A secret society is a club or an organization whose 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 An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informatio ...

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 A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

. 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 Alan Axelrod (born 1952) is a prolific author of history, business and management books. As of October 2018, he had written more than 150 books. Axelrod resides in Atlanta, Georgia. Axelrod received his doctorate in English from the University o ...

, 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 Richard Brian Spence (b. ''ca.'' 1951)"Spence, Richard B. 1951-."
''

of the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The Universit ...

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 "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

), religious groups ( Order of Assassins and

Thelema Thelema () is a Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial magician. The word ' ...

) and political movements (

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

s and

Black Dragon Society The , or the Amur River Society, was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist group in Japan. History The ''Kokuryūkai'' was founded in 1901 by martial artist Uchida Ryohei as a successor to his mentor Mitsuru Tōyama's '' Gen'yōsha''. I ...

). David V. Barrett, author of ''Secret Societies: From the Ancient and Arcane to the Modern and Clandestine'', has used alternative terms to define what qualifies a secret society. He defined 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 is usually not part of the American college fraternities, the

Carbonari The Carbonari () was an informal network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay and Ru ...

, or the 19th-century Know Nothings. Historian Jasper Ridley argues that

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

is, "the world's most powerful secret Society." The organisation " Opus Dei" (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "Work of God") is portrayed as a "secret society" of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Critics such as the Jesuit Wladimir Ledóchowski sometimes refer to Opus Dei as a Catholic (or Christian or "white") form of

. 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 The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...

as well as the direct involvement of members in severe crimes such as baby-trafficking in Spain under the

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...

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 Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. The influence of undergraduate secret societies at colleges such as

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

, the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, and Wellesley College has been publicly acknowledged, if anonymously and circumspectly, since the 19th century. British Universities, too, have a long history of secret societies or quasi-secret societies, such as The Pitt Club at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

, Bullingdon Club at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, and the 16' Club at St David's College. Another British secret society is the

Cambridge Apostles The Cambridge Apostles (also known as ''Conversazione Society'') is an intellectual society at the University of Cambridge founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who became the first Bishop of Gibraltar.W. C. Lubenow, ''The Ca ...

, founded as an essay and debating society in 1820. Not all British Universities host solely academic secret societies, for both

The Night Climbers of Cambridge ''The Night Climbers of Cambridge'' is a book, written under the pseudonym "Whipplesnaith", about nocturnal climbing on the colleges and town buildings of Cambridge, England, in the 1930s. The book remains popular among Cambridge University stud ...

and

The Night Climbers of Oxford The Night Climbers of Oxford is a secret society, dedicated to nocturnally scaling college and town buildings in Oxford, England. The society is noted for its political activism, controversial acts, feats of climbing and parkour, as well as urban ...

require both brains and brawn. In France, Vandermonde is the secret society of the

Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

. Notable examples in Canada include

Episkopon The Episkopon (Greek: ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩΝ, "bishop") is a secret society at Trinity College in the University of Toronto, which has been active since 1858 when its male branch was founded. The 225th reading of its original male branch was held in 2 ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, and the Society of Thoth at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

. Secret societies are disallowed in a few colleges. The

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

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 Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

since the beginning of the 20th century.

Confraternities in Nigeria Confraternities in Nigeria are secretive student groups within Nigerian higher education that have been involved in violence and organized crime since the 1980s. The exact death toll of confraternity activities is unclear. One estimate in 2002 w ...

are secret-society like student groups within higher education. The exact death toll of confraternity activities is unclear. One estimate in 2002 was that 250 people had been killed in campus cult-related murders in the previous decade,"NIGERIA: Focus on the menace of student cults"
'' IRIN'', 1 August 2002 while the Exam Ethics Project lobby group estimated that 115 students and teachers had been killed between 1993 and 2003."Cults of violence"
''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'', 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 Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) is a tri-service military Academy that provides military and academic education for junior officers of the Australian Defence Force in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and Royal Aus ...

. 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 The Philomaths, or Philomath Society ( pl, Filomaci or ''Towarzystwo Filomatów''; from the Greek φιλομαθεῖς "lovers of knowledge"), was a secret student organization that existed from 1817 to 1823 at the Imperial University of Vilniu ...

, which is nowadays 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 the secret society known as

Cicada 3301 Cicada 3301 is a nickname given to three sets of puzzles posted under the name "3301" online between 2012 and 2014. The first puzzle started on January 4, 2012, on 4chan and ran for nearly a month. A second round began one year later on January 4, ...

began recruiting from the public via internet-based puzzles. The goals of the society remain unknown, but it is believed that they are involved in

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

By location

Asia

;China * Red Lanterns (Boxer Uprising) * Red Spear Society *

Tiandihui The Tiandihui, the Heaven and Earth Society, also called Hongmen (the Vast Family), is a Chinese fraternal organization and historically a secretive folk religious sect in the vein of the Ming loyalist White Lotus Sect, the Tiandihui's ...

, Society of the Heaven and the Earth *

Tong (organization) A ''tong'' ()Chin, Ko-lin. "Chinatowns and Tongs". ''In Chinese Subculture and Criminality: Non-Traditional Crime Groups in America''. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990 is a type of organization found among Chinese immigrants predominantly living i ...

Yellow Sand Society The Yellow Sand Society (), also known as Yellow Way Society (), and Yellow Gate Society (), was a rural secret society and folk religious sect in northern China during the 19th and 20th century. Inspired by millenarian ideas, the movement la ...

White Lotus The White Lotus () is a syncretic religious and political movement which forecasts the imminent advent of the "King of Light" (), i.e., the future Buddha Maitreya. As White Lotus sects developed, they appealed to many Han Chinese who found sola ...

;Philippines *

La Liga Filipina La Liga Filipina () was a secret organization. It was founded by José Rizal in the house of Doroteo Ongjunco at Ilaya Street, Tondo, Manila on July 3, 1892. The organization derived from La Solidaridad and the Propaganda movement. The purpose ...

* KKK ;Japan *

Double Leaf Society The was a Japanese military secret society of the 1920s. The ''Futabakai'' was one of many ultranationalist secret societies in Japan which had arisen within the Japanese military, from the Meiji period through World War II. The ''Futabakai'' con ...

Gen'yōsha The was an influential Pan-Asianist group and secret society active in the Empire of Japan, and was considered to be an ultranationalist group by General Headquarters in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Foundation as the ...

Green Dragon (order) Green Dragon was a mystical Tibetan or Japanese occult order first mentioned at the beginning of the 20th century. The organization was mainly popularized through the book ''The Morning of the Magicians''. It is claimed that the order collaborate ...

* Kenkokukai *

Sakurakai was an ultranationalist secret society established by young officers within the Imperial Japanese Army in September 1930, with the goal of reorganizing the state along totalitarian militaristic lines, via a military coup d'état if necessary. The ...

;Singapore

Africa

;Nigeria *

Abakuá Abakuá, also sometimes known as Ñañiguismo, is an Afro-Cuban men's initiatory fraternity or secret society, which originated from fraternal associations in the Cross River region of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon. Abakuá ...

Ekpe Ekpe, also known as Mgbe/Egbo (Ekoi language: ''leopard''; derived from the Ibibio term for the same), is a West African secret society in Nigeria and Cameroon flourishing chiefly among the Efiks. It is also found among a number of other ethn ...

* Nze na Ozo *

Ogboni Ogboni (also known as Osugbo in Ijèbú) is a fraternal institution indigenous to the Yoruba-speaking polities of Nigeria, Republic of Bénin and Togo, as well as among the Edo people. The society performs a range of political and religious fun ...

;South Africa *

Afrikaner Broederbond The Afrikaner Broederbond (AB) or simply the Broederbond was an exclusively Afrikaner Calvinist and male secret society in South Africa dedicated to the advancement of the Afrikaner people. It was founded by H. J. Klopper, H. W. van der Merwe, ...

;West African * Crocodile Society *

Leopard Society The Leopard Society (not to be confused with Ekpe), was a secret society that originated in Sierra Leone. Beatty, p.3 It was believed that members of the society could transform into leopards through the use of witchcraft. The earliest referenc ...

Poro The Poro, or Purrah or Purroh, is a men's secret society in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast, introduced by the Mane people. It is sometimes referred to as a hunting society and only males are admitted to its ranks. The femal ...

, a secret men's society *

Sande society Sande, also known as zadεgi, bundu, bundo and bondo, is a women's initiation society in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast. The Sande society initiates girls into adulthood by rituals including female genital mutilation. It is ...

, the female counterpart to the Poro society *

Simo (society) The Simo society is a secret society in West Africa (esp. Ghana, Mali, Sierra Leone) also described as a "masked cult". It hails, according to a UNESCO report, from among either the Temne people or the Baga people at the time of the Mali Empire. Th ...

;Zimbabwe *

Nyau Nyau (also: ''Nyao'' meaning ''mask'' or ''initiation'') is a secret society of the Chewa, an ethnic group of the Bantu peoples from Central and Southern Africa. The Nyau society consists of initiated members of the Chewa and Nyanja people, form ...

Europe

;Germany *

Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...

* Order of the New Templars *

Ordo Templi Orientis Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; ) is an occult initiatory organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of the O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner, Heinrich Klein, Franz Hartmann and T ...

;Ireland *

Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...

* The Defenders ;Italy * Propaganda Due ;Serbia *

Black Hand Black Hand or The Black Hand may refer to: Extortionists and underground groups * Black Hand (anarchism) (''La Mano Negra''), a presumed secret, anarchist organization based in the Andalusian region of Spain during the early 1880s * Black Hand (e ...

;United Kingdom * Bullingdon Club *

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ( la, Ordo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th ...

The 16' Club The 16' Club, commonly referred to as The Sixteens, the College Sixteen or simply 16, is a private dining club for male members of St David's College, Trinity Saint David. It is the only remaining undergraduate dining club at the university ...

* 5 Hertford Street ;Pan-European * Ancient Order of Freesmiths (''Freischmiede'') *

* Rosicrucianism

North America

Collegiate secret societies in North America There are many collegiate secret societies in North America. They vary greatly in their level of secrecy and the degree of independence from their universities. A collegiate ''secret society'' makes significant effort to keep affairs, membership r ...

;United States * Bohemian Club *

Knights of the Golden Circle The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society founded in 1854 by American George W. L. Bickley, the objective of which was to create a new country, known as the Golden Circle ( es, Círculo Dorado), where slavery would be legal. T ...

Order of the Star Spangled Banner The Order of the Star Spangled Banner (OSSB) was an oath-bound secret society in New York City. It was created in 1849 by Charles B. Allen to protest the rise of Irish, Catholic, and German immigration into the United States. To join the Or ...

South America

;Brazil * Shindo Renmei

Opposition

Many Christian Churches forbid their members from joining secret societies. For example, ¶41 of the General Rules contained in ''Discipline'' of the

Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (AWMC), originally the Wesleyan Methodist Church (Allegheny Conference), and also known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church (WMC), is a Methodist denomination within the conservative holiness movement prim ...

teaches:

References

External links

Secret Societies: a very short history
– Documents of Freemasons,

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

, Burschenschaften and other organizations * Stevens
The cyclopædia of fraternities (2nd ed.)
A dated review of the subject.
Secret Societies in Australia and English Freemasonry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Secret Society