Secret Societies and Subversive Movements | Page 5

began in World Revolution, by tracing the course of revolutionary ideas
through secret societies from the earliest times, indicating the rôle of
the Jews only where it is to be clearly detected, but not seeking to
implicate them where good evidence is not forthcoming. For this
reason I shall not base assertions on merely "anti-Semite" works, but
principally on the writings of the Jews themselves. In the same way
with regard to secret societies I shall rely as far as possible on the
documents and admissions of their members, on which point I have
been able to collect a great deal of fresh data entirely corroborating my
former thesis. It should be understood that I do not propose to give a
complete history of secret societies, but only of secret societies in their
relation to the revolutionary movement. I shall therefore not attempt to
describe the theories of occultism nor to enquire into the secrets of
Freemasonry, but simply to relate the history of these systems in order
to show the manner in which they have been utilized for a subversive
purpose. If I then fail to convince the incredulous that secret forces of
revolution exist, it will not be for want of evidence.
Nesta H. Webster.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

PART I THE PAST
I. THE ANCIENT SECRET TRADITION II. THE REVOLT
AGAINST ISLAM III. THE TEMPLARS IV. THREE CENTURIES
OF OCCULTISM V. THE ORIGINS OF FREEMASONRY VI. THE
GRAND LODGE ERA VII. GERMAN TEMPLARISM AND
FRENCH ILLUMINISM VIII. THE JEWISH CABALISTS IX. THE
BAVARIAN ILLUMINATI X. THE CLIMAX

PART II THE PRESENT
XI. MODERN FREEMASONRY XII. SECRET SOCIETIES IN
ENGLAND XIII. OPEN SUBVERSIVE MOVEMENTS XIV.
PAN-GERMANISM XV. THE REAL JEWISH PERIL
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX: I. JEWISH EVIDENCE ON THE TALMUD II. THE
"PROTOCOLS" OF THE ELDERS OF ZION
INDEX



PART I
THE PAST

1
THE ANCIENT SECRET TRADITION

The East is the cradle of secret societies. For whatever end they may
have been employed, the inspiration and methods of most of those
mysterious associations which have played so important a part behind
the scenes of the world's history will be found to have emanated from
the lands where the first recorded acts of the great human drama were
played out--Egypt, Babylon, Syria, and Persia. On the one hand Eastern
mysticism, on the other Oriental love of intrigue, framed the systems
later on to be transported to the West with results so tremendous and
far-reaching.
In the study of secret societies we have then a double line to follow--the
course of associations enveloping themselves in secrecy for the pursuit
of esoteric knowledge, and those using mystery and secrecy for an
ulterior and, usually, a political purpose.
But esotericism again presents a dual aspect. Here, as in every phase of
earthly life, there is the revers de la médaille--white and black, light
and darkness, the Heaven and Hell of the human mind. The quest for
hidden knowledge may end with initiation into divine truths or into
dark and abominable cults. Who knows with what forces he may be
brought in contact beyond the veil? Initiation which leads to making
use of spiritual forces, whether good or evil, is therefore capable of
raising man to greater heights or of degrading him to lower depths than
he could ever have reached by remaining on the purely physical plane.
And when men thus unite themselves in associations, a collective force
is generated which may exercise immense influence over the world
around. Hence the importance of secret societies.
Let it be said once and for all, secret societies have not always been
formed for evil purposes. On the contrary, many have arisen from the
highest aspirations of the human mind--the desire for a knowledge of

eternal verities. The evil arising from such systems has usually
consisted in the perversion of principles that once were pure and holy.
If I do not insist further on this point, it is because a vast literature has
already been devoted to the subject, so that it need only be touched on
briefly here.
Now, from the earliest times groups of Initiates or "Wise Men" have
existed, claiming to be in possession of esoteric doctrines known as the
"Mysteries," incapable of apprehension by the vulgar, and relating to
the origin and end of man, the life of the soul after death, and the nature
of God or the gods. It is this exclusive attitude which constitutes the
essential difference between the Initiates of the ancient world and the
great Teachers of religion with whom modern occultists seek to
confound them. For whilst religious leaders such as Buddha and
Mohammed sought for divine knowledge in order that they might
impart it to the world, the Initiates believed that sacred mysteries
should not be revealed to the profane but should