You could write off this sort of thing as the invention of drunken frat boys, but trust us: The weirdest rituals go way beyond that.

We've always been a little confused by the concept of the initiation ritual. There are organizations all over the world where somehow proving your worth as a new member involves some kind of arbitrary, ridiculous and humiliating ceremony. They're often disgusting, vaguely sexual and never have anything to do with your qualifications as a prospective member.

5 Bohemian Grove

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Let's play a game. You jot down your top 10 list of secretive Californian encampments which cater exclusively to the most influential men in the world. If the hush-hush Bohemian Grove campground is at the tippy top of your list, congratulations, you win a vial of newborn baby monkey blood.



We've got sooo much of it laying around.

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And if your paper is empty, you still win, because that just means you don't spend your days cramming conspiracy theories or their derivative porn into your foil-covered head. Good for you.

The Bohemian Club is a San Francisco based gentlemen's club, but not the kind you think of when you read "San Francisco based gentlemen's club." This gentlemen's club fills its rolls with the world's most influential and powerful men--including every Republican president since 1923, and some of the Democratic ones, along with prominent captains of industry. Even after the Bohemians are invited, they often have to wait a solid 15 years to get in the door.

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But once they get in, Bohemian Club members are asked to participate in a three week encampment at a rustic bit of woods called Bohemian Grove, where they spend their days learning how to fly cast, singing in campfire hootenannies and forging bonds of friendship with other world leaders, businessmen and the ghost of Charlton Heston. Richard Nixon was once heard calling the whole experience--no joke--"faggy."



Gaaaaaaaaaaay.

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Despite the Meatballs-esque itinerary, serious stuff has happened because of these friendships. Most famously, the initial plans for the Manhattan Project were allegedly hashed out in between all the kumbaya-ing and fly fishing. So, to reiterate: The blueprint for the 20th century's most horrifying weapon, the monstrosity which made the Cold War possible and killed over 200,000 Japanese people, was likely begun on Bohemian Grove grounds. Keep that in mind when you read about...