The great secrets of human bombs society part 2/5

The nine degrees of assassins' secret society

The remains of the Assassins’ original stronghold, Alamut, in northern Iran. At one

Instead of pyramids, many secret societies and religious cults tend to be organized at the epicenter of a series of concentric circles, with the ultimate power residing somewhere in the hub. Circular organizations are not nearly as easily understood or penetrated as pyramid structures are because their internal mechanism remains concealed. In addition, the number of circles can vary, meaning that outsiders are never aware of how close they may be to the actual center of power. From the foot of a pyramid, you can see the summit, but from anywhere within a circular organization you can never accurately measure your proximity to authority.

In this manner, circular organizations conceal and protect their centers more effectively than pyramid structures.

The circular configuration of the Abode of Learning, copied by religious-based secret societies over the years, began with study groups called Assemblies of Wisdom, designed to discard candidates lacking sufficient dedication.

Successful graduates of the Assemblies of Wisdom entered a nine-stage initiation procedure built upon the characteristic circle structure. This initiation process represents a classic method of securing allegiance to a group’s cause and building a foundation of unquestioned obedience.

In the first initiation stage, doubts were planted in the minds of students about the values and concepts they had been taught to respect throughout their lives. Applying false analogies, teachers began to dismantle their students’ entire system of beliefs and any who were unable to deny their beliefs and values were dismissed.

Those who accepted the teachings—essentially emptying their minds—were warmly congratulated by their instructors.

Today, we refer to this technique as brainwashing. With no value system in place, students were forced to rely upon their teachers as a source of knowledge and the means to apply it. The most dedicated students swore a vow of blind allegiance to their masters, elevating them to the second degree.

Students who reached the second degree were informed that seven great imams represented the source of wisdom and knowledge delivered by the prophet Mohammed, and these imams had personally communicated that knowledge to the teachers. Teachers in the Abode of Learning were all highly placed officers in the caliph’s administration, meaning that students could trace divine inspiration directly from the Prophet to the very people who were passing His wisdom to them. With this awareness, the students moved through the second degree with enthusiasm.

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In the third degree of initiation, the names of these seven imams were revealed, along with secret words to summon them for assistance and protection.

Revelations continued through the fourth degree, when the teachers added the names of the Seven Mystical Law-givers to the seven imams, along with magical properties attributed to each.

The names of the Mystical Law-givers were Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed and Ismail, and they had seven mystical helpers: Seth, Shem, Ishmael, Aaron, Simon, Ali and Mohammed, son of Ismail. Through further lessons other names were revealed, including those of the twelve apostles under the seven prophets, along with their individual functions and magical powers.

Finally, students learned the existence of a mysterious deputy known as the Lord of the Time, who spoke only through the caliph.

Qualifying students moved to the initiation’s fifth degree, where they acquired the ability to influence others through the power of personal concentration. Documents suggest this was actually a form of deep meditation, with students required to repeat, for endless periods of time, a single word: AK-ZABT-1. Meditation can be an effective means of relaxation because it effectively blocks the thinking process. Extend the technique long enough and intensely enough, however, and it severely damages the ability of individuals to think for themselves, which was the goal of the fifth degree.

The sixth degree consisted of instruction in analytical and destructive arguments, precisely the technique used by teachers to disarm students in the first degree. Successfully passing an examination qualified students for the seventh degree, where they were informed that all humanity and all creation were one, including both positive and negative powers. Students could use their power for either creativity or destruction, but the power was available only from the mysterious Lord of the Time.

Now they were prepared to accept the teachings of the eighth and ninth degrees even though, to our eye, the teachings appear in total contradiction to the spiritual values that motivated the movement in the first place.

Reaching the eighth degree required students to recognize that all religion and philosophy were fraudulent; the primary force on earth was the will and dedication of the individual; and individuals could attain true fulfillment only through servitude to the imams.

This prepared students for the ninth degree, which taught there was no such thing as belief; all that mattered in life was action, taken in direct response to instructions from the leader, who alone possessed the reasons for carrying out these orders.

Throughout the levels of instruction, the lesson of the nine degrees could be summed up in a single declaration

The Abode of Learning created an organization populated with members willing to perform any task assigned by their leaders. Its most significant achievement was the taking of Baghdad in 1058 by a graduate of the Abode, who crowned himself sultan and coined money in the name of the Egyptian caliph. No other achievement by a student from the Abode of Learning compared with this feat, but the glory proved short-lived, as was the graduate himself.

He was soon slain by the Turks, who swore that anyone associated with the Abode of Learning would pay with his life. Along with other events, including a weakening of moral and financial support from the caliph’s descendants, the society’s operations began to dwindle until, in 1123, they closed forever but it did not end the secret society, whose members remained underground for many years, each describing its operations and achievements to the next generation.

One of those who listened with wonder was a remarkable man named Hasan, son of Sabbah, whose family originated in Khorasan, the vast open regions of eastern Iran bordering Afghanistan. Sabbah, a prominent politician and learned man, was descended from Abode members who had achieved the ninth degree of Ismailism, and he passed at least some of this knowledge to his son.

As a young man, Hasan was placed under the tutorship of Imam Muwafiq, who chose to instruct only the most promising students and taught them the secrets of achieving power.

Nizam-al-Mulk

There must have been something to the Imam’s teaching techniques because among Hasan’s colleagues at the school were the future poet and astronomer Omar Khayyam and a brilliant youth named Nizam-al-Mulk, who rose to become prime minister of Persia.

While studying with the Imam, these three young men agreed that whoever rose to power first would assist the other two.

Nizam kept his promise. After achieving a position of authority and influence among the Persians, he secured a pension for Khayyam, enabling the poet to live a life of ease in his beloved Nishapur region, where the Rubaiyat was composed.

For his friend Hasan, Nizam obtained a ministerial post in the shah’s palace.

Hasan proved to be an excellent administrator, winning first the favor and later the trust of the shah, who assigned Hasan Sabbah.

His creation of the Assassins launched a terrorist technique that functions to this day. him the duty of managing the regime’s wealth. Whether Hasan was larcenous from the beginning or his ethics became blinded by the sparkle of gold and jewels, the shah’s trust was misplaced for Hasan embezzled enormous amounts of the kingdom’s riches. Fleeing just ahead of the shah’s guards, Hasan escaped to Cairo, remembering his father’s tales of the Abode of Learning, where he believed he would be safe from certain execution. There he encountered a group of Ismailis who comprised the remaining nucleus of the old society.

They had been waiting generations for both an opportunity and a leader to restore its power. Hasan was that man.

Charismatic, cunning, ruthless and intelligent, Hasan gathered a number of adherents, convincing them that he possessed magical powers awarded by the Prophet himself. Their devotion to him grew stronger when, on a sea voyage to Africa, Hasan and his followers encountered a sudden violent storm. Soon waves were towering over the small ship, lightning flashed, thunder rumbled, and winds threatened to smash the craft against the rocks if the water didn’t first engulf the vessel and its occupants.

Everyone on board panicked, and began to wail and pray.

Everyone except Hasan, who remained calm and undisturbed When they asked how he could remain tranquil when facing almost certain death, Hasan smiled and replied, “Our Lord has promised that no evil shall befall me.”

And no evil did. The storm soon passed, the sea grew calm, and Hasan’s devotees regarded him with even greater awe and respect.

Back in Cairo, the tale of Hasan’s stoic nature was repeated over and over again. Hasan was a blessed man protected from evil, a man to heed, and a man to follow. Hasan himself tended the tale with all the care and patience of a shrewd farmer anticipating a rich harvest.

Meanwhile, he continued to absorb the training techniques employed by the Abode of Learning, recognizing that the power available to anyone who could refine the Abode’s methods could be applied in a different context, with different goals. After a few months Hasan, accompanied by his most trusted supporters, returned to the region of his father’s birth. He had found his destiny.

Investing the riches he had stolen from the shah, and applying the brainwashing procedures of the Abode, he would construct a murderous society around a spectacular deception.