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. The term "secret society" is often used to describe fraternal organizations (e.g. Freemasonry) that may have secret ceremonies, but is also commonly applied to organizations ranging from the common and innocuous (collegiate fraternities) to mythical organizations described in conspiracy theories as immensely powerful, with self-serving financial or political agendas, global reach, and often satanic beliefs.
Historically, 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. For this reason, 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."
Some secret organizations exploit secrecy as a means to further political or criminal agendas, including such historical examples as the Know Nothing party in the United States, and the Mafia, respectively.
Many student societies established on university campuses [1] (http://mill-valley.freemasonry.biz/marin_greek_letters.htm) have been considered secret societies. Some collegiate secret societies are the Flat Hat Club (1750) and Phi Beta Kappa (1776), both founded at William & Mary. The most famous member of the FHC was Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. In correspondence, Jefferson noted that the Flat Hat Club served "no useful object." Others are 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 most famous collegiate secret society is the Skull and Bones (1832) at Yale University.
| Contents |
List of Secret Societies
Business, International or Non-Governmental Organizations
While not self-styled as secret societies, these groups qualify through a quantitative denotative interpretation.
- Bilderberg Group
- Club of Rome
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Royal Institute of International Affairs (also known as Chatham House)
- Round table groups
- Trilateral Commission
- Neurocam [2] (http://www.neurocam.com/), an organisation that recuits operatives for missions in secrecy and obscurity
Student Societies
- ANGRA at City University, London
- ANAK at the Georgia Institute of Technology
- B&C at Yale University
- Basiliaz at Northwestern University
- Berzelius (1848) at Yale University
- Bishop James Madison Society (1812) at the College of William and Mary
- Book and Snake (1863) at Yale University
- Brotherhood of the Golden Dagger (1895) at Rutgers University, inactive as of 1948
- Bullingdon Club at the University of Oxford
- Cambridge Apostles (1820) at the University of Cambridge
- Capitolo Otto (1981) at Yale University
- The Conscience at Oxford College of Emory University
- Episkopon at the University of Trinity College
- The Eyes of Texas at the University of Texas at Austin
- Flat Hat Club (1750) at the College of William and Mary
- Gryphon at Yale University
- IMP Society (1902) at University of Virginia
- L.O.S.A.B. at the University of St Andrews
- Michigamua (1902) at the University of Michigan
- Mountain at West Virginia University
- NoZe Brotherhood at Baylor University
- Order of the Bull's Blood (1834) at Rutgers University
- Owl Society at the University of Pennsylvania
- Phi Beta Kappa (1776) at the College of William and Mary, began as a secret society, but eliminated secrecy in 1831 and is now national
- Porcellian Club (1791) at Harvard University
- Prophets of Providence at Culver Military Academy
- Quill and Dagger (1893) at Cornell University
- Scroll and Key (1842) at Yale University
- Seven Society at the University of Virginia
- Shifters (1932) at Wittenberg University
- Skull and Bones (1832) at Yale University
- Society of the Pacifica House (1823) at Brown University
- Sons of Liberty (1775) at the University of Virginia
- Sphinx Head Society (1890) at Cornell University
- Sword and Serpent (1870) at Rutgers University
- Tabard at the University of Pennsylvania
- Theos at the University of Pennsylvania
- The Machine (1914) at the University of Alabama
- Wizards at Wittenberg University
- Wolf's Head (1883) at Yale University
- Z Society (1892) at University of Virginia
- Cadaver Society at Washington and Lee University
Fraternal Organizations
- AMORC (Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis)
- Confraternity of the Rose Cross
- Freemasonry (also known as Free & Accepted Masons)
- FUDOFSI
- FUDOSI
- Knights of Columbus
- National Society of Pershing Rifles
- Order Militia Crucifera Evangelica
- Order of DeMolay
- Order of the Eastern Star
- Order of the Solar Temple
- Ordo Templi Orientis
- Perfect Masons
- Rosicrucians
Criminal Organizations
Historical Secret Societies
- Black Panthers
- Illuminati
- Majestic 12
- Know-Nothings
- Ku Klux Klan
- Society of the Elect
- Wide Awakes
- SPK (http://www.spkpfh.de)
Revolutionary or Underground Organizations
- Carbonari
- Fenian Brotherhood
- Germanenorden
- Mau Mau
- Narodnik
- Society of Harmonious Fists
- Vihan Veljet
- Muslim Brotherhood
Alleged secret societies
In Works of Fiction and Popular Culture
- Aes Sedai Ajahs in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, particularly the Black Ajah
- Angelic Society
- The Bookhouse Boys in Twin Peaks
- 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
- Freemasonry in National Treasure
- House of Flying Daggers (in the movie of the same name)
- Illuminati in Tomb Raider (movie), Dan Brown's Angels and Demons
- Kom'Roya
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- Les Soldats in the anime series Noir
- Millennium Group in the television show Millennium
- The Order of St. Dumas, in DC Comics' Batman series
- The Patriots in the Metal Gear video game series
- 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 Sabbat in the World of Darkness, also known as the Black Hand, a hidden cabal of Vampires who desire to reduce humanity to the status of cattle.
- The Stonecutters, from The Simpsons
- Second Foundation, in The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov
- Sisters of the Dark in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind
- The Trust, in the Vertigo/DC comics series 100 Bullets
- In the Mike Myers film So I Married an Axe Murderer, a character speaks of a secret organization called the Pentaverate, consisting of "the Queen, the Vatican, the Gettys, the Rothschilds and Colonel Sanders," which controls everything in the world, including the newspapers, and meets triannually at a secret location in Colorado called The Meadows.de:Geheimbund
eo:Sekreta societo fr:Société secrète nl:Lijst van geheime genootschappen