Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
123-year-old group that shaped modern occultism and attracted William Butler Yeats and Bram Stoker.
Accused of: Bizarre antinomian sex rituals.
Actual activities: A mishmash of Kabbalah and tarot practices. During initiation, the soul, body, and psyche are "spiritually separated."
Free and Accepted Masons
Thought to originate in medieval stonemason guilds.
Accused of: Running the government, placing pagan symbols on our currency.
Actual activities: Taking an oath to be charitable and law-abiding. Wearing aprons to symbolize purity.
Phi Beta Kappa Society
Academic honor society that has padded résumés since 1776.
Accused of: Being an arm of the Bavarian Illuminati.
Actual activities: Giving academic awards. Engaging in rituals and secret handshakes that became the template for collegiate Greek systems.
The Bohemian Club
Private men's club started in San Francisco in 1872 by men like William Randolph Hearst and Mark Twain.
Accused of: Helping plot 9/11, cavorting naked amongst the redwoods.
Actual activities: Drinking and socializing. Ritually incinerating their cares in front of a 40-foot stone owl.
Bilderberg Group
An annual off-the-record meeting of politicians and businesspeople. (Think Bill Clinton and Tim Geithner.)
Accused of: Engineering the rise and fall of Margaret Thatcher, the European Union, and the war in Iraq.
Actual activities: Interminable discussions on topics like finance, Africa, cyberterrorism, and US-EU relations.
