Do these "secret teachings" and "mysteries" all lead back to the same concepts and information that we discuss here on IQ for free?

I have some knowledge of a few of these "Secret Societies" (for personal privacy, I'm deliberately not providing any more details) and I'm of the view that, yes, what they teach does lead back to the same concepts as on IQ because those concepts are "ultimate cause" ones. You might be an airline pilot or you might be a bungee jumper but you are still playing within the rules of the ultimate cause of Gravity :)

Those societies just use different terminology and have different goals for the application of that information. Some of them also apply value judgements to that information and the people deemed "worthy" to receive it but I find that a bit nonsensical because you can't force information onto "worthy" people anyway (see further down this answer). And The Law of Attraction will always find a way to bring that information to anyone who is already a vibrational match to it even if they are not signed up to your society.

In fact, even whether an outsider to such a society decides to classify one "Secret Society" and its members as "good" and one as "bad" is also a value judgement since everyone believes they are "doing good"...methinks it is time to pull out my trusty Gurdjieff quote... :)

One may say that evil does not exist for subjective man at all, that there exist only different conceptions of good. Nobody ever does anything deliberately in the interests of evil, for the sake of evil.

Everybody acts in the interests of good, as he understands it. But everybody understands it in a different way. Consequently men drown, slay, and kill one another in the interests of good.

G I Gurdjieff

So, really, all "Secret Societies" are Good and are Doing Good with what they know...they just have different ideas about what Good means :)

As for whether these organizations possess "special mystical knowledge", yes, I would say that many of them do otherwise people wouldn't find value in being a part of them. But the (vibrational) times are changing and what was once deemed "special" (and which some felt needed to be hidden from the masses) is now almost commonplace and in full view.

Over the past few decades, we've gone from "special mystical knowledge" being impossible to find without word-of-mouth teaching to being abundantly available.

Now the problem is that there is so much information out there (often Internet-disseminated) that the knowledge has almost become hidden again, not by choice, but by being submerged in information overload :) So a site like IQ becomes valuable in being an information filter rather than just an information provider.

I think the secretness of many of these "Secret Societies" really comes down to just filtering out the time-wasters (as defined by them). Law of Attraction doesn't allow knowledge to be given to those who are not a vibrational match to it so you might as well save yourself a lot of unnecessary hassle, keep your club doors firmly closed, and only let the ones find you who have already proved themselves motivated enough (i.e. vibrationally ready) for what you have to offer.

And since I'm surfing a Gurdjieff wave in this particular answer :) here's the man addressing the same notion...

That is one aspect. The other, as I have already said, consists in the fact that no one is concealing anything; there is no mystery whatever. But the acquisition or transmission of true knowledge demands great labor and great effort both of him who receives and of him who gives.

And those who possess this knowledge are doing everything they can to transmit and communicate it to the greatest possible number of people, to facilitate people's approach to it and enable them to prepare themselves to receive the truth.

But knowledge cannot be given by force to anyone and, as I have already said, an unprejudiced survey of the average man's life, of what fills his day and of the things he is interested in, will at once show whether it is possible to accuse men who possess knowledge of concealing it, of not wishing to give it to people, or of not wishing to teach people what they know themselves.

He who wants knowledge must himself make the initial efforts to find the source of knowledge and to approach it, taking advantage of the help and indications which are given to all, but which people, as a rule, do not want to see or recognize.

Knowledge cannot come to people without effort on their own part. They understand this very well in connection with ordinary knowledge, but in the case of great knowledge, when they admit the possibility of its existence, they find it possible to expect something different.

G I Gurdjieff

It's certainly true that there're secret societies on earth that claim to possess special mystical knowledge, whether there're "good" (or "bad") is a matter of personal opinion, good/bad are relative terms depending on your beliefs.

Special mystical knowledge concerns rather specific techniques of initiation, techniques of expansion of consciousness that lead to enlightenment. In a state of total enlightenment when you are as one with your inner self, you have access to all knowledge.

Everyone has total knowledge hidden deep within them that can be symbolized by darkness around them. Mystical techniques whether done alone or in a group allow you to light up that darkness and perceive the knowledge that you already possess. The only way to secure knowledge is to expand your consciousness so as to become conscious of it, it's a subjective experience that only you can perform

There is one OPEN society with special mystical knowledge, which is UNIQUE and satisfying to one's mind, intellect, and reason. You may find answer for any question! Here is the link: www.bkwsu.org

Interestingly, this group can be the pride of Christians as they practice even the most difficult things Jesus taught with his very life--here are some examples:

1) He led a life of remembrance of God! “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark,” He used to go to a lonely place so as to talk to his heavenly Father, as if engaging in a nectar-time (Amritavela) meditation daily. (Mark 1:35; John 8:1, 2). Then again during the day, evening, and sometimes even in night, he took time to talk to his Heavenly Father.—Luke 5:16; 6:12; Mathew 14:23.

2) His life itself was a meditation, as if always doing, in principle, an open-eyed meditation, as he kept his “eyes single.” (Mathew 6:22) He had the real eyes that saw the eternal behind the ephemeral, or the SOURCE behind the resources. (Luke 11:27, 28; 18:18-19) He radiated his heavenly Father’s qualities so perfectly that he could declare that: “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)

3) He practiced celibacy; because he viewed all women as his own sisters. (Mathew 23:9) hence never looked at a woman lustfully. (Mathew 5:28)

4) He had a great mind (brahma, in Sanskrit) treating God as his Father and others as his brothers and sisters. (Mathew 23:9) Because of this, he was never influenced by his fleshly family members and relatives. (Mathew 12:46-50) He was like a bride towards God who is also called “husband” (Isaiah 54:5) and doing God’s will was like an intoxication to him. (John 4:34; 6:38)

5) He declared God as the supremely Altruistic (Shiva in Sanskrit) and the source of all good gifts. (Mark 10:18; Mathew 7:11 compare James 1:17)

6) He knew he was a soul, had existed before in Heaven, and would return to heaven after earthly life. (John 5:24; 6:38, 62; 8:42; 13:1; 17:5) He taught that our Heavenly Father is “spirit,” or incorporeal. Thus he implied all His children are also spiritual beings acting in physical bodies; hence are the exact representation of His very being. (John 4:24; 6:63 Compare Ecclesiastes 12:7 and Mark 12:26-27) He also taught we can choose to be peaceful and pure souls, and become the children of God. (Mathew 5:3, 8, 9) Hence he could ask us: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mathew 5:48)

7) Every soul carries within it a sanskar (unique personality traits or response pattern) of one’s own making and acts accordingly. (Mathew 12:35) Many will not change their sanskar, hence will repeat their acts when they are born again.—Luke 16:31 Compare Mathew 11:14; 12:32

8) He believed every action (even an unproductive word one utters) has equal and opposite reaction. (Mathew 12:36; 23:12; Luke 6:38)

9) He declared vices such as lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride … as originating from body-consciousness, and showed perfect control over them.—Mark 7:21-23; compare Galatians 5:19-21; John 16:33; 1 John 2:15-17.

10) Purpose of life is to become like our Heavenly Father, manifesting His qualities in day-to-day life. What is required is only a change in attitude! (Mathew 5:44-48; Genesis 11:6) This is possible because, Spirit is more powerful than the body. (John 6:63) Moreover, such ones will automatically be helped by the Father. (Luke 11:13)

11) This Dark Age will be replaced by Golden Age. (Mathew 12:32; Mathew 19:28) Through many illustrations (Mathew 13:34, 35) he provided some insight into the history: at the start of Golden Age population will be small and will gradually increase (Mathew 13:31-33); first half of history had all divine features, but second half became demonic (Mathew 13:24, 30); some who are convinced of “the kingdom of heaven” will use all their assets in favor of their knowledge (Mathew 13:44, 45)

12) He knew the world will come to its destruction with the stock-piles of deadly arms man has manufactured. (Mathew 24:21; 26:52) 13) He taught that people will be judged on the basis of whether they have loved Light that has come into the world or not! (John 3:19-21)

14) He had full of praise for Abraham (Mathew 8:11; 22:32; John 8:39, 40) about whom the Bible says “God was his friend” and “was proud of being called his God.” (James 2:23; Hebrew 11:16) Why? Because Abraham and his family had a guest-attitude while living on earth, considering themselves as “temporary residents” here, which meant they always lived in remembrance of ‘returning to their original home, a better place.’ (Hebrews 11:13-16 Compare Philippians 3:20)

15) He stated men and women are “images of God,” hence equal. He chose to reveal the most important spiritual truths to a woman who was from a “low” caste community called Samaritans, thus elevated the standard of woman. (John 4) He declared that projection of woman as inferior was the result of “hardheartedness” of some ancient men, which obviously has nothing to do with Scriptures. (Mathew 19:4-8) God is not partial to any nation or religion; but goes by fruitage one produces (Mathew 21:43)

16) When all the men whom Jesus personally trained deserted him, “many women” stood with him at the direst moments of his life, ministering to him. (Mathew 27:55) He praised woman as having keener insight into future and spirituality than men (Mathew 26:10-13 Contrast John 6:60) and appointed woman to impart vital spiritual truth to men. (John 20:16-18)

In brief, he lived up to his name, Jesus, (transliteration of the Hebrew Jehoshua), which means “Jehovah is salvation.” Jehovah means “I am that I am.” (Exodus 3:14) Abraham very well knew the meaning of this name and had already put the essence of it in a simple title as “the eternal” (`Olam, in Hebrew) in Genesis 21:33, which God Himself expanded later as: “I am the Alpha and the Omega … who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8) What better word can convey God’s name as the eternal (as opposed to the ephemeral—things that appear, remain for some time and disappear after a while)? Being the ETERNAL, He is THE SOURCE behind all the resources; hence only HE can become our savior, the supreme beneficent (Mark 10:18); and only He can become the valid object of our love! (James 1:17) Thus Jesus’s name was a roaring reminder to the world: “Remember God, because He only is your Savior,” which is in essence all the teachings of Brahamakumaris put together! “Remember God and be pure” has been their most important mantra from their very inception!

Now ask the world, the above mentioned things identify whom. “That is what Brahmakumaris do,” people with keen insight will answer! (In Sanskrit, Brah = great; ma = mind; kumari = daughter; kumar = son) Similarity between Brahmakumaris and Jesus is not a coincidence! Basis of God’s children is always the same, it never changes. (Mathew 5:44-48)

It wouldn't matter, because if they are "secret" you wouldn't know about them - or if you did, you wouldn't be able to get any of the greatest, most hidden, valuable information they have.

This is why I question if all of these "secret" groups are really "secret".

For myself the ones that I have been deeply involved with are in the order that I joined, A.R.E. (The Edger Casey Association For Research and Enlightenment.) Astara, the Order of the Mayans, and lastly Neo-Tech The Society of Secrets.

A.R.E. is based on Edger Casey and his teachings.

The Mayans are a Christian based mystery school. They teach the deeper mysteries of Christ also of course the true Maya teachings.

Astara is a multi-religion based school, from Egypt to Zen to Christian to Hindu it teaches the deeper mysteries of all these and connects them.

Lastly the S.O.S. is most practical down to earth and yes they believe in the God Man but mysticism, no you wont find that with them. They believe the mind should be used in logical ways. These logical ways may seem like magic to those asleep trapped by the deception of Neo-Cheating that most of the world is trapped by the Anti-Civilization.

I will state in none of these did I have to swear my soul to Satan or do any sacrifices or anything weird. All are about using your own mind.

I am a Christian and cast out Satan so if any were dark I'd avoid it.

the oldest secret society is the gnosis (knowledge) many of the world myth and legend comes from them. they have use symbol to pass the knowledge along in story. like example: Zeus, Odin, Excalibur, the philosopher stone, alchemy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flOK86Pnr9Q

all of those story use symbol and convey message. why because the conqueror wanted to rule religion for their own profit. even in today story like stargate sg1 you have the goaoul the ori that are false God that want to rule every one else with power. so what they did to not get caught is simple make nice story using symbol and message so that the awakened that have eyes to see and that know the symbol would understand the message. and those that did not know the symbol would not see it.

blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

narrow is the gate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8wkQQ9qxsg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI58_m5aPeM

with out fear you can cross the last narrow door.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRNmeHdCNns

Verily verily I tell you no one can enter the kingdom of God with out being born of water and the spirit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbBmpaDBizA

there is light in a person of the light and it shines on the whole world if not it is dark.

Let there be light, be the light that you can be, experience and enjoy.

All mystical knowledge is positive. The intention behind how it is used and how it is shared denotes whether it is positive or negative. Many of those who possess such knowledge believe that if they shared such knowledge with those they judge and declare less understanding and nonredeemable of such knowledge, such knowledge will be corrupted. This is particularly ironic, as those who pass such judgement on sharing this knowledge have become corrupt and have used this knowledge for self-serving means. But this situation is not always as it is now, or has been. There were periods in Earth's history when teacher's of such knowledge would have been killed for openly teaching such knowledge. One such example would be The Essenes, who taught Jahovah (Jesus). But such teachings did not stop Jahovha (Jesus) from spreading The Word, did it?

Is Truth and Knowledge worthy of only a select few? Is judgement judicial when in the hands of a preselected few?

Are there any good secret societies? No. If their heart is in society there is no need for secrets.