PHILADELPHES
One of the most important political secret societies of the nineteenth century, the Philadelphes began life in 1797 as a student literary club in the…
Author: Lux Ferre
PERPETUAL MOTION
A perennial interest of inventors since the Middle Ages, perpetual motion machines of various kinds have an active presence in today’s alternative scene, although terms…
PALLADIAN ORDER
One of the most spectacular hoaxes in the history of secret societies, the Palladian Order was the brainchild of Léo Taxil (Gabriel Jorgand-Pagès), a French…
P2 [PROPAGANDA DUE]
Among the major political secret societies in recent European history, P2 (standing for Propaganda Due, “Propagation 2”) was founded in Italy in 1877 as a…
MYSTERIES OF OSIRIS
Unlike Isis and the Hellenistic god Serapis, the great Egyptian god Osiris, judge of the dead and lord of the underworld, did not become the…
ORPHISM
The system of spirituality and philosophy underlying the Dionysian mysteries, Orphism took its name from the legendary musician Orpheus, who was considered to be its…
ORPHIC CIRCLE
According to several accounts from the late nineteenth century, a group of occultists active in London during the 1830s and 1840s, practicing clairvoyance with crystals…
ORMUS
According to an origin story circulated by eighteenth-century Rosicrucians, the founder of the Rosicrucian Order, an Egyptian priest and mage of Alexandria who was converted…
ORIGIN STORIES
Among the standard elements of the secret society toolkit from the seventeenth century to the present are romantic origin stories that link orders and degrees…
ORDO TEMPLI ASTARTE [OTA]
One of many occult secret societies active in America today, the Ordo Templi Astarte (Order of Templars of Astarte, OTA) was founded by American magician…
