8 Real Secret Societies

Secret societies inspire equal parts suspicion and envy. Are these shadowy organizations controlling the world behind closed doors, or whiling away the hours with playing cards and silly rituals?

In this episode of The List Show, host Erin McCarthy looks at the real, verifiable facts behind some secret (and not-so-secret) organizations, from the Illuminati to the Bohemian Club.

Image Credits:

Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain
Bohemian Grove (Binksternet)
Grove 1909 (Gabriel Moulin)
Russell (MarmadukePercy)
Skull & Bones (BoolaBoola2)
Scroll & Key (BetacommandBot)
Wolf's Head (BoolaBoola2)
Book & Snake (BetacommandBot)
Elizabethan Club (BoolaBoola2)
Weisthaupt (Rettinghaus)
John Robinson (Thomas Gun)
Barruel (William C. Minor)
Stonemasons (PKM)
Order of the Eastern Star (SarekOfVulcan)
CC 3.0
Owl Shrine (Aarkwilde)
CC 4.0
Aerial Grove (Brianhama)
Explorer's Club (Jonathan S Knowles)
Explorer's club interior (Rhododendrites)

Getty:
Skeleton in closet (Johner Images)
Graverobber (Hulton Archive)
Debate (Heritage Images)
Jefferson (Print Collector)
Oxford (Print Collector)
King Edward VIII (Hulton Archive)
Queen Mary (Culture Club)
Evelyn Waugh (Hulton Deutsch)
Cameron (Bruno Vincent)
Bottle smashing quote
(Topical Press Agency)
Boris Johnson (Neville Elder)
Mason initiation (Heritage Images)
Masons2 (Heritage Images)
Washington (Fine Art)
Mozart (Hulton Archive)
FDR (Library of Congress)
Houdini (Hulton Archive)
Churchill (Evening Standard)
Count Basie (Heritage Images)
Medgar Evers (Hulton Archive)
Crockett (Barney Burstein)
Aldrin (Heritage Images)
Oscar Wilde (W. and D. Downey)
Lindbergh (Library of Congress)
Marshall (Historical)
Masonic ritual (Hulton Archive)
Halloween decorations (Juan Silva)

[voxorox]

1. We don't know; it's secret.
2. We don't know; it's secret.
3. We don't know; it's secret.
4. We don't know; it's secret.
5. We don't know; it's secret.
6. We don't know; it's secret.
7. We don't know; it's secret.
8. We don't know; it's secret.

[SentientMeatbag]

I was hoping for a mention of the Bilderberg Group. It's a group of around 150 of the most powerful people in business and politics from Europe and North-America. The group meets annually for 2 to 4 days behind closed doors.

[therongjr]

Why would anyone want to be in a secret society? I'm perfectly happy to spend my time in peace and quiet by myself: an exclusive club on only one!

[teemusid]

As the great philosopher Julius(Groucho) Marx once said, "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member. "

[btetschner]

Excellent video, thank you so much for making it!

[jliller]

I remember when I was in college the fraternities and sororities would cover the windows of the rooms during their meetings, and lock the doors. That made me really despise them (more than I already did before going to college).

[lp-xlld]

Umberto Eco's novel FOUCALT'S PENDULUM centers on the idea of secret societies going to extremes...it's one of my favorite books of all time

[btetschner]

I went to Doane University, which was established the same year as The Bohemian Club! The newspaper is actually called The Owl there.

[claudiaxander]

Thank you for removing 9 and 10 as per our agreement/threat/cash gift/college place/insider share tip/bunker code.

[Hoshimaru]

My wife is actually a member of Eastern Star. And her father is a high ranked Mason. There are also a few other female Masonic organizations including Rainbow Girls, Amaranth, and the Queens of the Nile. There’s also a female chapter of the Shriners according to her.

[ericreativecuts]

I was in The Order of the Golden Dawn for a while. It was okay as secret societies go but the head of the order went egomaniac on us as is the unfortunate norm for these things

[btetschner]

I would frequent Mental Floss....but I do so much for these YouTube channels that I would need more than videos that cover some things....and sometimes too casually! It's not very impressive when I can add things to the videos on the spot!
If only Mental Floss gave more...

[Freddles]

My favorite secret society?? Club 33 in Disneyland. LOL

[indigokids]

Love research and history and all that stuff 😊

[bobbytalkingblues]

thanks for the insightful video. Could you please discuss the Round Table Group secret society established by Cecil John Rhodes in South Africa

[Apophis]

Doesn't Disney have their own club somewhere?

[VayaConCarne]

Considering that one of the four stated duties of Odd Fellowship is to bury the dead, it is offensive to accuse members of grave robbing without some kind of evidence. Odd Fellows provided for widows and orphans before Social Security was a thing. It just seems a grossly unnecessary slander.

[galvinstanley]

A real secret society is the one you've never heard of.

[elizabethtonovic]

This Millennial appreciated the Joshua Jackson reference!

[dylanplumley]

You forgotten to mention the "Benevolent Cult of the Flying Spaghetti Monster". It is the most powerful and feared secret society in the universe.