Conspiracy Theories: Skull and Bones

Skull and Bones (S&B) is one of several very exclusive secret societies at Yale University. Founded in 1832 as an American version of the fraternities popular in German universities at the time, S&B ‘taps’ 15 new male members each year and initiates them at the society’s headquarters, a building known as ‘the Tomb’, in a qausi-Masonic ceremony. Bonesmen are expected to maintain strict secrecy about their membership but it is known that previous Bonesmen have included several presidents and many other major figures in American history.

Image via Wikipedia

What the Theorists say:

By building a secret network of elite power brokers and inculcating them with a morbid and anti-democratic philosophy, S&B constantly renews the foundations of a corrupt Illuminati-style conspiracy against the general public. From early in its history, S&B has been dogged by controversy: for instance, a college paper in 1873 railed against the society’s ‘criminal’ influence. The power of the Bonesmen, however, has endured and even grown. During the nineteenth century, S&B tapped a stream of scions from the elite families governing America’s politics and trade, starting a trend of links to the American intelligence community and drug trafficking in the form of opium trading. Is this more than a coincidence, given suspicions about the CIA’s role in modern drug trafficking?

The elite family connection survives today, particularly with the Bushes; George W Bush is a third-generation Bonesman. His grandfather, Bonesman Prescott Bush, was heavily involved in financing Nazi industry. It is alleged that S&B was founded as the chapter of a German college secret society, leading to accusations of long-standing links to German nationalism and fascism.

A deeper criticism of S&B is that its central philosophy is a morbid preoccupation with death. Does this in any way relate to its strong influence on the CIA and the nation’s military-industrial complex since at least four Ministers of War have been Bonesmen? Or is S&B a front for something even more sinister – an evil master plan to control world history? Central to this theory is the idea that while people are seemingly offered a choice, both options are actually controlled by S&B. The most obvious example is the 2004 US Presidential Election, where both candidates, George W Bush and John Kerry, were Bonesmen.

The Official Story?

S&B is probably no more than a glorified fraternity, somewhere for the ‘boys’ to drink and dress up. If half of what was said about S&B was true, then nobody in a position of power in the US could emerge from any other background. Yet most of the nation’s elite come from other schools and are not members of secret societies. Also, given the pool from which S&B draws, it is hardly surprising that alumni include prominent politicians and business leaders. Families such as the Bushes or Kerrys have a long tradition of public service and their scions would have travelled a similar path whether or not they were tapped for S&B.

Should you be paranoid?

The more lurid allegations of Nazi links and death worshipping can probably be discounted, but S&B does exist, many of the most powerful men in the White House went to Yale and confess to being Bonesmen and they refuse to discuss any details about what went on in the clandestine club or how membership affects the powerful elite today. If the aim of S&B is to build up a network of influence among the highest echelons of US power from a tiny pool of privileged men, we should all be more than a little paranoid.