Oscar Durante, publisher of a Chicago newspaper, exploded: “This is all sheer nonsense, stupidity, imbecility! Every time a drunken row among Italians occurs, the people and press cry ‘Mafia! There is no such organization and never was!'”
In the late-1800s, a conspiracy theory was born that a brotherhood of death headquartered in Sicily had been installed in every major American city, a theory that was laughed at by most, but did result in eight Sicilians being lynched in New Orleans in the 1890s, another three in 1896, and five more in 1899. Meanwhile, there were outbreaks of mafia “paranoia” in Denver in 1892, Milwaukee in 1897, and San Francisco in 1898. The New York Times dubbed the organization the “most secret and terrible in the world,” and had no doubt of its existence in 1898. If you want to read about the real origins of the Sicilian “men of honor,” (which go back further than most people realize) The First Family by Mike Dash is a great place to start.
A pretty spooky ritual was reported by one who decided to back out at the last minute. According to court testimony in New Orleans, inductees took a blood oath to commit murder on request of this order and did not become full-fledged members until such murder had been committed. This oath was sworn on a human skull with a stiletto driven through it. The stiletto, in fact, was a huge icon for the order and usually the preferred instrument of death. The induction ritual revolved around pricking blood from an inductee to sprinkle on the skull. In later years, the skull was replaced by the picture of a saint, which would be burned after being bloodied. But none of this would come out for decades, and in the early 1900s, most Americans viewed the mafia as a kooky conspiracy theory, and by the mid-1900s, this secret society was a forgotten thing.
Holy cow! You mean there really was a brotherhood of death that took control of immense power in North America through selective murders? Imagine that.
Now some people say there is an even more powerful brotherhood of death, one that manufactures ritual on a much grander scale. The stiletto has been replaced by C-4. This brotherhood of death is a German society with a chapter at Yale University known popularly as “Skull & Bones.” And wouldn’t you know it, the Bonesmen swear an oath on a human skull, just like the ritual that launched their somewhat less-well-heeled Italian cousins? Some people say Skull & Bones helped foment all our world wars, played both sides for profit, and then set-up Communism. Doesn’t get much more kooky than that, eh? But then, there’s a book by Antony Sutton that actually provides the evidence to prove those bold statements? Only that book never got reviewed by any media outlet and Sutton died practically unknown.
That’s the thing about brotherhoods of death. They work! When you go as deep into the dark side as you can travel, you finally arrive at the door of the brotherhood of death because there is nothing darker than murder. Probably your first will be difficult beyond belief because instincts scream out against it. Eventually, however, you learn to enjoy this ritual and take energy from the souls of the recently departed.
And if you think this darkside is something small and not well populated, well, think again. Every soldier swears an oath to commit murder on command. Why else would they carry a weapon? Every drill instructor is a dark magician implanting sigils into their recruits. Every jihadist is a member of this order, as is every crusader. I’d have to say dark and light are pretty well balanced, and dark seems to have the upper hand these days, although I would not have said that in 1968.
This world of light and dark is crisscrossed with thousands of secret societies, most of which have little power or influence. The brotherhoods of death, however, quickly achieve immense power simply because they are willing to fight to win by any means necessary. And it’s so easy to sheep-dip yourself as a goodie-two-shoes, while keeping your order and its dark secrets way hidden in the background. Just ask Warren Buffet or G.W. Bush. They know the real story and could probably help lead you to where some of the bodies are buried.