The best known as the leader, Fra Dolcino who was the leader of a thousand-strong society of like-minded believers known as the Dolcinians. In medieval Italy, in 1307, inhabitants of the northern Italian town of Vercelli gathered to watch an execution of heretics or religious dissidents. The Dolciniansįra Dolcino was the leader of Dolcinians, rejecting the authority of the Pope, the Church, and all worldly power (Image: See page for author/Public domain) From then on, men ruled the world and women. Younger girls were ignorant of magic, so the men killed the initiated women and girls, sparing only the young and ignorant. The men resented that, hatched a conspiracy to overturn the matriarchy and observed that females received their initiation at puberty. From the spirits, the women learned magic and used that to control men. In the beginning, women were believed to control access to the spirits. The Ona’s all-male secret society was based on the legend of an earlier female order. Learn more about how secret societies often work behind the scenes to change the world. Controlling access to the spirits and their power meant controlling everything else, including the women. The society was run by the shamans who communicated with the spirits, and who, in turn, controlled the natural forces. (Image: LongJon/Shutterstock)Īn important part of that was a secret society into which all males were initiated soon after puberty. Ona people lived for thousands of years at Tierra del Fuego island, controlling access to the spirits and their power, which meant controlling everything including women. They had a system of beliefs and rituals that guided their day-to-day lives. For thousands of years, that island was home to the Ona people who lived in small groups of 50 to 100. Tierra del Fuego, was at the bottom of South America, among the most isolated and inhospitable places on Earth. There were examples from four very different places, circumstances, and times that seemed to have nothing in common but with the key elements, they did. But the secret societies came in many shapes and sizes. The key elements of a secret society were secrecy of beliefs and practices, selective recruitment, and the promise of special knowledge or status.
#The secret society inside secrets series
This is a transcript from the video series Secret Societies. The oilman, Clifford Dabney, dreamed of that role, so did every other man in the cult. For the men following her, May Blackburn dangled the bait of the White Messiah: the man who would ascend the golden throne. Another common denominator in secret societies was the promise of special knowledge, status, or power to the chosen initiates. Those were the Eleven Great Queens, including May and Ruth, who ruled the world from marble mansions in Hollywood Hills after the Sixth Seal was revealed, and paradise reigned on Earth. Most of May Blackburn’s followers were females, who held all the power in the order. Secret societies were selective in who they recruited and the selection would be broad or narrow. Learn more about the Great Eleven, also known as the Blackburn Cult. She swore her followers to absolute secrecy about things like a dead teenage princess slowly decomposing under the floor. She relished good publicity and at the same time, built an isolated community with a hidden amphitheater to hide her organization’s activities. May Blackburn, of the Blackburn Cult, played by the same rules and didn’t hide the Great Eleven under a bushel. Blackburn’s Love for Publicity and Art to Conceal Secrets The best-known secret society, the millions-strong Freemasons, preferred to think of themselves as ‘society with secrets’. What was secret about most secret societies was, what went on inside, including everything from rituals and passwords to what the members really believed in, and even their individual identities. For example, Masonic lodges announced their presence on signs outside every town but there were certain things which would be kept secret.
Most of the secret societies did not hide their existence from non-members. (Image: Victoria and Albert Museum/CC BY 2.5/Public domain) Definition of a Secret Society
Secret societies kept their rituals, beliefs, and the individual identities of their members well-hidden.
0 kommentar(er)
