Editing Secret society

{{Short description|Organization hiding details from non-members}}
{{Other uses|Secret society (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
[[File:Secret Society Buildings New Haven.jpg|thumb|300px|"Secret Society Buildings at [[Yale University|Yale College]]" 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.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Daraul|first=Arkon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aEdvCwAAQBAJ|title=A History Of Secret Societies|date=6 November 2015|publisher=Pickle Partners Publishing|isbn=978-1-78625-613-3|language=en}}</ref> 

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|upright=1.4|thumb|The [[Brethren of Purity]] were a secret society<ref name=":2" /> of [[Muslims|Muslim]] [[Philosophy|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.

[[Anthropology|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; [[Arnold van Gennep|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.<ref>Stevens (1899), p. vii.</ref>

[[Alan Axelrod]], author of the ''International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders'',<ref>Checkmark Books (1998), {{ISBN|0816038716}}</ref> 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]]<ref>Spence, Richard B. ''The Real History of Secret Societies'' (2019), [[The Great Courses]]</ref> 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 (human categorization)|race]], [[sex]], [[religious affiliation]], or [[Invitation system|invitation]] only.
Spence also proposes a sub-category of "[[Elite]] Secret Societies" (composed of high-income or socially [[Social influence|influential]] people) and notes that secret societies have a frequent if not universal tendency towards factionalism, [[Intragroup conflict|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 ([[Sicilian Mafia|the Mafia]]), religious groups ([[Order of Assassins]] and [[Thelema]]) and political movements ([[Bolshevik]]s and [[Black Dragon Society]]).

Historian [[Jasper Ridley (historian)|Jasper Ridley]] says that [[Freemasonry]] is "the world's most powerful secret Society".<ref>{{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).</ref>

The organization "[[Opus Dei]]" ([[Ecclesiastical Latin|Latin]] for "Work of God") is portrayed as a "secret society"<ref>{{Cite book|last=Walsh|first=Michael|title=OPUS DEI: An Investigation into the Secret Society Struggling for Power within the Roman Catholic Church}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Secret Society: Opus Dei - Catholicism's Secret Sect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Their Kingdom Come: Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei}}</ref> of the [[Catholic Church]]. Critics such as the [[Jesuits|Jesuit]] [[Wlodimir Ledóchowski|Wladimir Ledóchowski]] sometimes refer to Opus Dei as a Catholic (or [[Christians|Christian]] or "[[White race|white]]") form of [[Freemasonry]].<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Preston, Paul|title=The triumph of democracy in Spain|date=1986|publisher=Methuen|isbn=9780416900101|location=London|pages=28|oclc=14586560}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Harding, Nick|title=Secret societies|date=2005|publisher=Chartwell Books, Inc|isbn=9780785821700|location=Edison, N.J.|pages=107|oclc=78244509}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> Other critics label Opus Dei as "Holy Mafia"<ref name="Pilapil 1971 211–221">{{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}}</ref> or "Santa Mafia"<ref>{{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=16 June 2021|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}}</ref>

The [[National Christian Association]] (1868–1983) is an example of an organization opposed to secret societies.<ref name="Fuerbringer1927">{{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}}</ref>

== Realms ==

===Politics===
Because some secret societies have [[Politics|political]] aims, they are illegal in several countries. [[Italy]] ([[Constitution of Italy#Civil Relations .28Articles 13-28.29|Constitution of Italy, Section 2, Articles 13–28]]) and [[Poland]],<ref>{{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}}</ref> for example, ban secret political parties and [[Political organisation|political organizations]] in their [[Constitution of Poland|constitutions]].

===Colleges and universities===
{{See also|Collegiate secret societies in North America}}
Many [[collegiate secret societies|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]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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]],<ref>{{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 }}</ref> the [[University of Virginia]], [[Georgetown University]], [[New York University]],<ref>{{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 }}</ref> and [[Wellesley College]] has been publicly acknowledged, if [[Anonymity|anonymously]] and circumspectly, since the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1885/11/5/secret-societies-notable-among-the-features/|title=Secret Societies. &#124; News &#124; 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}}</ref><ref>{{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 }}</ref>

[[British universities]] have a long history of secret societies or quasi-secret clubs, such as [[Pitt Club|The Pitt Club]] at [[Cambridge University]],<ref name="varsity">{{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 }}</ref><ref name="bully"/> [[Bullingdon Club]] at [[Oxford University]],<ref name="bully">{{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 }}</ref> the [[Kate Kennedy Club]], [[The Kensington Club]] and the [[Praetorian Club]] at the [[University of St Andrews]], and the [[The 16' Club|16' Club]] at [[University of Wales, Trinity Saint David|St David's College]].<ref>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}})</ref> 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]].<ref>{{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 }}</ref>

Notable examples in [[Canada]] include [[Episkopon]] at the [[University of Toronto]]'s [[University of Trinity College|Trinity College]] and the [[The Society of Thoth|Society of Thoth]] at the [[University of British Columbia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Episkopon Policy |url=https://www.trinity.utoronto.ca/engage/policies/episkopon-policy/ |access-date=17 March 2025 |website=Trinity College |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ramsay |first=Bailey |date=2 May 2017 |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=17 March 2025 |website=The Ubyssey |language=en}}</ref>

Secret societies are disallowed in a few colleges. The [[Virginia Military Institute]] has rules that no [[cadet]] may join a secret society,<ref>{{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 }}</ref> and secret societies have been banned at [[Oberlin College]] from 1847<ref>{{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.'"</ref> to the present,<ref>{{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."</ref> 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,<ref name=irin>[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 }}, ''[[The New Humanitarian|IRIN]]'', 1 August 2002</ref> while the Exam Ethics Project lobby group estimated that 115 students and teachers had been killed between 1993 and 2003.<ref name=cults>[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</ref>

The Mandatory Monday Association is thought to operate out of a variety of [[Australia|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

The only secret society abolished and then legalized is that of The [[Philomaths]],<ref>Arthur Morius Francis. ''Secret Societies''. Vol. 3: The Collegiate Secret Societies of America. 2015 (file pdf).</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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 }}</ref> The goals of the society remain unknown, but it is believed to be involved in [[cryptography]].<ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref name=metro>{{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 }}</ref>

==Around the world==

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

===Africa===

==== Cameroon ====
* [[Ekpe]]

==== Ghana ====
* [[Simo (society)|Simo]]

==== Guinea ====
* [[Poro]]
* [[Sande society]]

==== Ivory Coast ====
* [[Poro]]
* [[Sande society]]

==== Liberia ====
* [[Crocodile Society]]
* [[Poro]]
* [[Sande society]]

==== Mali ====
* [[Simo (society)|Simo]]

==== Nigeria ====
* [[Ekpe]]
* [[Nze na Ozo]]
* [[Ogboni]]
* [[Confraternities in Nigeria]]

==== Sierra Leone ====
* [[Crocodile Society]]
* [[Leopard Society]]
* [[Poro]]
* [[Sande society]]
* [[Simo (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 sentiment]]s 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 [[China|People's Republic of China]] during the 1950s.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> Examples of Chinese secret societies include:

* [[Boxer movement|Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists]]
* [[Hai San Secret Society]]
* [[Red Lanterns (Boxer Uprising)|Red Lanterns]] 
* [[Red Spear Society]]
* [[Tiandihui]], Society of the Heaven and the Earth
* [[Yellow Sand Society]]
* [[White Lotus Societies|White Lotus]]
* [[Heavenly Kingdom of Everlasting Satisfaction]]

==== India ====
[[File:Thugs Strangling Traveller.jpg|thumb|210px|A group of [[Thuggee]]s strangling a traveller on a highway in India in the early 19th century.]]
Secret societies in [[India]] include:

* [[Paramahansa Mandali]]
* [[Abhinav Bharat Society|Abhinav Bharti]]

==== Japan ====
Secret societies in [[Japan]] include:
* [[Black Dragon Society]]
* [[Double Leaf Society]]
* [[Gen'yōsha]]
* [[Green Dragon (order)|Green Dragon]] 
* [[Sakurakai]]

==== Malaysia ====
Secret societies in [[Malaysia]] include:

* [[Ang Soon Tong]]
* [[Ghee Hin Kongsi]]
* [[Wah Kee]]

==== Philippines ====
Secret societies in the [[Philippines]] include:
* [[La Liga Filipina]]
* [[Katipunan]]

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

* [[Ang Soon Tong]]
* [[Ghee Hin Kongsi]]
* [[Salakau]]
* [[Wah Kee]]
* [[Freemasonary]]

=== Australia ===
Secret societies in Australia include:

* [[Freemasonry]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Mateship & Fraternal Secret Societies in Australia |url=https://www.fraternalsecrets.org/ |access-date=8 February 2023 |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 }}</ref>
* [[Odd Fellows]]<ref name=":0" />
* [[Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes]]<ref name=":0" />
* [[Tong (organization)|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]]
* [[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]]
* [[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]]
* [[Schnez-Truppe]]
* [[Thule Society]]
* [[Tugendbund]]
* [[United Ancient Order of Druids]]

==== Greece ====

* [[Epsilon Team]]
* [[Ethniki Etaireia]]
* [[Ordo Templi Orientis]]

==== Ireland ====
* [[Defenders (Ireland)|Defenders]]
* [[Hellfire Club]]
* [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]]
* [[Molly Maguires]]
* [[Royal Arch Purple]]
* [[Whiteboys]]

==== Italy ====

* [[Carbonari]]
* [[Fascio Operaio]]
* [[Knights of the Apocalypse]]
* [[Propaganda Due]]
• [[Sicilian Mafia]]

==== 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 (Serbia)|Black Hand]]
* [[Main Board for Serb Liberation]]
* [[Ordo Templi Orientis]]
* [[Serbian secret organization in eastern Bosnia (1849–1855)|Serbian secret organization in eastern Bosnia]]
* [[White Hand (Serbia)|White Hand]]

==== Spain ====

* [[The Disinherited (group)|The Disinherited]]
* [[Mano Negra affair|Mano Negra (Black Hand)]]
* [[Ordo Templi Orientis]]
* [[Society of the Exterminating Angel]]
* [[Spanish Military Union]]

==== United Kingdom ====
* [[A∴A∴]]
* [[Bullingdon Club]]
* [[Calves' Head Club]]
* [[Cambridge Apostles]]
* [[Confederacy (British political group)|Confederacy]] 
* [[Gormogons]]
* [[5 Hertford Street]]
* [[Hellfire Club]]
* [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]]
* [[The Horseman's Word]]
* [[Molly Maguires]]
* [[National Action (UK)|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 (organization)|Tong]] 
* [[United Ancient Order of Druids]]

=== North America ===
{{Main|Collegiate secret societies in North America|}}

==== Canada ====
Secret societies in Canada that are non-collegiate include:

* [[Fenian]]s 
* [[Freemasonry in the United States|Freemasonry]] 
* [[Hunters' Lodges]]
* [[Independent Order of Odd Fellows]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Secret Societies in Canada {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/secret-societies |access-date=8 February 2023 |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 }}</ref>
* [[Ku Klux Klan]]<ref name=":1" />
* [[Order of the Solar Temple]]
* {{Interlanguage link|Ordre de Jacques-Cartier|fr|Ordre de Jacques-Cartier}}<ref name=":1" />
* [[Ordo Templi Orientis]]
* [[P.E.O. Sisterhood]]
* [[Tong (organization)|Tong]]

==== Cuba ====

* [[Abakuá]]

==== United States ====
Secret societies in the United States that are non-collegiate include:
* [[Abakuá]]
* [[American Protestant Association]]
* [[Brotherhood of American Yeomen]]
* [[Fenian]]s
* [[Freemasonry in the United States|Freemasonry]]
* [[Hunters' Lodges]]
* [[History of the Knights of Columbus|Knights of Columbus]]
* [[Knights of the Golden Circle]]
* [[Knights of Liberty (vigilante group)|Knights of Liberty]]
* [[Knights of Reciprocity]]
* [[Ku Klux Klan]]
* [[Molly Maguires]]
* [[Odd Fellows]]
* [[Order of the Star Spangled Banner]]
* [[D. Graham Burnett#The Order of the Third Bird|The Order of the Third Bird]]
* [[Tong (organization)|Tong]]

==== Mexico ====
* [[Feminine Brigades of St. Joan of Arc]]
* [[El Yunque (organization)]]

=== South America ===

==== Brazil ====
* [[Shindo Renmei]]
* [[Hy-Bráz Society]]<ref>https://openlibrary.org/works/OL42893769W/A_Sociedade_Hy-Br%C3%A1z_e_o_Glorioso_Passado_do_Brazil?edition=key%3A/books/OL58441576M</ref><ref>https://medium.com/@Gsantos-FRENASPAN/sociedade-hy-br%C3%A1z-3c1a423be44d</ref>

==Opposition==
{{See also|Anti-Masonry}}
The [[Catholic Church]] strongly opposed secret societies, especially [[Freemasonry|the Freemasons]]. It did relent somewhat [[Catholic Church in the United States|in the United States]] and allowed membership in [[Labor unions in the United States|labour unions]] and the [[History of the Knights of Columbus|Knights of Columbus]], but not the Masons.<ref>Christopher J. Kauffman, ''Faith and Fraternalism: The History of the Knights of Columbus, 1882–1982'' (1982)  p. 8.</ref><ref>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.</ref> Some [[Christian denomination]]s continue to forbid their members from joining secret societies in the 21st century, such as the [[Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection]] and [[Seventh-day Adventist Church|Seventh-day Adventists]].<ref name="AWMC2014">{{cite book|title=The Discipline of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (Original Allegheny Conference)|year=2014|publisher=[[Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection]]|location=[[Salem, Ohio|Salem]]|language=en|pages=20–21}}</ref><ref>Ellen G. White, ''"Selected Messages Book 2"'', Chapter 13. (1958)</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Collegiate secret societies in North America]]
* [[Cult]]
* [[High school secret societies]]
* [[Magical organization]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book
 | last = Axelrod
 | first = Alan
 | year = 1997
 | title = The International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders
 | publisher = Facts on File
 | location = New York
 | isbn = 0816023077
 | url = https://archive.org/details/internationalenc00axel
 }}
* Dickie, John. ''The Craft: How the Freemasons Made the Modern World'' (PublicAffairs, 2020). [https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Freemasons-Made-Modern-World/dp/161039867X/ excerpt]; scholarly history.
* Dumenil, Lynn. ''Freemasonry and American Culture: 1880-1930'' (Princeton UP, 1984), major scholarly survey. [https://www.amazon.com/Freemasonry-American-Culture-1880-1930-Princeton/dp/0691612269/ excerpt]
* Gist, Noel P. ''Secret Societies: A Cultural Study of Fraternalism in the United States'' (1941)
* Harwood, W. S. (May 1897). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25118819 "Secret Societies in America."] ''[[The North American Review]]'', vol. 164, no. 486. {{JSTOR|25118819}}.
* {{Cite book |last=Heckethorn |first=Charles William |year=1886 |title=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 |publisher=Forgotten Books |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wfyoQW1haRAC&q=Secret}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jacob |first=Frank |year=2012 |title=Geheimgesellschaften: Kulturhistorische Sozialstudien: Secret Societies: Comparative Studies in Culture, Society and History |publisher=Königshausen & Neumann |location=Würzburg |isbn=978-3826049088}}
* Klimczuk, Stephen, and [[Gerald Warner]] (2009). ''[[Secret Places, Hidden Sanctuaries|Secret Places, Hidden Sanctuaries: Uncovering Mysterious Sights, Symbols, and Societies]]''. New York: [[Sterling Publishing Company]].
* {{cite book | title= Secret Societies | author= Kloosterman, Jaap| publisher=[[Leibniz Institute of European History]] (IEG) | year=2013| url= http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0159-2013061019 }}
* 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) [https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Societies-Reconsidered-Perspectives-Southeast/dp/1563241986/ excerpt]
* {{cite book|author=Ridley, Jasper |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}}
* {{Cite book
 | last = Roberts
 | first = J. M. (John Morris)
 | year = 1972
 | title = The Mythology of the Secret Societies
 | publisher = Scribner
 | location = New York
 | isbn = 0-684-12904-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Robbins |first=Alexandra |year=2004 |title=Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities |publisher=Hyperion |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/pledgedsecretlif00robb |url-access=registration |isbn=0-7868-8859-8}}
* Simmel, Georg. "The Sociology of Secrecy and of Secret Societies" '' The American Journal of Sociology'' (1906)  11#4 pp.&nbsp;441–498 a famous classic by [[Georg Simmel]],  [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2762562 online]
* {{Cite book |last=Stevens |first= Albert Clark |year=1899 |title=The Cyclopædia of Fraternities |publisher=Hamilton Printing & Publishing Company |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/cyclopaediaoffra00stev}}
* {{Cite book
 | last = Whalen
 | first = William Joseph
 | year = 1966
 | title = Handbook of Secret Organizations
 | publisher = Bruce Pub. Co
 | location = Milwaukee
 | lccn = 66026658
}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary}}
{{commons category|Secret societies}}
* [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.

{{Fraternities and sororities}}
{{Odd Fellows}}
{{Conspiracy theories}}
{{Phaleristics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Secret societies| ]]
[[Category:Clandestine groups]]
[[Category:Clubs and societies]]
[[Category:Conspiracies]]