secret society

An organization, such as a lodge, that requires its members to conceal certain activities, such as its rites of initiation, from outsiders.

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secret societies became a common feature of Irish rural life in the second half of the 18th cent. Commencing with the Whiteboy movement in Tipperary and adjoining counties in 1761-5, there were major outbreaks of rural protest in every decade up to the 1840s. Such protest was generally the work of small local groups, linked by no more than the adoption of a common name—Whiteboys, Oakboys, Steelboys, Threshers, Carders, Cravats, Rockites, Terry Alts—or at most by the transmission from place to place of an oath of association. Rival Protestant and Catholic secret societies, the Peep o'Day Boys and the Defenders, emerged in south Ulster in the 1780s. After 1795 the Peep o'Day Boys were replaced, and to some extent absorbed, by the Orange Order. Ribbonism, emerging around 1812, was a direct successor to Defenderism. Appealing mainly to wage-earners and petty traders, it kept alive something of the nationalist and Republican sentiments of the 1790s. The great age of the secret societies ended with the Famine. Traditional techniques of protest did not disappear: Parnell, in 1881, could still warn that if he were arrested ‘Captain Moonlight’ would take his place.

Secret Societies are voluntary associations possessing arcane knowledge known only to their exclusive initiates. Alexis de Tocqueville got it wrong when he proclaimed that American society brooked no cabals or conspiracies. Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography (unfinished) first presented the concept of a network of secret cells used to influence public opinion.

Secret societies claim glamorous genealogies to enhance their sense of deep purpose. The Improved Order of Red Men (1834, Baltimore) traces itself to the Boston Tea Party. Rosicrucians, the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, or AMORC (1915, New York City) claim a pedigree going back to Benjamin Franklin. The Cheyenne tribes of the Great Plains take their societies back to the mystical teachings of an orphaned boy named Sweet Medicine about 1000 B.C. Freemasons claim they go back to Solomon's temple.

Indigenous American tribes maintained secret societies. The men formed societies for warriors, religious societies, and hunting clubs. Women formed agrarian societies, often centered on the buffalo and corn, and crafts guilds. Both sexes joined mystery cults utilizing dreams and hallucinations. Initiates freely traveled from band to band and even between tribes for society meetings.

The importance of British freemasonry to American secret societies cannot be overemphasized. In 1730 Daniel Coxe became the first provincial grand master for New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Masonry grew to a national membership of two million men by 2000.

The golden age of fraternal and secret societies lasted until the 1960s. Several hundred societies existed during this period. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, founded in Baltimore by Thomas Wildey in 1819, and the Knights of Pythias, founded in Washington, D.C., by Justus H. Rathbone in 1864, rivaled the Masons. Other "friendly" societies allowed only one nationality. They included the German Sons of Hermann (1852, New York City, by Dr. Philip Merkel), the Irish Ancient Order of Hibernians (1836, New York City), and the Hebrew B'nai B'rith (1843, New York City, by Henry Jones). In 1900 over 40 percent of all white males in America belonged to one or more of the freemasonry-based societies.

Those generally denied membership in these societies found others to join or created their own. Women joined the "Order of the Eastern Star" (1853, by Dr. Robert Morris) and the Order of Rebekah for female Odd Fellows (1851, Washington, D.C., by Schuyler Colfax). Prince Hall and fourteen other blacks in Boston received a freemason lodge charter from the Grand Lodge of England in 1784. E. A. Lightfoot, T. W. Stringer, and others founded the Knights of Phythias of North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa for blacks (1869, Philadelphia). The Reverend Michael J. McGivney and others incorporated the Roman Catholic Knights of Columbus (1882, New Haven, Connecticut). American-born Chinese began forming Tong (assembly hall) societies for mutual protection in San Francisco in 1874.

Popular twentieth-century fraternal orders stressed tangible benefits for members and civic benevolence rather than secrecy. Such societies as the Fraternal Order of Eagles (1898, Seattle, by John Cort), the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks (1868, New York, by Charles Vivian), and the Loyal Order of the Moose (1888) became immensely popular because they stressed family social events and public benevolence. In 2000 more than nine million people belonged to one or more American secret or fraternal societies worldwide.

Bibliography

Mails, Thomas E. Dog Soldiers, Bear Men, and Buffalo Women: A Study of the Societies and Cults of the Plains Indians. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973.

Stevens, Albert C. The Cyclopedia of Fraternities. 2d ed. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research, 1966.

Whalen, William J. Handbook of Secret Organizations. Milwaukee, Wisc.: Bruce Publishing, 1966.

For the Europe album, see Secret Society (Europe album).

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Secret society is a term used to describe a variety of organizations. Although the exact meaning of the term is disputed, several of the definitions advanced indicate a degree of secrecy and secret knowledge, which might include denying membership or knowledge of the group, negative consequences for acknowledging one's membership, strong ties between members of the organization, and rites or rituals which outsiders are not permitted to observe.

Contents 1 Definition 1.1 Oath taking 1.2 Politics 1.3 Colleges and universities 2 Groups disputed as "secret societies" 3 See also 4 References 5 Notes 6 External links

Definition

Several definitions for the term have been put forward. The term "secret society" is used to describe fraternal organizations that may have secret ceremonies, 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 luciferian beliefs.^{[citation needed]}

Application of the term is often hotly disputed, as it can be seen as pejorative.^{[citation needed]}

Therefore, the criteria that can be adopted as a definition for the term are important for which organizations any one definition would include or exclude.^{[citation needed]}

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 own

David V. Barrett, author of Secret Societies: From the Ancient and Arcane to the Modern and Clandestine, uses slightly different terms to define what does and does not qualify as a secret society. He defines it as any group that possesses the following characteristics:

• It has "carefully graded and progressed teachings"
• Teachings are "available only to selected individuals"
• Teachings lead to "hidden (and 'unique') truths"
• Truths bring "personal benefits beyond the reach and even the understanding of the uninitiated."

Barrett goes on to say that "a further characteristic common to most of them is the practice of rituals which non-members are not permitted to observe, or even to know the existence of." Barrett's definition would rule out many organizations called secret societies; graded teaching are not part of the American college fraternities, the Carbonari, the "Know Nothings," nor any other political secret societies. Indeed any author can construct a definition so that it includes or excludes a specific group.^{[citation needed]}

Oath taking

Many societies require members to take an oath at membership. Parts of an oath can include a promise to support the organization, to keep its secrets, that the new member will conceal or deny their membership in the organization. Sometimes such oaths can include penalties (ranging from the purely symbolic to the very real) for not living up to the oath.^{[citation needed]}

Politics

Since some secret societies have political aims, they are illegal in several countries. Poland, for example, has included a ban of secret political parties and political organizations in its constitution. Not all secret societies are perceived as a threat by the existing political establishment.^{[citation needed]}

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 college societies is the Skull and Bones at Yale, of which both presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry are members from their college years. Secret societies are disallowed in a few colleges. Virginia Military Institute has rules that no cadet may join a secret society.^{[citation needed]}

Groups disputed as "secret societies"

This article contains weasel words, vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed. (July 2009)

The term "secret societies" could include criminal organizations, such as the Triad, Yakuza or the Cosa Nostra organizations.^{[citation needed]}

The United States of America's National Security Agency has been described as a secret society since for many years, its very existence was a secret, as was its budget. People (such as James Bamford, in The Puzzle Palace, 1982) used to say that the letters NSA stood for "No Such Agency" or "Never Say Anything"; and, in the early 1990s, the CIA had a website but the NSA did not. This has changed: The NSA has had a website for several years, and its activities are debated in Congress and the press. Its budget is still classified, but it officially exists. Its activities are authorized and are paid for, although the details of those activities are closely-held secrets.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• African traditional religion
• Aurora Society
• Collegiate secret societies in North America
• New World Order (film)
• Secret societies in popular culture
• Secret combination (Latter Day Saints)

References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2009)

• Heckethorn, Charles William (1997). The secret societies of all ages and countries, embracing the mysteries of ancient India, China, Japan, Egypt, Mexico, Peru, Greece, and Scandinavia, the Cabbalists, early Christians, heretics, Assassins, Thugs, Templars, the Vehm and Inquisition, mystics, Rosicrucians, Illuminati, Freemasons, Skopzi, Camorristi, Carbonari, nihilists, and other sects. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1-56459-296-0. 
• Whalen, William Joseph (1966). Handbook of secret organizations. Milwaukee: Bruce Pub. Co.. LCCN 66-026658. 
• Axelrod, Alan (1997). The international encyclopedia of secret societies and fraternal orders. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 0-8160-2307-7. 
• Roberts, J. M. (John Morris) (1972). The mythology of the secret societies. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0-684-12904-3. 
• Robbins, Alexandra (2004). Pledged: the secret life of sororities. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-8859-8. 

Notes

External links

• Secret Societies: a very short history — Documents and illustrations of Freemasons, Jesuits, Illuminati, Carbonari, Burschenschaften and other putative secret societies and clandestine organizations

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