Chronology of Secret Societies

40,000 BC
Early establishment of Mystery schools, as depicted in the Lascaux cave paintings.

30,000 BC
According to some occult traditions this period saw the colonization of Asia and Australasia by the inhabitants of the lost continent of Lemuria or Mu. Goddess worship and matriarchal cultures established worldwide.

10,000 BC
Evidence suggestive of early contact between extra-terrestials and Stone Age tribes in Tibet.

9,000 – 8,000 BC
Estimated date of the destruction of Atlantis, according to some occult traditions. The Atlantean priesthood flee to establish colonies in the British Isles, Western Europe, North Africa and South America. Rise of the Northern Mystery Tradition centered on the island of Thule and the Aryan culture. Invention of the runic alphabet.

5,000 BC
First primitive cities established in the Middle East. Agriculture begins with domestication of animals such as sheep and goats. Possible contact between extra-terrestials and early Sumerian culture.

5,000 – 3,000 BC
Formation of the two lands in pre-dynastic Egypt ruled by outsiders (Isis and Osiris). The Egyptian pantheon of gods established including Horus, Thoth, Set, Ra, Ptah and Hathor. Pharoahs regarded as the divine representatives of the Gods.

3,000 – 2,000 BC
Building of burial mounds and chambered tombs in Western Europe and the Mediterranean area; the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids of Giza and Cheops of Egypt; and the ziggurat (Towers of Babel) in Ur. Sarmoung Brotherhood founded in Babylon.

2,000 – 1,000 BC
Reign of Thothmes III in Egypt (c. 1480). Foundation of the Rosicrucian Order. Reign of Akhenaton (c.1370) who establishes the mystical Brotherhood of Aton dedicated to the worship of the Sun as a symbol of the Supreme Creator. Erection of Stonehenge and other megalithic stone circles in the British Isles. Reign of Ankhenaton’s son Tutankhamun who re-establishes the old pantheon of Egyptian gods and goddesses. Moses leads Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt during the reign of Ramses II to the promised land of Canaan.

1,000 – 500 BC
Foundation of the Dionysian Artificers. The building of Solomon’s temple (c. 950). Establishment of the city states of Greece and the Olympic pantheon of gods to replace earlier Nature worship. First temples erected in Mexico, Peru and southwest North America. Celts invade Western Europe. Decline of Goddess worship and rise of patriarchal sky gods personified by priest-kings. Rome founded in 750.

500 BC – 001
Celtic culture established in Britain. The foundation of Druidic wisdom colleges in Gaul and the British Isles. Odin recognized as major god in the Northern Mysteries replacing the Mother Goddess and is credited with inventing the runes. Buddha, Lao Tze, Confucius, Pythagoras, Plato and Zoroaster preach their new religions and philosophies. Maya culture in South America. Establishment of Eleusinian mystery cults. Rise of the Essene sect in Palestine and Judea. Birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

001 – 400
Jesus possibly travels to India, Tibet and Britain to be initiated into the esoteric traditions of East and West. Crucified for his radical political and religious ideas (c. 33). Joseph of Arimanthea establishes first Celtic Church at Glastonbury (c. 37). Invasion of Britain by Roman legions and suppression of the Druids (40 – 60). Paul travels to Asia Minor and Greece preaching his version of the gospel (50). Jewish revolt against Roman rule led by Zealots (66). Essenes suppressed and Dead Sea Scrolls hidden in caves. Temple inJerusalem destroyed by Romans (70). New testament written. The Nazarenes break away from Judasim to found the Christian Church (c. 80). Ormus is converted to Esoteric Christianity by Mark. Mithrasim and the Mysteries of Isis compete with Christianity in the Roman Empire. Mani, a Persian high priest of Zoroastrianism, is crucified (276). Emperor Constantine declares Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Council of Nicea defines heresy, condemns paganism and lays the theological foundation for the Catholic or Universal Church (325). Constantine’s successor Julian the Apostate (361 – 363) briefly reestablishes the pagan old religion. Emperor Theodosius outlaws the worship of the pagan gods in Rome and closes the pagan temples (378). Invasion of Rome, Greece and Europe by the barbarians led by Atilla the Hun (395-480). Withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain (395). Foundation of the Order of Comacine by ex-members of the Roman College of Architects.

500 – 1,000
Mohammed founds Islam (dies 632). Celtic Church outlawed by Council of Whitby (664). Foundation of first Sufi secret societies (c. 700). First written translation of Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus. Charlemagne founds alleged first Rosicrucian Lodge in Toulouse (898). Foundation of the Cathars, Druzes and Yezedi (900). Heretical Catholic monks found first Rosicrucian college (1,000).

1000 – 1400
Foundation of the Order of the Devoted of Assassins by Hasan-i-Sabbah (1034-1124) and the Order of St John (1050). First Crusade to the Holy Land (1095). Capture of the city of Jerusalem by Godfrey de Bouillan, founder of the Priory of Sion (1099). Assassins infiltrate Thuggee cult in India. Foundation of the Order of the Knights of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem (1118). Charter granted to the Priory of Sion by Pope Alexander II (1178). Crusade launched against Cathars (1208). Inquistion created to fight heresy (1215). Massacre of the Cathars at Montsegur in Southern France (1241). Troubadours practicing their cult of courtly love. Occult schools teaching the Cabbala and alchemy established in Spain by the Moors. Count Rudolf von Hapsburg crowned as Holy Roman Emperor (1273). Knights Templars arrested by King Philip of France on charges of devil worship, heresy and sexual perversion (1307). Last official Grand Master of the Templars, Jacques de Molay, burnt at the stake and the Order goes underground (1314).

1400 – 1600
Alleged life of Christian Rosenkreutz (1379-1482). Foundation of the Order of the Garter by Edward III (1348). First publication of the Corpus Heremeticum by the Medici family in Italy (1460). Publication of Malleus Malifiracum and the papal bull of Pope Innocent which began the medieval witch hunting hysteria (1484 and 1486). Martin Luther begins Reformation (1521). Henry Agrippa refers to the Templars as Gnostics and worshippers of the phallic god Priapus (1530). Life of Dr John Dee (1527- 1608). Foundation of the British Secret Service by Sir Francis Walsingham. Birth of Johann Valenti Andrea (1586). Life of Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626). Defeat of the Spanish Armada, with magical help from the New Forest Witches (1588).

1600 – 1700
Foundation of the Virginia Company by James I (1606). The Romanovs become Czars of Russia (1613). Publication of Rosicrucian manifesto (1614). Life of Elias Ashmole (1617-1692). Voyage of the Mayflower to New England and the publication of Sir Francis Bacon’s novel The New Atlantis (1620). Establishment of the pagan community of Merrymount in Massachusetts by Thomas Morton. English Civil War begins (1642). First English Mason guild accepts non-stonemasons into its meetings (c. 1646). Charles I convicted of treason and beheaded (1649). Oliver Cromwell allegedly makes pact with the Devil in order to retain power. Introduction of Freemasonry to American colonies by Dutch settlers (1658). Order of Pietists founded in Pennsylvania (1694).

1700 – 1800
Birth of the Comte de Saint-Germain (1710). Masonic Grand Lodge of England and Druid Order founded (1717). First Masonic lodge founded in France (1721)> Benjamin Franklin initiated as Mason (1731). Chevalier Alexander Ramsey informs French Masons that they are heirs to the Templar tradition (1736). Roman Church condemns Masonry (1738). Birth of Count Cagliostro. Comte de Saint-Germain involved in Jacobite plot to restore Stuart dynasty to the English Throne (1743). Society of Flagellants and Skopski founded in Russia (1750). George Washington initiated as a Mason (1752). Sir Francis Dashwood founds the Hell Fire Club. Franklin visits England to discuss the future of American colonies with Dashwood (1758). Foundation of the Rite of the Strict Observance by Baron von Hund based on the Templar tradition. Frederick of Prussia founds Order of the Architects of Africa and uses the title Illuminati to describe his neo-Masonic lodges (1768). Franklin elected Grand Master of the Nine Sisters lodge in Paris (1770). Grand Orient founded in France (1771). Boston Tea Party (1773). Washington appointed Commander-in-Chief of the new American Army (1775). Order of Perfectibilists or Illuminati founded. American Revolution (1776). Czar Peter founds the Secret Circle (1778). Supposed death of the Comte Saint-Germain (1784). Grand Masonic Congress allegedly plots French Revolution. Cagliostro involved in Diamond Necklace Affair. Illuminati banned in Bavaria and goes underground (1785). French Revolution (1789). Illuminist conspiracy to overthrow the Hapsburgs (1794).

1800 – 1900
Count Grabinka founds secret society in St. Petersburg based on Martinism and Rosicrucianism (1803). French republican plot to assassinate Napoleon by placing a bomb under his coach, led by occultist Fabre d’Olivet. Emperor Napoleon takes control of French Masonry (1805). Revived Templar Order in France celebrates the martyrdom of Jacques de Molay with public requiem (1808). Foundation of the Order of Sublime Perfects (1809). Eliphas Levi (1810-1875) reveals the secret symbolism of the Templar idol Baphomet. Czar Alexander I and Emperor Francis von Hapsburg unite to defeat Italian revolution incited by secret societies. John Quincy Adams, initiate of the Dragon Society, is elected US President (1820). Czar Alexander outlaws Masonry in Russia (1822). Decembrist secret society attempts coup when Czar Alexander allegedly dies (1825). AntiMasonic Party founded in US to combat secret societies in American politics (1828). Wagner joins the Vaterlandsverein, a secret society dedicated to the formation of a pan-European federation of nations. Masonic convention at Strasbourg allegedly plots second French Revolution (1848). Napoleon III condemns Grand Orient for dabbling in radical politics (1850). Paschal Randolph founds Hermetic Brotherhood of the Light (1858). Abraham Lincoln is assassinated (1865). Klu Klux Klan founded (1866). Society of Rosicrucians in Anglia founded (1867). Foundation of the Theosophical Society by Madame Blavasky on instructions of the Great White Brotherhood. Birth of Aleister Crowley (1875). Mysterious suicide of ArchDuke Rudolph von Hapsburg at a hunting lodge at Mayerling (1889). Foundation of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1888). Assassination of Empress Elizabeth von Hapsburg by anarchist (1898).

1900 – 1984
Foundation of the Ordo Templi Orientis (1900). International Order of CoFreemasonry founded in 1902. Publication of The Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion in Russia (1905). Foundation of the Ancient and Mystical Order of the Rose Crucis (1909). Black Hand Society founded in 1911. Aleister Crowley accepted as head of the British OTO. Order of the Temple of the Rosy Cross founded in 1912. Assassination of ArchDuke Franz Ferdinand and Archduchess Sophia von Hapsberg. Attempted murder of Rasputin. WWI begins in 1914. Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates. Hapsburg dynasty is overthrown. Bolshevik Revolution in Russia (1917-1918). Foundation of German Workers Party by Thule Society (1919). Hitler joins GWP and changes its name to the National Socialist Party (1920). Crowley employed by MI6. Cardinal Roncalli, later Pope John XXIII, allegedly joins Rosicrucian Order. Hitler becomes first chancellor of the Third Reich (1933). Roosevelt places Illuminist symbol of eye in triangle on the dollar bill (1935). Nazi invasion of England prevented by New Forest Witches (1940). Rudolf Hess lured to Britain on peace mission by fake astrological data (1941). Order of the Temple revived in France (1952). First Bilderberg meeting in 1954. Foundation of the P2 Lodge (1960). Death of Pope Paul VI, election and alleged murder of Pope John Paul I, and election of Pope John Paul II (1978). Exposure of P2 conspiracy. Attempt to assassinate John Paul II (1981). L’Ordre Internationale Chevelresque Tradition Solaire founded on instructions of the revived Order of the Temple in France (1984).