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devoted his life to murder. Thus by the lure of Paradise the Assassins enlisted instruments for their criminalwork and established a system of organized murder on a basis of religious fervour. " ' Nothing is true and allis allowed ' was the ground of their secret doctrine, which, however, being imparted but to few and concealedunder the veil of the most austere religionism and piety, restrained the mind under the yoke of blindobedience." (8) To the outside world all this remained a profound mystery; fidelity to Islam was proclaimedas the fundamental doctrine of the sect, and when the envoy of Sultan Sajar was sent to collect informationon the religious beliefs of the Order he was met with the assurance: " We believe in the unity of God, andconsider that only as true wisdom which accords with His word and the commands of the prophet."Von Hammer, answering the possible contention that, as in the case of the Templars and the Bavarian Illuminatithese methods of deception might be declared a calumny on the Order, points out that in the case ofthe Assassins no possible doubt existed, for their secret doctrines were eventually revealed by the leadersthemselves, first by Hasan II, the third successor of Hasan Saba, and later by Jalal-ud-din Hasan, who publiclyanathematized the founders of the sect and ordered the burning of the books that contained theirdesigns against religion-a proceeding which, however, appears to have been a strategical man uvre forrestoring confidence in the Order and enabling him to continue the work of subversion and crime. A veritableReign of Terror was thus established throughout the East; the Rafiqs and Fadais " spread themselves introops over the whole of Asia and darkened the face of the earth "; and " in the annals of the Assassins isfound the chronological enumeration of celebrated men of all nations who have fallen the victims of the Ismailisto the joy of their murderers and the sorrow of the world."(9)Inevitably this long and systematic indulgence in blood lust recoiled on the heads of the leaders, and theAssassins like the Terrorists of France, ended by turning on each other. The Old Man of the Mountain himselfwas murdered by his brother-in-law and his son Mohammed; Mohammed, in his turn, whilst " aiming atthe life of his son Jalal-ud-din, was anticipated by him with poison, which murder was again avenged bypoison " so that from " Hasan the Illuminator " down to the last of his line the Grand Masters fell by thehands of their next-of-kin, and " poison and the dagger prepared the grave which the Order had opened forso many."(10) Finally in 1256 the conquering hordes of the Mongol Mangu Khan swept away the dynasty ofthe Assassins.But, although as reigning powers the Assassins and Fatimites ceased to exist, the sects from which theyderived have continued up to the present day; still every year at the celebration of the Moharram the Shiahsbeat their breasts and besprinkle themselves with blood, calling aloud on the martyred heroes Hasan and Husain;the Druses of the Lebanon still await the return of Hakim, and in that inscrutable East, the cradle of allthe mysteries, the profoundest European adept of secret society intrigue may find himself outdistanced bypastmasters in the art in which he believed himself proficient.The sect of Hasan Saba was the supreme model on which all systems of organized murder workingthrough fanaticism, such as the Carbonari and the Irish Republican Brotherhood were based, and the signs,the symbols, the initiations, of the Grand Lodge of Cairo formed the groundwork for the great secret societiesof Europe.How came this system to be transported to the West? By what channel did the ideas of these succeedingEastern sects penetrate to the Christian world? In order to answer this question we must turn to the history ofthe Crusades.Nesta H. Webster — Secret Societies and Subversive Movements — Part I— 29 —
1. Principal authorities consulted for this chapter: Joseph von Hammer, The History of the Assassins (Eng.trans., 1835); Silvestre de Sacy, Exposé de la Religion des Druses (1838) and Mémoires sur la Dynastie desAssassins in Mémoires de l'Institut Royal de France, Vol. IV. (1818) Hastings' Encyclopædia of Religionand Ethics; Syed Ameer Ali, The Spirit of Islam (1922); Dr.W. Bussell, Religious Thought and Heresy inthe Middle Ages (1918).2. Reinhart Dozy, Spanish Islam (Eng. trans.), pp. 403-5.3. Claudio Jannet, Les Précurseurs de la Franc-Maçonnerie, p. 58 (1887).4. The following account is given by de Sacy in connexion with Abdullah ibn Maymn (op. cit., I. lxxiv), andDr. Bussell (Religious Thought and Heresy in the Middle Ages, p. 353) includes it in his chapter on theKarmathites. Von Hammer, however, gives it as the programme of the Dar ul Hikmat, and this seems moreprobable since the initiation consists of nine degrees and Abdullah's society of Batinis, into which Karmathhad been initiated, included only seven. Yarker (The Arcane Schools, p. 185) says two additional degreeswere added by the Dar ul Hikmat. It would appear then that de Sacy, in placing this account before his descriptionof the Karmathites, was anticipating. The point is immaterial, the fact being that the same systemwas common to all these ramifications of Ismailis, and that of the Dar ul Hikmat varied but little from that ofAbdullah and Karmath.5. Von Hammer, op. cit. (Eng. trans.), pp. 36, 37.6. Von Hammer, The History of the Assassins, pp. 45, 46.7. Dr. F.W. Bussell, Religious Thought and Heresy in the Middle Ages, p. 368.8. Von Hammer, op. cit., p. 55.9. Von Hammer, op. cit., pp. 83, 89.10. Ibid., p. 164.Nesta H. Webster — Secret Societies and Subversive Movements — Part I— 30 —
Page 2 and 3: Nesta H. WebsterSecret Societies an
Page 4 and 5: That the author was right in his de
Page 6 and 7: 1. Moniteur for the 14th Fructidor,
Page 8 and 9: and that " the priests did not shut
Page 10 and 11: Is the Cabala, then, as Gougenot de
Page 12 and 13: system of the Jewish hierarchy and
Page 14 and 15: traditions woven into a coherent na
Page 16 and 17: This passage would alone suffice to
Page 18 and 19: itive innocence of the garden of Ed
Page 20 and 21: 1. August le Plongeon, Sacred myste
Page 22 and 23: ah was not that of ' a light to lig
Page 24 and 25: 110. Matter, op. cit., II. 364.111.
Page 26 and 27: By means such as these the extraord
Page 28 and 29: policy. A system which, with no oth
Page 32 and 33: CHAPTER IIITHE TEMPLARSIN the year
Page 34 and 35: nesses, says the official report, "
Page 36 and 37: As to the Pope, we have already see
Page 38 and 39: The Paulicians who flourished about
Page 40 and 41: regard to the miracles of Christ is
Page 42 and 43: ing homage to the powers of darknes
Page 44 and 45: 27. Ibid., p. 384.28. F. Funck-Bren
Page 46 and 47: CHAPTER IVTHREE CENTURIES OF OCCULT
Page 48 and 49: from this source. Indeed Eliphas L
Page 50 and 51: ment of physics by which the mystic
Page 52 and 53: It will be seen that, according to
Page 54 and 55: Moreover, towards the end of the ce
Page 56 and 57: existence to the world under the na
Page 58 and 59: the true and indisputable facts con
Page 60 and 61: legia in Scotland, at Kilwinning, M
Page 62 and 63: Apprentices, Fellow Crafts, and Mas
Page 64 and 65: Moreover, according to a masonic tr
Page 66 and 67: sider one more link in the chain of
Page 68 and 69: but more likely borrowed from the R
Page 70 and 71: 1. A Free Mason's answer to the Sus
Page 72 and 73: Les Sociétés Secrètes en Allemag
Page 74 and 75: ment, but in the transformation tha
Page 76 and 77: middle of the eighteenth century sp
Page 78 and 79: Freemasonry traced to the Crusades:
Page 80 and 81:
Cross; and finally, that a degree o
Page 82 and 83:
claimed to be not merely a part of
Page 84 and 85:
1. Histoire de la Monarchie Prussie
Page 86 and 87:
41. A.Q.C., XXXII. Part I. p. 17.42
Page 88 and 89:
Convallium, von Haugwitz (Cabinet M
Page 90 and 91:
thentic they were the work of Volta
Page 92 and 93:
speech had reached the ears of Fred
Page 94 and 95:
1782 an English Freemason writes: "
Page 96 and 97:
Contemporaries, however, take him l
Page 98 and 99:
25. Evidently a reference to the se
Page 100 and 101:
CHAPTER IIXTHE JEWISH CABALISTSIT h
Page 102 and 103:
Podolia, known as Ba'al Shem Tob, o
Page 104 and 105:
applied to Falk in his quest for th
Page 106 and 107:
und Falk: Gespräche für Freimaure
Page 108 and 109:
1. L'Antisémitisme, p. 335.2. Ibid
Page 110 and 111:
CHAPTER IXTHE BAVARIAN ILLUMINATITH
Page 112 and 113:
mancers, would authorize us in decl
Page 114 and 115:
merce by customs, excise duties, an
Page 116 and 117:
day.Weishaupt, however, admits hims
Page 118 and 119:
and the world the abode of reasonab
Page 120 and 121:
ing esteemed and " respectable " pe
Page 122 and 123:
mother dead ! Corpse, wedding, chri
Page 124 and 125:
way of duplicity and imposture.More
Page 126 and 127:
isted, whereat he gave me his word
Page 128 and 129:
100. It has several times been stat
Page 130 and 131:
But in the year before these events
Page 132 and 133:
terested in supporting the system o
Page 134 and 135:
Amongst these others were not only
Page 136 and 137:
attempt on the part of the Jews to
Page 138 and 139:
been and will be the authors of pre
Page 140 and 141:
ressorts]."Two years later, on Janu
Page 142 and 143:
derstood that there may be uniformi
Page 144 and 145:
ectory of the Carbonari and was led
Page 146 and 147:
1. Henri Martin, Histoire de France
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