Women in Secret Societies: From Exclusion to Empowerment

Introduction: The Locked Lodge Door

For centuries, the door to the lodge was closed to women. Freemasonry, the world's largest secret society, admitted only men. The Knights Templar were warrior monks—no women allowed. Even the Golden Dawn, founded in the progressive Victorian era, struggled with gender equality despite admitting women from the start.

But women refused to be excluded from esoteric knowledge and spiritual power. They created their own orders, infiltrated male societies, and eventually forced open doors that had been locked for centuries. Today, women lead magical orders, practice ceremonial magic, and reclaim the witch as a symbol of female power.

This is the tenth article in our Secret Societies series. We now explore why traditional societies excluded women, how women responded by creating their own orders, and how modern secret societies are (slowly) becoming more inclusive.

Why Traditional Societies Excluded Women

1. Historical Precedent

Medieval guilds:

• Stonemason guilds (Freemasonry's claimed origin) were male-only
• Craft guilds generally excluded women from full membership
• Women could be widows of masters, but not independent members

Military orders:

• Knights Templar, Hospitallers were warrior monks
• Medieval warfare = male domain
• Monastic vows = celibacy (no women in monastery)

2. Separate Spheres Ideology

Victorian belief:

• Men = public sphere (work, politics, fraternity)
• Women = private sphere (home, family, domesticity)
• Secret societies = male bonding space
• Women's presence would "feminize" and weaken the order

3. Esoteric Justifications

Masonic "Ancient Landmarks":

• Claimed tradition forbids women
• "Regularity" requires male-only membership
• Breaking this = "irregular" or "clandestine" Masonry

Occult theories:

• Some claimed women's "psychic nature" made them unsuitable
• Others said women were "too spiritual" for material work
• Contradictory rationalizations for exclusion

4. Simple Sexism

Reality: Men wanted exclusive spaces and power

• Networking and advancement opportunities
• Bonding without women present
• Maintaining male privilege
• Fear of women's power and competition

Women's Response: Creating Their Own Orders

Order of the Eastern Star (1850s)

Founded: 1850s by Rob Morris (Freemason)

Purpose: Masonic-affiliated order for women

Membership:

• Women related to Master Masons (wives, daughters, mothers, sisters, widows)
• Master Masons can also join
• Largest fraternal organization open to women (500,000+ members)

Structure:

• Five degrees based on biblical heroines
• Adah, Ruth, Esther, Martha, Electa
• Rituals, symbols, regalia

Limitation:

• Not "true" Freemasonry (not recognized by Grand Lodges)
• Requires male Masonic connection
• Separate and unequal

Co-Masonry (Le Droit Humain, 1893)

Founded: 1893 in France by Maria Deraismes and Georges Martin

Revolutionary principle: Men and women as equals

Structure:

• Same three degrees as regular Freemasonry
• Same rituals (with gender-neutral language)
• Mixed-gender lodges

Spread:

• International organization
• Lodges in 60+ countries
• Thousands of members

Status:

• Not recognized by mainstream Grand Lodges
• Considered "irregular" or "clandestine"
• But practices legitimate Masonry

Women's Grand Lodges

Concept: Women-only Masonic lodges

Examples:

• Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons (HFAF): UK, founded 1913
• Order of Women Freemasons (OWF): UK, founded 1908
• Grande Loge Féminine de France: France

Practice:

• Same rituals as male Freemasonry
• Three degrees (EA, FC, MM)
• Appendant bodies (Royal Arch, etc.)

Status:

• Not recognized by mainstream Grand Lodges
• But legitimate Masonic practice
• Growing membership

Women in Magical Orders: A Different Story

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1888)

Revolutionary: Admitted women from the beginning

Notable female members:

• Moina Mathers: Co-founder with husband S.L. MacGregor Mathers, artist, adept
• Florence Farr: Actress, reached Adeptus Minor, influential leader
• Annie Horniman: Funded the Order, theater patron
• Dion Fortune: Later member, became major occult author

Equality (mostly):

• Women advanced through same degrees as men
• Could hold leadership positions
• Contributed to rituals and teachings

Limitations:

• Some members (like Crowley) were misogynistic
• Women sometimes treated as "priestesses" vs. "magicians"
• But far more equal than Freemasonry

Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.)

Under Crowley: Admitted women

Notable women:

• Leah Hirsig: Crowley's "Scarlet Woman"
• Jane Wolfe: Actress, O.T.O. member, preserved teachings

Complications:

• Crowley's personal misogyny vs. Thelemic equality
• "Every man and every woman is a star" (equality in theory)
• But Crowley often treated women poorly in practice

Modern O.T.O.:

• Fully equal membership
• Women in all degrees including IX°
• Women in leadership positions

Wicca and Modern Witchcraft

Gerald Gardner's Wicca (1950s):

• Required male-female polarity (High Priest and High Priestess)
• But High Priestess was supreme authority in coven
• Women held power, not just membership

Dianic Wicca (1970s):

• Founded by Zsuzsanna Budapest
• Women-only, Goddess-focused
• Explicitly feminist
• Reclaiming witchcraft as women's spirituality

Modern witchcraft:

• Majority practitioners are women
• Women-led traditions dominant
• Witch = symbol of female power

Pioneering Women in Secret Societies

Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891)

Founded: Theosophical Society (1875)

Significance:

• Woman founding major esoteric order
• Challenged male dominance of occultism
• Influenced Golden Dawn, Wicca, New Age

Dion Fortune (1890-1946)

Born: Violet Mary Firth

Achievements:

• Golden Dawn member (Alpha et Omega)
• Founded Society of the Inner Light (1924)
• Wrote influential occult books (The Mystical Qabalah, Psychic Self-Defense)
• Trained many students

Zsuzsanna Budapest (1940-present)

Founded: Dianic Wicca (1971)

Activism:

• Women-only witchcraft tradition
• Feminist spirituality movement
• Arrested for fortune-telling (1975), fought and won
• Reclaimed witch as feminist icon

Phyllis Seckler (1917-2004)

Magical name: Soror Meral

Achievements:

• Student of Jane Wolfe (Crowley's student)
• O.T.O. member, reached IX°
• Founded College of Thelema
• Preserved and taught Thelemic tradition

Modern Progress: Slow but Real

Freemasonry's Resistance

Mainstream Grand Lodges: Still male-only

Arguments for maintaining exclusion:

• Tradition and Ancient Landmarks
• Men need male-only spaces
• Changing would split the fraternity

Arguments for inclusion:

• Sexism is indefensible in 21st century
• Women's Grand Lodges prove women can be Masons
• Declining membership needs new blood
• Equality is a Masonic value (hypocrisy to exclude women)

Status: Unlikely to change soon, but pressure increasing

Magical Orders: Mostly Equal

Modern ceremonial magic orders:

• Golden Dawn offshoots: Gender equal
• O.T.O.: Gender equal
• A∴A∴: Gender equal
• Most modern orders admit women

Exception: Some traditional orders maintain male-only membership

Women-Led Orders Flourishing

• Dianic Wicca and women's circles
• Goddess spirituality movements
• Feminist witchcraft traditions
• Women creating own systems, not waiting for admission

Conclusion: The Door Is Open (Mostly)

Women have fought their way into secret societies—creating their own when excluded, forcing open doors when possible, and ultimately transforming esoteric spirituality into a space where women not only participate but lead. Freemasonry remains a holdout, but in magical orders and modern witchcraft, women have claimed their power.

The witch hunts tried to destroy women's spiritual authority. Secret societies tried to exclude women from esoteric knowledge. But women persisted, and today the witch is a symbol of female empowerment, and women lead some of the most influential magical orders in the world.

In the next article, we will explore The Symbolism of Secret Societies: Decoding Hidden Languages. We will examine the common symbols (eye, pyramid, snake, skull), hand gestures, architectural secrets, and how to "read" the visual language of secret societies.

The door is open. Women walk through. And the lodge will never be the same.

For the women who were excluded. For those who created their own orders. For the witches who reclaimed their power. We rise.