42 Items Tagged

Secret Society

London, England

Pamela Colman Smith's Fireplace

Inside a London bookstore, a fireplace that once belonged to the illustrator responsible for a famous set of tarot cards.

The 19th-Century Secret Society Preserving the History of the West

The irreverent, all-male E Clampus Vitus commemorates overlooked people and events.

Shoshi Parks June 29, 2022

7 Puzzles That Perplexed People for Centuries

From the secrets of Venice’s codebreakers to China’s intricately carved puzzle balls, these historical ciphers will inspire your curiosity.

Sarah Durn May 3, 2022

Pembroke, Maine

Reversing Hall Agrarian Library

An agricultural research library housed in a former Odd Fellows Lodge.

Shepherdstown, West Virginia

Shepherdstown Public Library

The "All-Seeing Eye of God" symbol on this library is a clue to one of the many former lives of this building.

Sermoneta, Italy

Abbazia di Valvisciolo (Valvisciolo Abbey)

Knights Templar are visible inside this stunning Cistercian abbey.

A New Crusade

How the mysterious, millennium-old, stateless Order of Malta outlived its contemporaries and established a place in the modern Middle East.

Ariel Sophia Bardi September 29, 2019

Roxbury, New York

Villa Sposa

The former home of a disgraced local priest now hosts a mysterious secret supper club.

Ischia di Castro, Italy

Eremo di Poggio Conte (Poggio Conte Hermitage)

A dreamlike medieval church dug into the tuff rock, with unusual carvings and possible traces of the Templar knights.

Why Some Gravestones Are Shaped Like Tree Stumps

When nature and secret societies get together.

Sarah Laskow July 17, 2018

Charlottesville, Virginia

University of Virginia's Seven Society

The story behind the mysterious symbol painted in front of the historic university's famous Rotunda.

Step Inside These Members-Only Temples of Basque Gastronomy

For centuries, txokos have been crucial to shaping culinary traditions.

Elizabeth Hlavinka June 21, 2018

Marvel at Tiny, Perfect Staircases Made by a Secret Society of French Woodworkers

Who are the compagnons?

Natasha Frost March 14, 2018

Black Hawk, Colorado

Knights of Pythias Cemetery

The burial grounds of a secret society includes fences topped with fake Tesla balls.

Washington, D.C.

International Temple of the Order of the Eastern Star

Obscure Freemasons still live in D.C.’s largest private residence.

Gurdon, Arkansas

Hoo-Hoo International Office and Museum

The strange and snarky traditions of the lumber industry's fraternal order began with five men waiting for a train here in Arkansas.

Tomar, Portugal

Convento de Cristo

The medieval castle built as headquarters for the Pope's secretive Knights Templar.

Mesmerizing Depictions of Magic and Witchcraft Throughout History

How the occult has been depicted in art, from mandrakes to palmistry.

Anika Burgess January 5, 2017