SECRET SOCIETIESResearch

Research Paper

Every English Student must complete a research paper.

The requirements are:3-5 pagesTypedDouble space12 Font –Times New RomanYou must use 3 sources.

Topic

You will be researching a secret society.

This PowerPoint will give you brief insight into several to help you choose.

Skull and Crossbones

The Order of Skull and Bones, a Yale University society, was originally known as the Brotherhood of Death.

It is one of the oldest student secret societies in the United States

Both of the Bush presidents were members of the society while studying at Yale

The society is surrounded by conspiracy theories; the most popular of which is probably the idea that the CIA was built on members from the group.

Freemasons

Masons conduct their regular meetings in a ritualized style.

Masons use signs and handshakes to gain admission to their meetings, as well as to identify themselves to other people who may be Masons.

In order to become a Mason, you must generally be recommended by a current mason

Hundreds of conspiracies surround this group.

Illuminati A movement of freethinkers that were the most

radical offshoot of The Enlightenment While it was not legally allowed to operate,

many influential intellectuals and progressive politicians counted themselves as members.

did not require a belief in a supreme being made them particularly popular amongst atheists.

It has even been suggested that the Skull and Bones club is an American branch of the Illuminati.

Many people believe that the Illuminati is still operating and managing the main actions of the governments of the world.

It is believed that they wish to create a One World Government based on humanist and atheist principles.

Ordos templi Orientis

is based around a single law: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law, love is the law, love under the will”

The OTO currently claims over 3,000 members worldwide.

The ritual is very stylized and uses virgin priestesses, children, and priests. Many

Ancient Egyptian God’s are invoked, as well as the Devil, and at one point the priestess performs a naked ritual.

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

It is considered by many to be a forerunner of modern Occult groups.

The belief system of the Golden Dawn is largely taken from Christian mysticism, Qabalah, Hermeticism, the religion of Ancient Egypt, Freemasonry, Alchemy, Theosophy, Magic, and Renaissance writings.

The society documents are a series of 60 folios containing magic rituals.

Priori of Sion It was a hoax created in 1956 people still continue to believe that the Priory

exists and functions to this day. They think: 1. The Priory of Sion has a long history starting in AD 1099, and

had illustrious Grand Masters including Isaac Newton and Leonardo da Vinci.

2. The order protects certain royal claimants because they believe them to be the literal descendants of Jesus and his alleged wife Mary Magdalene or, at the very least, of king David.

3. The priory seeks the founding of a “Holy European Empire” that would become the next hyperpower and usher in a new world order of peace and prosperity.

Opus Dei

Opus Dei is an organization of the Catholic Church that emphasizes the Catholic belief that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity.

When Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code was published, it claimed that Opus Dei was a secret organization within the Church whose aim was to defeat the Priory of Sion and those who seek to uncover the “truth” about Christianity and the alleged royal bloodline of Christ.

Outside of the book, there has been a great deal of controversy over Opus Dei because of the strictness of its religious structure.

The Catholic Church forbids secret societies and membership in them