10. Ordo Templi Orientis

What Is It:
If you like the Freemasons and the Illuminati but want a secret society with more permissive views on sex, the Ordo Templi Orientis might be for you. Co-founder Theodor Reuss was both a Mason and a member of the Illuminati when he created OTO in 1906, but the society was largely shaped by Aleister Crowley, who molded OTO around his sexually free religious beliefs.

Famous Members:

Aleister Crowley
Theodor Reuss
Why You Should Join: Crowley practiced “sex magick” and added lots of spicy sex rituals to the OTO hierarchy. If that sounds appealing, OTO might be for you.

11. The Ancient Order Of The Foresters

What Is It:
The Ancient Order of the Foresters was founded in 1834 as a quasi-health insurance society. It has nothing to do with forests or trees.

Famous Members:

Foresters Fred (their mascot)
Why You Should Join: If you think you might get sick and be unable to work, this society wants to give you money. The club was a form of insurance, but you had to pass a physical to join. But again, no trees. It’s more about “walking through the forests of life.”

12. Molly Maguires

What Is It: The Molly Maguires date back to 1840, when they were formed in Ireland to fight against terrible working conditions. In the 1870s, the organization murdered 24 mine foremen and supervisors in the United States, and they terrorized more with “coffin notes,” which threatened death.

Famous Members:
Mostly anonymous working class men.
20 members were sentenced to hang in 1877

Why You Should Join:
It took a Pinkerton Detective Agency mole to take down the Molly Maguires, who got their name because members wore women’s clothing as a disguise.

13. Great Enlightened Society Of Oculists

What Is It:
The Great Enlightened Society of Oculists was so secret that no one cracked their clandestine code for 250 years. The group dates back to at least 1764, and it devoted itself to secret ways of seeing knowledge. And they also performed eye surgery.

Famous Members:

Literally a bunch of 18th-century eye doctors
Why You Should Join:
The initiation ritual starts with trying to read a blank page and ends with an amulet-wearing master ripping out your eyebrow hairs. Seriously, that’s what was in the coded manuscript. Plus, if they kept their manuscript’s contents a secret for almost 300 years, they’re obviously really good at being secret.