Secret society

Secret society
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.
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 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.
Alan Axelrod, author of the International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders, 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. Spence 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 argues that Freemasonry is, "the world's most powerful secret Society".
The organization "Opus Dei" (Latin for "Work of God") is portrayed as a "secret society" 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. Other critics label Opus Dei as "Holy Mafia" or "Santa Mafia" as the organisation is connected with various questionable practises including intense "brainwashing" of its members to exploit labor force as well as the direct involvement of members in severe crimes such as baby-trafficking 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, 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. The influence of undergraduate secret societies at colleges such as Harvard College, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Emory University, the University of Chicago, the University of Virginia, Georgetown University, New York University, and Wellesley College has been publicly acknowledged, if anonymously and circumspectly, since the 19th century.
British universities have a long history of secret societies or quasi-secret clubs, such as The Pitt Club at Cambridge University, Bullingdon Club at Oxford University, 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. 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.
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.
Secret societies are disallowed in a few colleges. The Virginia Military Institute has rules that no cadet may join a secret society, and secret societies have been banned at Oberlin College from 1847 to the present, 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, while the Exam Ethics Project lobby group estimated that 115 students and teachers had been killed between 1993 and 2003.
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.
The only secret society abolished and then legalized is that of The Philomaths, 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. The goals of the society remain unknown, but it is believed to be involved in cryptography.
By location
Africa
The following contemporary and historic secret societies formed in Africa, by country:
Cameroon
Ekpe
Ghana
Simo
Guinea
Poro
Sande society
Ivory Coast
Poro
Sande society
Liberia
Crocodile Society
Poro
Sande society
Mali
Simo
Nigeria
Ekpe
Nze na Ozo
Ogboni
Confraternities in Nigeria
Sierra Leone
Crocodile Society
Leopard Society
Poro
Sande society
Simo
South Africa
Afrikaner Broederbond
Afrikanerbond
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. Examples of Chinese secret societies include:
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:
Paramahansa Mandali
Japan
Secret societies in Japan include:
Black Dragon Society
Double Leaf Society
Gen'yōsha
Green Dragon
Sakurakai or Cherry Blossom Society
Malaysia
Secret societies in the Malaysia include:
Ang Soon Tong
Ghee Hin Kongsi
Wah Kee
21 Seas Gang
24 Gang
VOAX
Philippines
Secret societies in the Philippines include:
La Liga Filipina
Katipunan
Singapore
Ang Soon Tong
Ghee Hin Kongsi
Salakau
Wah Kee
Australia
Secret societies in Australia include:
Freemasonry
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
Black Society for Salvation
Secret Committee for the Liberation of Albania
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Secret Central Revolutionary Committee
Bulgarian Secret Revolutionary Brotherhood
Bulgarian Secret Central Revolutionary Committee
Macedonian Youth Secret Revolutionary Organization
Finland
Aurora Society
Ordo Templi Orientis
Valhallaorden
France
Association of the Polish Youth "Zet"
Bourbaki group
La Cagoule
Carbonari
Compagnons du Devoir
Company of the Blessed Sacrament
Ellinoglosso Xenodocheio
Hiéron du Val d'Or
Order of the Solar Temple
Priory of Sion
Société Angélique
Society of the Rights of Man
Germany
Ancient Order of Freesmiths
Association of the Polish Youth "Zet"
Germanenorden
Illuminati
Order of the New Templars
Ordo Templi Orientis
Thule Society
Tugendbund
United Ancient Order of Druids
Greece
Epsilon Team
Ethniki Etaireia
Ordo Templi Orientis
Ireland
Defenders
Hellfire Club
Irish Republican Brotherhood
Molly Maguires
Royal Arch Purple
Whiteboys
Italy
Carbonari
Fascio Operaio
Knights of the Apocalypse
Propaganda Due
Poland
Association of the Polish Youth "Zet"
Ordo Templi Orientis
Zarzewie
Portugal
Carbonária
Military Order of Christ
Russia
Association of the Polish Youth "Zet"
Lyubomudry
Ordo Templi Orientis
Petrashevsky Circle
Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Circle
Southern Society of the Decembrists
Union of Prosperity
Union of Salvation
Serbia
Black Hand
Main Board for Serb Liberation
Ordo Templi Orientis
Serbian secret organization in eastern Bosnia
White Hand
Spain
The Disinherited
Mano Negra (Black Hand)
Order of the Solar Temple
Ordo Templi Orientis
Society of the Exterminating Angel
Spanish Military Union
United Kingdom
A∴A∴
Bullingdon Club
Calves' Head Club
Cambridge Apostles
Confederacy
Gormogons
5 Hertford Street
Hellfire Club
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
The Horseman's Word
Molly Maguires
National Action
The Night Climbers of Cambridge
The Night Climbers of Oxford
Nordic League
Odd Fellows
Odin Brotherhood
Order of Chaeronea
Order of Druids
Order of Free Gardeners
Ordo Templi Orientis
Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes
The 16' Club
The School of Night
Scotch Cattle
Sealed Knot
Tong
United Ancient Order of Druids
North America
Canada
Secret societies in Canada that are non-collegiate include:
Fenians
Freemasonry
Hunters' Lodges
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Ku Klux Klan
Order of the Solar Temple
Order of 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:
Abakuá
Fenians
Freemasonry
Hunters' Lodges
Knights of Columbus
Knights of the Golden Circle
Ku Klux Klan
Molly Maguires
Odd Fellows
Order of the Star Spangled Banner
Tong
Mexico
Feminine Brigades of St. Joan of Arc
South America
Brazil
Shindo Renmei
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. 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.
See also
Fraternal order
References
Further reading
Dickie, John. The Craft: How the Freemasons Made the Modern World (PublicAffairs, 2020). excerpt; scholarly history.
Dumenil, Lynn. Freemasonry and American Culture: 1880-1930 (Princeton UP, 1984), major scholarly survey. excerpt
Gist, Noel P. Secret Societies: A Cultural Study of Fraternalism in the United States (1941)
Harwood, W. S. (May 1897). "Secret Societies in America." The North American Review, vol. 164, no. 486. .
Klimczuk, Stephen, and Gerald Warner (2009). Secret Places, Hidden Sanctuaries: Uncovering Mysterious Sights, Symbols, and Societies. New York: Sterling Publishing Company.
Ownby, David, and Mary F. Somers Heidhues, eds. Secret Societies Reconsidered: Perspectives on the Social History of Early Modern South China and Southeast Asia (Routledge, 2016) excerpt
Simmel, Georg. "The Sociology of Secrecy and of Secret Societies" The American Journal of Sociology (1906) 11#4 pp. 441–498 a famous classic by Georg Simmel, online
External links
Secret Societies: a very short history – Documents of Freemasons, Jesuits, Illuminati, Carbonari, Burschenschaften and other organizations
Stevens, The cyclopædia of fraternities (2nd ed.). A dated review of the subject.
Secret societies in Albania
Secret societies in Canada
Secret societies in Bulgaria
Secret societies in Finland
Secret societies in France
Secret societies in Germany
Secret societies in Greece
Secret societies in India
Secret societies in Italy
Secret societies in Poland