Secret Societies Research Project

Introduction

There are many secret societies in the world today. Many have secrets that have been kept for hundred of years, each member making oath to keep these secrets, a secret. Our mission is to investgate numerous societies are gain the following information (goals);

Goals

- how do members get accepted
- history
- famous members
- Rituals (if any)
- Symbols
- founder
- ties
- Size (i.e international, national, etc)
- Events

Team members

they see ALL
Iknowthelies
infinite
00PS

More members are needed, U2U me if you would like to help out

Getting started

There following societies are examples to get us started;

Freemasonry, Skull and Bones, Rosicrucians, Bohemian Club, Opus Dei

Feel free to research into these, but, when researching, please make reference to the society you are reffering to in your posts.

Thank you....

Let the researching begin!

[edit on 2-4-2005 by infinite]

[edit on 20-5-2006 by ADVISOR]

Opus Dei

Opus Dei is an organization founded in Spain in 1928 by Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer. The stated aim of Opus Dei is to "spread throughout society a profound awareness of the universal call to holiness and apostolate through one's professional work carried out with freedom and personal responsibility." (Encyclopedia of Associations)

Opus Dei is made up of lay members and priests; Opus Dei laity continue to work in the secular world, but remain under the strict spiritual direction of Opus Dei. All Opus Dei members follow "the plan of life," made up of spiritual practices such as daily Mass, rosary, spiritual reading, and mental prayer, as well as Opus Dei prayers and customs.

There are different classes of membership in Opus Dei:


Numerary members pledge to remain celibate and generally live in Opus Dei houses. They commit their entire salaries to Opus Dei, submit incoming and outgoing mail to their directors, and practice various forms of corporal mortification, including use of the cilice, a spiked chain worn around the thigh, and use of the discipline, a knotted rope for whipping.

Supernumerary members may be married, and live with their families. They follow the same "plan of life" as the numeraries, but generally do not know about many of the details of numerary life. They contribute large portions of their income to Opus Dei, often at the expense of their local parishes.

Numerary priests join Opus Dei as lay members, but are then hand-picked by Opus Dei superiors to become priests of Opus Dei. Numerary priests hold the top government positions in Opus Dei. Many hold important positions in the Vatican. Each Opus Dei house is assigned a numerary priest, whose responsibilities include saying Mass, hearing confessions and giving spiritual direction to the Opus Dei members.

Associate Opus Dei members also pledge celibacy, but they generally do not live in Opus Dei houses. They include people who have not acquired university degrees, or who must remain with their families for personal reasons.

Numerary assistants are women who pledge celibacy, and are responsible for the care and cleaning of all Opus Dei residences.

Cooperators of Opus Dei provide financial support, but are not considered members of Opus Dei. Unlike Opus Dei members, cooperators do not have to be Catholic.

www.odan.org...

Other links
www.opusdei.org...
www.mond.at...

Opus Dei

BRIEF HISTORY OF OPUS DEI

Opus Dei's History, like that of any other Christian institution, the main thing is divine activity in the interior life of people. But that is difficult to show in brief lines because they are spiritual things. If we focus more in external aspects, Opus Dei's History could be summarized as follows:

Beginnings of Opus Dei

1928 . . . Foundation. October 2, in Madrid , God Our Father showed Opus Dei to Saint Josemaria Escrivá.

1933 . . . The first center of Opus Dei is opened: DYA academy which soon became the first college student residence.

1941 . . . The Bishop of Madrid, Monsignor Leopoldo Eijo y Garay, who knows and blesses Opus Dei from its beginnings, grants the first diocesan approval of Opus Dei. Three years later he ordains the first priests of Opus Dei: Monsignor Álvaro del Portillo D. Jose Mª Hernández Garnica and D. Jose Luis Muzquiz.

1947 . . . The Holy See grants the first Pontifical approval. The previous year Saint Josemaria moves his residence to Rome.

1950 . . . Pius XII grants the final approval to Opus Dei.

Opus Dei's expansion

Opus Dei is born in Spain, but with a universal vocation. When Second World War allowed it, Opus Dei started its development in other countries:

1946-47 . . . Opus Dei starts in Europe : Portugal, Italy, Great Britain, France, Ireland.
1949-51 . . . Opus Dei starts in America: Mexico, the US, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela.
1951-57 . . . Opus Dei starts in other countries of Europe and America.
1958 . . . . . . Beginnings of Opus Dei in Africa and Asia: Kenya and Japan.
1959-62 . . . Beginnings in other countries.
1963 . . . . . . Opus Dei starts in Oceania: Australia.
etc . . . . . . . (Currently it is found in more sixty countries).

Maturity of Opus Dei

1969 . . . Saint Josemaria Escrivá sets up an extraordinary Congress of Opus Dei in order to to study the approval as a Personal Prelature, a canonical figure which was introduced by Vatican II.

1975 . . . Saint Josemaria Escrivá dies in Rome. At that time there were 60.000 members. Monsignor Alvaro del Portillo is his successor.

1982 . . . John Paul II erects Opus Dei as a Personal Prelature.

1994 . . . Monsignor Alvaro del Portillo dies in Rome. Monsignor Javier Echevarria is his successor.

2002 . . . John Paul II canonizes Saint Josemaría Escrivá, so in that way he becomes part of the saints of the Catholic Church. At that time there were 84.000 members of Opus Dei.

www.ideasrapidas.org...

Opus Dei

Allegations of far-right links

There is evidence of several links between Opus Dei and right-wing organizations, particulary a famous letter from Escriva to Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain who was assisted by Nazi Germany into power. In this letter Escriva addresses Franco as "his Excellency", as he was Spain's head of state. Several Opus Dei members were appointed ministers in Franco's government. On the other side there were members who went into prison or left Spain under Franco because they didn't agree with the political opinion of Franco and his regime.

There have also been rumours about Opus Dei which appear to be conspiracy theories.

Allegations that Opus Dei is a secret society

Like most religious movements, Opus Dei does not in general comment on who is or is not a member. This has tended to create suspicion that Opus Dei functions as a secret society. There are persistent rumours that some senior members of the U.S. judiciary and FBI are Opus Dei members. The trial of FBI spy Robert Hanssen caused some controversy when it was revealed that he was an Opus Dei member.

The Italian parliament investigated Opus Dei in 1986 and cleared it of being a secret society.

Allegations of ultra-conservativism

Opus Dei has been criticized, by both secular and non-Catholic religious groups, for promoting an overly orthodox vision of the Roman Catholic faith. Opus Dei has also been accused of focusing on recruiting students from prestigious universities, who can then enter professions where they could influence public policy from an Opus Dei perspective. Others object to the humanitarian and spiritual relief missions that it has undertaken, such as the one located in the Mountains of Yauyos, Peru. Critics in Ireland, including some ex-Opus Dei members, accused the organisation of 'sexist exploitation' of women, whom they claimed were restricted in Opus Dei run hostels to doing manual work such as cooking and cleaning and denied any role in leadership. In response, supporters state that men and women are equal in Opus Dei, with half the leadership positions being held by women.

www.nationmaster.com...

Activities

Opus Dei states that its activities consist of "offer[ing] spiritual formation and pastoral care to its members, as well as to many others", via religious retreats and classes in Catholic doctrine. Its members also undertake many social initiatives: Opus Dei operates several hospitals, clinics, schools, and inner-city tutoring programs. For example, in the United States, it operates one college and five secondary schools, and tutoring programs in Chicago, New York City, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. In Spain, Opus Dei founded Universidad de Navarra and in Mexico the Universidad Panamericana. In the Philippines the Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise provides technical training to marginalized youth. In South America, especially in Venezuela, Opus Dei runs several schools and colleges in the most important cities in the country (Caracas, Maracaibo, Barquisimeto, Maracay and Valencia). In these schools it is not uncommon to see mandatory mass and active preaching of Opus Dei in the classrooms.

Freemasonry

Origins of Freemasonry

The true origin of Freemasonry is unknown, lost in time, and there are a good number of historians with diverse opinions, each vehemently supporting his or her own belief. We are making history every day, but its effects will mostly be evident years from now; maybe when we are not even alive to see it. "The truth" will be colored by each perceiver. So, we can talk of some events in our history but never really know the underlying current that for years worked to precipitate the moment. We have to trust there is Plan of Evolution, a Tracing Board, for Humanity and we are but a little speck within the current of life, evolving and cooperating with the big scheme.

In Albert G. Mackey 33°, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, he states: " The origin and source whence first sprang the institution of Freemasonry, such as we now have it, has given rise to more difference of opinion and discussions among Masonic scholars than any other topic in the literature of the institution. Writers on the history of Freemasonry have, at different times, attributed its origin to the following sources:

To the Patriarchal religion.

To the Ancient Pagan Mysteries.

To the Temple of King Solomon.

To the Crusaders.

To the Knights Templar

To the Roman College of Artificers.

To the Operative Masons of the Middle Ages.

To the Rosicrucian's of the sixteenth century.

To Oliver Cromwell, for the advancement of his political schemes.

To the Pretender, for the restoration of the House of Stuart to the British throne.

from: www.co-masonry.org...

Introduction to Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternity which includes men and women of every race, nationality and religion. Wishing to do away with all cause for division and strife, it continually seeks the means which to help all human beings to unite and work together for the perfection of Humanity.

American Co-Masonry, an Masonic Obedience independent of all others, has not created a new Rite. That which distinguishes it from other existing Obedience's is that, instead of admitting men only to its ranks, it admits women on an equal footing. It proclaims equal rights for both sexes and absolute liberty of conscience; and it demands, in order to secure to everyone unlimited freedom in the search for truth, the utmost tolerance from all members. It avoids political and religious discussions wherever these cannot be carried on with the requisite tolerance and moderation; it welcomes everyone who is free and of good report, whatever may be his convictions in matters of religion, philosophy or politics.

American Co-Masonry seeks to destroy ignorance under whatever form, and its program may be explained as follows:

Each mason owes obedience to the Order and to the laws of his country; he must live honorably, practice justice, love his neighbor, work unceasingly for the true happiness of humanity and help human beings to emancipate themselves from the thralldom of passion and ignorance.

From the first to the last, to whatever degree the aspirant may desire to be admitted, the first condition to be fulfilled is to have a reputation of unsullied honor and probity.

Members of the Order owe to each other help and support in all circumstances and conditions of life.

To think high, to speak truth, to do well, to be tolerant to others, to search after truth, to practice liberty under law, fraternal equality, justice and solidarity, are the duties which the Supreme Council of American Co-Masonry, prescribes for its members seeking to build to the Glory of the Great Architect of the Universe, to the perfection of Humanity, and to the service of the Head of All True Freemasons, the true Masonic Temple open to both men and women.

from: www.co-masonry.org...

Masonic Principles

Freemasonry is a system of morality developed and inculcated by the science of symbolism.

American Co-Masonry is founded on the principles of freedom of conscience, solidarity and justice, and is based on the facts of Brotherhood. It is organized as The American Federation of Human Rights, Inc., and stands for the Human Duty of mutual service.

It is Freemasonry opening its Temple to women as well as to men, because it recognizes that united strength is necessary and that efforts made by one sex alone are inadequate for the solution of economic, social and ethical problems.

In accordance with the ancient declaration of Freemasonry, American Co-Masonry, asserts the existence of a Supreme Power under the name of "The Great Architect of the Universe," at the same time leaving Human Reason at perfect liberty to differ in regard to His Attributes.

It imposes no restrictions on free search after truth, and in order to secure that freedom, exacts the greatest tolerance from its members.

from: www.co-masonry.org...

Masonic Organization

American Co-Masonry has an organization peculiar to itself, a Constitution and General Regulations, which the Brethren - the highest as well as the humblest - obey as binding.

The Constitution, as well as the general and judiciary rules, have been formulated and revised with a view to assure the regular functioning of the various bodies of the Order and are based upon the Constitutions of 1762 and upon the Great Constitution drawn up by the Universal Assembly of Supreme Councils at Lausanne, September 22, 1875, and adopted by most of the Supreme Councils on May 1, 1876.

The American Co-Masonic Order, heir to the ancient traditions whose wise principles, moral force and discipline it has maintained, has preserved the rules of the past used by the Masonic Order, also the signs, grips, sacred words and passwords of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, employed as a means of recognition by a large number of the Freemasons scattered throughout the world.

All members of the American Co-Masonic Order form but one family of Brothers, and are part of an Institution which permits them to be recognized by Freemasons of whatsoever Rite and to recognize also all Freemasons throughout the world.

please visit this link for more info: www.co-masonry.org...

What Masonry Offers

Light is the only benefit that Freemasonry offers any applicant. Although many other good things may be added, anyone who walks through the door of Freemasonry with the metallic hope of some lesser treasure concealed on his person will inevitably be disappointed. The ceremony of initiation will have to be repeated, in another cycle, if he ever finds a desire for Light growing in him again.

The first Chapter of Genesis describes how two kinds of Light were created. The first out of the Darkness by movement on the water of Chaos, and the second, reflected on the Fourth Day when the Sun, Moon, and Stars appeared. Light was derived from Darkness on the First Day; thereafter, it was said, "the evening and the morning" were the Days of Creation. This is a curious statement, for we tend to think of day as being from morning to evening. Time as we know it could not begin until the "Fourth Day," for our time is measured by observing the relationship of the Sun and Moon and Stars. So, what was created on the first three days was apparently out of time, whatever that may mean. Or, perhaps time did not begin until a receptor was created to be conscious of it, to observe its consecutive patterns and "see" with the eyes of Man, created on the evening and morning of the Sixth Day.

please visit this link for more info: www.co-masonry.org...

Ritual and Myth

Modern man tries to comprehend the universe by translating the readings of his five senses. When perception of the world is limited to the five-sensory modality the results are incomplete. This method allows us, only, to the understanding of a concrete world. Concrete techniques of the five senses are: analysis, calculation, measurement, etc. How can we by analyzing, calculating, dissecting and measuring, understand Light -- the first principle of creation? Aren't Masons seekers of the Light?

Genesis states that: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit [imagination?] of God moved upon the face of the waters [desire?]. And God said, Let there be Light: and there was Light." And Goethe stated: " The eye was created by the light for the light, so that light created an organ, which could become light itself."

please visit this link for more info: www.co-masonry.org...

Secret Tradition

In Masonry we find many references to something valuable which has been lost, and the never-ending search for that treasure. One distinguished Masonic writer has this classification. He says,

"The evidence testifies to:

The Aeonian nature of the loss.

The certitude of an ultimate restoration.

In respect to that which was lost, the perpetuity of its existence somewhere in time and the world.

and, more rarely, its substantial presence under veils close to the hands of all.

In spite of these references in all Masonic rituals, Masons for the most part regard the entire design as legendary with a merely symbolical meaning as applying to the ordinary life of man in the world and his relationship to his fellow-man. Among the thousands of Brethren under the American Grand Lodges, for example, there are very few who know about or care for any inner or spiritual significance. Perhaps this lack of interest in hidden meanings has its source in the idea, so prevalent among orthodox Masons, that Freemasonry originated in the operative guilds. They confine their search to old Craft records which can throw no light whatever on the spiritual purpose of Freemasonry and the nature of the Masonic quest. And so we find a certain barren quality in the moral platitudes of the ordinary interpretations of Masonic symbolism.

please visit this link for more info: www.co-masonry.org...

The Glory that is Freemasonry

Light is the only benefit that Freemasonry offers any applicant. Although many other good things may be added, anyone who walks through the door of Freemasonry with the metallic hope of some lesser treasure concealed on his person will inevitably be disappointed. The ceremony of initiation will have to be repeated, in another cycle, if he ever finds a desire for Light growing in him again.

The first Chapter of Genesis describes how two kinds of Light were created. The first out of the Darkness by movement on the water of Chaos, and the second, reflected on the Fourth Day when the Sun, Moon, and Stars appeared. Light was derived from Darkness on the First Day; thereafter, it was said, "the evening and the morning" were the Days of Creation. This is a curious statement, for we tend to think of day as being from morning to evening. Time as we know it could not begin until the "Fourth Day," for our time is measured by observing the relationship of the Sun and Moon and Stars. So, what was created on the first three days was apparently out of time, whatever that may mean. Or, perhaps time did not begin until a receptor was created to be conscious of it, to observe its consecutive patterns and "see" with the eyes of Man, created on the evening and morning of the Sixth Day.

please visit this link for more info: www.co-masonry.org...


Abstract Masonic Art

Portraits of Free Masons

Historical Art Pieces

How to join Freemasonry

Candidates for Co-Masonry must be 21 years of age, except by special dispensation of the Most Sovereign Grand Commander of the Order, in which case the first degree may be conferred at the age of eighteen, the second at twenty, and the third at twenty-one.

from: www.co-masonry.org...

please visit the link if you want to join

Contacting American Co-Masonry

www.co-masonry.org...


please not that all this information is from one site ( www.co-masonry.org... )...

this could be biased but i am not shure...

if you want me to get other info from other sites, just u2u me...

ENJOY!!!

Famous Masons

The membership of Freemasonry, by and large, is made up of average men. Its ranks include laborers, clerks, merchants, tradesmen, lawyers, enlisted and commissioned members of the armed forces, doctors, statesmen, farmers, salesmen...the whole spectrum.

In all ages, though, its ranks have included the great and the near great, including a sizeable number of Presidents of the United States, as follows:

George Washington: The only President to serve as Master of his lodge during his incumbency, Washington laid the cornerstone of the United States Capitol, acting as Grand Master pro tem for the Grand Lodge of Maryland. He was buried with Masonic honors. Masons of the United States have erected a granite monument in his memory on Shooter's Hill, at Alexandria, Va.

James Monroe: Except for records of his membership, little is known of Monroe's Masonic life.

Andrew Jackson: Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, Jackson was the first of two Presidents to have so served Freemasonry.

James K. Polk: Known to have served as Junior Warden of his lodge, there is no record of Polk ever serving as Master. During his Presidency he assisted in laying the cornerstone of the Smithsonian Institution with Masonic ceremonies.

James Buchanan: Master of his lodge in 1823, Buchanan also served as a District Deputy Grand Master in Pennsylvania. He delivered the address at the Masonic dedication of the statue of Washington, Washington Circle, Washington, D.C. He was buried with Masonic honors.

Andrew Johnson: During his Presidency Johnson participated in five Masonic cornerstone ceremonies... in Chicago, Baltimore, Boston, Antietam (Md.) and Washington. He was buried with Masonic honors.

more info:

www.grandlodge-nc.org...
www.grandlodge-nc.org...

Sources of Information about Famous Freemasons

bessel.org...

Freemasonry Symbols

altreligion.about.com...

want to buy discount masonic jewelry???

that site has good info...

Size of Freemasonry

international...

Forthcoming Events for 2005 for Freemasons in London

www.londonfreemasonry.com...

Calendar of Events for The Socottish Rite of Freemasonry

www.everettscottishrite.net...

Another Great Website

www.worldhistory.com...


ENJOY!!!

Other Freemasonry Sites

www.freemasonry.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

www.cuttingedge.org...

education.yahoo.com...

www.freemasonrywatch.org...

www.dccsa.com...

a yahoo Freemasonry search

a google Freemasonry search

ENJOY!!!

The Order of Skull and Bones

"Everything You Ever Wanted to Know, But Were Afraid to Ask"

The story begins at Yale, where three threads of American social history -- espionage, drug smuggling and secret societies -- intertwine into one. ParaScope is pleased to present this treatise on the Order of Skull and Bones, whose initiates fill the ranks of the global elite. Is Skull and Bones the American branch of the Illuminati? Are national and global events manipulated as part of a grand Hegellian equation, thesis and anti-thesis yielding a New World Order synthesis? The evidence and events surrounding the Order of Skull and Bones will shock you. Read on.

The Secret Origins of Skull & Bones

The story begins at Yale, where three threads of American social history -- espionage, drug smuggling and secret societies -- intertwine into one.

Elihu Yale was born near Boston, educated in London, and served with the British East India Company, eventually becoming governor of Fort Saint George, Madras, in 1687. He amassed a great fortune from trade and returned to England in 1699. Yale became known as quite a philanthropist; upon receiving a request from the Collegiate School in Connecticut, he sent a donation and a gift of books. After subsequent bequests, Cotton Mather suggested the school be named Yale College, in 1718.

A statue of Nathan Hale stands on Old Campus at Yale University. There is a copy of that statue in front of the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Yet another stands in front of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts (where George H.W. Bush ('48) went to prep school and joined a secret society at age twelve).

Nathan Hale, along with three other Yale graduates, was a member of the "Culper Ring," one of America's first intelligence operations. Established by George Washington, it was successful throughout the Revolutionary War. Nathan was the only operative to be ferreted out by the British, and after speaking his famous regrets, he was hanged in 1776. Ever since the founding of the Republic, the relationship between Yale and the "Intelligence Community" has been unique.

In 1823, Samuel Russell established Russell and Company for the purpose of acquiring opium in Turkey and smuggling it to China. Russell and Company merged with the Perkins (Boston) syndicate in 1830 and became the primary American opium smuggler. Many of the great American and European fortunes were built on the "China"(opium) trade.

Secrets of the "Tomb"

The Order flourished from the very beginning in spite of occasional squalls of controversy. There was dissension from some professors, who didn't like its secrecy and exclusiveness. And there was backlash from students, showing concern about the influence "Bones" was having over Yale finances and the favoritism shown to "Bonesmen."

In October of 1873, Volume 1, Number 1, of The Iconoclast was published in New Haven. It was only published once and was one of very few openly published articles on the Order of Skull and Bones.

From The Iconoclast:

"We speak through a new publication. because the college press is closed to those who dare to openly mention 'Bones'....

"Out of every class Skull and Bones takes its men. They have gone out into the world and have become, in many instances, leaders in society. They have obtained control of Yale. Its business is performed by them. Money paid to the college must pass into their hands, and be subject to their will. No doubt they are worthy men in themselves, but the many, whom they looked down upon while in college, cannot so far forget as to give money freely into their hands. Men in Wall Street complain that the college comes straight to them for help, instead of asking each graduate for his share. The reason is found in a remark made by one of Yale's and America's first men: 'Few will give but Bones men and they care far more for their society than they do for the college....'

"Year by year the deadly evil is growing. The society was never as obnoxious to the college as it is today, and it is just this ill-feeling that shuts the pockets of non-members. Never before has it shown such arrogance and self-fancied superiority. It grasps the College Press and endeavors to rule it all. It does not deign to show its credentials, but clutches at power with the silence of conscious guilt.

"To tell the good which Yale College has done would be well nigh impossible. To tell the good she might do would be yet more difficult. The question, then, is reduced to this -- on the one hand lies a source of incalculable good -- on the other a society guilty of serious and far-reaching crimes. It is Yale College against Skull and Bones!! We ask all men, as a question of right, which should be allowed to live?"

Networks of Power

In his book "America's Secret Establishment," Antony Sutton outlined the Order of Skull and Bones' ability to establish vertical and horizontal "chains of influence" that ensured the continuity of their conspiratorial schemes.

The Whitney-Stimson-Bundy links represent the "vertical chain".

W. C. Whitney ('63), who married Flora Payne (of the Standard Oil Payne dynasty), was Secretary of the Navy. His attorney was a man named Elihu Root. Root hired Henry Stimson ('88), out of law school. Stimson took over from Root as Secretary of War in 1911, appointed by fellow Bonesman William Howard Taft. Stimson later became Coolidge's Governor-General of the Philippine Islands, Hoover's Secretary of State, and Secretary of War during the Roosevelt and Truman administrations.

Hollister Bundy ('09) was Stimson's special assistant and point man in the Pentagon for the Manhattan Project. His two sons, also members of Skull and Bones, were William Bundy ('39) and McGeorge Bundy ('40) -- both very active in governmental and foundation affairs.

The two brothers, from their positions in the CIA, the Department of Defense and the State Department, and as Special Assistants to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, exercised significant impact on the flow of information and intelligence during the Vietnam "War."

William Bundy went on to be editor of Foreign Affairs, the influential quarterly of the Council on Foreign Affairs (CFR). McGeorge became president of the Ford Foundation.

Another interesting group of "Bonesmen" is the Harriman/Bush crowd. Averil Harriman ('13), "Elder Statesman" of the Democratic Party, and his brother Roland Harriman ('17) were very active members. In fact, four of Roland's fellow "Bonesmen" from the class of 1917 were directors of Brown Brothers, Harriman, including Prescott Bush ('17), George Bush's dad.

Name Roster of the Secret Establishment

There were so many "Yalies" in the OSS that Yale's drinking tune, the "Whiffenpoof Song", became an "unofficial" song of the OSS. Many in the OSS were "Bonesmen" or belonged to the other Yale senior societies.

Robert Lovett ('18), Harriman's childhood friend, had been tapped into Skull & Bones by Prescott Bush's cell of '17 and was a director at Brown Brothers, Harriman.

Again, from "George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography":

"On October 22, 1945, Secretary of War Robert Patterson created the Lovett Committee, chaired by Robert A. Lovett, to advise the government on the post-World War II organization of U.S. intelligence activities.... The new agency would 'consult' with the armed forces, but it must be the sole collecting agency in the field of foreign espionage and counterespionage. The new agency should have an independent budget, and its appropriations should be granted by Congress without public hearings. Lovett appeared before the Secretaries of State, War, and Navy on November 14, 1945.... Lovett pressed for a virtual resumption of the wartime Office of Strategic Services (OSS).... The CIA was established in 1947 according to the prescription of Robert Lovett, of Jupiter Island."

Gaddis Smith, a history professor at Yale, said, "Yale has influenced the Central Intelligence Agency more than any other university, giving the CIA the atmosphere of a class reunion." And "Bonesman" have been foremost among the "spooks" building the CIA's "haunted house."

China and the Opium Wars

Why all this interest in China? Well, China, among other things, is one of the largest producers and users of opiates in the world.

For a while, in the 1800s, the Yankee Clippers in Connecticut and Massachusetts were the fastest ships on the ocean. Speed was crucial to the opium trade; whoever made the trip from Turkey/India to Macao/Hong Kong/Shanghai first got the most for their goods.

During the Opium Wars, the U.S. chose to stand on the sidelines and cheer for the English and French, knowing that treaty obligations would bring the U.S. a share in the spoils. Russell and Company was at times the only trading house operating in Canton and used the opportunity to developed strong commercial ties and handsome profits.

Powerful national interests were behind the drug trade, because American traders were badly in need of some article the Chinese would buy, since by this time the seal breeding grounds had been nearly wiped out. If the Chinese had not bought opium from Americans, then United States imports of silk, porcelain and tea would have to paid in precious coin, which was in short supply. In 1843, when the Port of Shanghai was opened, Russell and Co. was one of its earliest traders.

In 1903, Yale Divinity School set up a program of schools and hospitals in China. Mao Zedong was among the staff. During the intrigues of China in the 1930s and '40s, American intelligence called upon the resources of "Yale in China", and George Bush's cousin and fellow "Bonesman" Reuben Holden.

After stints as UN Ambassador and Chairman of the Republican National Committee for the beleaguered Richard Nixon, George Bush was sent to look after the "China trade". The Bush family is still very much involved in the economic activities of "Red" China.

The War on Drugs: An "Intellectual Fraud"

Before the Vietnam "War", the Golden Triangle was run by French Intelligence and Corsican mobsters. After the French bailed out and America moved in, the triangle was run by U.S. intelligence, with aid from Sicilian mobsters. This narcotics network is well documented in "The Politics of Heroin in S. E. Asia" by Alfred McCoy, "The Great Heroin Coup" by Henrik Kruger and "Double-Cross" by Sam and Chuck Giancana.

Vice-President George Bush, as Chairman of President Reagan's cabinet-level working group and as Director of the National Narcotics Interdiction System, was the highest U. S. governmental official involved in the "war on drugs".

Frances Mullen, Jr., former head of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), called Bush's efforts "an intellectual fraud" and "a liability rather than an asset". Soon after these statements, Mullen resigned and the resultant General Accounting Office (GAO) report was buried.

In July, 1985, the suppressed GAO paper reported that there were "no benefits from the National Narcotics Border Interdiction System, directed by George Bush. In fact, the overall effect was to encourage supply...."

Monika Jensen-Stevenson, a "60 Minutes" producer, quit her job after the CBS news program refused to air the story she had uncovered relating to the covert drug trade. Her book, "Kiss The Boys Goodbye", details how our intelligence community used the apparatus of the POW/MIA governmental agencies as a cover for the trafficking of opiates from the "Golden Triangle".

George Bush, Skull & Bones and the JFK Assassination

Rodney Stich's book "Defrauding America" tells of a "deep-cover CIA officer" assigned to a counter-intelligence unit, code-named Pegasus. This unit "had tape-recordings of plans to assassinate Kennedy" from a tap on the phone of J. Edgar Hoover. The people on the tapes were "[Nelson] Rockefeller, Allen Dulles, [Lyndon] Johnson of Texas, George Bush and J. Edgar Hoover."

Could George Bush be involved in the JFK assassination?

In 1963, Bush was living in Houston, busily carrying out his duties as president of the Zapata Offshore oil company. He denied the existence of a note sent by the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover to "Mr. George Bush of the CIA." When news of the note surfaced, the CIA first said they never commented on employment questions, but later relented said yes, a "George Bush" was mentioned in the note, but that it was "another" George Bush, not the man who took office in the White House in 1988.

Some intrepid reporters tracked down the "other" George Bush and discovered that he was just a lowly clerk who had shuffled papers for the CIA for about six months. He never received any interagency messages from anybody at the FBI, let alone the Queen Mary.

It is also worth noting that a CIA code word for Bay of Pigs was Operation Zapata, and that two of the support vessels were named Barbara and Houston.

Many say that George Bush was high up on the CIA ladder at the time, running proprietorial vehicles and placed in a position of command, responsible for many of the Cubans recruited into "service" at the time. All through the Iran-Contra affair, Felix Rodriguez, the man who captured and had Che Guevara killed for the CIA, always seemed to call Bush's office first.

Motives for the Conspiracy

So, why would an intelligence agency/secret society want to smuggle drugs and assassinate JFK?

Well, they make a lot of money, and they garner intelligence assets through their participation. There's also the rationale that the world is a seamy and unseemly place, and if you're going to be the 'big boy' on the block, you better know what's going on. And what better way of knowing than by running it yourself? There are also some who theorize that the covert drug trade fits with plans to destabilize American families and society. Through demoralizing and fracturing the body politic, they can impose their will using psychological warfare and the political alchemy of the Hegellian dialectic.

James Shelby Downard's article, "Sorcery, Sex, Assassination and the Science of Symbolism ," an underground classic, links American historical events with a wild, numerological, grand occult plan "to turn us into cybernetic mystery zombies". The assassination of JFK, this article contends, was the performance of a public occult ritual called The Killing of the King, designed as a mass-trauma, mind-control assault against our U.S. national body-politic.

During Operation Sunrise, Operation Blowback, Operation Paperclip and others, thousands of Nazi scientists, researchers and administrators were brought to the United States after World War II. Many were "smuggled" into the country against direct, written, orders from President Harry S. Truman.

Project Monarch was the resumption of a mind-control project called Marionette Programming, which started in Nazi Germany. The basic component of the Monarch Program is the sophisticated manipulation of the mind, using extreme trauma to induce Multiple Personality Disorder.

The Illuminati: Subverting the Body Politic

Why this attack against our body politic?

In 1785, a bolt of lightning struck a courier en route to Paris from Frankfort-on-the-Main. A tract written by Adam Weishaupt, founder of the Illuminati, "Original Shift in Days of Illuminations," was recovered from the dead messenger, containing the secret society's long-range plan for "The New World Order through world revolution".

The Bavarian Government outlawed the society and in 1787 published the details of The Illuminati conspiracy in "The Original Writings of the Order and Sect of the Illuminati."

In Adam Weishaupt's own words:

"By this plan, we shall direct all mankind in this manner. And, by the simplest means, we shall set all in motion and in flames. The occupations must be so allotted and contrived that we may, in secret, influence all political transactions."

There is disagreement among scholars as to whether or not the Illuminati survived its banishment. Nevertheless, the group had been quite successful in attracting members and had allied itself with the extensive Masonic networks.

The Illuminati was publicly founded May 1, 1776 at the University of Ingolstadt by Weishaupt, Professor of Canon Law. It was a very "learned" society; Weishaupt drew the earliest members of his new order from among his students.

Skull & Bones = Illuminati?

Is the Order of the Skull & Bones part of the Illuminati?

When a person is initiated into Skull & Bones, they are given a new name, similar to the practice of the Illuminati. And many recorded Illuminati members can be shown to have contact and/or strong influences with many of the professors that taught "Bonesmen" in Berlin.

When a secret society conspires against the sovereignty of a king, they need to organize, raise funds, make their plans operational, and hopefully bring them to fruition.

Could we have in the United States a secret society that has used the "National Security State" as a cover for their nefarious plans?

From "George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography":

"That September [1951], Robert Lovett replaced Marshall as secretary of defense. Meanwhile, Harriman was named director of the Mutual Security Agency, making him the U.S. chief of the Anglo-American military alliance. By now, Brown Brothers, Harriman was everything but commander-in-chief.

"A central focus of the Harriman security regime in Washington (1950-53) was the organization of covert operations and 'psychological warfare.' Harriman, together with his lawyers and business partners, Allen and John Foster Dulles, wanted the government's secret services to conduct extensive propaganda campaigns and mass-psychology experiments within the U.S.A., and paramilitary campaigns abroad....

"The Harriman security regime created the Psychological Strategy Board (PSB) in 1951. The man appointed director of the PSB [was] Gordon Gray.... Gordon's brother, R.J. Reynolds chairman Bowman Gray Jr., was also a naval intelligence officer, known around Washington as the 'founder of operational intelligence.' Gordon Gray became a close friend and political ally of Prescott Bush; and Gray's son became for Prescott's son, George, his lawyer and the shield of his covert policy."

World History: Plan or Accident?

Will we get another failed Democratic administration? A scandal as disgraceful as Nixon's fall? When Robert P. Johnson (William Barr) told Clinton in a bunker in Arkansas that "you are our fair-haired boy, but you do have competition for the job you seek. We would never put all our eggs in one basket. You and your state have been our greatest asset.... Mr. Casey wanted me to pass on to you, that unless you # up and do something stupid, you are number one on our short list for shot at the job you always wanted."

So, you have William Casey -- CIA Director, George Bush's campaign manager and Sovereign Knight of Malta -- speaking through the proxy of George Bush's last Attorney General to George's rival in the 1992 federal elections. Is it all just a show and sham for U.S. hoi polloi?

Perhaps so, if there exists the type of control over the electoral process as told by Mae Brussell and the suppressed book "VoteScam," written by Jim and Ken Collier:

"...Your vote and mine may now be a meaningless bit of energy directed by preprogrammed computers-which can be fixed to select certain pre-ordained candidates and leave no footprints or paper trail.

"In short, computers are covertly stealing your vote.

"--For almost three decades the American vote has been subject to government-sponsored electronic theft.

"--The vote has been stolen from you by a cartel of federal "national security" bureaucrats, who include higher-ups in the Central Intelligence Agency, political party leaders, Congressmen, co-opted journalists -- and the owners and managers -- of the major Establishment news media, who have decided in concert that how America's votes are counted, by whom they are counted and how the results are verified and delivered to the public is, as one of them put it, 'Not a proper area of inquiry.'

all this info is from here: www.parascope.com...

again, it could be biased but i am not sure...

for more info on these subjects, check the site (look on the left side for a menu)...

also, look at: "Skull and Bones White Paper" found on this site...

Other Skull and Bones Sites

en.wikipedia.org...

skullandcrossbones.org...

yahoo skull and bones society search

google skull and bones society search


i am all tired out now

any info i left out please feel free to add on...

i will be working on school now so i will add more info when i get the chance...

ENJOY!!!

History of Skull and Bones and it's founders

Skull and Bones is probably the worst kept secret in the world today considering it is supposed to be a secret society. It was founded in 1832 by two men William Russell and Alphonso Taft while at Yale University. Skull and Bones members are referred to as "cohorts." However, even as relatively young as the Skull and Bones society is - it has been known by many other names. The Order, The Order of Death and Lodge 322. However, this is not your average frat. Skull and Bones is actually a corporation listed as the Russell Trust Association. It's assets include a summer home and private island for use by its membes. This island was donated by an early and mysterious benefactor, most likely a former member. Disturbingly the State of Conneticut's legislature granted an exemption from the filing of corporate returns with the Conneticut State Secretary an unheard of exemption. The Russell Trust Association is handled by the firm of Brown Brothers Harriman - but under the sole discretion of partner of John Madden Jr. For those unfamiliar with Brown Brothers Harriman it's senior partner at the time of the exemption was Prescott Bush.


Membership

Although Skull and Bones attempts to portray itself as a run of the mill fraternity it is very different than most. It's membership and activities are kept secret. Additionally only upper classman, specifically seniors, are allowed to join, and then through an invitation only process. Initiates are referred to as Bonesmen, Knights of Eulogia, and Boodle Boys. However, within the last few decades women have been permitted to become members. Skull and Bones also has an excellent record of maintaining it's secrets. Former members refuse to discuss the activities or initiatory rites they participated in. As noted during the US Presidential race, both John Kerry and George Bush were members of Skull and Bones. Neither men would discuss their time with The Order, even to discuss it's benefits.


Is Skull and Bones a chapter of a German Secret Society?

Some people say that Skull and Bones is a US chapter of an early 1800s German secret society. Those who have broken into the Bones "Tomb" (or those members who are disaffected from the Bones experience and wanted to report on them), describe many German-language pictures and themes on the walls and in daily use--from pictures of skulls, to swastikas, to the use of Hitler's silverware and table settings, obviously pilfered out of Germany after WWII. Founder of the order, William Huntington Russell spent some time studying in Germany. Some speculate he was initiated into a secret society with a skull and bones for its emblem and brought the inspiration, as well as the drug profits, back to Yale. The Forbes family, partially credited for instigating the Opium Wars, sold their interests in that trade to Russell & Company (a shipping line owned by Samuel Russell, William's step-brother). Opium smuggling profits funded much of Yale's early development, including the construction of the windowless "Tomb." The Order of Death has a fascination with skulls and the occult eerily similar to that of the German Thule Society, the organization whose members became high-ranking Nazis, some even coached Adolf Hitler's public speaking abilities. Some even claim that the Order of Death is a continuation of the Illuminati. Official material from Skull and Bones supports this theory. An invitation to a thirteenth-anniversary describes “a Jubilee Commemoration of the History of Our Establishment in New Haven.” A historical address that has found its way from the tomb states “The Eulogian Club: An Historical Discourse Pronounced before our Venerable Order on the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Foundation of our American Chapter in New Haven July 30th 1863 Thursday evening. By Timothy Dwight of 1849…” A 1933 Bones document refers to the “birth of our Yale chapter.” It is also suggested that when Bonesmen refer to the order as Lodge 322 they are acknowledging that they are but a chapter of a secret society.

Famous Skull and Bones members

William Howard Taft (1878), 27th President of the United States, 1st president to attend Bohemian Grove
Gifford Pinchot (1889), first Chief of U.S. Forest Service, under President Theodore Roosevelt
Pierre Jay (1892), first chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Harry Payne Whitney (1894), husband of Gertrude Vanderbilt, investment banker
Frederick E. Weyerhaeuser (1896)
Thomas Cochran (1904), Morgan partner
Harold Stanley (1908), founder of Morgan Stanley, investment banker
Hugh Wilson (1909)
Robert D. French (1910)
Alfred Cowles (1913), Cowles Communication
John Thomas Daniels (1914), founder of Archer Daniels Midland
Archibald MacLeish (1915)
F. Trubee Davison (1918) Director of Personnel at the CIA
Artemus Gates (1918), President of New York Trust Company, Union Pacific, TIME, Boeing Company
Henry Luce (1920), Time-Life
Henry P. Davison (1920), senior partner, Morgan Guaranty Trust
Russell W. Davenport (1923), editor Fortune Magazine, created Fortune 500 list
George Herbert Walker, Jr. (1927), financier and co-founder of the NY Mets
John Heinz II (1931), father of Senator John Heinz
Amory Howe Bradford (1934), general manager for the New York Times
Senator Jonathan Bingham (1936)
Potter Stewart (1936), Supreme Court Justice
Dean Witter, Jr. (1944), investment banker
James Buckley (1944)
Senator John Chafee (1947)
George Herbert Walker Bush (1948), 41st President of the United States
William F. Buckley, Jr. (1950)
Dino Pionzio (1950), CIA Deputy Chief of Station during Allende overthrow
William Henry Draper III (1950), the Defense Department, UN and Import-Export Bank
Evan G. Galbraith (1950), Ambassador to France and Managing Director of Morgan Stanley
Richard Gow (1955), president of Zapata Oil
Charles Edwin Lord (1949), Comptroller of the Currency
Winston Lord (1959), Chairman of Council on Foreign Relations, Ambassador to China and assistant Secretary of State in the Clinton administration
Senator David Boren (1963)
Senator John Forbes Kerry (1966)
George Walker Bush (1968), 43rd President of the United States


Next segment will include rituals and ties to other groups....
Sources to be used:
Wikipedia
Video - Memory Hole
Portland Indymedia
60 minutes video via prison planet

Rosicrucians

The original appelation of the alleged members of the occult-cabalistic-theosophic "Rosicrucian Brotherhood", described in the pamphlet "Fama Fraternitatis R.C." (Rosae crucis), which was circulated in MS. As early as 1610 and first appeared in print in 1614 at Cassel. To the first two additions were prefixed the tract "Allgemeine und Generalreforation der ganzen weiten Welt", a translation of Fr. Boccalini's "Dei Ragguagli di Parnasso", 1612. Beginning with the fourth edition in 1615, the third Rosicrucian rudiment, "Confessio der Fraternitat", was added to the "Fama". According to these, the Rosicrucian brotherhood was founded in 1408 by a German nobleman, Christian Rosenkreuz (1378-1484), a former monk, who while travelling through Damascus, Jerusalem and Fez had been initiated into Arabian learning (magic), and who considered an antipapal Christianity, tinged with theosophy, his ideal of a religion. Concerned above all else that their names should appear in the Book of Life, the brothers were to consider the making of gold as unimportant-although for the true philosophers (Occultists) this was an easy matter and a parergon. They must apply themselves zealously and in the deepest secrecy to the study of Nature in her hidden forces, and to making their discoveries and inventions known to the order and profitable to the needs of humanity. And to further the object of the said order they must assemble annually at the "Edifice of the Holy Spirit", the secret head-quarters of the order, cure the sick gratuitously, and whilst each one procured himself a successor they must provide for the continuance of their order. Free from illness and pain, these "Invisibles", as they were called in the vernacular, were supposed to be yearning for the time when the church should be "purified".

www.newadvent.org...

www.rosicrucian.org...

History and Origins

According to the legend, the Rosicrucian order was founded in 1407 by a German named Christian Rosenkreuz (1378 - 1484), who studied in the Holy Land under various occult masters. During his lifetime, the order was alleged to be small, consisting of no more than eight members. When Rosencreuz died in 1484, the order died out, only to be "reborn" in the early 17th century. This legend is accepted to varying degrees by modern Rosicrucians, with some accepting it as literal truth, others seeing it as a parable, and yet others believing Rosenkreuz to be a pseudonym for some more famous historical figure (Francis Bacon is often suggested.)

According to a lesser known legend found in Masonic literature, the Rosicrucian order was created in 46 C.E. when an Alexandrian Gnostic sage named Ormus and his six followers were converted by Mark, one of Jesus' disciples. From this conversion, Rosicrucianism was born by fusing primitive Christianity with Egyptian mysteries. Rosencreuz would therefore only have been initiated into and become the Grand Master of an already existing order instead of being its founder.

In point of fact, what was known in the early 17th century as the "Society of Rosicrucians" (Rosenkreuzer) was most likely a number of isolated individuals who held certain views in common (which apparently was their only bond of union). There is no trace of a society holding meetings, or having officers. So far as the numerous works are concerned, it is evident that the writers who posed as Rosicrucians were moral and religious reformers, and utilized the technicalities of chemistry (alchemy), and the sciences generally, as media through which to make known their opinions. Their writings included a flavour of mysticism or occultism promotive of inquiry and suggestive of hidden meanings discernible or discoverable only by adepts.

The publication of The Fama Fraternitas of the Meritorious Order of the Rosy Cross (1614), The Confession of the Rosicrucian Fraternity (1615), and The Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosenkreuz (1616) caused immense excitement throughout Europe, and they not only led to many re-issues, but were followed by numerous pamphlets, favourable and otherwise, whose authors generally knew little of the real aims of the original author (and doubtless in not a few cases amused themselves at the expense of the public). It is probable that the first work was circulated in manuscript form about 1610, according to historical records, but if so, there was no mention of the cult before that decade. In fact, research indicates that all three documents, including the concept of the Rosicrucian Order, were probably the creation of theologian Johann Valentin Andrea (1586-1654). He subsequently described Rosicrucianism as a Ludibrium.

The authors of the Rosicrucian works generally favoured Lutheranism as opposed to Roman Catholicism. Others, like John Heydon, admitted they were not Rosicrucians, but under attractive and suggestive titles to their works sought to make Hermeticism and other curious studies more useful and popular, and succeeded, for a time at least.

Other famous persons considered to be rosicrucianists were: Raimundo Lulio, Newton, Miguel Servet (well-known defender of the freedom of conscience) Leibnitz, Leonardo da Vinci, Descartes, Paracelso, Beethoven.

The curious legend, in which the fabulous origin of the so-called society was enshrined (Christian Rosenkreuz had discovered the secret wisdom of the East on a pilgrimage in the 15th century), was so improbable, though ingenious, that the genesis of the Rosicrucians was generally overlooked or ignored in the writings of the time. And it is because those strange legends that it's hard to really know how the rosicrucianism started, many of their legends being more metaphorical. For example the opening of Rosenkreuzs tomb is thought to be only a way of refering to the cicles in nature.

Influence on Freemasonry

The influence that Rosicrucianism had in the modernizing of ancient Freemasonry early in the 18th century must have been slight, if any, though it is likely that as the century advanced, and additional ceremonies were grafted on to the first three degrees, Rosicrucian tenets were occasionally introduced into the later rituals. So far, however, as the real foundation ceremonies of Craft Masonry are concerned, whether before or after the premier Grand Lodge was formed, it is most unlikely that such a society as the Freemasons would adopt anything of a really distinctive character from any other organization.

www.crystalinks.com...

Opus Dei

Reply to an e-mail i sent them

Dear xxxxxx xxxx

Thank you for the message. On the general level of information about Opus Dei, I expect you already know something about it, judging from your e-mail.

However, I attach a file (emailleaflet) with summary information. If you print it off you should find a leaflet that folds into three. If you are looking for a handbook on Opus Dei - one which deals with its organisation, aims, history, how one joins, etc. at greater length - I would recommend "What is Opus Dei?" by Dominique Le Tourneau, published by Gracewing and also available from Scepter - see the insert (emailinsert).

As regards how one would go about joining Opus Dei; the answer would be, after getting to know it for a reasonable time, receiving spiritual guidance, speaking to members, you could (if you wished) ask about joining: to join, one writes a letter. It is best to get to know Opus Dei first because joining implies various commitments - e.g. setting aside times for prayer during the day, daily Mass, spiritual reading, etc., and you normally have to be trying to do these things by the time you are ready to join.

The first step would be to get in touch with a centre of Opus Dei; there are centres of Opus Dei in London, Manchester, Oxford and Glasgow, and members in other places. I attach more information in the "P.S." to this message. At these centres, and in some other places, e.g. parish churches, they organise cycles of talks, evenings of recollection (a good way to begin your acquaintance with Opus Dei is to attend one of these), retreats, all this formation designed to help you keep presence of God at work and in the home, and to try to make into something worthy to be offered up to God. There is also the opportunity to receive individual spiritual guidance.

You are also welcome to drop in at this office if ever you are in London. In the meantime, there is an "information handbook" on Opus Dei online at www.geocities.com/info_opus_dei/opus-dei-en.htm - this is quite detailed.

In the meantime there is information about Opus Dei on a plethora of websites, but the one I recommend is www.opusdei.org.uk. There is a website about St Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, at www.josemariaescriva.info... In addition to that you can take a look at the writings of St Josemaria at www.escrivaworks.org.

With best wishes
--
Andrew Soane

P.S. Opus Dei in Britain

Opus Dei’s first corporate work of apostolate in Great Britain, in 1952, was Netherhall House, an inter-collegiate university residence for men in Hampstead, London. The Queen Mother opened a larger purpose-built extension in 1966, and a final phase was opened by the Duchess of Kent in 1995. Netherhall House admits students of all faiths and none.

Other student residences in Britain are Ashwell House (also in London), Greygarth Hall and Coniston Hall (both in Manchester). There are also two smaller centres in Oxford that organise activities for students: Grandpont House and Winton.

The two conference centres are venues for a variety of courses for the general public, including preached retreats. Catering education centres such as Lakefield, in London, offer NVQ courses for school leavers wishing to gain qualifications for the hospitality industry.

As well as on-going adult Christian formation, Opus Dei centres organise courses and seminars on spiritual, moral, educational and cultural themes. A number run activities for young people, examples being Kelston Club and Tamezin Club both London) and Dunreath (Glasgow).

Many of these centres have websites: try googling them by name (warning: not all of them do)

[edit on 6-4-2005 by infinite]

So far we have uncovered alot of information regarding freemasonry and Opus Dei. Rosicrucians and Skull and Bones have been researched aswell, still going on, and we are gaining alot of information by the day.

We have new members to the team, who would like to help out on the hunt!

*cues new members*

What is Opus Dei? The Alternative Version

What is Opus Dei? The Alternative Version
By M. Miki, former male numerary, Brazil, São Paulo

Introduction

In this text I would like to discuss Opus Dei (or The Work) and my aim is to give support to former members. Each of the histories of former members is unique, but at the same time the histories could be quite similar. For this reason, I decided not to tell my own personal history, but my personal questions, insights and thoughts about Opus Dei.

I believe that to outsiders who do not belong to Opus Dei, some questions receive more attention than others, but in my opinion are not so important, for example, the cilice and the disciplines. In my opinion, it is more important to discuss other things, like the manipulation of the mind.

In this text, I will answer the question: “What is Opus Dei?” For the former member, an explanation of this question can give support to the existential conflict. Many times, the former member can not rebuild his own life, because this question acts like an anchor. If we can’t give an answer to this question and many others related to Opus Dei, it will be very difficult to go ahead in life to develop other personal projects. I hope the former members, especially the numeraries, receive some support from this text. I don’t want to be a model to anyone. I only want give an alternative vision. If you don’t like what you read in this text, there is no problem. My desire is that the former member find his own answers about Opus Dei and with these answers I hope the former member can be born again.


The Problem

At first, we will introduce the problem about Opus Dei by asking some questions.
How could an institution have so many different opinions about it? Some people love it. Some people hate it. Is it a matter of personal preference? Or it is like supporting a baseball team or something else? Is it only a matter of faith? Is it like saying “Believe it or not”?

These different positions about Opus Dei can be defended by two types of groups. The people who support Opus Dei say the founder of Opus Dei, Escriva, gave Catholics the option of sanctity different from the way of monks, nuns, priests etc. Escriva’s message was that the ordinary person, who has a job or takes care of the home, can become a saint. Catholics didn’t have this option of life before the foundation of Opus Dei. With this revolutionary message, Catholics can offer their work to God. A professional and job well done is an offering to God. With the message of Escriva, people can approach God and do activities like participate in the community, go to the mass, pray in a church etc. These are good things that we can’t deny.

On the other side, there are people who were manipulated by this institution for years and many were expelled for some simple excuse. Others suffered from depression and were asked to leave this organization. Most of the people that we are talking about were numeraries. These facts can´t be denied either. The defenders of Opus Dei could say that it is normal -- that there are human errors in a Divine Institution like Opus Dei. But now we know that these types of error are very common (there are lots of testimonies around the world) and it is no longer possible to accept this kind of apology. Other people say that Opus Dei uses some questionable practices like alienation from their families, control of information and the environment etc.

With these facts in our hands, we can defend or we can condemn this institution. With this in mind, is it really possible to make a productive discussion about Opus Dei? Who is right? Is everybody right? Is everybody wrong? Is it a matter of framework? Depending on the context, are you right and he is wrong?

www.odan.org...

Opus Dei is often described in the media as “cult-like.” Opus Dei numerary Meg Kates' statement, “Members are free to come, free to go, free to participate, free not to, free to walk right out the door, free to stay” [1] is deceptive. The true personal freedom of numerary members, who make up 25-30% of all members, is hindered by the following controls that are put into place by Opus Dei. The following table illustrates how Opus Dei’s methods resemble those used by cults. It uses Steve Hassan’s BITE model (Behavior, Information, Thought and Emotional) of mind control described in Releasing the Bonds, Empowering People to Think for Themselves [2] as the basis for comparison.

www.odan.org...

6. Q: What are the negative things in Opus Dei?

A: In short:

* The Fascist ideology in Escriva's teachings. The fundamentalism. The
* Intolerance towards other religions.
* The dishonesty.
* The danger inherent in the undemocratic structure of blindly following orders.
* The danger inherent in the psychological control they have of their members due to the ``weekly chat'' where they have to tell the innermost details of their souls to their spiritual leaders.
* The aggressive and manipulative way in which they try to catch new members.
* The evil character of the founder.
* The fact that they do not reveal their true goals and keep a lot of material secret from the public.
* The smug thinking of belonging to an elite.

www.mond.at...

A Description of Control

DiNicola joined as a freshman student at Boston College. She moved into the Opus Dei center near the school and began living the life of discipline of an Opus Dei numerary.

She says her daily activities were precisely mapped out, some of her incoming and outgoing mail was read, expenditures were required to be accounted for, reading and television viewing were restricted, and she had to discuss with her spiritual director anytime she wanted to walk outside the center. She says she also was discouraged from confessing her sins to non-Opus priests. "It wasn't presented as an optional thing, you were told you need to obey your directors in everything." says DiNicola.

Like Julie, who asked that her real name not be used, DiNicola says she thought she was happy with Opus Dei life. But also like Julie, her family was having problems with it.

"Over a long period of time, our daughter's personality changed and we had a feeling whatever she was involved in was not good. She had become withdrawn from the family. That had never happened before," says her mother, Dianne DiNicola, who helped found and runs the nonprofit Opus Dei Awareness Network to inform the public about the group's practices.

"Tammy called Opus Dei her new family," says the mother. "You couldn't reason with her. She'd decided this was her life. When your environment is controlled, you stop thinking critically about things. She was not making free choices."

DiNicola decided to leave Opus Dei after the family staged an intervention, her mother says. "A person told her about all aspects of Opus Dei and she started thinking critically and she decided she wanted to leave."

Dianne DiNicola says her daughter's experiences were similar to those of hundreds of other men and women with whom she has spoken. "We are contacted almost every day, by e-mail, phone, mail, and fax," she says. "We've heard from so many people who say the exact same thing. After nine years of hearing people telling me the same thing, that has a lot of weight."

www.rickross.com...

Practices of Opus Dei

Followers of Opus Dei meet for a group meeting weekly to converse about their participation in the movemment. They also are required to speak frequently to their Opus Dei director about spiritual matters and are expected to regularly go to an Opus Dei priest for confession. Opus Dei members who are highly involved in the organization usually follow a strict schedule of daily prayer, spiritual readings, and mortification. (See Numeraries below.)

One of the most controversial practices of some Opus Dei members is their regular self-mortification, which involves fasting, self-flagellation, and their frequent wearing of a type of cicile (a spiked leg band.) 9 Self-mortification was once common in the Church, but has become fairly rare in Catholic practices. Followers of the Work feel that self-mortification is a way to be reminded of what the Lord endured. 10 Critics believe that these practices are dangerous and similar to cult-like behavior.

Many members of Opus Dei live in the group's residential houses. In the United States, the group has 64 centers in 17 cities. 11 These residences are separated into men's and women's quarters. The separation of the sexes is an important aspect in the practices of Opus Dei. Men and women "numerary" members (see definition below) are allowed very little contact with one another. 12 "Assistant numeraries" are women whose role in Opus Dei is to do the domestic work around the residential centers. No men are assigned these duties. While critics argue that this is an example of how some beliefs of Opus Dei are demeaning to women, supporters of the group do not believe that this is true. These people feel that the women perform domestic chores gladly and are able to find God in these tasks, which is the true message behind Opus Dei.

Like all religions, finding new dedicated members is imperative to the group's success. In Opus Dei, a person does not apply for membership, but is recruited by the order, which is called "fishing." 13 A high proportion of "fishing" takes place at Catholic secondary schools and universities. 14 Opus Dei has formed several colleges around the world that help to spread Escriva's message. Opus Dei receives a lot of criticism for its recruitment tactics.

religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu...

hey team i want to think infinite for letting me join this project. I just want to say i am really interested in this and every male in my family is a mason and i am a non practicing mason. im about to get my research started on the bohemian club.but before i just wanted to give a list of secret societies.

Catholic Knights - Catholic Knights of America is a fraternal benefit society for Catholics.
Druids - This is the United Ancient Order of Druids. It was founded in London in 1781. Pure paganism, they are founded on reason and sound morality. They imply that their religion is older and superior to Christianity. The greatest of all Druid teachers was Merlin. His Seven Precepts are considered the moral way to live a life: (1) Labor diligently to acquire knowledge for it is power; (2) When in authority decide reasonably, for thine authority may cease; (3) Bear with fortitude the ills of life, remembering that no mortal sorrow is perpetual; (4) Love virtue-for it bringeth peace; (5) Abhor vice-for it bringeth evil upon it; (6) Obey those in authority in all just things, that virtue may be exalted; and (7) Cultivate the social virtues, so shalt thou be beloved by all men.
Elks (Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks) - The Elks would probably never have existed if the New York state legislature did not pass a law in 1866 which closed all the saloons on Sunday. A group of sociable actors met on Sundays in their "drinking society" which they called the Jolly Cork. They later changed their name. The order was founded on February 16, 1868. There is some Masonic influence. The BPOE used to be limited to white male citizens of the U.S. who believe in the existence of God.

Foresters - Over the years, the Foresters had split into several branches: The Independent Order of Foresters, Catholic Order of Foresters, and Ancient Order of Foresters. The Ancient Order of Foresters claims to have begun in 1798, but historical records show its beginning as 1813. For its secret ritual, the Foresters used the legends of Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Little John, and the Merrie Men.
Freemasonry - Freemasonry is the largest international secret society. Legendary Masonry goes back to the building of King Solomon's temple when Hiram Abiff, a mason, is said to have chosen death rather than reveal the secret Masonic word. The realistic beginnings of modern Freemasonry can be found in the crafts of working masons in medieval times. They adapted a system of signs and passwords which served the purpose of a union card. Twelve American Presidents have been Freemasons: Washington, Jackson, Monroe, Polk, A. Johnson, Garfield, McKinley, T. Roosevelt, Taft, Harding, F.D.R., and Truman. Others believed to be, or have been Freemasons: Ben Franklin, Charles Lindbergh, John Pershing, Robert J. Dole, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Mark Twain, and Cy Young.
Grotto - This is the Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm. Master Masons may join this organization. It imitates the Shrine. The ritual is supposedly founded on a very ancient Persian manuscript that was discovered in a secret vault in one of the sacred temples of Teheran, the City of Mystery.
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn - This order formed in England at the end of the 19th century. Members believed it was possible to control the forces of nature with magic. Yeats, the poet, and Aleister Crowley were members. Crowley supposedly accomplished the ability to become invisible. Israel Regardie was one of the most important figures in the Golden Dawn. He published many of the rituals and magical material. It is the synthesis of mythical and magical ideas that were adapted from numerous sources such as: Fama Fraternitatis, Egyptian Book of the Dead, Cornelius Agrippa, Tycho Brahe, and John Dee. It was conceived to be composed of three degrees, each of which corresponds to an entire order. The First Degree and Order is the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The Second Degree and Order is the Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis. Aleister Crowley was an early adept in the Second Degree. The Third is the Ordo Argentei Astri.
Hibernians (Ancient Order of Hibernians) - The AOH was organized in the United States on May 4, 1836 in New York City. The founding of the AOH has been placed as early as 1565 in Ireland. However, the latter date has not been substantiated. The AOH has been a Catholic organization which provides benefits (e.g., relief, burial, sick) to their members. John F. Kennedy became a member in 1947.

Illuminati - The Illuminati was first seen in the 15th century by occultists proclaiming to have wisdom from a higher source. Illuminati means, "Intellectually inspired." The secret society became strong in 18th century Germany. It adopted many different grades of Freemasonry. It claimed to be a blend of philanthropy and mysticism. Goethe was a member of the Bavarian Illuminati. They placed the fear of Masons and Jews within the extreme right wing political camps. Conspiracies were spun about the forces of order, bureaucracy, and repression. People soon realized that espionage was their main focus, then the French Revolution arrived and changed the country. The only people who mention the Illuminati anymore is the John Birch Society.
Job's Daughters - Teenage girls who are related to Master Masons can apply for membership in Job's Daughters. Mrs. Ethel T. W. Mick was the founder. The emblems of the Order are the white dove, urn of incense, lilies of the valley, and horn of plenty.

Knights of the Golden Eagle - Founded by John E. Burbage of Baltimore, Maryland in 1873. There were three degrees: Pilgrim, Knight, and Crusader. Combination of secret society and religious movement (Evangelical Protestant). The order offered sick and funeral benefits. The individual who shot President McKinley was supposedly a member of the Cleveland Lodge.

Knights of Columbus - This is the world's largest organization of Catholic men and their families. It was founded in 1882. They looked to the Masonic Lodge for its model. They use passwords, signs, and grips. They take pride in providing insurance policies to members. There are currently about 11,000 councils internationally.
Knights of Malta - Introduced into the U.S.A. in 1870. This order welcomed all Protestants and were aggressively anti-Catholic. The Knights of Malta is not the same as the Order of Knights of Malta which forms one of the degrees of the York rite of Freemasonry.

Knights of Pythias - The Order of Knights of Pythias was founded in 1864. They claim to promote friendship among men and to help relieve people's suffering. It bases its rituals on the story of Damon and Pythias. It borrowed elements from the Masons and Red Men. Today there are about 2000 lodges in the USA and Canada. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was initiated into the Knights of Pythias in 1936 in a special ceremony in the diplomatic reception room of the white house.
Knights Templar - Originally, these people were members of a religious military order founded by the Crusaders in Jerusalem about 1118. Also known as The Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon. They wore a white tunic with a red cross on the front (sounds familiar). They were not allowed any association with women and were also Roman Catholic. Some believe that the Templars, at one time, possessed the Shroud of Turin. In 1314, the Master of the Temple of Solomon (Jacques de Molay) was executed. Some feel that the Templars disbanded at this time while others believe they went to Scotland and began the first of the Ancient Scottish Rite of Masons. Today they are a part of the Masonic order. The Knights Templar is equal to the 32nd degree Mason and gives them the opportunity to join the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Ku Klux Klan - The society was organized at Pulaski, Giles County, Tennessee, in June, 1866. It was originally designed as a diversion for young men, to help relieve the dulness immediately following the Civil War. It had been reported that the decision for a name occurred during the society's second meeting. The founder's wished to use the name "Kukloi" from the Greek word kuklos, meaning a band or circle. Someone else in the group suggested Ku Klux, and Klan was added to complete the alliteration.
Modern Woodmen of America - Joseph Root began the Modern Woodmen around 1883. It was primarily an insurance society with certain lodge features. Root had been associated with the Masons, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, and others. His intentions of this new order was to bring together Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants, and agnostics and atheists.
Moose (Loyal Order of Moose) - The Moose Lodge was founded in 1888. Around the beginning of the 20th century, the Moose found themselves in a membership slump. The order was in dire straights until James J. Davis began working for the Moose and enrolling thousands of new members. He was responsible for pulling the Moose out of a major membership slump. The Moose Lodge was responsible for providing sick benefits and a small death benefit to its members. There was even a city for dependents of deceased Moose and for the aged called Mooseheart, which was in Illinois. Mooseheart is still in existance.

National Ancient Order of Hibernians - The Ancient Order of Hibernians was organized on May 4, 1836 in New York City. However, its founding has been placed as early as 1565 in Ireland. In 16th century Ireland, the Catholic priest was a hunted man. To protect the priesthood and preserve the practice of their religion, certain Irishmen formed themselves into groups of Ribbonmen, the forerunners of the Hibernians. Members were required to be of Irish birth or descent. They had their secrecy and passwords. JFK joined the Order in 1947.
National Grange (Order of the Patrons of Husbandry) - The founder of the Grange, Oliver Hudson Kelley, was asked by President Andrew Johnson to tour the South to see what steps could be taken to rehabilitate the war devastated rural areas. Kelley, a Freemason himself, proposed that a new secret society dedicated to the advancement of rural life would help serve this purpose. The Order was founded in Fredonia, New York, in 1867. The Masonic fraternity was its model, but it was open to both men and women. From the beginning, meetings of the Granges were not only ritualistic but educational. In some respects, the Grange resembles a typical secret society.
Odd Fellows - This is the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The first recorded Lodge of Odd Fellows began in England in 1745. Historically, this organization was started to help fellow members find employment when out of work. They were known as the poor man's Masonry. The initiate must believe in the Supreme Being.
Order of Owls - This order was founded in 1904 by John W. Talbot in South Bend, Indiana. Their main purpose was "To assist each other in business, to help each other in obtaining employment, to assist the widows and orphans of our brothers, to give mutual aid to our brothers in any way that they may need, and assemble for mutual pleasure and entertainment." The Owls did not have any religiousness. Their local lodge was called a "nest" and they have the usual secret ritual, grips, and passwords. Their national headquarters was in Hartford, Connecticut.

P.E.O. Sisterhood - There is an unusual degree of secrecy regarding the P.E.O., their name, and rituals. It is not for certain, but their initials are thought to stand for Protect Each Other. The P.E.O. Sisterhood is considered a woman's secret society with it's main purposes as social and educational. It was was founded in 1869 in Iowa.

Red Men (Improved Order of Red Men) - This order claimed to be the oldest secret society of purely American origin. However, it was actually founded in Baltimore, Maryland in 1834. A Society of Red Men was founded in 1813, but the Improved Order of Red Men sought to distance itself from the Society of Red Men due to its known love of the "fire water." Indian nomenclature was established in the Improved Order. Local tribes met in wigwams and initiated palefaces into their secrets upon payment of wampum. The Improved order was modeled after the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and used the legend of Hiram Abiff (of Masonic legend) - which became its third degree.

Rosicrucians-The Rosicrucians state that their order began in 14th century Europe. It was during this time that Christian Rosencreuz, after traveling in Asia and Africa, attained many secrets. Rosencreuz was credited for starting the organization (Rose Croix or Rosie Cross). The Rosicrucians remained extremely secretive until the 17th century when two books were published: Fama Fraternitatus laudabilis Ordinis Rosaecrusis (The Report of the Laudable Fraternity of Rosicrucians) and Confessio Fraternitatis (The Confession of the Fraternity). Sir Francis Bacon is considered to be Imperator of the Rosicrucians during the late 16th and early 17 century. Sir Isaac Newton is also said to have been a Rosicrucian. The Rosicrucians are devoted to the pursuit of esoteric wisdom. They combine elements of Egyptian Hermeticism, Gnosticism, Jewish Cabalism, and other occult beliefs and practices. There is the Rosicrucian Fellowship and AMORC (Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis).
Shrine-The Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine limits membership to Masons who have achieved the 32nd degree of the Scottish rite or the Knights Templar of the York rite but is not associated with Freemasonry. The shrine was invented as a fun drinking society in 1870. Later, the Shriners decided to install a humanitarian aspect to their organization. In 1920, it was proposed that they would establish a hospital to care for crippled children. Shriners are also recognized for wearing the red fez.
United Order of the Golden Cross- The order was founded by Dr. J. H. Morgan in New England in 1876. It consisted of men and women who agreed to abstain from alcoholic beverages. It was organized by Freemasons who wanted to form an economical and safe method of providing life insurance to its members. Its strength lied in New England but was also located in New York, District of Columbia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. It claimed to be one (if not the first) of the societies to admit women on an equal rank as men.
Woodmen (Modern Woodmen of America) - This order was founded in 1883. The chief symbols were the beetle, ax, and wedge. Local lodges were called Camps and members were known as Neighbors.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I decided to check into this.

What is the Bohemian Grove? The Bohemian Grove is a 2700 acre redwood forest, located in Monte Rio, CA. It contains accommodation for 2000 people to "camp" in luxury. It is owned by the Bohemian Club.

What is the Bohemian Club? The Bohemian Club is a private. all male club, which is headquartered in the Bohemian building in San Francisco. It was formed in 1872 by men who sought shelter from the frontier culture (or lack of culture).

Who are the present members? The Club has evolved into an association of rich and powerful men, mostly of this country (there are similar organizations in other countries). Some artists are allowed to join (often at reduced rates), because of their social status and entertainment value. The membership list has included every Republican U.S. president (as well as some Democrats) since 1923, many cabinet officials, and director; & CEO's of large corporations, including major financial institutions.

What industries are represented among the members? Major military contractors, oil companies, banks (including the Federal Reserve), utilities (including nuclear power), and national media (broadcast and print) have high-ranking officials as club members or guests. Many members are, or have been, on the board of directors of several of these corporations. You should note that most of the above industries depend heavily on a relationship with government for their profitability.

www.sonomacountyfreepress.com...
www.geocities.com...



how do members get accepted-Not sure yet seems to be only rich political figures and artists.
history-Started to escape frontier culture and a form of leisure started by a journalist.
famous members - name any politician.
Rituals (if any)- Worshipping of a giant Owl statue(cant remember owls name. Supposedly gay sex and looking at kiddie porn and satan worshipping. But i think thats crap.
Symbols - The owl mostly even
founder - Some journalist guy ill get his name
ties - Bilderbergs, CFR
Size (i.e international, national, etc) -National(2000 members) very elite
Events - an "insane" man attacked the camp in a commando like way with a homemade grenade launcher a few guns a crossbow and a sword.

Bavarian Illuminati

It is difficult, in the modern English-speaking world, to determine exactly what the Illuminati of Bavaria really was. Although both John Robison and the Abbé Barruel 2 published their accusations and theories in English, the source documents have remained in their native German. Robison freely admitted that he had scanty knowledge of German and had derived all his information from other writers. 3 Unfortunately neither he nor Barruel were concerned with providing references for their sources. When they do quote from the papers and correspondence of the Order as published by the Bavarian government or the published works of Adam Weishaupt and Adolph Knigge, they also fail to provide context or citations.

Adam Weishaupt (1748 - 1830)
Adam Weishaupt was born February 6, 1748 at Ingolstadt and educated by the Jesuits. His appointment as Professor of Natural and Canon Law at the University of Ingolstadt in 1775, a position previously held by one of the recently disbanded Jesuits,4 gave, it is said, great offence to the clergy. "Weishaupt, whose views were cosmopolitan, and who knew and condemned the bigotry and superstitions of the Priests, established an opposing party in the University...." 5 Weishaupt was not then a freemason; he was initiated into a Lodge of Strict Observance, Lodge Theodore of Good Council (Theodor zum guten Rath), at Munich in 1777.
Most information regarding the rituals and objectives of the order is derived from papers and correspondence found in a search of Xavier Zwack's residence in Landshut on October 11, 1786, and a search of Baron Bassus's castle of Sondersdorf in Bavaria in 1787. 6 These documents were published by the Bavarian government, under the title: Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens, Munich, 1787. Perhaps the best English exposition on the Order is found in Chapter III of Vernon L. Stauffer's New England and the Bavarian Illuminati, pp. 142-228.

freemasonry.bcy.ca...

Illuminati (ĭlū'mĭnā'tī, –nä'tē) [Lat.,=enlightened], rationalistic society founded in Germany soon after 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, a professor at Ingolstadt, having close affinities with the Freemasons and seemingly organized on a Masonic plan. While briefly very popular among German rationalists, it had limited influence. The Roman Catholic Church, which Weishaupt left in his youth and rejoined before his death, condemned the Illuminati; in 1785 the Bavarian government dissolved the organization. It did not long survive. In Spain and Italy in the 15th and 16th cents. the term Illuminati, or Alumbrado, referred to persons claiming direct communion with the Holy Spirit, so asserting that outward forms of religious life are unnecessary. Their claims led to persecution by the Inquisition. Other groups using the name have included the Rosicrucians, and certain followers of Jakob Boehme and Emmanuel Swedenborg.

www.answers.com...



www.newadvent.org...

Illuminati

Orignal Members of the Bavarian Illuminati

Baader, Professor
Babo, Professor
Badorifer ("Livius")
Baierhamer ("Zoroaster" or "Confucius")
Bahrdt, Clergyman
Bajerhamer
Balderbusch, F. H.
Bart, Professor
Baron Bassus-in-Sandersdorf ("Hannibal")
Berger, Counsellor ("Cornelius Scipio")
Bode, F. H. ("Amelius")
Johann J. C. Bode
Braun, Canon
Burzes, Priest
Busche, F. H. ("Bayrd")
Baron de Busch
Constanza, Marquis de ("Diomedes")
Cossandey, Professor
Dachsel
Danzer, Canon
Dietrich (Mayor of Strasbourg)
Dilling, Counsellor
Dillis, Abbe
Drexi, Librarian
Adrien Duport
Ecker, Count ("Saladin")
Fischer, Magistrate
Frauenberger, Baron
Gaspar, Merchant ("Tycho Brahe")
Saint Germain
Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) ("Abaris")
Grunberger, Professor
Gunsheim, Count
Hertel, Canon ("Marius")
Hochinaer
Hoffstetter, Surveyor of Roads
Kaitner, Lieutenant
Kapfinger ("Thales")
Knigge, Adolph Franz Friedrich Ludwid Baron Von ("Philo")
Kreitmaier, Prince
Kundi, Professor
Kundler, Professor
Lange ("Tamerlane")
Leiberhauer, Priest
Losi ("Ludovicus Bavarus")
Lowling, Professor
Massenhausen, Count Hertel Poltroon Mandl ("Ajax") (treasurer)
Mauvillon, Colonel
Meggenhoff, Paymaster ("Sulla")
Baron Mengenhofen ("Sylla")
Michel ("Timon")
Mirabeau, Count Gabriel Riqueti (1749-1791) ("Cornelius Scipio")
Morausky, Count
Morgellan, Count
Christop Friedrich Nicholai (1733-1811) ("Lucian") (Bookseller)
Orleans, Duke.
Ow, Major
Tallyrand de Perigord (Abbe)
Johann Heinrich ("Henry") Pestalozzi (1746-1827) ("Alfred")
Pfelt ("Cicero")
Pfruntz, Priest
Renner, Professor
Rothschild
Sauer ("Attila")
Savioli, Count ("Brutus")
Baron von Schroeckenstein ("Mahomed")
Seefeld, Count
Socher, School Inspector ("Hermes Trismegistus")
Steger ("Shaftesbury")
Strobi, Bookseller
Torring, Count
Tropponero, Zuschwartz ("Coriolanus")
Utschneider, Professor
Vachency, Councellor
Adam Weishaupt, Professor ("Spartacus")
Werner, Counsellor
Westenrieder, Professor ("Pythagoras")
Wortz, Apothecary
Kirchenrat Karl Kasimir Wundt (1744-1784) ("Raphael")
(the grandfather of Wilhelm Wundt)
Zwack, Herr von (Lawyer) ("Cato")

Locations of Illuminati Lodges: Aix-la-Chappelle (2), Alsace (many), America (several), Ancona, Anspach, Austria (14), Bartschied, Bonn (4), Brunswick, Buchenwerter, Calbe, Carisruhe, Cassel, Cologne, Courland, (many), Cousel, Deuxponts, Dresden (4), Dusseldorff, Echstadt, England (8), Florence, France, Frankendahl, Frankfort, Hahrenberg, Holland (many), Hanover, Heidelberg, Hesse (many), Ingolstadt, Livonia (many), Magdenburgh, Mannheim, Mentz (2), Monpeliard, Munich, Naples, Neuwied (2), Osnabruck, Poland (many), Rome, Upper Saxony (several), Scotland (2), Spire, Strasburgh (5), Stutgard (3), Switzerland (many), Treves (2), Turin, Vienna (4), Warsaw (2), Weimar, Westphalia (several) and Worms.

www.biblebelievers.org.au...

how do members get accepted -by getting past the first degree which is done by mastering the magic rituals.
history -formed in england at the end of the 19th century.
Rituals (if any) - study of alchemy and other forms of magic
Symbols
founder
ties - masonry, OTO
Size (i.e international, national, etc)
Events
famous members- Aleister Crowley, John Dee, Yates

This order formed in England at the end of the 19th century. Members believed it was possible to control the forces of nature with magic. Yeats, the poet, and Aleister Crowley were members. Crowley supposedly accomplished the ability to become invisible. Israel Regardie was one of the most important figures in the Golden Dawn. He published many of the rituals and magical material. It is the synthesis of mythical and magical ideas that were adapted from numerous sources such as: Fama Fraternitatis, Egyptian Book of the Dead, Cornelius Agrippa, Tycho Brahe, and John Dee. It was conceived to be composed of three degrees, each of which corresponds to an entire order. The First Degree and Order is the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The Second Degree and Order is the Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis. Aleister Crowley was an early adept in the Second Degree. The Third is the Ordo Argentei Astri.

ill edit the rest in.