finished "the power of ritual in prehistory" by bryan hayden which i think is an essential read for the parapolitically inclined. major implications for the study of terror, the occult, the state, the bourgeoisie and the relation between all four--i want to summarize a bit below.
to give you some basic background on the book: hayden's chief argument is simply demonstrating the validity of the secret society as an interpretative tool in archaeology, showing its omnipresence in complex society. ('complex' encompassing farmers and some hunter-gatherers)
but what we're interested in is what it presents regarding the origin and development of secret societies. hayden notes that it is critically important that these societies cannot be found in simple hunter-gatherer societies, likely for one reason: a lack of economic surplus.
it is widely accepted that such societies emerged in tandem within which an economic surplus existed; some scholars argued they were benign and existed to protect the community's wealth and distribute it fairly. i (and hayden) am not convinced.
these societies thus formed a primitive booj in a sense: they were composed of the richest and most influential members of the community, there to further accrue wealth and gain power in the community. though some societies allowed in the poor, most were restricted to the rich.
this restriction was maintained both by hereditary inheritances of titles and exorbitant initiation costs. for example, a secret society in oceania required initiates to give the leaders hundreds of pigs to advance; other societies put initiates into inescapable debt to join.
the societies themselves were religious, built around esoteric knowledge that they withheld from outsiders. hayden notes however a distinction between the societies and wider religious traditions: though they used their symbols, they tended to usurp the power such traditions held
here's where it gets interesting for us: the use of terror in these societies. scare tactics, violence, and killings were all used to protect these societies, ensure loyalty, and maintain control over their people.
human sacrifices were a common tactic of these societies (though not universal). many societies killed outsiders who gained access to their "esoteric knowledge" (this generally happened to people who uncovered the "stage magic" behind their rituals).
in the nigerian poro society, the only way to reach the highest rank was to sacrifice one's own son. this society was particularly brutal: ritualized infanticide, human sacrifice, cannibalism--almost reminds you of serial killers, doesn't it?
you know what else reminds you of serial killers? when society members would enter "ecstatic" states through the use of drugs, torture, cannibalism, or other methods and attack (though rarely kill) community members. you all see where to go with this, so i'll leave you to it.
these societies became major power brokers and significant figures in tribal and regional politics. they were essential tools for expansion of political power beyond the tribal level: they were means of going beyond both one's tribe and kinship group.
in many areas, they became the most powerful regional power brokers, holding economic and political influence over numerous regional tribes--the poro society, for instance, was said to control tribal politics in all villages where their members resided.
in this sense, i think there is a clear parallel between these secret societies and the modern transnational bourgeoisie. they were a primitive force for economic and political centralization, guaranteeing the wealth of their members and holding power over disparate peoples.
and now, we can go backwards: starting from this notion that these secret societies were a primitive booj, can we learn anything about terror, the occult, and political and economic control?
i'll leave the full details of that as an exercise for the reader, but i hope that i've established here the validity and necessity of analysis of these secret societies in class analysis.
further, i hope i've demonstrated that esoteric knowledge and power existed as both the justification for and instrument of the prehistoric elite. and importantly, i hope this links legitimizes analysis of the occult as an instrument and possible motive for later elites.
highly recommend you read the book, my garbage summary can't do it justice. well-written, quick read, 380 pages, pdf on b-ok. thank you folks, and now paging @not_an_archaeo to make sure i didn't completely fuck everything up.
*emerged alongside the development of an economic surplus, i should’ve said. fuck wish i could edit/would proofread.
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