A method in mystery

“Mysterier, ordnar och hemliga sällskap i skilda tider och religioner” is the surprisingly boring title of a Swedish book written by Andrejs Johansons, a Latvian-Swedish scholar of religion. The book was published posthumously in 1985. It comes with a preface by Ulf Drobin (who was actually one of my teachers when I studied comparative religion 15 years later). In translation, the title means “Mysteries, orders and secret societies in different times and religions”. The contents are somewhat eclectic, but also fascinating (and frequently bizarre). A problem might be that it was published so long ago – theories and interpretations change in anthropology and comparative religion, just as everywhere else. The book is presumably intended for a broader non-scholarly audience.

Johansons describes a wide variety of secret societies from around the world. The West African Leopard Society, the Kenyan Mau-Mau, Indo-European Männerbund and berserks, the Attis cult (which included self-castration), the Thugs, the Assassins, the endo-cannibalistic rituals of the Kwakiutl and various ecstatic cults of Dionysus in ancient Greece have all been included in this ethnographic survey of human insanity, folly, depravity and rank barbarism. Or is it divine frenzy? I got even less respect for “the noble savage” after reading this. What *is* the problem with high modernity or the Axial Age, anyway? 

More civilized religions described in the book include the Eleusinian mysteries, the Greco-Roman cult of Isis, and Orphism. I felt particularly close to home with the latter. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, Johansons have included chapters on medieval guilds and early modern Freemasons. There is no discussion on Christian esotericism, but Johansons does mention parallels (or supposed parallels – it´s an old book) between Mithraism and Christianity. They are yuge if true…

Despite their stunning diversity, Johansons argues that many initiatory orders around the world have certain features in common. One is the motif of (symbolic) death and rebirth, often connected to sacred meals. Here, the parallel to Christianity is obvious. To Johansons, the motif might as well be as old as humanity itself. Another is ordeals, although they seem to get (at least relatively speaking) less severe the closer we get to our own time. Note again that Jesus had to suffer ordeals before dying and resurrecting! Johansons does believe that actual spiritual experiences were induced in the participants, but refrains from discussing their ontological status. A more disturbing similarity between some cultures is the existence of “wolf-men” forming a militaristic Männerbund, often living at the outskirts of established society and preying on the civilian population. The Viking berserks are the most well-known example in northern Europe. Johansons gives several examples of how such fraternities have degenerated into terrorists or brigands. In Africa, the Leopard Society was smashed to a large extent by competing secret societies!

It´s intriguing that there should be a certain method in mystery...

One central point in the author´s argument is that virtually all “secular” fraternities – be they military, economic or political – have their origins in cultic brotherhoods. Frequently, they still have a religious base. Since the book is popularized, Johansons never explains his theory in more detail. What does it mean to suggest that religious cults were somehow “prior” to military, economic and political organizations? Are humans at bottom religious animals? (Maybe the gods are real?) Or does it simply mean that our material interests for whatever reason are “alienated” and distorted, being expressed in a religious garb?

I did get one insight, for all it´s worth, while reading the book. Johansons points out that medieval guilds, including powerful merchant guilds such as the Hansa, had initiation rituals featuring ordeals. The stone-masons had secret recognition signs, and many guilds had fictitious founder myths which the members were supposed to learn (perhaps as another sign of recognition). Thus, the stone-masons claimed that Moses was the first of their trade! What this means, of course, is that we can lay all conspiracy theories about the Knights Templar to rest. The fact that the Templars might have had secret initiation rituals and “heretical” lore (“heretical” to the heresy-hunters of later centuries) doesn´t prove that they were a truly occult-heretical brotherhood. Their practices seem to have been medieval Catholic commonplaces!

What a pity.

If you know Swedish and can find this book in your library, perhaps recommended.