# Give us your obscure secret organizations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-us-your-obscure-secret-organizations/854382 "2020-05-24T13:58:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-us-your-obscure-secret-organizations/854382/21 "2020-05-25T03:25:04Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Does the[Church of the SubGenius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_SubGenius) qualify? The Paratheo-Anametamystikhood Of Eris Esoteric is far more secretive, in that none of its members are even sure whether it exists or not. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-us-your-obscure-secret-organizations/854382/22 "2020-05-25T03:26:48Z")
Similar to the OP, there is also the [International Brotherhood of Loyal Raccoons](http://raccoonfounders.weebly.com/), the fraternal organization that Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton belonged to on _The Honeymooners_. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-us-your-obscure-secret-organizations/854382/23 "2020-05-25T14:14:24Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I’ve often explained the source of my username, and while many people may remember, there’s lots I’m sure who don’t. I remember! It means “little duck” in Swahili, right? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-us-your-obscure-secret-organizations/854382/24 "2020-05-25T14:27:58Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I remember! It means “little duck” in Swahili, right? No, it means “one who plays the harp” in Quechua. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-us-your-obscure-secret-organizations/854382/25 "2020-05-25T15:07:46Z")
I was an early member of the Chile Pepper Institute, until the authorities turned up the heat. I still have a t-shirt somewhere. Then there was the North American Fruit Explorers. But I don’t want to talk about that. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-us-your-obscure-secret-organizations/854382/26 "2020-05-25T18:58:08Z")
The [Church of All Worlds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_All_Worlds), a group of neo-pagan hippies who took inspiration from Robert Heinlein’s _Stranger in a Strange Land_. Heinlein discussed the group in one of his books. He was trying very hard to be polite, but I got the feeling that he was appalled. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-us-your-obscure-secret-organizations/854382/27 "2020-05-25T21:21:05Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > The [Church of All Worlds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_All_Worlds), a group of neo-pagan hippies who took inspiration from Robert Heinlein’s _Stranger in a Strange Land_. > > Heinlein discussed the group in one of his books. He was trying very hard to be polite, but I got the feeling that he was appalled. If he didn’t want to be appalled by hippies grokking his philosophy, he shouldn’t have had such an appalling philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-us-your-obscure-secret-organizations/854382/28 "2020-05-25T21:31:42Z")
The only obscure one I know was me and a couple of college buddies formed one. I can’t even remember what we called ourselves, but it was so secret that we had to pull down the empty cardboard 12-pack holder over our head, using the two handle slits as eye slits. Meetings got quite lively as the evenings wore on. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-us-your-obscure-secret-organizations/854382/29 "2020-05-25T22:39:20Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Heinlein discussed the group in one of his books. He was trying very hard to be polite, but I got the feeling that he was appalled. Did they include the part where they eat their own dead? :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-us-your-obscure-secret-organizations/854382.md?page=1)