Secret Societies: Fact or Fiction?

Secret Societies: Myth or Reality?

Seamlessly woven into the fabric of our society and cloaked in secrecy for centuries, these secret organizations are rumored to include the world’s most powerful leaders among their ranks. Learn more about the cryptic world of secret societies.

KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

The Templar story has been told countless times, and they have been depicted in fiction as both friends and foes. In 2005’s epic Kingdom of Heaven, they are shown as a fierce faction with an anti-Muslim sentiment. Meanwhile the 2004 Disney film National Treasure shows the Knights as the originators of a massive treasure that remains hidden. The 2006 film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code expands on this theme and even connects the Knights to the legend of the Holy Grail.

In reality, these representations only borrow from the truth. Founded in the years after the First Crusade, the Templars were originally charged by the Roman Catholic Church with protecting Christian pilgrims in the 1100s. They were skilled fighters and early bankers, and wore distinctive red crosses on their white robes. However, secrets and rumors led to their downfall in 1307. While the Knights are not a traditional secret society, there are enough myths, legends and lore surrounding the group to keep storytellers interested for centuries to come.

FREEMASONS

Similarly, the Freemasons have a wide-spread reputation that may or may not be based in fact. Like the Knights Templar, the Freemasons play an important role in the storyline of National Treasure as the keepers of the Knights’ famous treasure. However, in the 2001 thriller From Hell, the group is connected to the tale of Jack the Ripper.

While the Masons’ origins are said to be in the late 16th and early 17th century, there is evidence to suggest they existed as early as 1390. Since then, this group has grown to include roughly six million members worldwide, and these members are upstanding citizens who tend to engage in charity work. The Masons have had a number of high-profile members, including President George Washington, actor Clark Gable, magician Harry Houdini and even composer Wolfgang Mozart. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, conspiracy theorists are quick to judge the group, and suspect them of secretly running the world from the shadows.

THE ILLUMINATI

The Illuminati are another misunderstood and misrepresented secret society. The group plays an important and ominous role in the film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. This same trend is seen again in the 2009 adaptation of Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons, where the Illuminati are behind an effort to bring down the Catholic Church.

In reality, it is unclear if the group is as threatening as its reputation. Founded May 1st, 1776, in Germany, the Illuminati was a group of liberal and free-thinking men. It is said that the Illuminati’s main goal was world domination. A less menacing way to describe their supposed purpose is to say they wanted to unite the world under one global government. While the Illuminati is said to have met its end in 1785, some conspiracy theorists believe the group continues to control things behind-the-scenes around the world, and often claim Illuminati ties to the President of the United States.

SKULL & BONES

This is another secret society that was dramatized on film: the 2000 film The Skulls depicts a similar group found at an American university, while the 2006 film The Good Shepherd also uses the group as a plot device. In both films, the group is accurately depicted as a grooming place for the future elite of America.

Skull & Bones is – in reality – found at Yale University in Connecticut, and was formed in 1832. Each year, the group taps 15 students from the junior class to join and become Bonesmen. These people are generally important figures on campus. Initially just men, the society began admitting women in the 1990s. It can count a number of important American figures as former members, including Presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush, Senator John Kerry, actor Paul Giamatti and President William Howard Taft. The group’s members have never been a huge secret, but their activities have been. For example, a popular legend says the group has possessed the stolen skulls of Martin Van Buren, Geronimo and Pancho Villa, though this remains unproven.