Online Encyclopedia
Secret society
A secret society is a social organization that requires its members to conceal certain activities—such as rites of initiation or club ceremonies—from outsiders. Members may be required to conceal or deny their membership, and are often sworn to hold the society's secrets by an oath. This term is often used to describe fraternal organizations (i.e. Freemasonry) that may have secret ceremonies.
Secret societies are often the subject of suspicion and speculation from non-members, and as such have aroused nervousness from outsiders since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. Often, secret societies are featured in Conspiracy theories that ascribe to them immense power and ill-intentions and accuse them of harboring secret (and often satanic) beliefs and either self-serving financial or political agendas. While some conspiracy theorist claim secret societies desire to institute a "New World Order," others claim that these organizations are harmless or overestimated, dismissing them as over-glorified fraternities.
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Secret Societies in History
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Organized Crime
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Some—though certainly not all—secret societies may strive for secrecy for reasons of illegal activity. This is an unfortunate label, however, since numerous societies exist and are struggling due to their "bad name" which is not deserved.
Student Societies
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Many student societies established on university campuses[1] http://mill-valley.freemasonry.biz/marin_greek_letters.htm have been considered secret societies, including, most notably, Skull and Bones (1832) at Yale University, the Order of the Bull's Blood (1834) at Rutgers University and the Bishop James Madison Society (1812) at The College of William & Mary. The first collegiate secret society was the FHC Club (1750), followed by Phi Beta Kappa (1776), both founded at William & Mary.
Political and Cultural Backlash
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Secret societies are illegal in several countries. In the European Union, Poland has made the ban a part of its constitution. Article 13 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland states:
- "Political parties and other organizations whose programmes are based upon totalitarian methods and the modes of activity of nazism, fascism and communism, as well as those whose programmes or activities sanction racial or national hatred, the application of violence for the purpose of obtaining power or to influence the State policy, or provide for the secrecy of their own structure or membership, shall be prohibited."
List of Secret Societies
Business, International or Non-Governmental Organizations
While these following groups do not style themselves as secret societies, they qualify through a quantative denotative interpretation.
- Bilderberg Group
- Club of Rome
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Royal Institute of International Affairs (also known as Chatham House)
- Society of the Elect
- Round table groups
- Trilateral Commission
Student Societies
- ANAK (Georgia Institute of Technology)
- Berzelius (Yale University)
- Bishop James Madison Society (College of William and Mary)
- Book and Snake (Yale University)
- Brotherhood of the Golden Dagger (Rutgers University)
- Cambridge Apostles (University of Cambridge)
- Episkopon (University of Trinity College)
- Flat Hat Club (College of William and Mary, defunct as of 1772)
- Michigamua (University of Michigan)
- Mountain (West Virginia University)
- Noble Order of the Lamp and Sword (Washington State University)
- Order of the Bull's Blood (Rutgers University)
- Owl Society (University of Pennsylvania)
- Phi Beta Kappa (National, began as a secret society, but eliminated secrecy in 1831)
- Porcellian Club (Harvard University)
- Quill and Dagger (Cornell University)
- Scroll and Key (Yale University)
- Seven Society (University of Virginia)
- Shifters (Wittenberg University)
- The Wizards (Wittenberg University)
- Skull and Bones (Yale University)
- Society of the Pacifica House (Brown University)
- Sphinx Head (Cornell University)
- Sword and Serpent (Rutgers University)
- Tabard (University of Pennsylvania)
- Theos (University of Pennsylvania)
- The Machine (University of Alabama)
- The William Penn Society (Whittier College)
- Wolf's Head (Yale University)
Fraternal Organizations
- AMORC (Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis)
- Confraternity of the Rose Cross
- Freemasonry (also known as Free & Accepted Masons)
- FUDOFSI
- FUDOSI
- Order Militia Crucifera Evangelica
- Order of the DeMolay
- Order of the Eastern Star
- Order of the Solar Temple
- Ordo Templi Orientis
- Perfect Masons
- Rosicrucians
Criminal Organizations
Historical Secret Societies
Revolutionary or Underground Organizations
- Carbonari
- Fenian Brotherhood
- Germanenorden
- Mau Mau
- Narodnik
- Society of Harmonious Fists
- Vihan Veljet
Alleged secret societies
In Works of Fiction and Popular Culture
- Angelic Society
- Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
- Cabal, in the works of Robert A. Heinlein
- Central Anarchist Council in G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday
- Committee to Unelect the Patrician in Discworld
- Darkfriends, in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time
- Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night in Discworld
- House of Flying Daggers (in the movie of the same name)
- Illuminati in Tomb Raider (movie)
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- Millennium Group in the television show Millennium
- S.P.E.C.T.R.E., in the works of Ian Fleming
- Order of the Phoenix, in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series
- The Stonecutters, from The Simpsons
- Second Foundation, in The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov
- The Trust , in the Vertigo/DC comics series 100 Bullets
External links
- A Survey of Secret Societies http://mill-valley.freemasonry.biz/marin-fraternities.htm