Secret Societies of New York (Paperback)

In a place like NYC, with 8 million people swarming around on a ten-mile island - what better place could there be for clandestine occult happenings? In New York I always feel amazed at how many parallel realities and uses of the city as an "arena" are simultaneously happening at once. The guy biking past you might be a weed messenger, the guy sitting on a bench might be an undercover cop, the dude standing right next to you on the train could be on his way to a nudist convention, and the guy at the coffee shop could be a member of a cult or secret society. No matter what their supposed purpose, there's something inherently sinister about a secret society. Though most are formed with relatively realistic political and religious goals in mind, their focus on secrecy has made them the target of countless criticisms and theories involving world domination. Of course, the reality is usually much more innocuous, but that doesn't mean that the groups haven't had an impact on world events. Many of these groups kept secrets. They had secret initiation rituals, locked doors, and strict rules against divulging what happened within the confines of the club. With this in mind, I have compiled the most famous and influential secret societies of New York into this book.