The Real History of Secret Societies

Get a brief introduction to the realm of secret societies you will study throughout this series as seen through the personal experience of Professor Spence in his home town of Taft, California. Often demonized by their enemies and misunderstood by outsiders, many secret societies have become the stuff of myths and conspiracy theories.

Willa Rhoads was 16 when she died. The discovery of her body five years after her death opened the door to a public awareness of the Divine Order of the Royal Arms of the Great Eleven, also known as the Blackburn Cult. Professor Spence uses this obscure story to introduce you to the idea that secret societies come in many forms and operate under many names.

Uncover the story behind the Knights Templar: a military monastic order founded during the Crusades who persevered through time to become the subject of so much rumor, speculation, and outright fantasy that it’s almost impossible to separate fact from fiction. Are they guardians for a holy bloodline? Secret devil worshippers? Are they connected to the Kabbalists?

Professor Spence looks at the secret societies behind the Boston Tea Party and Bastille Day. Explore the roles that the Sons of Liberty, the Society of the Friends of the Constitution (the Jacobins), the Nine Sisters Lodge, and other groups played in these important revolutions and learn how Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and other Founders were involved with secret groups.

Were the Bolsheviks a political movement or a secret society? Dive into this question as you survey the rich history of governmental secret societies who combated revolutionary conspiracies with their own conspiracies. You will gain a vivid appreciation for the allure of the elite and the power of conspiracy, and you’ll see that there is no better active minority than a well-oiled secret society.

Start with the history of the smaller secret societies that were popping up all over Germany at the end of the 19th century. Then look at how the larger societies and individuals, which have already been covered, will weave through the background of Hitler’s rise to power. Then explore how the Nazi leader came to embrace secret-society methods for his own purposes.