Secret society

{{Short description|Organization hiding details from non-members}}

File:Secret Society Buildings New Haven.jpg" by Alice Donlevy {{circa|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.{{Cite book|last=Daraul|first=Arkon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aEdvCwAAQBAJ|title=A History Of Secret Societies|date=2015-11-06|publisher=Pickle Partners Publishing|isbn=978-1-78625-613-3|language=en}}

Secret societies may be community-based or associated with colleges and universities. These societies exist in countries around the world.

File:Double-leaf frontispiece from "The Epistles of the Brethren of Purity".jpg were a secret society of Muslim philosophers in Basra, Iraq, in the 9th or 10th century CE.]]

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.

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.Stevens (1899), p. vii.

Alan Axelrod, author of the International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders,Checkmark Books (1998), {{ISBN|0816038716}} defines a secret society as an organization that:

is exclusive
claims to own special secrets
shows a strong inclination to favor its members.

Historian Richard B. SpenceSpence, Richard B. The Real History of Secret Societies (2019), The Great Courses of the University of Idaho offered a similar three-pronged definition:

The group's existence is usually not kept secret, but some beliefs or practices are concealed from the public and require an oath of secrecy and loyalty to learn.
The group promises superior status or knowledge to members.
The group's membership is in some way restrictive, such as by race, sex, religious affiliation, or invitation only.

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 says that Freemasonry is "the world's most powerful secret Society".{{cite book|author=Jasper Ridley|title=The Freemasons: A History of the World's Most Powerful Secret Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h7q3VIZCiwQC|year=2011|publisher=Arcade|isbn=978-1-61145-010-1}} see also Jeffers, H. Paul. Freemasons: A History and Exploration of the World's Oldest Secret Society. (Citadel Press, 2005).

The organization "Opus Dei" (Latin for "Work of God") is portrayed as a "secret society"{{Cite book|last=Walsh|first=Michael|title=OPUS DEI: An Investigation into the Secret Society Struggling for Power within the Roman Catholic Church}}{{Cite book|title=Secret Society: Opus Dei - Catholicism's Secret Sect}}{{Cite book|title=Their Kingdom Come: Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei}} 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.{{Cite web|title=Beyond the Threshold|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/t/tapia-threshold.html|access-date=30 March 2018|website=archive.nytimes.com|archive-date=13 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813044440/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/t/tapia-threshold.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|author=Preston, Paul|title=The triumph of democracy in Spain|date=1986|publisher=Methuen|isbn=9780416900101|location=London|pages=28|oclc=14586560}}{{Cite book|author=Harding, Nick|title=Secret societies|date=2005|publisher=Chartwell Books, Inc|isbn=9780785821700|location=Edison, N.J.|pages=107|oclc=78244509}}{{citation|title=Geheimbünde Freimaurer und Illuminaten, Opus Dei und Schwarze Hand|date=2015|page=54|location=Reinbek|publisher=Rowohlt Taschenbuch|language=de|isbn=9783499630491|surname1=Hesse, Alexander}}{{citation|title=Die Geheimnisse des Vatikan : Eine andere Geschichte der Papststadt|date=2012|page=415|edition=1., neue Ausg|location=München|publisher=Beck, C H|language=de|isbn=9783406630927|last=Augias|first=Corrado|author-link=Corrado Augias}} Other critics label Opus Dei as "Holy Mafia"{{Cite journal|last=Pilapil|first=Vicente R.|date=1971|title=Opus Dei in Spain|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40394504|journal=The World Today|volume=27|issue=5|pages=211–221|jstor=40394504|issn=0043-9134|access-date=22 July 2021|archive-date=28 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628041648/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40394504|url-status=live}} or "Santa Mafia"{{Cite news|last=SPIEGEL|first=Peter Hertel, DER|title=Vatikan intern: Der Aufstieg der Santa Mafia|url=https://www.spiegel.de/spiegelspecial/a-350114.html|access-date=2021-06-16|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=7 April 2005|language=de|archive-date=22 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722060951/https://www.spiegel.de/spiegelspecial/a-350114.html|url-status=live}}

The National Christian Association (1868–1983) is an example of an organization opposed to secret societies.{{cite book |last1=Fuerbringer |first1=Ludwig |title=The Concordia Cyclopedia: A Handbook of Religious Information, with Special Reference to the History, Doctrine, Work, and Usages of the Lutheran Church |date=1927 |publisher=Concordia Publishing House |location=St. Louis, Missouri |pages=532–33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nH5OAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA532 |access-date=11 October 2024 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}

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,{{cite web|title=The Constitution of the Republic of Poland|date=2 April 1997|url=http://sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/angielski/kon1.htm|quote=Article 13: Political parties and other organizations whose programs are based upon totalitarian methods and the modes of activity of nazism, fascism and communism, as well as those whose programs 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.|access-date=3 November 2009|archive-date=20 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420173446/http://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/angielski/kon1.htm|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web |title=Skull And Bones |url=http://thesecretbookgarden.com/skull-and-bones/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419013022/http://thesecretbookgarden.com/skull-and-bones/ |archive-date=19 April 2020 |access-date=11 May 2012 |work=The Secret Society Manual |publisher=thesecretbookgarden.com}} The influence of undergraduate secret societies at colleges such as Harvard College, Cornell University, Florida State University, Dartmouth College, Emory University, the University of Chicago,{{cite journal |title=To The Members of the University of Chicago |journal=The University of Chicago Magazine |date=July 1913 |volume=5 |issue=9 |page=298 |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=rGw9AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP1 |access-date=8 May 2017 |archive-date=30 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930191457/https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=rGw9AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP1 |url-status=live }} the University of Virginia, Georgetown University, New York University,{{cite web |title= Edgar Allan Poe in Greenwich Village |url= https://greenwichvillagehistory.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/edgar-allan-poe-in-greenwich-village/ |work= Researching Greenwich Village History |publisher= greenwichvillagehistory.wordpress.com |access-date= 11 May 2012 |author= Megan Findling |format= article |date= 3 November 2011 |archive-date= 20 February 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160220081502/https://greenwichvillagehistory.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/edgar-allan-poe-in-greenwich-village/ |url-status= live }} and Wellesley College has been publicly acknowledged, if anonymously and circumspectly, since the 19th century.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1885/11/5/secret-societies-notable-among-the-features/|title=Secret Societies. | News | The Harvard Crimson|website=www.thecrimson.com|access-date=18 September 2021|archive-date=18 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918170558/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1885/11/5/secret-societies-notable-among-the-features/|url-status=live}}{{cite news |title= Student Government at Wellesley and How It Makes for Loyalty among the College Girls and Faculty |newspaper= The New York Times |date= 12 February 1912 |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40712FD385E13738DDDAC0A94DA405B828DF1D3 |access-date= 12 February 2017 |archive-date= 11 November 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121111123737/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40712FD385E13738DDDAC0A94DA405B828DF1D3 |url-status= live }}

British universities have a long history of secret societies or quasi-secret clubs, such as The Pitt Club at Cambridge University,{{Cite news |first= Mary |last= Bowers |title= Pitt Club under pressure from Council |url= http://www.varsity.co.uk/archive/647.pdf |work= Varsity |page= 5 |date= 17 November 2006 |access-date= 20 August 2009 |archive-date= 26 September 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070926121512/http://www.varsity.co.uk/archive/647.pdf |url-status= live }} Bullingdon Club at Oxford University,{{Cite news |first=Kirsty |last=Gray |title=Oxford's Bully-ingdon Club faces more scandal |url=http://www.varsity.co.uk/news/3318 |newspaper=Varsity |date=11 February 2011 |access-date=25 June 2011 |archive-date=27 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127175121/http://www.varsity.co.uk/news/3318 |url-status=live }} 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.D.T.W. Price. A History of Saint David's University College, Lampeter. University of Wales Press, Cardiff. Volume One, to 1898 ({{ISBN|0-7083-0606-3}}) 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.{{cite web |url= http://www.espace-turing.fr/Naissance-de-Alexandre-Theophile.html |title= Naissance de " Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde ", mathématicien français – Espace " Sciences du Numérique " Alan Turing (LJAD – CNRS/UNS) |website= www.espace-turing.fr |access-date= 20 August 2017 |archive-date= 17 October 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171017021353/http://www.espace-turing.fr/Naissance-de-Alexandre-Theophile.html |url-status= live }}

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.{{Cite web |title=Episkopon Policy |url=https://www.trinity.utoronto.ca/engage/policies/episkopon-policy/ |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=Trinity College |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Ramsay |first=Bailey |date=2017-05-02 |title=The Society of Thoth: How The Ubyssey began as an actual cult |url=https://ubyssey.ca/humour/the-society-of-thoth-how-the-ubyssey-began-as-an-actual-cult/ |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=The Ubyssey |language=en}}

Secret societies are disallowed in a few colleges. The Virginia Military Institute has rules that no cadet may join a secret society,{{cite web |title= Regulations for the Virginia Military Institute, Part II, Revised 5 December 2008, 12–16(b) |url= http://www.vmi.edu/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=13639 |publisher= vmi.edu }} and secret societies have been banned at Oberlin College from 1847{{cite book |last= Fletcher |first= Robert Samuel |title= A History of Oberlin College from Its Foundation Through the Civil War |publisher= Oberlin College |year= 1943 |url= http://www.gospeltruth.net/oberlinhistory.htm#41 |access-date= 10 April 2012 |archive-date= 14 August 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190814192255/http://www.gospeltruth.net/oberlinhistory.htm#41 |url-status= live }} "Revised codes were issued every few years, but not many important changes were made in them. Provisions with regard to the hours of 'athletic exercises and sport' were added in 1847. In the same revision, there appeared for the first time the 'peculiar' Oberlin rule against secret societies. 'No student,' it runs, 'is permitted to join any secret society or military company.'" to the present,{{cite book |url=http://new.oberlin.edu/students/policies/2011-2012/0-OberlinRulesRegs2011_12.pdf |title=Student Regulations, Policies, and Procedures, Oberlin College 2011–2012 |date=2011 |publisher=Oberlin College |page=34 |language=en |access-date=10 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326214411/http://new.oberlin.edu/students/policies/2011-2012/0-OberlinRulesRegs2011_12.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2013 |url-status=dead}} "No secret society is allowed at Oberlin, and no other societies or self-perpetuating organizations are allowed among students, except by permission of the faculty. This is to be understood to include social and rooming-house clubs." 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,[http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=33251 "NIGERIA: Focus on the menace of student cults"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611185212/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=33251 |date=11 June 2011 }}, IRIN, 1 August 2002 while the Exam Ethics Project lobby group estimated that 115 students and teachers had been killed between 1993 and 2003.[http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11849078 "Cults of violence"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021130746/http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11849078 |date=21 October 2008 }}, The Economist, 31 July 2008

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.{{Citation|chapter=IV. The Secret Societies|date=31 December 1969|pages=58–132|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231887458|doi=10.7312/fort92186-004|title=Omaha Secret Societies}}

The only secret society abolished and then legalized is that of The Philomaths,Arthur Morius Francis. Secret Societies. Vol. 3: The Collegiate Secret Societies of America. 2015 (file pdf). 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.{{cite news |last1=Bell |first1=Chris |title= The internet mystery that has the world baffled |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10468112/The-internet-mystery-that-has-the-world-baffled.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10468112/The-internet-mystery-that-has-the-world-baffled.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date= 23 July 2014 |newspaper= Daily Telegraph |date= 25 November 2013}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news |last1= Ernst |first1= Douglas |title= Secret society seeks world's brightest: Recruits navigate 'darknet' filled with terrorism, drugs |url= http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/26/secret-society-seeks-worlds-smartest-cicada-3301-r/ |access-date= 23 July 2014 |newspaper= The Washington Times |date= 26 November 2013 |archive-date= 25 September 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150925204905/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/26/secret-society-seeks-worlds-smartest-cicada-3301-r/ |url-status= live }} The goals of the society remain unknown, but it is believed to be involved in cryptography.{{cite news |author= NPR staff |title= The Internet's Cicada: A Mystery without an Answer |url= https://www.npr.org/2014/01/05/259959632/the-internets-cicada-a-mystery-without-an-answer |access-date= 13 May 2014 |newspaper= All Things Considered, National Public Radio |date= 5 January 2014 |archive-date= 27 June 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180627144945/https://www.npr.org/2014/01/05/259959632/the-internets-cicada-a-mystery-without-an-answer |url-status= live }}{{cite news |last= Scott |first= Sam |title= Cicada 3301: The most elaborate and mysterious puzzle of the internet age |url= http://metro.co.uk/2013/12/16/cicada-3301-the-most-elaborate-and-mysterious-puzzle-of-the-internet-age-4229892/ |access-date= 16 December 2013 |newspaper= Metro |date= 16 December 2013 |archive-date= 12 June 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162252/https://metro.co.uk/2013/12/16/cicada-3301-the-most-elaborate-and-mysterious-puzzle-of-the-internet-age-4229892/ |url-status= live }}

Around the world

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

=Africa=

== Cameroon ==

Ekpe

== Ghana ==

Simo

== Guinea ==

== Ivory Coast ==

== Liberia ==

== Mali ==

Simo

== Nigeria ==

== Sierra Leone ==

== South Africa ==

== Zimbabwe ==

Nyau

= Asia =

== 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.{{cite journal | doi=10.1080/03068374.2019.1636515 | title=Patriotic Chinese Triads and Secret Societies: From the Imperial Dynasties, to Nationalism, and Communism | year=2019 | last1=Purbrick | first1=Martin | journal=Asian Affairs | volume=50 | issue=3 | pages=305–322 | s2cid=199953554 | doi-access=free }} Examples of Chinese secret societies include:

Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists
Hai San Secret Society
Red Lanterns
Red Spear Society
Tiandihui, Society of the Heaven and the Earth
Yellow Sand Society
White Lotus
Heavenly Kingdom of Everlasting Satisfaction

== India ==

Secret societies in India include:

== Japan ==

Secret societies in Japan include:

== Malaysia ==

Secret societies in Malaysia include:

== Philippines ==

Secret societies in the Philippines include:

== Singapore ==

{{Main|Secret societies in Singapore|Secret societies in colonial Singapore}}

= Australia =

Secret societies in Australia include:

Freemasonry{{Cite web |title=Mateship & Fraternal Secret Societies in Australia |url=https://www.fraternalsecrets.org/ |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=Fraternal Secrets |language=en-US |archive-date=8 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208152018/https://www.fraternalsecrets.org/ |url-status=live }}
Odd Fellows
Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes
Tong

= Europe =

Several secret societies existing across Europe, including:

Ancient Order of Freesmiths (Freischmiede)
Freemasonry
Templars of Honor and Temperance
Rosicrucianism

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:

Fenians
Freemasonry
Hunters' Lodges
Independent Order of Odd Fellows{{Cite web |title=Secret Societies in Canada {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/secret-societies |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |archive-date=8 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208152017/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/secret-societies |url-status=live }}
Ku Klux Klan
Order of the Solar Temple
{{Interlanguage link|Ordre de Jacques-Cartier|fr|Ordre de Jacques-Cartier}}
Ordo Templi Orientis
P.E.O. Sisterhood
Tong

== Cuba ==

Abakuá

== United States ==

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

== Mexico ==

= South America =

== Brazil ==

Shindo Renmei
Hy-Bráz Societyhttps://medium.com/@Gsantos-FRENASPAN/sociedade-hy-br%C3%A1z-3c1a423be44d

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.Christopher J. Kauffman, Faith and Fraternalism: The History of the Knights of Columbus, 1882–1982 (1982) p. 8.Simon Sarlin and Dan Rouyer, "The Anti-Masonic Congress of Trento (1896): International Mobilization and the Circulation of Practices against Freemasonry." Contemporanea: Rivista di Storia dell'800 e del '900 (July-Sep 2021, 24#3, pp. 517-536. Some Christian denominations continue to forbid their members from joining secret societies in the 21st century, such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Seventh-day Adventists.{{cite book|title=The Discipline of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (Original Allegheny Conference)|year=2014|publisher=Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection|location=Salem|language=en|pages=20–21}}Ellen G. White, "Selected Messages Book 2", Chapter 13. (1958)

References

External links

[http://www.iisg.nl/collections/secretsocieties/index.php Secret Societies: a very short history] – Documents of Freemasons, Jesuits, Illuminati, Carbonari, Burschenschaften and other organizations
Stevens, [https://books.google.com/books?id=H-K3AAAAIAAJ&q=fraternities The cyclopædia of fraternities (2nd ed.)]. A dated review of the subject.

Category:Clandestine groups

Category:Clubs and societies

Category:Conspiracies