Me:
>Many such societies in terestrial history had a pseudo-mystical or
>quasi-religious nature. Some secret societies such as the Hashishim and
>Templars are probably best characterised as cults, even though they
>notionaly belonged to the Muslim and Roman Catholic faiths.
PM:
>I'm skeptical about calling the Assasins and the Knights Templars
>'secret' societies as they were quite visible in their time.
However their constitution, methods and agenda were scrupulously concealed from non-members. Many 'secret' societies have a two tier structure in which a secret 'inner' society is concealed within a publicly 'open' society, which often confuses the issue.
>Also what do you mean by 'notionaly'? That they were not Muslims or
>Catholics?
The Templars were disolved by order of the Pope for heresy (political motives notwithstanding), and from what we know of the Hashishim their brand of Islam was far from orthodox even by the most extreme Shiia standards. What I mean is that their external religious credentials are arguably at odds with their internal practices, or what we know of them.
Simon Hibbs
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