Secret Societies

The notion of the secret society is certainly nothing new in the annals of history. In fact secret societies are among the oldest of mankind's institutions. They exist on every continent and among many different peoples. As we are speaking of Black fraternities and sororities, this focus shall be upon the African secret society. African secret societies were and still are common. They were an integral part of society and permeated nearly every aspect of African life. These societies were so important because they served several important functions.

The first purpose of the secret society was its ritual of adulthood, or "rites of passage" as it is often called. Young boys and girls were separated from family and society and placed with their peers often in a gender-orientated manner. In the guidance of teachers, these youngsters would endure challenges of the mind by learning and memorizing new information. They were also made to endure challenges of the body. The purpose of this physical duress was to show steadfastness and most importantly the philosophy of mind over matter. These physical and mental tests helped to build bonds of trust between not only the initiates but with their teachers as well. Once these rites are completed, the initiates can enter society as adults. They can now wear certain clothing and symbols. They can now adorn their bodies in manners forbidden to them before (scarification, face painting, etc.) In many societies it was common for the initiates to be taught secret ceremonial dances as well as secret words, handshakes and signals particular to whatever group they would now belong. In this manner young boys and girls become men and women and thus functioning members of society. Pictured above is a depiction of an African initiation ceremony.

The second purpose of the secret society was its association with castes (not to be confused with the hierarchal social castes of India). In many African societies one is born into a caste that will mark one for life. Or one may become part of a caste when one chooses one's career path in life. In many societies African professions each had a caste. Blacksmith, iron smelter, farmer and warrior all belonged to a certain caste as did most other professions. Many castes functioned as apprenticeships. Once one became a member of the caste through initiation, one could be taught the secrets of the craft be it warfare or woodcarving. An example of this can be seen among the Dogon of Mali who even had a powerful funeral society for their "morticians." An important feature of these castes was that though they were different, they all worked together for the good of the society. Pictured above is the headdress of the antelope-human Chiwara of the Bambara: the mythical being who teaches farmers their secret agricultural skills.

The third purpose of the secret society was what can be called the "sacred society." This function of the society was the spiritual nature, already apparent in both the first and secondary functions of the secret society, taken to its highest level. While both the rites of passage and caste societies are spiritual in nature, it is the sacred society, which focuses on the upliftment of the soul. In this sense one can see the deities often associated with the castes. Most African masks were very spiritual in nature and could be worn only by a duly initiated religious figure. And in order for anyone to become a religious figure, the highest form of ritual and secret initiation was performed. Pictured above is a Babaloawo, the diviner among the Yoruba who holds a high and sacred place in society.

Sacred Knights and Egypt

The European Enlightenment: The more modern origins of Black fraternities and sororities and their African link begins oddly enough in Europe. Though it is the height of the African slave trade and probably the most downtrodden period for many Africans, it is also the period of the European Enlightenment. A philosophy espousing knowledge to uplift the individual as well as society, the Enlightenment boasted such figures as Newton, Voltaire, Rosseau and Hume. Of particular interest is that nearly every important figure of the European Enlightenment, particularly in France where the Enlightenment reaches its greatest heights, was a member of freemasonry. What is important for this discussion is that they generally saw none other than ancient Egypt as the very repository of divine knowledge or Enlightenment. This fascination with Egypt of course did not entail a fascination with Blacks. It should be said that these figures were notoriously anti-black or anti-African---a typical trait of the times. In fact to remedy the paradox of holding a fascination with the very land whose people were held under the yoke of slavery, Africans were removed from Egypt, Nubia and other African cultural complexes altogether. But the purpose of this work is not to discuss the social politics of the time, but rather the philosophy. So the question to be asked is why? Why would European members of the Enlightenment, many of them freemasons, hold such a fascination and reverence for Egypt? The answer is a complex one which this work hopes to condense below. And it begins with none other than geometry.

During the Middle Ages there arose a Christian order of warrior monks known as the Knights Templar. Much has been written of the Templars: their involvement in the Crusades, their supposed overwhelming power (real or imaginary, benevolent or malevolent), accusations of occultism and of the mystery of their disappearance. Whatever the actual truth concerning the Templars, a great deal of Enlightenment masons in Europe traced descent, either directly or indirectly, to the Knights Templar. Why? Well a great deal of it may have to do with geometry, or more aptly put, "sacred geometry." This is the notion that certain geometric properties hold sacred or divine qualities. Thus buildings may be built to a certain geometric precision, to face certain directions, etc. The Knights Templar were believed to be famous for this. Many cathedrals in Europe bearing such sacred geometry have been attributed to them. Whether the Templars actually built them is unknown and not the focus of this discussion; what is important is that Enlightenment masons of Europe believed so. Pictured above is a seal of the legendary and mysterious Knights Templar. But why would these Enlightenment figures connect the Templars with Egypt? That takes us even back before the Templars existed: to tales of Hebrew kings, temples and Phoenician architects.

King Solomon's Temple is probably one of the most important symbols in freemasonry. One of the reasons for its importance is the reputed elements of sacred geometry, which permeated the temple. The geometric precision, which allowed the temple to permit only certain amounts of light in at certain times of the day, earned it a famed reputation. Though the existence of such a temple is debatable, once again it is more so the belief in its existence and power that concerns this discussion. It was believed by many that the Knights Templar were trying to emulate this very type of sacred geometry in the Christian structures reputedly (through legend) built by them. But many Enlightenment freemasons may have known that the Hebrew temple of King Solomon was not built by Hebrews according to the folklore. In fact it was attributed to none other than Phoenicians. And with the Phoenicians, we get a little closer to the puzzle. The Phoenician builder reputed to be in charge of the building of King Solomon's Temple is Hiram Abiff. Hiram Abiff's attention to sacred geometry, if he was even a real figure, would have come about as a result of Phoenician and not Hebrew deities and beliefs. And here is where we have an interesting link, for many a Phoenician deity can be traced back to Egypt. Following the expulsion of the Asiatic Hyksos invaders, Egypt becomes for the first time a type of Empire. And she conquers in the direction of the origin of her one-time invaders, towards Western Asia and Phoenicia. There are reports of Egyptian rulers capturing and bringing back Phoenician princes to indoctrinate them in Egyptian beliefs so as to make vassals of their kingdoms. The Phoenicians become very acquainted with a host of Egyptian gods who either blend in or at times even supplant their own. Pictured here is the Phoenician deity Baal. His demeanor and headdress are specifically Egyptian. Thus Hiram Abiff's deities and particular ceremonial rituals to sacred geometry and architecture would not have been Hebrew or truly Phoenician, but rather of Egyptian origin. Once again, Solomon's Temple and Hiram Abiff's existence cannot be proven historically. But folklore and mythos may tell us a great deal about certain other truths, particularly the linking of sacred geometry with Egypt.

It is not hard to see now why the Enlightenment masons would have linked Egypt to sacred geometry and thus divine knowledge. Following this link from the Knights Templar to Solomon's Temple and Hiram Abiff to Phoenician deities and eventually ending up in Egypt is a continuous course. In fact some have questioned if Hiram Abiff and the stories surrounding him may have been based, partially or completely, on a real Egyptian architect of sacred abilities known as Imhotep. Imhotep was the royal advisor to King Zoser during the 3rd Dynasty of Egypt. Regarded as the world's first recorded multi-genius, Imhotep claimed the titles of architect, astronomer, philosopher, poet and physician. As an architect he is attributed the designing of the Step Pyramid and the Saqqara Temple Complex. During his lifetime he was given a host of titles, among them:Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt, the First after the King of Upper Egypt, High Priest of Heliopolis and Administrator of the Great Palace. As a physician, Imhotep is believed to have been the author of the Edwin Smith Papyrus in which more than 90 anatomical terms and 48 injuries are described. This is well over 2,200 years before the Western Father of Medicine Hippocrates is born. Some 2,000 years after his death, Imhotep was deified by the inhabitants of Egypt and was known later as Asclepius, God of Medicine, to the Greeks. His very name, "Im-Hotep", translates as the Prince of Peace. As a philosopher and poet, Imhotep's most remembered phrase is: "Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we shall die." It is generally accepted that Imhotep was an actual person. Whether he accomplished the many magnificent feats attributed to him in a single lifetime or whether we are seeing larger than life mythos, is lost in the annals of history. Whatever the case, Imhotep would have been linked immediately with principles such as sacred geometry in the ancient world and ancient folklore. It is quite probable that if a figure such as Hiram Abiff did exist, he may have worshipped Imhotep as a god of architecture. And if he did not worship Imhotep directly, he may have worshipped him indirectly in the form of some Imhotep based Phoenician or Greek architectural deity. Or yet still, Abiff may have been some Phoenician composite of Imhotep. But in truth the entire notion of sacred geometry existed even before Imhotep, in the very Egyptian gods he himself worshipped.

As already stated Ausar (Osiris) was the mythic god king who was killed and raised from the dead again. This ritual of being raised from the dead is a key facet of freemasonry and many other secret societies. And such rituals would have been practiced during Imhotep's time and much later during Hiram Abiff's time, if he was a historical figure. These rituals of being raised from the dead symbolized Ausar's triumph over not just physical death but mental death as well. Thus it was a triumph over ignorance and victory for divine knowledge. And as it was written in Egypt, "ignorance is evil," it would have symbolized a triumph over destructive evil forces as well. Nearly all secret societies speak of one dying (mentally) and being reborn with new knowledge. In Egypt this story would be told especially with Ausar's murder and subsequent resurrection. But more important than Ausar and his ritual of rebirth would have been most probably the most important deity in Egypt.

Ptah in Egypt was one of the earliest gods of Creation. Ptah was sometimes none other than the great hill, which rose from the waters of Creation. He was called the "Father of the Gods." And more importantly to these discussions, he was "The Keeper of Sacred Geometry," "Grand Master Architect" and "Creator of the Universe." And with Egypt's vast dedication to sacred geometry in its temples and pyramids, one can see that Ptah was probably the most revered god of all. Pictured above are two depictions of the god Ptah. The picture on the right is Ptah in the geometric "Magic 3-4-5" position. What is displayed here is none other than the famed geometric theorem identified with Pythagoras. This theorem was known in Egypt for several thousand years before the birth of the Greek mathematician to whom it is commonly attributed.

It is no wonder the freemasons of Enlightenment Europe saw a connection with Egypt to their ideas of sacred geometry. To one versed in history and mythology in the 18th Century, the trail back to Egypt was not so difficult to notice. And once one did find their way back to Egypt the vast amounts of architecture boasting sacred geometry, the concealed "Mysteries," secret societies, etc. was difficult not to notice. Thus Egypt became the great repository in their minds of ancient knowledge, the most divine knowledge of mankind originating in the heart of Africa itself. But as stated before this was not a great time for Africa and her descendants. And thus though the Africans' ancient achievements were celebrated, he/she would be removed from the picture. And the Egyptians and even Nubians would be reclassified as "dark whites," "Eurafricans" or other such names. But fortunately enough, not every bit of light was blocked from the African mind. And some Africans began to surprisingly find themselves staring at Africa in places they would have never suspected.

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All information written by Bro. Griot and taken from the Mu Nu Chapter. All rights reserved.