Secret society

A secret society is a social organization that requires its members to conceal certain activities—such as rites of initiation or club ceremonies—from outsiders. Members may be required to conceal or deny their membership, and are often sworn to hold the society's secrets by an oath. The term "secret society" is often used to describe fraternal organizations (e.g. Freemasonry) that may have secret ceremonies, but is also commonly applied to organizations ranging from the common and innocuous (collegiate fraternities) to mythical organizations described in conspiracy theories as immensely powerful, with self-serving financial or political agendas, global reach, and often satanic beliefs.

List of secret societies

Business, international or non-governmental organizations

While not self-styled as secret societies, these groups are often discussed in that context.

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• Bilderberg Group
• Club of Rome
• Council on Foreign Relations
• Round table groups
• Royal Institute of International Affairs (also known as Chatham House)
• Trilateral Commission

Student societies

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• ANGRA at City University, London
• ANAK at the Georgia Institute of Technology
• Basiliaz at Northwestern University
• Berzelius (1848) at Yale University
• Bishop James Madison Society (1812) at the College of William and Mary
• Book and Snake (1863) at Yale University
• Brotherhood of the Golden Dagger (1895) at Rutgers University, inactive as of 1948
• Bullingdon Club at the University of Oxford
• Cambridge Apostles (1820) at the University of Cambridge
• Coffin and Keys at University of Nevada, Reno
• The Conscience at Oxford College of Emory University
• Episkopon at the University of Trinity College
• DERU at Northwestern University
• Elihu at Yale University
• The Eyes of Texas at the University of Texas
• Flat Hat Club (1750) at the College of William and Mary
• German Club at Virginia Tech
• Gridiron Secret Society at University of Georgia
• IMP Society (1902) at University of Virginia
• Kappa Alpha Society
• Knights of Old Trusty at University of Oklahoma
• L.O.S.A.B. at the University of St Andrews
• Macellarius at the Northwestern University School of Law
• Michigamua (1902) at the University of Michigan
• Mountain at West Virginia University
• The NoZe Brotherhood (1924) at Baylor University
• Old Trinity Club at Duke University
• Order of the Bull's Blood (1834) at Rutgers University
• Order of Gimghoul (1889) at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Secret Society of the Seven at East Carolina University
• Order of the Cross and Circle (Crux Orbis) at Georgetown University
• Order of the Golden Bear at the University of California, Berkeley
• Order of the Greek Horsemen (1955) at University of Georgia
• Order of the Hippo at The George Washington University
• Order of the Monkey Picked Oolong at University of Chicago
• Owl Society at the University of Pennsylvania
• Phi Beta Kappa (1776) at the College of William and Mary, began as a secret society, but eliminated secrecy in 1831 and is now national
• Phoenix at the University of Michigan
• Prophets of Providence at Culver Military Academy
• Quill and Dagger (1893) at Cornell University
• Saint Anthony Hall (1850) at Trinity University, with active chapters at Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Columbia, and a small number of other colleges in the East.
• Scarabbean Senior Society (1915) at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville
• Scroll and Key (1842) at Yale University
• Seven Society at the University of Virginia
• Shifters (1932) at Wittenberg University
• Skull and Bones (1832) at Yale University
• Society of the Pacifica House (1823) at Brown University
• Sons of Liberty (1775) at the University of Virginia
• Sphinx Head Society (1890) at Cornell University
• Stewards at Georgetown University
• St. George Society at the University of Toronto
• Sword and Sandals at the University of California, Davis
• Sword and Serpent (1870) at Rutgers University
• Tabard at the University of Pennsylvania
• Theos at the University of Pennsylvania
• The Machine (1914) at the University of Alabama
• The Q Society at Rutgers University
• The Vitruvian Society at the University of Hartford
• T.U.B. (2000) at Phillips Academy
• Vulcans at the University of Michigan
• Wizards at Wittenberg University
• Wolf's Head (1883) at Yale University
• Z Society (1892) at University of Virginia
• Cadaver Society at Washington and Lee University

Fraternal organizations

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• AMORC (Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis)
• Confraternity of the Rose Cross
• Enigmatical Fraternity of Van Diemen
• Freemasonry (also known as Free & Accepted Masons)
• FUDOFSI
• FUDOSI
• Knights of Columbus
• National Society of Pershing Rifles
• Order Militia Crucifera Evangelica
• Order of DeMolay
• Order of the Eastern Star
• Order of the Solar Temple
• Ordo Templi Orientis
• Perfect Masons
• Rosicrucians

Criminal organizations

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• Bloods
• Camorra
• Crips
• Mafia (also known as La Cosa Nostra)
• Thuggee
• Tong
• Triad
• Yakuza

Historical secret societies

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• Illuminati
• Know-Nothings
• Ku Klux Klan (exists at present with very small membership)
• Society of the Elect
• SPK
• Wide Awakes

Revolutionary or underground organizations

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• Carbonari
• Fenian Brotherhood
• Germanenorden
• Katipunan
• Mau Mau
• Muslim Brotherhood
• Narodnik
• Society of Harmonious Fists
• Vihan Veljet
• Walhalla-orden

Alleged secret societies

(Either existence, or secret society status, is subject to significant doubt)

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• Hiconlabs
• The Elders of Zion
• Majestic 12
• Order of the Arrow
• Perfectus imperium
• Priory of Sion
• Vril Society

In works of fiction and popular culture

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• Aes Sedai Ajahs in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, particularly the Black Ajah
• Akatsuki, in popular anime, Naruto, consisting of 9 very skilled ninjas.
• Angelic Society
• The Bookhouse Boys in Twin Peaks
• Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
• Cabal, in the works of Robert A. Heinlein
• Central Anarchist Council in G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday
• Committee to Unelect the Patrician in the Discworld series
• Dark Angel's second season had a secret society plotline.
• Darkfriends, in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time
• Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night (Discworld)
• Freemasonry in National Treasure
• House of Flying Daggers (in the movie of the same name)
• The Illuminati in Illuminatus!, ', and Dan Brown's Angels and Demons
• Kom'Roya
• Knights of the Eastern Calculus in the anime series Serial Experiments Lain
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
• Les Soldats in the anime series Noir
• Millennium Group in the television show Millennium
• Order of the Phoenix, the Death Eaters and Dumbledore's Army in the fictional Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
• The Order of St. Dumas, in DC Comics' Batman series
• The Patriots and The Philosophers in the Metal Gear video game series
• Pentaverate, in the Mike Myers film So I Married an Axe Murderer, a character speaks of this secret organization, consisting of "the Queen, the Vatican, the Gettys, the Rothschilds and Colonel Sanders," which controls everything in the world, including the newspapers, and meets triannually at a secret location in Colorado called The Meadows.
• The Puffs in the television show Gilmore Girls
• Rimlæth in Insurrection
• The Sabbat in the World of Darkness, also known as the Black Hand, a hidden cabal of Vampires who desire to reduce humanity to the status of cattle.
• Sapientes Gladio, in
• Second Foundation, in The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov
• Seele (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
• The Seventh Sons, a mysterious organisation that was believed to manipulate events to kill its enemies and cover up the truth at a mental hospital. Part of the Urban Hunt Alternate Reality Game.
• Sisters of the Dark in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind
• The Sith in the Star Wars film series.
• The Skulls in The Skulls.
• S.P.E.C.T.R.E., in the works of Ian Fleming
• TRES, in the Foucault's Pendulum (book) by Umberto Eco
• The Stonecutters, from The Simpsons
• The Talamasca, in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles
• Tribulation Force, founded by a group of post-Rapture believers in Christ in Left Behind
• The Tritons in the television show Veronica Mars
• The Trust, in the Vertigo/DC comics series 100 Bullets
• The Vigils in The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier