Secret Societies

Secret Societies

Author: John Lawrence Reynolds

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2011-09-01

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 161145042X

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Provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world's most notorious secret societies, chronicling their origins, history, initiations, rituals, beliefs, activities, secret signs, members, and influence.


Secret Societies

Secret Societies

Author: Sylvia Browne

Publisher: Hay House, Inc

Published: 2007-09-11

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 140192056X

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The #1 New York Times best-selling author Fresh from the success of her book Secrets & Mysteries of the World, Sylvia Browne now writes about the clandestine world of secret societies. Sylvia's research, combined with her amazing communication with her spirit guide Francine, has uncovered the fact that many secret societies affect the lives of each of us every day...whether it be in the areas of religion, politics, economy, government, crime, or other worldwide influences. She shares her knowledge of the conspiracies, coverups, long-held secrets, misinformation, and power manipulations of secret societies in both the past and present and how they can affect us today and in the future. From the mysterious secrets of the Knights Templar to the powerful secret societies of the modern age, Sylvia takes us on an amazing journey to explore and unearth the truth. She discusses the amazing influence of the Freemasons on our Founding Fathers, the influence of religion on earth-shaking secrets and terrorism, the agenda of powerful secret societies for a "New World Order," and much more. Sylvia explores it all, and even gives us information on a powerful secret society that no one has even heard about. So lock your windows and doors and read about these societies and their secrets...some will really raise the hair on your neck!


The Ancient Nine: Chapter One

The Ancient Nine: Chapter One

Author: Ian K. Smith, M.D.

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2018-05-22

Total Pages: 16

ISBN-13: 125020206X

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"Pulls you into the depths of a secret world from the first page. Ian Smith’s novel is unmissable." —Harlan Coben, author of Missing You Spencer Collins thinks his life at Harvard will be all about basketball and pre-med; hard workouts and grinding work in class. The friends he’s made when he hits the storied ivy-clad campus from a very different life in urban Chicago are a happy bonus. But Spencer is about to be introduced to the most mysterious inner sanctum of the inner sanctum: to his surprise, he’s in the running to be “punched” for one of Harvard’s elite final clubs. The Delphic Club is known as “the Gas” for its crest of three gas-lit flames, and as Spencer is considered for membership, he’s plunged not only into the secret world of male privilege that the Gas represents, but also into a century-old club mystery. Because at the heart of the Delphic, secured deep inside its guarded mansion club, is another secret society: a shadowy group of powerful men known as The Ancient Nine. Who are The Ancient Nine? And why is Spencer—along with his best friend Dalton Winthrop—summoned to the deathbed of Dalton’s uncle just as Spencer is being punched for the club? What does the lore about a missing page from one of Harvard’s most historic books mean? And how does it connect to religion, murder, and to the King James Bible, if not to King James himself? The Ancient Nine is both a coming of age novel and a swiftly plotted story that lets readers into the ultimate of closed worlds with all of its dark historical secrets and unyielding power.


Ritual America

Ritual America

Author: Craig Heimbichner

Publisher: Feral House

Published: 2012-03-06

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 1936239159

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"Adam Parfrey is one of the nation's most provocative publishers."—Seattle Weekly "Secret society historian Craig Heimbichner follows the Middle Path to wisdom. He works the graveyard shift in the secret lodge."—Joan d'Arc, Paranoia magazine Secret societies—now a staple of bestseller novels—are pictured as sinister cults that use hooded albinos to menace truth-seekers. Some conspiracy books claim that fraternal orders are the work of serpentine aliens and interbred humans who wish to supplant earth of its energy, and later, its very existence. On the other side of the aisle, books by high-ranked Freemasons—skeptical in tone but no less partisan in approach—protect their organization's public image by denying the existence of its most contentious ideas. Ritual America reveals the biggest secret of them all: that the influence of fraternal brotherhoods on this country is vast, fundamental, and hidden in plain view. In the early twentieth century, as many as one-third of America belonged to a secret society. And though fezzes and tiny car parades are almost a thing of the past, the Gnostic beliefs of Masonic orders are now so much a part of the American mind that the surrounding pomp and circumstance has become faintly unnecessary. The authors of Ritual America contextualize hundreds of rare and many never-before printed images with entertaining and far-reaching commentary, making an esoteric subject provocative, exciting, and approachable. Adam Parfrey is the author of Cult Rapture: Revelations of the Apocalyptic Mind and It's a Man's World: Men's Adventure Magazines, the Postwar Pulps. He is editor of the influential Apocalypse Culture series Love, Sex, Fear Death: The Inside Story of the Process Church of the Final Judgment. Craig Heimbichner has recently appeared on a National Geographic documentary about the Bohemian Grove, contributed to the Feral House compilation Secret and Suppressed II, and wrote about the famous occult order the O.T.O. in Blood and Altar.


The Secret Society

The Secret Society

Author: Robin Brown

Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa

Published: 2015-11-01

Total Pages: 565

ISBN-13: 1770229213

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Cecil John Rhodes made a fortune from diamonds and gold, became prime minister of the Cape, and had a country named after him, but his ambitions were far greater than that. When he was still in his twenties, after a meeting with General Gordon of Khartoum, Rhodes set up a Secret Society with the aim of establishing a new world order. The society, disciplined on Jesuit-style rules, became Rhodes’s lifelong obsession, and after his death it lived on and grew under the leadership of his executor, Lord Alfred Milner. The society played a key role in the governance of Britain during the Great War and the peace terms to end it, and it was linked to appeasement initiatives involving Hitler, the Duke of Windsor and Mrs Simpson before World War II. Echoes of the Secret Society survive in different guises to this day, including the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) and the Rhodes Scholarships. In The Secret Society, Robin Brown unpacks this astonishing and largely unknown history. He brings Rhodes, his companions and his successors to life by drawing from diaries and letters, and sheds new light on Rhodes’s homosexuality. Ranging from the diamond mines of Kimberley to the halls of power in Westminster, and peopled with characters such as General Gordon, Leander Starr Jameson, W.T. Stead, Olive Schreiner, the Princess Radziwill, Joséph Chamberlain and David Lloyd George, this book is a page-turner that will make you see the world, both past and present, in a different light.


The Black Box Society

The Black Box Society

Author: Frank Pasquale

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2015-01-05

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0674967100

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Every day, corporations are connecting the dots about our personal behavior—silently scrutinizing clues left behind by our work habits and Internet use. The data compiled and portraits created are incredibly detailed, to the point of being invasive. But who connects the dots about what firms are doing with this information? The Black Box Society argues that we all need to be able to do so—and to set limits on how big data affects our lives. Hidden algorithms can make (or ruin) reputations, decide the destiny of entrepreneurs, or even devastate an entire economy. Shrouded in secrecy and complexity, decisions at major Silicon Valley and Wall Street firms were long assumed to be neutral and technical. But leaks, whistleblowers, and legal disputes have shed new light on automated judgment. Self-serving and reckless behavior is surprisingly common, and easy to hide in code protected by legal and real secrecy. Even after billions of dollars of fines have been levied, underfunded regulators may have only scratched the surface of this troubling behavior. Frank Pasquale exposes how powerful interests abuse secrecy for profit and explains ways to rein them in. Demanding transparency is only the first step. An intelligible society would assure that key decisions of its most important firms are fair, nondiscriminatory, and open to criticism. Silicon Valley and Wall Street need to accept as much accountability as they impose on others.


The Secret, Book & Scone Society

The Secret, Book & Scone Society

Author: Ellery Adams

Publisher: Kensington Cozies

Published: 2017-10-31

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1496712390

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First in the mystery series from the New York Times-bestselling author: “Anyone who loves novels that revolve around books will savor this tasty treat.”—Library Journal (starred review) A quirky club in small-town North Carolina holds the keys to health, happiness, friendship—and even solving a murder—all to be found within the pages of the right book… Strangers flock to Miracle Springs hoping the natural hot springs, five-star cuisine, and renowned spa can cure their ills. If none of that works, they often find their way to Miracle Books, where, over a fresh-baked “comfort” scone, they exchange their stories with owner Nora Pennington in return for a carefully chosen book. That’s Nora’s special talent—prescribing the perfect novel to ease a person’s deepest pain. So when a visiting businessman reaches out for guidance, Nora knows exactly how to help. But before he can keep their appointment, he’s found dead on the train tracks. Stunned, Nora forms the Secret, Book, and Scone Society, a group of damaged souls yearning to earn redemption by helping others. To join, members must divulge their darkest secret—the terrible truth that brought each of them to Miracle Springs in the first place. Now, determined to uncover the truth behind the businessman’s demise, the women meet in Nora’s cozy bookstore. And as they untangle a web of corruption, they also discover their own courage, purpose, and a sisterhood that will carry them through every challenge—proving it’s never too late to turn the page and start over… “Adams kicks off a new series featuring strong women, a touch of romance and mysticism, and both the cunning present-day mystery and the slowly revealed secrets of the intriguing heroines’ pasts.”—Kirkus Reviews


The Book of Secrets

The Book of Secrets

Author: Daniel Pineda

Publisher: Weiser Books

Published: 2011-03-01

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 1609253388

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From the strange symbols on a one-dollar bill to the secret signs of the Knights Templar and Freemasons, invisible societies, and the world of magic and alchemy, The Book of Secrets is a comprehensive introduction to the world of secret and esoteric knowledge throughout history. It offers a doorway into the initiated secret traditions of the fascinating unseen spiritual world: its symbols, secret societies, and seers. You'll discover: Key Concepts: the Great Work, the Universal Force, Polarity, the Four Elements, Magick and Mysticism, Esoteric Anatomy, Qabalah, Alchemy, Astrology, the Astral Plane, and more. Symbolism: More than 100 secrets symbols, words, objects, including their meanings and the secret powers they invoke. Secret Societies and Holy Orders: The gatekeepers and the transmitters of sacred knowledge: Freemasons, O.T.O., Cathars, Templars, Assassins. Pineda places them all in history and geography and explains who they are/were and what they stood for. Luminaries and Seers: More than 200 legends and historical personages: Hermes Trismegistus, Jesus, Siddartha, Osiris, and other seers from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the 19th and 20th centuries.


A Secret Society History of the Civil War

A Secret Society History of the Civil War

Author: Mark A. Lause

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2011-12-01

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 0252093593

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This unique history of the Civil War considers the impact of nineteenth-century American secret societies on the path to as well as the course of the war. Beginning with the European secret societies that laid the groundwork for Freemasonry in the United States, Mark A. Lause analyzes how the Old World's traditions influenced various underground groups and movements in America, particularly George Lippard's Brotherhood of the Union, an American attempt to replicate the political secret societies that influenced the European revolutions of 1848. Lause traces the Brotherhood's various manifestations, the most conspicuous being the Knights of the Golden Circle (out of which developed the Ku Klux Klan), and the Confederate secret groups through which John Wilkes Booth and others attempted to undermine the Union. Lause profiles the key leaders of these organizations, with special focus on George Lippard, Hugh Forbes, and George Washington Lafayette Bickley. Antebellum secret societies ranged politically from those with progressive or even revolutionary agendas to those that pursued conservative or oppressive goals. This book shows how, in the years leading up to the Civil War, these clandestine organizations exacerbated existing sectional tensions in the United States. Lause's research indicates that the pervasive influence of secret societies may have played a part in key events such as the Freesoil movement, the beginning of the Republican party, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Lincoln's election, and the Southern secession process of 1860-1861. This exceptional study encompasses both white and African American secret society involvement, revealing the black fraternal experience in antebellum America as well as the clandestine operations that provided assistance to escaped slaves via the Underground Railroad. Unraveling these pervasive and extensive networks of power and influence, A Secret Society History of the Civil War demonstrates that antebellum secret societies played a greater role in affecting Civil War-era politics than has been previously acknowledged.