one actual order are jointly controlled within this system. The individual orders 'united' within this system are principally the Knights of the Temple, the Knights of Malta, the Knights of St Paul, and only within the York Rite, the Knights of the Red Cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rite of Memphis-Misraim</span> Masonic Rite

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Knights Templar</span>

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Marcelo Ramos Motta was a Brazilian writer, Thelemite, and member of the A∴A∴ occult society. Known for his work in the field of Thelema, he was a prominent figure in the Thelemic community and contributed significantly to its literature. Motta was also recognized by his magical names Parzival X° and Parzival XI°. His writings, which include translations of Aleister Crowley's works and original Thelemic texts, have had a lasting impact on the study and practice of Thelema in Brazil and beyond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illuminati</span> 18th-century Bavarian secret society

The Illuminati is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on 1 May 1776 in Bavaria, today part of Germany. The society's stated goals were to oppose superstition, obscurantism, religious influence over public life, and abuses of state power. "The order of the day," they wrote in their general statutes, "is to put an end to the machinations of the purveyors of injustice, to control them without dominating them." The Illuminati—along with Freemasonry and other secret societies—were outlawed through edict by Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria, with the encouragement of the Catholic Church, in 1784, 1785, 1787 and 1790. During subsequent years, the group was generally vilified by conservative and religious critics who claimed that the Illuminati continued underground and were responsible for the French Revolution.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraternity</span> Organization, society, or club of people associated together for various religious or secular aims

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Further reading