Secret Societies

The tradition of secret societies traces its roots to ancient mystery schools.^{[citation needed]} These societies are often relatively hard to study through public documents, as they often keep their history and internal documents secret, and may pass down knowledge exclusively through oral tradition, both of which are only revealed upon initiatory degrees.^{[citation needed]} These societies have presence in magical circles, the business and financial sector, and militaries, where knighthoods are predominant.¹⁾

Freemasonry, the largest secret society, with 6+ million members worldwide, is a traditional fraternity consisting of initiatory degrees within lodges and broader rites. Most lodges, called “Craft Masonry” or “Blue Lodge Masonry”, are governed by the Grand Lodges, and only administer 3 degrees, while the various adjacent Masonic rites have many additional degrees.²⁾ Though it traces its roots to trade associations, corporations, and guilds, the Knights Templar laid the foundation for modern speculative freemasonry.^{[citation needed]}

Within secret societies are orders commonly referred to as the Illuminati. The philosophy of illuminism is much older than the Bavarian Illuminati, and though the Bavarian Illuminati founded by Adam Weishaupt in 1776 is thought to have discontinued, many historians and scholars confirm that other cells of of this order have been rehashed and reactivated throughout history.^{[citation needed]} Of these cells are the Skull and Bones of Yale, the Bohemian Club in California, the O.T.O./O.T.O.A., etc.^{[citation needed]}