The Bilderberg Group has become controversial for one key reason: no press is allowed in the conference and no significant details concerning the topics discussed are ever officially released to the public. The group was originally started as a means of addressing a streak of anti-Americanism that was spreading through Europe following WWII, but over the years it appears to have morphed into a more broad discussion on reaching mutual understanding between cultures. The group was started in 1954, and since then it has convened every year as an exclusive, invitation-only conference of various world leaders, captains of industry, and media moguls. No famous members, but attendees have included Ben Bernanke, the royal families of Spain and the Netherlands, World Bank officials, and representatives from major corporations The Bilderberg Group is not a secret society per se, but it does operate under a similar veil of mystery, which has made it the subject of countless conspiracy theories and criticisms. Chief among these is the group’s fixation on the sexual, especially their teachings on the “adoration of the phallus” and the magic of masturbation. This doesn’t mean that they don’t still have some bizarre practices. As such, the group makes much less of an attempt to be secretive today than it did in the past. As Aleister Crowley’s popularity as a new age figure has continued to grow, more and more of the teachings of the Ordo Templi Orientis have come to light. After his death, the influence and popularity of Ordo Templi Orientis began to wane, but it still exists today and has various chapters scattered across the world, chiefly in the United States, the U.K., and other parts of Europe. Famed occultist and all-around eccentric Aleister Crowley composed much of the group’s lore, including a manifesto called the Mysteria Mystica Maxima, and he later became its head. The general philosophy of the group was a belief in new age esoteric principles and practices as a method of realizing one’s true identity. The group was established along the same lines as the less secretive Freemasons, and supposedly relies on ritual and occult practices as a means for members to move from one level of prestige to another within the organization. Ordo Templi Orientis is a mystic organization that was started in the early twentieth century. Go behind closed doors as we examine the 10 most Elite secret societies in history. Through history there have been many secret societies and conspiracy theories about those societies.įrom political organisations to college frats, these groups require their members to conceal their activities, and sometimes their identities, from the public. Genuine secret societies have existed for centuries, conducting their business in darkened back rooms and, more often than not, exerting a mysterious influence upon our culture.

Skull and bones secret society