Customer Reviews

Secret Societies

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This book functions more as a (very) condensed encyclopedia than any sort of treatise into the phenomenon of secret societies in general. Thus the title is misleading because the book fails to reach any global conclusions about why people join secret societies, why they've appeared throughout history and in all parts of the world, and how they continue to remain active for centuries. Unfortunately this is apparently what Arkon Daraul is trying to achieve.

Instead what we have here is a list of a few secret societies that have been selected by the author, and each is described (often briefly) in its own chapter, in encyclopedic form. So we get useful introductions to a number of groups, including some I wasn't familiar with, like the bizarre Castrators of Russia or the Tongs of China. Daraul also provides interesting treatments of groups that I thought were religions, like Sufism and Mithraism, and paints them as secret societies instead. In fact, he does this with several groups that most people would think were religious orders. The problem is that the write-up of each group serves as a thin introduction only (although it does look like Daraul has done his homework on initiation rituals). After the intro and a small amount of historical background, there are no deeper insights into each group, or into secret societies in general. So while this book is a very intriguing read, it's kind of a tease because it leaves you wanting (much) more information. I suggest that this book be used as a starting off point to introduce yourself to these weird societies. If any of them spark your interest, dig up more specific information elsewhere.

I purchased this item sight unseen, based upon the website hype and the fact that it was in the bargain bin. Not at all what I expected. Pretty academic with a sociologist's focus on rituals and belief. 23 'Secret Societies' each receive about 10 pages of treatment. Half of each essay is devoted to the specifics of 'initiation rituals' in each sect, the other half to lore related to the sect or the sect's place in history. The author's thesis is that, throughout history, all secret society initiation rites are very similar and are all about 'brainwashing'. Pretty wide coverage including: the Assassins, Knights Templar, Sufi, Gnostics, Witches, Rosicrucians, and Tongs. Some of my other favorite sects/cults are missing. Also missing (despite the books academic patina) are footnotes. However, there IS an Index. The original copyright of this book is 1961. I read a 1998 reprint published by MJF books.