# Secret religious documents / teachings / rituals which have NOT leaked? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 11, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381 "2015-02-11T13:23:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/1 "2015-02-11T13:23:18Z")
Spin-off from [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=748880). In that one, I _almost_ wrote like so: > [@](#): > > Are there still any major “unleaked” Scientological (is that a word?) documents out there? Cases where we know for sure of a given document’s _existence_ (for example from references in other documents), but don’t know its exact content - i.e. the details of the teachings or ideas contained therein? Do those people still have any secrets left, or is pretty much all out in the open at this point? In this thread, I thought we might expand this question to all religions, as well as to include not just written documents, but also orally transmitted teachings, rituals and practices, etc. I’m mainly interested in cases where the _existence_ of the secret document / teaching / ritual is undisputed among the experts, so let’s try and keep speculation to a minimum. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/2 "2015-02-11T13:32:54Z")
Not sure if the skeptic’s creed is known to anyone outside the hallowed halls of skepticism. Here it is: > [@](#): > > Skeptics Creed > > Credulity is not a virtue. It’s fortune cookie cutter, mommy issues, hypnobabble on Bullshit. Couched in scientician, double bubble toil and trouble, pseudo-quasi-alternative, acupunctuating, pressurized, steriogramed, pyramidal, free energy healing, water downward spiral, brain dead pan sales pitch late night, infodocutainment. Leo pisces, cancer cures, detox, reflex foot massage, death and towers, tarot cards, psychic healing, crystal balls, Bigfoot, yeti, aliens. Churches, mosques, and synagogues. Temples, dragons, giant worms, Atlantis, dolphins, truthers, birthers, witches, wizards, vaccine nuts, Shaman healers, evangelists, conspiracy double speak, stigmata nonsense. Expose your sides. Thrust your hands, bloody, evidential, conclusive. Doubt even this. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/3 "2015-02-11T14:03:58Z")
Thanks for sharing, but please re-read the OP. I am only interested in _religious_ documents or teachings which were, or are, _meant to be kept secret_ from the public at large. That one fails on both points. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/4 "2015-02-11T14:13:40Z")
[The New Testament Apocrypha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament_apocrypha) kind of qualify… some of them were lost, but we’re not sure. If some parts weren’t lost, then they’re being hidden. Things like the [Gospel of Eve](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Eve), which encourages people to acknowledge that the flesh is inherently weak because god made it that way, so rather than deny themselves pleasure to remove weakness, enjoy life’s pleasures because that’s intelligent design for you. ---
**Author:** ![williambaskerville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@williambaskerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williambaskerville)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/5 "2015-02-11T14:54:34Z")
The Third Secret of Fatima might qualify, It was known to exist, and it was never revealed until the Pope of the time decided to do so. So far as I can recall, most of the supposedly authoritative leaks about what it said turned out to be pretty inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/6 "2015-02-11T15:04:41Z")
Here’s a contender: L. Ron Hubbard’s “The Blood Ritual.” Jon Atack mentions it in _[A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed](http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/books/a-piece-of-blue-sky.pdf)_, one of the major Scientology exposés. Apparently, the document came up in the course of [_Church of Scientology of California v. Armstrong_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology_of_California_v._Armstrong). Here’s Atack’s telling: > [@](#): > > Also under court seal was a document with the tantalizing title “The Blood Ritual.” The title was Hubbard’s own. This document was apparently so sensitive that no part of it was read into the record. The Scientology lawyer asserted that the deity invoked in “The Blood Ritual” is an Egyptian god of Love. […] Since doing my research I have seen a copy of “The Blood Ritual,” and it is indeed addressed to Hathor. Nuit, Re, Mammon and Osiris are also invoked. The ceremony consisted of Ron and his then wife mingling their blood to become One. That “the Scientology lawyer” seemingly never even attempted to deny that the document was Hubbard’s work, as well as that Atack - who I think is widely believed to be a reliable fellow - claims to have seen it with his own eyes, all speaks, I think, in favour of both the document’s existence, and its authenticity. To my knowledge, “The Blood Ritual” has never leaked (no pun intended!). ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/7 "2015-02-11T17:13:37Z")
How about the Eleusinian Mysteries? Their existence is beyond reasonable dispute, but most of the details were never written down. I’m not sure if you count it if the ritual is no longer practiced, but for hundreds of years the major secrets were kept. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/8 "2015-02-11T20:27:34Z")
There’s a number of Hopi rituals that have not been leaked. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/9 "2015-02-11T22:54:14Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > [The New Testament Apocrypha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament_apocrypha) kind of qualify… some of them were lost, but we’re not sure Considering that the Apocrypha/Deutrocanonical books have been published in both Roman Catholic and Protestant Bibles, I don’t think they fit the OP’s question. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/10 "2015-02-11T23:27:59Z")
Are you considering only current religions? For instance, would the Roman mystery cults count? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/11 "2015-02-12T00:23:12Z")
There are probably a whole bunch of rituals that have never leaked, because no one outside the group really gave a shit. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/12 "2015-02-12T07:29:03Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Are you considering only current religions? For instance, would the Roman mystery cults count? Sure, old-timey religions is fine too. > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > There are probably a whole bunch of rituals that have never leaked, because no one outside the group really gave a shit. Would you care to give examples? That’s what the thread is for. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/13 "2015-02-12T09:19:57Z")
> [@williambaskerville](#): > > The Third Secret of Fatima might qualify, It was known to exist, and it was never revealed until the Pope of the time decided to do so. > > So far as I can recall, most of the supposedly authoritative leaks about what it said turned out to be pretty inaccurate. ## Actually it was revealed in 2000. The Master reveals: [What happened to the secret message of Fatima? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/35/what-happened-to-the-secret-message-of-fatima) Mandaeism has some secret texts unknown to outsiders, assuming I understand wiki correctly. This gnostic faith has some 65,000 followers and has been studied in broad outlines, with some of their texts published in the early 1900s. Before 2003 they mostly lived in Iraq. Following the chaos of the US invasion most moved elsewhere: Iran was a favorite destination as it already had a community. [Mandaeism - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandaeism) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/14 "2015-02-12T12:50:57Z")
Plenty of stuff from the old mystery religions is still secret, and we can only speculate about it. Very few documents about the practice of Mithraism have survived, for instance, although we have a lot of artwork. (I think that David Ulansey’s ideas about Mithraism being a science-inspired “new” religion which only borrowed the trappings of Persian Mazdaism is likely correct, though.) We don’t know everything about the Eleusinian mysteries, either: > **[Eleusinian Mysteries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusinian_Mysteries)** > > The Eleusinian Mysteries (Greek: Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια, romanized: Eleusínia Mystḗria) were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Eleusis in ancient Greece. They are considered the "most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece". Their basis was an old agrarian cult, and there is some evidence that they were derived from the religious practices of the Mycenean period. The Mysteries represented the myth of th The rites, ... Or similar mystery religions. It’s not a religion, but the secrets of the Skull and Bones society are still secret. There are plenty of other college secret socieities in nthe US: > **[Collegiate secret societies in North America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collegiate_secret_societies_in_North_America)** > > There are many collegiate secret societies in North America. They vary greatly in their level of secrecy and the degree of independence from their universities. A collegiate secret society makes a significant effort to keep affairs, membership rolls, signs of recognition, initiation, or other aspects secret from the public. > Some collegiate secret societies are referred to as "class societies", which restrict membership to one class year. Most class societies are restricted to the senior class ... I’m sure there are plenty of others elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/15 "2015-02-12T13:10:08Z")
…and nobody not in the fraternity knows what’s in the Colgate University Deke\* Temple. Delta Kappa Epsilon, which has plenty of branches elsewhere. Attached to the Deke house at Colgate is a windowless “TEmple” that outsiders don’t get into. Speculation about its contents and activities therein are common, ranging from Lovecraftian _Esoteric Order of Dagon_ ideas to the claim that it contains a swimming pool filled with wine. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-religious-documents-teachings-rituals-which-have-not-leaked/712381/16 "2015-02-13T10:00:28Z")
Worth a mention are the [Kakure Kirishitan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakure_Kirishitan) of Japan or the [hidden Christians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Christians_of_Japan). Yes, there are 2 wiki pages. Christianity was outlawed in Japan with severe penalties from ~1639 to ~1873. While underground, Christianity began to take Buddhist aspects: the tradition was oral since Christian documents could get practitioners in trouble.