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1. Moniteur for the 14th Fructidor, An II.2. Seth Payson, Proofs of the Real Existence and Dangerous Tendency of Illuminism (Charleston, 1802), pp.5-7.3. Ibid., p. 5 note.4. Quoted in the Life of John Robison (1739-1805) by George Stronach in the Dictionary of National Biography,Vol. XLIX. p. 58.5. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. VII, pp. 538, 539 (1815).6. Freemasonry, its Pretensions Exposed... by a Master Mason, p. 275 (New York, 1828).7. Mémoires sur la Jacobinisme, II. 195 (1818 edition).8. Barruel, op. cit., II. 208.9. Ibid., II. 311.10. I use the word " anti-Semitism " here in the sense in which it has come be used-that is to say, anti-Jewry,but place it in inverted commas cause it is in reality a misnomer coined by the Jews in order to create a falseimpression. The word anti-Semite literally signifies a person who adopts a hostile attitude towards all thedescendants of Shem-the Arabs, and the entire twelve tribes of Israel. To apply the term to a person who ismerely antagonistic to that fraction of the Semitic race known as the Jews is therefore absurd, and leads tothe ridiculous situation that one may be described as " anti-Semitic and pro-Arabian." This expression actuallyoccurred in The New Palestine (New York), March 23, 1923. One might as well speak of being " anti-British and pro-English."Nesta H. Webster — Secret Societies and Subversive Movements — Part I— 5 —
CHAPTER ITHE ANCIENT SECRET TRADITIONThe East is the cradle of secret societies. For whatever end they may have been employed, the inspirationand methods of most of those mysterious associations which have played so important a part behind thescenes of the world's history will be found to have emanated from the lands where the first recorded acts ofthe great human drama were played out-Egypt, Babylon, Syria, and Persia. On the one hand Eastern mysticism,on the other Oriental love of intrigue, framed the systems later on to be transported to the West withresults so tremendous and far-reaching.In the study of secret societies we have then a double line to follow-the course of associations envelopingthemselves in secrecy for the pursuit of esoteric knowledge, and those using mystery and secrecy for anulterior and, usually, a political purpose.But esotericism again presents a dual aspect. Here, as in every phase of earthly life, there is the revers dela médaille- white and black, light and darkness, the Heaven and Hell of the human mind. The quest for hiddenknowledge may end with initiation into divine truths or into dark and abominable cults. Who knowswith what forces he may be brought in contact beyond the veil? Initiation which leads to making use of spiritualforces, whether good or evil, is therefore capable of raising man to greater heights or of degrading himto lower depths than he could ever have reached by remaining on the purely physical plane. And when menthus unite themselves in associations, a collective force is generated which may exercise immense influenceover the world around. Hence the importance of secret societies.Let it be said once and for all, secret societies have not always been formed for evil purposes. On thecontrary, many have arisen from the highest aspirations of the human mind-the desire for a knowledge ofeternal verities. The evil arising from such systems has usually consisted in the perversion of principles thatonce were pure and holy. If I do not insist further on this point, it is because a vast literature has alreadybeen devoted to the subject, so that it need only be touched on briefly here.Now, from the earliest times groups of Initiates or " Wise Men" have existed, claiming to be in possessionof esoteric doctrines known as the " Mysteries," incapable of apprehension by the vulgar, and relatingto the origin and end of man, the life of the soul after death, and the nature of God or the gods. It is this exclusiveattitude which constitutes the essential difference between the Initiates of the ancient world and thegreat Teachers of religion with whom modern occultists seek to confound them. For whilst religious leaderssuch as Buddha and Mohammed sought for divine knowledge in order that they might impart it to the world,the Initiates believed that sacred mysteries should not be revealed to the profane but should remain exclusivelyin their own keeping. So although the desire for initiation might spring from the highest aspiration, thegratification, whether real or imaginary, of this desire often led to spiritual arrogance and abominabletyranny, resulting in the fearful trials, the tortures physical and mental, ending even at times in death, towhich the neophyte was subjected by his superiors.The MysteriesAccording to a theory current in occult and masonic circles, certain ideas were common to all the moreimportant "Mysteries," thus forming a continuous tradition handed down through succeeding groups of Initiatesof different ages and countries. Amongst these ideas is said to have been the conception of the unity ofGod. Whilst to the multitude it was deemed advisable to preach polytheism, since only in this manner couldthe plural aspects of the Divine be apprehended by the multitude, the Initiates themselves believed in the existenceof one Supreme Being, the Creator of the Universe, pervading and governing all things. LePlongeon, whose object is to show an affinity between the sacred mysteries of the Mayas and of the Egyptians,Chaldeans, and Greeks, asserts that " The idea of a sole and omnipotent Deity, who created all things,seems to have been the universal belief in early ages, amongst all the nations that had reached a high degreeof civilization. This was the doctrine of the Egyptian priests."(1) The same writer goes on to say that the "doctrine of a Supreme Deity composed of three parts distinct from each other yet forming one, was universallyprevalent among the civilized nations of America, Asia, and the Egyptians," and that the priests andlearned men of Egypt, Chaldea, India, or China "... kept it a profound secret and imparted it only to a few selectamong those initiated in the sacred mysteries."(2) This view has been expressed by many other writers,yet lacks historical proof.That monotheism existed in Egypt before the days of Moses is, however, certain. Adolf Erman assertsthat " even in early times the educated class " believed all the deities of the Egyptian religion to be identicalNesta H. Webster — Secret Societies and Subversive Movements — Part I— 6 —
Page 2 and 3: Nesta H. WebsterSecret Societies an
Page 4 and 5: That the author was right in his de
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 30 and 31: devoted his life to murder. Thus by
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
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legia in Scotland, at Kilwinning, M
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Apprentices, Fellow Crafts, and Mas
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Moreover, according to a masonic tr
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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
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middle of the eighteenth century sp
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Freemasonry traced to the Crusades:
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Cross; and finally, that a degree o
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claimed to be not merely a part of
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1. Histoire de la Monarchie Prussie
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41. A.Q.C., XXXII. Part I. p. 17.42
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Convallium, von Haugwitz (Cabinet M
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thentic they were the work of Volta
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speech had reached the ears of Fred
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1782 an English Freemason writes: "
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Contemporaries, however, take him l
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25. Evidently a reference to the se
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CHAPTER IIXTHE JEWISH CABALISTSIT h
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Podolia, known as Ba'al Shem Tob, o
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applied to Falk in his quest for th
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und Falk: Gespräche für Freimaure
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1. L'Antisémitisme, p. 335.2. Ibid
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CHAPTER IXTHE BAVARIAN ILLUMINATITH
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mancers, would authorize us in decl
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merce by customs, excise duties, an
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day.Weishaupt, however, admits hims
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and the world the abode of reasonab
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ing esteemed and " respectable " pe
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mother dead ! Corpse, wedding, chri
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way of duplicity and imposture.More
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isted, whereat he gave me his word
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100. It has several times been stat
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But in the year before these events
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terested in supporting the system o
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Amongst these others were not only
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attempt on the part of the Jews to
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been and will be the authors of pre
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ressorts]."Two years later, on Janu
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derstood that there may be uniformi
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ectory of the Carbonari and was led
Page 146 and 147:
1. Henri Martin, Histoire de France
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