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29-407: A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla warfare insurgencies, that hide their activities and memberships but maintain a public presence. The exact qualifications for labeling

58-556: A Catholic (or Christian or "white") form of Freemasonry . Other critics label Opus Dei as "Holy Mafia" or "Santa Mafia" The National Christian Association (1868–1983) is an example of an organization opposed to secret societies. Because some secret societies have political aims, they are illegal in several countries. Italy ( Constitution of Italy, Section 2, Articles 13–28 ) and Poland, for example, ban secret political parties and political organizations in their constitutions. Many student societies established on university campuses in

87-488: A group a secret society are disputed, but definitions generally rely on the degree to which the organization insists on secrecy , and might involve the retention and transmission of secret knowledge, the denial of membership or knowledge of the group, the creation of personal bonds between members of the organization, and the use of secret rites or rituals which solidify members of the group . Anthropologically and historically, secret societies have been deeply interlinked with

116-685: A major role in Chinese affairs for centuries. They were a key aspect of the Anti-Qing sentiments of the 20th century. After the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, they were tacitly supported by and actively collaborated with the Nationalist government. Having played prominent roles in history, they were targeted by the anti-secret society campaigns of the newly established government of the People's Republic of China during

145-451: A political incandescence by the speeches to successive toasts'. Over the course of the Pitt Club's first few decades, the political element diminished whilst the social element increased. By '1868, at the latest, the Pitt Club [had] ceased from all political activity and . . . elected members to its social advantages without any regards whatever to considerations of political party'. Though

174-695: A secret society as an organization that: Historian Richard B. Spence of the University of Idaho offered a similar three-pronged definition: Spence also proposes a sub-category of "Elite Secret Societies" (composed of high-income or socially influential people) and notes that secret societies have a frequent if not universal tendency towards factionalism, infighting, and claiming origins older than can be reliably documented. Spence's definition includes groups traditionally thought of as secret societies ( Freemasons and Rosicrucians ) and other groups not so traditionally classified such as certain organized crime cabals (

203-495: A wall at Bowling-Green House in Putney , Pitt's place of death, which was pulled down in 1932. For most of the century after its purchase of 7a Jesus Lane, the Club occupied the whole of the prominent neo-classical building. The clubhouse was designated a Grade II listed building in 1950. As the Club went through mounting financial difficulties in the 1990s, it sold a 25-year leasehold on

232-547: Is known as intelligence analysis or intelligence assessment . Intelligence agencies can provide the following services for their national governments. There is a distinction between "security intelligence" and "foreign intelligence". Security intelligence pertains to domestic threats, including terrorism and espionage. Foreign intelligence involves information collection relating to the political, or economic activities of foreign states. Some agencies have been involved in assassination , arms trafficking , coups d'état , and

261-587: Is that of The Philomaths , which is now a legitimate academic association founded on a strict selection of its members. While their existence had been speculated for years, Internet-based secret societies first became known to the public in 2012 when Cicada 3301 began recruiting from the public via Internet-based puzzles. The goals of the society remain unknown, but it is believed to be involved in cryptography . The following contemporary and historic secret societies formed in Africa, by country: Secret societies played

290-665: Is the secret society of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers . Notable examples in Canada include Episkopon at the University of Toronto 's Trinity College , and the Society of Thoth at the University of British Columbia . Secret societies are disallowed in a few colleges. The Virginia Military Institute has rules that no cadet may join a secret society, and secret societies have been banned at Oberlin College from 1847 to

319-480: The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Seventh-day Adventists . California drought manipulation Intelligence agencies Means of information gathering are both overt and covert and may include espionage , communication interception , cryptanalysis , cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public sources. The assembly and propagation of this information

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348-706: The 1950s. Examples of Chinese secret societies include: Secret societies in India include: Secret societies in Japan include: Secret societies in Malaysia include: Secret societies in the Philippines include: Secret societies in Australia include: Several secret societies existing across Europe, including: Other organizations are listed by country. Secret societies in Canada that are non-collegiate include: Secret societies in

377-833: The 19th century. British universities have a long history of secret societies or quasi-secret clubs, such as The Pitt Club at Cambridge University , Bullingdon Club at Oxford University , the Kate Kennedy Club , The Kensington Club and the Praetorian Club at the University of St Andrews , and the 16' Club at St David's College . Another British secret society is the Cambridge Apostles , founded as an essay and debating society in 1820. Not all British universities host solely academic secret societies; both The Night Climbers of Cambridge and The Night Climbers of Oxford require both brains and brawn. In France, Vandermonde

406-538: The Club had 'become nearly normal again, "the only real trouble", according to the Minutes, "being the horrible scarcity of whisky '". The premises were commandeered during the Second World War and made available to the public. One observer, A. S. F. Gow , remarked at the time that the Pitt Club's 'eponymous hero looks down from the pediment, with a nose visibly tiptilted in disgust, upon an enormous notice displaying

435-524: The Club's raison d'être changed in its early years, it 'was from the first, and has always remained, an undergraduate organization'. The Pitt Club has been in almost continuous operation since its founding. During the First World War , however, the Club's existence became increasingly tenuous as more Cambridge men joined the forces. It temporarily closed in October 1917 but reopened in early 1919. By 1920,

464-534: The Club's premises have been at 7a Jesus Lane . The building was originally designed in 1863 as 'Roman (improved Turkish) Baths' by Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt for the Roman Bath Co Ltd. The baths were an extremely short-lived venture, opening in late February 1863 and closing by December of that year. After the closure, a liquidation sale ensued, and the building was auctioned off in 1865, being bought by its own architect, Wyatt, for £2,700. He rented out half of

493-564: The Exam Ethics Project lobby group estimated that 115 students and teachers had been killed between 1993 and 2003. The Mandatory Monday Association is thought to operate out of a variety of Australian universities including the Australian Defence Force Academy . The Association has numerous chapters that meet only on Mondays to discuss business and carry out rituals. The only secret society abolished and then legalized

522-610: The Mafia ), religious groups ( Order of Assassins and Thelema ) and political movements ( Bolsheviks and Black Dragon Society ). Historian Jasper Ridley says that Freemasonry is "the world's most powerful secret Society". The organization " Opus Dei " ( Latin for "Work of God") is portrayed as a "secret society" of the Catholic Church . Critics such as the Jesuit Wladimir Ledóchowski sometimes refer to Opus Dei as

551-595: The United States have been considered secret societies. Perhaps one of the most famous secret collegiate societies is Skull and Bones at Yale University . The influence of undergraduate secret societies at colleges such as Harvard College , Cornell University , Florida State University , Dartmouth College , Emory University , the University of Chicago , the University of Virginia , Georgetown University , New York University , and Wellesley College has been publicly acknowledged, if anonymously and circumspectly, since

580-557: The United States that are non-collegiate include: The Catholic Church strongly opposed secret societies, especially the Freemasons . It did relent somewhat in the United States and allowed membership in labour unions and the Knights of Columbus , but not the Masons. Some Christian denominations continue to forbid their members from joining secret societies in the 21st century. Others example,

609-561: The University Pitt Club was intended 'to assist the local party organisations of the town of Cambridge to return worthy, that is to say, Tory , representatives to Parliament and to the Borough Council'. From the start, however, there was a social element as the Club's political events were combined with 'the pleasures of social intercourse at dinner, when party fervour among friends, dining in party uniform, might be warmed towards

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638-526: The building to the Pitt Club, and the other half to Orme's Billiards Rooms. In 1907, the Club bought the entire building. Following a fire in the same year, the interior of the Club was extensively renovated. There were further renovations in 1925, and the dining room was panelled in 1927. The large plaque of Pitt's head that adorns the pediment over the entrance to the Club was presented in February 1933 by General Sir Neill Malcolm . It had formerly been on

667-559: The concept of the Männerbund, the all-male "warrior-band" or "warrior-society" of pre-modern cultures (see H. Schurtz, Alterklassen und Männerbünde , Berlin, 1902; A. Van Gennep , The Rites of Passage , Chicago, 1960). A purported "family tree of secret societies" has been proposed, although it may not be comprehensive. Alan Axelrod , author of the International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders , defines

696-549: The ground floor of its building to the Pizza Express chain in October 1997, although the ground floor had been in use as a restaurant (once known as Xanadu), since at least 1982. The Pizza Express closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, and from 2023 The Kibou Japanese Kitchen & Bar occupies the ground floor. The Club now occupies the first floor of the building. Notable members of the club include: After 182 years of activity,

725-520: The legend " British Restaurant "'. As for the members, they were forced to seek alternative accommodation and eventually settled for temporary rooms above the post office in Trinity Street , which they called the Interim Club. On 7 November 2017, a referendum to elect women into the club passed. This did not pass without controversy, though, with only resident members being granted a vote. The Club

754-531: The placement of misinformation propaganda and other covert and clandestine operations to support their own or their governments' interests. Books Journals Pitt Club The University Pitt Club , popularly referred to as the Pitt Club , the UPC , or merely as Club , is a private members' club of the University of Cambridge . It was formerly male-only, and has admitted women since 2017. The Pitt Club

783-471: The present, and at Princeton University since the beginning of the 20th century. Confraternities in Nigeria are secret-society-like student groups within higher education, some of which have histories of violence and organized crime. The exact death toll from confraternity activities is unclear. One estimate in 2002 was that 250 people had been killed in campus cult-related murders in the previous decade, while

812-424: Was a peripatetic organisation during its first few years, meeting variously in the rooms of members and in other venues. In 1841, it acquired rooms over the shop of Mr Richard Hutt, bookseller, at 29 Trinity Street , which it occupied until 1843. From 1843 until 1866, the Pitt Club's rooms were located over the furniture shop of a Mr Metcalfe at 74 Bridge Street , on the corner of All Saints' Passage. Since 1866,

841-565: Was founded in Michaelmas term 1835, named in honour of Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger , who had been a student at Pembroke College, Cambridge . It was originally intended as one of the Pitt Clubs , a series of political clubs set up across Great Britain , 'to do honour to the name and memory of Mr William Pitt, to uphold in general the political principles for which he stood'. In particular

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