The Secret Society of 'The Order of the Pug'

All across the globe, we have secretive societies that only a select few will ever get to step foot in. From university societies and frats to clubs that only wealth can get, there is something out there for everyone. History has its fair share of secretive organisations; the Illuminati is a prime example of this. Some of these societies have strange rituals and criteria to be achieved, leading to some peculiar gatherings. One of these secret societies is the Mopsorde or The Order of the Pug.

Freemasons

Freemasonry was a highly secretive organisation that originally became official in 1717, but Pope Clement XII's papal bull "In Eminenti Apostolatus Specula" forbade German Roman Catholics from joining the Masons 1738. Any Catholic who joined the Masons was excommunicated because the fraternity was considered as a breeding ground for dangerous political ideas. Despite this, the organisation continued to operate under the name of Mopsorden (the Pug Order), founded by Clemens August of Wittelsbach, the Elector of Cologne. In essence,

Why Pug?

Members were still German Freemasons who tinkered with the format to carry out their now-prohibited activities. Because of the breed's devotion, dependability, and consistency, members dubbed themselves Mops (German for Pug). The Pug, predictably, became the group's hidden insignia. However, there could have been another reason for the Pug's selection. The breed was regarded to be a provocative symbol of the Enlightenment, particularly in England. When Parliament imported King William III from the Netherlands to replace his uncle and a way-too-Catholic father-in-law, James II, Pugs arrived with him. Owning a Pug was a discreet method of displaying support with England's revolution without getting jailed, or worse, thrown in a dungeon, for European intellectuals who admired this new kind of English administration and free-thinking. Pugs were linked with Voltaire and Diderot in Paris.

Joining the Order of the Pug

Newcomers had to wear a dog collar and could only enter the lodge by crawling on all fours and scratching at the door. The newbies were duped and led nine times around a symbol-filled carpet as the assembled "Pugs" of the Order barked loudly and chanted "Memento mori," 'remember you shall die, to test their stamina. As a gesture of ultimate devotion, the blind candidate was supposed to kiss the Grand Pug's backside under his tail – in reality, a porcelain pug dog. Women were allowed to join as long as they were Catholic, which was a break from the Freemasons, although the Grand Master was always a man. Each lodge had two lodge masters (or Big Pugs), one man and one woman known as a Grand Mistress, who alternated in controlling the lodge. The organisation was "busted" in 1745 when its secrets were "revealed" in a book published in Amsterdam called "L'ordre des Franc-Maçons trahi and le Secret des Mopses révélé." The ritual was described in detail, and the rite was depicted in two engravings.

What happened to the Order?

Johann Joachim Kaendler, a German sculptor and master model maker at the Meissen porcelain factory in Germany, was commissioned to construct a strange set of sculptures, a group of porcelain Pug dogs designed as secret Mopsorden symbols, around 1740. In 1748, Göttingen University outlawed the Order of the Pugs. The closure was justified by the lodge fees and their power over their members, and the lodge documents were turned over to university authorities after a government probe. Although German sources claim the organisation was short-lived, rumours spread that it was still operational in Lyon in 1902.

I sometimes wish that I was part of some sort of secretive society. The inner-circle talks would interest me, and to get a taste of what that type of world looks like is both scary and enticing. I admit that I tend to stick to my small tribe of close friends, so I guess that's my version of a secret society. We even have a chat called the 'secret secret chat' – twice as secretive! I am bound to search for more secret societies from the past, and if you have ever been a part of a secret society, do let us know!

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