Genuine secret societies have been around for ages, hatching their plans in dim back rooms and often casting a mysterious shadow over our culture. Throughout history, there’ve been loads of these groups and wild conspiracy theories about them.
From political outfits to college fraternities, they make members keep their activities, and sometimes their identities, under wraps from the public. Let’s peek behind closed doors and look at the 10 most elite secret societies ever.
- Ordo Templi Orientis
Ordo Templi Orientis is a mystical bunch that kicked off in the early 1900s. It was modeled somewhat after the less hush-hush Freemasons and supposedly leans on rituals and the occult for members to climb the prestige ladder. Their general idea was to embrace new age esoteric stuff to find one’s true self. The famed oddball Aleister Crowley penned much of their lore, like the Mysteria Mystica Maxima manifesto, and later led the group. After he died, its clout and popularity fizzled, but it still exists, with chapters scattered, mostly in the US, UK, and Europe. As Crowley’s new age fame grew, more of the group’s teachings came to light. Nowadays, it’s not as secretive as before, though it still has some wacky practices. One of the weirdest is its fixation on sex, like teachings on “phallus adoration” and masturbation magic.