Episode 3370: Dark Enigma - The Mysterious Secret Society of Assassins

Please be aware the stories, theories, re-enactments and language in this podcast are of an adult nature and can be considered disturbing, frightening and in some cases even offensive.  Listener Discretion is therefore advised.  Welcome heathens welcome to the world of the weird and unexplained.  I’m your host, Nicole Delacroix and together, we will be investigating stories about the things that go bump in the night, monsters lurking under your bed or deep in the forest, that unknown creature lurking just out of sight and frighteningly imagined creatures, ghosts, supernatural beings and even some unsolved mysteries.  So, sit back, grab your favorite drink, and prepare to be transported to today's dark Enigma....  And on today’s Dark enigma well today’s story is inspired by a recent delve back into gaming on Assassin’s Creed.  So, with that said, we will still be playing our drinking game and as you know, the drinking game is only for those of us that are at home and have nowhere else to go tonight.  The choice of libation is yours, so choose your poison accordingly… Alright, now for the game part how about every time I say Ismaili that will be a single shot and every time I say Hashish, that will be a double shot.  Now that the business end is out of the way we can jump headfirst into today’s dark enigma… so grab your most sedate and regular looking Keffiyah, throw on a hooded cloak and prepare yourself for tales about The Mysterious Secret Society of Assassins John Wick, Boba Fett, Jason Bourne, The Winter Soldier, Martin Blank, Leon and The Bride from Kill Bill... from the Assassin’s Creed video games to the Old School Manchurian Candidate, professional assassins are vilified and valorized in equal measure. But, why do some assassins earn our admiration, even affection, while others remain defamed and deviant in the popular imagination? Today’s episode tells the story of the Hashshashin, as one Ismaili Shia sect became known when word of their purported use of hashish and opium circulated around the Mediterranean. Etymologists tell us that the work “assassin” is derived from “Hashshashin” because the group became so universally defamed for their targeted killings that their name became synonymous with political murder. Today we will sort through the most enduring legends of the Hashshashin, establish their accuracy, and demonstrate how the sensationalized stories of one medieval Ismaili sect shaped the “Western” consciousness forever.  Secret societies are mysterious enough, but sometimes they go beyond merely enigmatic, spooky organizations and gather a dark reputation as being a lethal force to be reckoned with, reaching out to deal death to those who oppose them. Such is the story of a shadowy secret order of assassins which was formed in ancient Persia and which kept the region under the grip of terror for over a century. Always lurking in the shadows, they could be anyone, and they were always ready to pounce, patiently waiting for word from their master to bloom outwards from the darkness and shadows to deliver death at a moment’s notice. Let us delve into some of the murky history of one of the most secretive and lethal secret orders of the ancient world and indeed history as a whole.