![]() In the 1890s, the Golden Dawn's membership roster boasted hundreds of names, including prominent literary figures such as W. ![]() ![]() Influential theater manager Annie Horniman was a member, as were prolific Scottish writer Violet Tweedale and Irish actress Sara Allgood. While many contemporary secret societies restricted their membership to men only, the Golden Dawn happily accepted women as well. By rising through a hierarchical system of “grades,” members worked to establish a connection to their own latent divinity, or “Holy Guardian Angel.” Founded in 1887 by a trio of Freemasons, the Order’s teachings were based on a collection of documents known as the Cipher Manuscripts, which outlined a complex system of supposedly magical rituals. Occult societies were all the rage in 19th-century London, but none were as influential as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Here are nine secret societies that have had very real impacts on their communities, nations, and, sometimes, the entire world. Others seem genuinely devoted to altruistic causes. Secret societies have played important roles in labor organizing, influenced religious movements, plotted the downfall of governments, and helped start a World War. Some of them have legitimately altered the course of history, while others are content to empower (or enrich) their members. In reality, secret societies span all socioeconomic categories, from impoverished laborers to one-percenters. For many of us, the term secret society conjures a pretty specific image: Wealthy men gathering in smoky rooms to manipulate the levers of world power, or possibly to do magic.
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