Secret Society History and Mysteries

Creator at Obomedia
  • 0.0 (0)
  • History
  • Updated Daily

Have you ever come across a symbol, ritual, or hidden reference and wondered whether it belonged to something much larger than it seemed? A detail can look meaningless until history gives it context—and suddenly the secrecy surrounding it becomes impossible to ignore. Secret Society: History and Mysteries explores the hidden groups, coded traditions and historical questions that have fueled curiosity for generations. Each episode examines secret societies through documented history, unexplained connections and the mysteries that still surround their influence. The focus stays on what is known, what remains disputed and why certain organizations continue to fascinate people long after their most secretive eras have passed. If so much was deliberately kept from public view, how much of the story are we still missing?

  1. 11h ago

    The Barn of Twenty-Three Shoes: How a Culter Built a Perfect Stage

    The Barn of Twenty-Three Shoes: How a Culter Built a Perfect Stage A retired postal worker found twenty-three pairs of shoes in neat rows inside an unlocked barn on September 14, 2011 - toes pointing to the far wall, one pair missing - and no people. What looked like an empty scene was actually the aftermath of a closed world run for nearly two years: a staged life with its own rules and a door only one man could open. How did a theater teacher and trained artists end up living inside someone else's production? In this episode, we tell how a retired drama teacher named Sandra Underwood and other mid-career artists joined a group called the Meridian Players, paid an $800 enrollment fee for a two-week intensive, and later moved into a rented barn that contained a hidden door. What was the plan behind Dale Allen’s idea of "role permanence theory" and who controlled the exit? Person: Paul Porter Date: September 14, 2011 Person: Sandra Underwood Fee: $800 Document: The Permanent Stage (pamphlet, 2009) - A retired postal worker, Paul Porter, discovered twenty-three pairs of shoes arranged in two rows inside an unlocked barn on September 14, 2011. - Sandra Underwood taught drama for sixteen years and was 43 years old by spring 2010 when she joined the Meridian Players. - Dale Allen published a thirty-page pamphlet titled The Permanent Stage in 2009 outlining "role permanence theory." - The initial Meridian Players intensive required an $800 enrollment fee and was described as a two-week program in eastern Kentucky. - The Aldenmere Farm lease was signed in January 2011 with six months of rent paid in advance, in cash, to owner Bette Novak. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

  2. 1d ago

    The Binder in Pellen Forest: How a Ledger Toppled a Cult Leader

    The Binder in Pellen Forest: How a Ledger Toppled a Cult Leader A dry plastic bag between tree roots in Pellen Forest Forest held 162 handwritten pages stamped "COVENANT OF THE RENEWED MIND - ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE" that became evidence in a case where more than $300,000 moved through nineteen people - but who dropped that binder and why did it survive three days of rain undamaged? In this episode, we follow the timeline from a dog finding the binder on August 14, 2019, through the ledger's arrival at the Garnet County Sheriff's Department, and trace how the records exposed a four-year financial operation; how did a weekly-updated set of binders and signed withdrawal forms become the community's "memory," and what did those pages reveal? Person: Marie Novak Date: August 14, 2019 Location: Pellen Forest Forest Case: Covenant of the Renewed Mind accounts Event: Binder logged as evidence at Garnet County Sheriff's Department by 11:47 AM - A golden retriever pulled on her leash at 11:06 AM and found a zippered plastic bag between two exposed tree roots. - The binder contained exactly 162 handwritten pages and had no name on the cover. - The inside front page bore the rubber stamp "COVENANT OF THE RENEWED MIND - ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE." - The trail through Pellen Forest Forest had been only 11 days old at the time the binder was found. - The financial operation moved more than $300,000 through 19 people over four years. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

  3. 2d ago

    The Notebook That Exposed a False Shepherd and a Stolen Life

    The Notebook That Exposed a False Shepherd and a Stolen Life Fear that someone you trusted could be inventing a whole life to take your pain - a dry notebook found wedged in a willow on July 12, 2019 contained 61 handwritten pages of names, dates, and asset transfers that a fisherman recognized as deliberate. Who wrote it, why it survived impossible water, and what it revealed about a man who arrived at a grief group with lies - and a converted barn called the Shepherd's Frequency - are questions this episode follows to their edge. In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the notebook's discovery to the story it unlocked: a retired teacher named Frank Graham, a newcomer named Melvin D. Larsen who claimed false credentials, and the group dynamics that let a stranger gain influence. How did a single paper record upend a life and a community? Person: Grant Dixon Person: Frank Graham Person: Melvin D. Larsen Date: July 12, 2019 Location: Morrow River - The notebook contained sixty-one handwritten pages with names, dates, and asset transfers. - Grant Dixon found the notebook at 6:20 a.m. wedged in a willow fork at the outside bend of the Morrow River. - Eleven notebooks had been thrown from the footbridge upstream roughly six hours earlier while the river was running high. - Frank Graham was fifty-four years old and had taught shop class for twenty-six years in Carver Falls, Indiana before retiring. - Melvin D. Larsen arrived at the Carver Falls grief group in September 2017 and within two months invited six members to his property on twelve acres he called the Shepherd's Frequency. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

  4. 3d ago

    The 61 Empty Chairs: Why They Left a Cake and Vanished

    The 61 Empty Chairs: Why They Left a Cake and Vanished Sixty-one chairs in a perfect circle, a white-tableclothed cake with blue frosting, and four words on the box: "We Were Wrong. We're Still Here." Who organized a gathering that left no footprints, no trash, rented chairs returned clean, and then disappeared from a soft Indiana clearing without a trace? In this episode, we follow how one small recruitment at a copy counter led to a rural communal compound, the rise of a leader named John Jensen, and the unanswered question of what the Gathered Threshold was waiting for - and what happened after their promised "correction" on November 14, 2008. Person: Denise Pruitt Person: John Jensen Event: Gathering of sixty-one members at Mercer place Location: Cutter's Hollow, Indiana Date: November 14, 2008 - 61 folding chairs arranged in a perfect inward-facing circle were found in a clearing on a Tuesday morning in June 2009. - A folding table with an ironed white tablecloth weighted by river stones held a birthday cake in a clear plastic bakery box with blue frosting. - The cake bore four words in careful script: "We Were Wrong. We're Still Here." - The 61 chairs were rented from an event supply company in French Lick and were returned clean the following day. - The cake was purchased two days earlier at a grocery store in Marengo, 17 miles away. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

  5. 4d ago

    Twelve Shoes on the Lawn: What Bright Tillage Left Behind

    Twelve Shoes on the Lawn: What Bright Tillage Left Behind A rural Indiana driveway held twelve pairs of shoes lined up at the base of garden beds on the morning of May 9, 2019 - no blood, no forced entry, and one pair small enough to belong to a child. The property, linked to a nascent operation called Bright Tillage Associates, traces back to a local farm business and a man who returned home after his father's death - how did a quiet county become a place where people walked away and left their shoes behind? In this episode, we tell the sequence of events that led from a long-standing family business in Kellerton to the arrival of a stranger with a corporation and a map, and we follow the threads that connect a tidy row of shoes to earlier trusts, covenants, and complaints. What patterns in Alan Cook’s past and the local dynamics of Tate Farm Supply help explain what happened at Bright Tillage? Person: Dean Larsen Date: May 9, 2019 Location: Kellerton, Indiana Person: Jeffrey Tate Event: Bright Tillage Associates incorporation filed in 2014 - Dean Larsen discovered twelve pairs of shoes arranged in a neat row at the base of twelve garden beds on May 9, 2019. - One pair of the twelve was a child’s white canvas sneaker with a faded cartoon on the ankle. - Raymond Tate opened Tate Farm Supply in the early 1980s and ran it for over thirty years until his death in autumn 2012. - Jeffrey Tate was born around 1981 and returned to Kellerton in 2012 at age thirty-one to run Tate Farm Supply after his father’s death. - Alan Cook filed incorporation papers for Bright Tillage Associates in 2014 using a Terre Haute post office box as the registered address. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

  6. 5d ago

    Eleven Shoes on a Ridge: How Halcyon Springs Hid a Cult's Fraud

    Eleven Shoes on a Ridge: How Halcyon Springs Hid a Cult's Fraud A single photograph - eleven pairs of shoes arranged in a line, toes pointed toward an eight-foot drop - sat on a limestone ridge for hours with no bodies below and no signs of struggle. That image unlocked a two-and-a-half-year story of a wellness retreat where people signed away savings, gave powers of attorney, and never left; how did a ritual of removing shoes become proof of a larger deception? In this episode, we tell what happened at Halcyon Springs Wellness Retreat from the first photograph to the raid, following one participant’s journey and the program’s staged fees and protocols to ask: what turned a fourteen-day promise into years of captivity? Person: Sharon Zimmerman Date: April 14, 2019 Location: Halcyon Springs Wellness Retreat, Millard County, Texas Event: Raid where 21 people were found on the property Topic: Still Water Program and financial transfers to Clarity Ground Holdings - A birdwatcher named Troy Simmons took 47 photographs of eleven pairs of shoes at 7:51 AM on April 14, 2019. - Sharon Zimmerman arrived in June 2017 expecting a 14-day stay and remained for 22 months. - Sharon transferred $63,000 from her savings to Clarity Ground Holdings by autumn 2017. - The Still Water Program staged progression: 14-day initial, 30-day Deepening, and 90-day Rooting phases with separate fees. - Fourteen of the twenty-one people found during the April 2019 raid had exceeded their original enrolled program length. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

  7. 6d ago

    The Photograph on the Fence: How 40 People Vanished into Faith

    The Photograph on the Fence: How 40 People Vanished into Faith A dry, laminated photograph zip-tied to a fence post led deputies to a 160-acre farm where forty people had cut ties with the outside world-no phones, no bank accounts, and one man listed as sole signatory for the trust. How did a soft-spoken stranger convince 31 adults and 9 children to abandon town life and follow him into silence? In this episode, we trace the timeline from the photo found by a paperboy on March 14, 2009, back to a man who arrived in fall 2006 and the months of control that followed, asking how the group's rules, finances, and sudden move built the conditions for disappearance. Person: William Smith Date: March 14, 2009 Location: Pawnee County, Kansas Event: Photograph discovered on fence post Case: Congregation of Latter Rain relocation - The photograph was half-submerged in three inches of snowmelt and was bone dry when found. - Harvey Padgett arrived in Dearing in fall 2006 and was 44 years old when he started attending Crossroads Fellowship. - By August 2007, 31 adults and 9 children formed an inner circle around Padgett. - The group moved onto 160 acres of farmland held by an agent named Dennis Farr under the Latter Rain Agricultural Trust. - $42,000 was withdrawn from the Latter Rain Agricultural Trust in under six weeks beginning late January 2009. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

  8. Oct 5

    The Barn‑Red Stool: How a Coach Hid Two Graves in Plain Sight

    The Barn‑Red Stool: How a Coach Hid Two Graves in Plain Sight A single barn-red step-stool, warm to the touch and painted with the words "I AM ENOUGH," sat in an untrampled ditch on February 11, 2019 - a clue that opened a missing-persons file and connected two vanished women to the same coach. How did a purported behavioral coach with no valid credentials build a group where letters were intercepted, sleep was regimented, and two lives disappeared into the Wellspring Circle? In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events from the stool in the culvert to the inner rules of the Wellspring Circle and the coach's prior pattern in another county, asking how control, small rituals, and a borrowed authority can obscure violence until it's discovered. Person: Janet Burke Date: February 11, 2019 Location: Elmhurst Business Park service road Status: Missing (last seen February 9, 2019) Group: Wellspring Circle (core cohort founded by Carl Wells) - The stool was found before 5:00 AM on February 11, 2019 and the snow around it was unbroken for 40 feet in every direction. - The stool's top was painted with the phrase "I AM ENOUGH" and was forensically warm, consistent with storage in a heated space within the previous 90 minutes. - Janet Burke, age 48, had worked 11 years as an office manager and volunteered weekly at the Mercer Street food pantry for four years; her last volunteer shift was January 17, 2019. - Carl Wells charged $60 per session, claimed more than two decades of training, but had withdrawn after one semester from a counseling program in 1994 and held no Ohio license or verifiable certification. - Janet joined Wellspring in November 2017, was invited to the core cohort in January 2018, and spent 14 months in that inner group before disappearing. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

See All (119)

About

Have you ever come across a symbol, ritual, or hidden reference and wondered whether it belonged to something much larger than it seemed? A detail can look meaningless until history gives it context—and suddenly the secrecy surrounding it becomes impossible to ignore. Secret Society: History and Mysteries explores the hidden groups, coded traditions and historical questions that have fueled curiosity for generations. Each episode examines secret societies through documented history, unexplained connections and the mysteries that still surround their influence. The focus stays on what is known, what remains disputed and why certain organizations continue to fascinate people long after their most secretive eras have passed. If so much was deliberately kept from public view, how much of the story are we still missing?

Information