I’m especially thinking of stuff in the collegiate system, like the Skulls, but maybe others. I’ve always heard rumors about secret societies that make new members f\*\*\* a pig’s head but that may be a British/Oxford thing (and maybe just a frat thing in the US).
So yeah, what are the secret clubs and societies that are actually real in the US?
And yes, I guess the ones we know about are not that secret after all.
18 comments
I could tell you, I would have to kill you.
It’s only real if you believe in it
There’s a secret society of people that frequent this sub, but you have to be invited and you can’t talk about it outside of the group.
No secret clubs. They don’t exist. Stop asking questions…
Okay, I love this topic, and will have to restrain myself from going long.
I will recommend (if you can get your hands on it) *The International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders* by Alan Axelrod, which covers… everything, basically- including British groups like Victorian drinking clubs, Gentlemen’s Clubs (*not in the US sense!* 🙂 ) and so on. (SFAIK, the pigs-head thing is a British thing, up until it came up in the wake of that *Black Mirror* episode, I never heard of it.)
What he doesn’t do is conspiracy theory- that is, he covers the history of the Masons and discusses Adam Weishaupt’s 1700s Bavarian Illuminati, but doesn’t go into the idea that the Freemasons run everything or anything resembling the modern meme-idea of the Illuminati.
He also breaks things down into “secret societies” (societies that *are* secrets, like- in the old days at least- the Mafia or Klanlike organizations in different parts of the country. Or the Underground Railroad, for that matter.) and “societies *with* secrets” (like, [the Shriners]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shriners](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shriners)) have rituals and proprietary handshakes and stuff, but it’s not a secret that they exist. They ride around on go-karts with fezzes on in parades, how secret could they be? 🙂 )
There are exceptions (like Yale’s secretive [Skull and Bones]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_and_Bones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_and_Bones)) ) but most [fraternities and sororities]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Student_societies_in_the_United_States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Student_societies_in_the_United_States)) are in the latter category. Everyone knows they’re there, but they’re not themselves secrets. If you’re really interested, one volume of the William Poundstone *Big Secrets* series of books covered what various initiations were as-of the 1980s- some are more impressive than others. Some are just the sort of rank-out contest you’d imagine unsupervised college guys would come up with. (Anti-Hazing work on campuses have forced changes in many of them, since then.)
Some of the ‘secrets’ are actually mundane. (I personally love it when a mystery turns out to be something ‘normal’): for example, one society’s “We take care of our own” and “careful vetting process” was that they were performing the 1800s version of a credit check and signing up members for insurance.
The [American Legion]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legion)’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legion)’s) presence in most non-members’ lives is now that they tend to have nice halls in many towns, suitable for renting for a concert or a wedding.
Another fraternal order ([The Elks]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_and_Protective_Order_of_Elks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_and_Protective_Order_of_Elks))) descended from the “Jolly Corks” (a society of stage performers who would pass the hat for members in need and whose ‘hidden’ nature was that they used the club to circumvent laws about drinking on Sundays.)- they later adopted a charter about fellowship and good works in the community, but are still known for having a well-stocked bar.
Other fellowship groups were organized along ethnic lines (The Hibernians, the LaFayette Club, the Sons of Norway, Copernicus Center, et cetera). Other societies (like the Daughters of the American Revolution) are based on some sort of historical commonality.
The Knights of Columbus were an alternative to Masonic-derived organizations for Catholics (who are forbidden to join Freemasonry, including the Shriners, [under threat of excommunication]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_ban_of_Freemasonry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_ban_of_Freemasonry))).
A lot of the “big name” clubs (like the Freemasons, Elks, Eagles, Lions Club, American Legion, etc) are in a bit of a membership-drought as they just aren’t getting new/younger members. This has been going on for a while, and has been credited to ‘declining social capital’, among other things.
There’s a LOT to talk about (one favorite of mine was the [Veterans of Future Wars]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_of_Future_Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_of_Future_Wars)) , for instance). I would really recommend the book as a starting point.
Okay, I love this topic, and will have to restrain myself from going long.
I will recommend (if you can get your hands on it) *The International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders* by Alan Axelrod, which covers… everything, basically- including British groups like Victorian drinking clubs, Gentlemen’s Clubs (*not in the US sense!* 🙂 ) and so on. (SFAIK, the pigs-head thing is a British thing, up until it came up in the wake of that *Black Mirror* episode, I never heard of it.)
What he doesn’t do is conspiracy theory- that is, he covers the history of the Masons and discusses Adam Weishaupt’s 1700s Bavarian Illuminati, but doesn’t go into the idea that the Freemasons run everything or anything resembling the modern meme-idea of the Illuminati.
He also breaks things down into “secret societies” (societies that *are* secrets, like- in the old days at least- the Mafia or Klanlike organizations in different parts of the country. Or the Underground Railroad, for that matter.) and “societies *with* secrets” (like, [the Shriners]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shriners](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shriners)) have rituals and proprietary handshakes and stuff, but it’s not a secret that they *exist.*)
There are exceptions (like Yale’s secretive [Skull and Bones]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_and_Bones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_and_Bones)) ) but most [fraternities and sororities]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Student_societies_in_the_United_States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Student_societies_in_the_United_States)) are in the latter category. Everyone knows they’re there, but they’re not themselves secrets.
If you’re really interested, one volume of the William Poundstone *Big Secrets* series of books covered what various frat/srat initiations were as-of the 1980s- some are more impressive than others. Some are just the sort of rank-out contest you’d imagine unsupervised college guys would come up with. (Anti-Hazing work on campuses have forced changes in many of them, since then.)
Some of the ‘secrets’ are actually mundane. (I personally love it when a mystery turns out to be something ‘normal’): for example, one society’s “We take care of our own” and “careful vetting process” was that they were performing the 1800s version of a credit check and signing up members for insurance.
The [American Legion]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legion)’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legion)’s) presence in most non-members’ lives is now that they tend to have nice halls in many towns, suitable for renting for a concert or a wedding.
Another fraternal order ([The Elks]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_and_Protective_Order_of_Elks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_and_Protective_Order_of_Elks))) descended from the “Jolly Corks” (a society of stage performers who would pass the hat for members in need and whose ‘hidden’ nature was that they used the club to circumvent laws about drinking on Sundays.)- they later adopted a charter about fellowship and good works in the community, but are still known for having a well-stocked bar.
Other fellowship groups were organized along ethnic lines (The Hibernians, the LaFayette Club, the Sons of Norway, Copernicus Center, et cetera). Other societies (like the Daughters of the American Revolution) are based on some sort of historical commonality.
The Knights of Columbus were an alternative to Masonic-derived organizations for Catholics (who are forbidden to join Freemasonry, including the Shriners, [under threat of excommunication]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_ban_of_Freemasonry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_ban_of_Freemasonry))).
A lot of the “big name” clubs (like the Freemasons, Elks, Eagles, Lions Club, American Legion, etc) are in a bit of a membership-drought as they just aren’t getting new/younger members. This has been going on for a while, and has been credited to ‘declining social capital’, among other things.
There’s a LOT to talk about (one favorite of mine was the [Veterans of Future Wars]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_of_Future_Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_of_Future_Wars)) , for instance). I would really recommend the book as a starting point. And I guess, I just open up to followup questions?
There were secret societies at my undergrad, UVA. Some of them do seem to have significant resources. But they’re pretty much just clubs for people to get drunk and hang out.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Virginia_secret_societies#List_of_societies
Most notably, the 7 society:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Society
We have Harvard club in New York City. My public college has partnership with them so I can become fee paying member.
Nothing that extreme but there are plenty of swinger, nudist and bate (masturbation) clubs that I’m part of.
They aren’t secret per se, but they are hard to find and get into if you don’t know the right people. A lot of it is word of mouth. And if you are weird in such spaces, you get kicked out, removed from mailing list, blocked from socials so you won’t see any upcoming events.
Helps that such things aren’t always cheap so it weeds out a lot of people who have ulterior motives.
So I guess these are secret clubs if anything, but don’t be a dick, have more than just an interest and you’d be invited.
Yale has a bunch of them, Skull and Bones, Kite and Key are examples. I was a grad student there not an undergrad though so I wasn’t involved at all with them. Hazing does exist in frats although I don’t think the pigs head is a common one. In the adult world there are groups like the Masons which are to varying degrees closed to outsiders.
Bohemian Grove is a secret club for some of the most wealthy and powerful men in America, including multiple former and future Presidents. Allegedly the Manhattan Project, the secret program to develop the atomic bombs, was first proposed there.
Once a year they all gather to perform a pagan ritual with undertones of human sacrifice. [It was all caught on video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4JLAeKu5Dk).
I went to college at the University of Alabama and there we have a secret society within the Greek system called The Machine. They determine who wins campus elections and even many of our governors came from that system. It’s wild. Y’all should look it up.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_(social_group)
I’m in two! No, I’m not going to say which ones, but one is large and international and the other is small and local. The former wields no power; the latter wields outsize power, including, historically, access nuclear materials and technology. The arguably most evil thing I’ve ever done I did as a member of the latter group.
If I told you it wouldn’t be secret. That’s like asking “what’s a URL for the Dark Web?”
Freemasons and other large fraternities.
I shouldn’t be admitting this publicly but I am the head of a Library Racketeering Club.
No….not at all I have no idea what you’re taking about…
The Aviary, and the invisible College.