Does anyone here know of a real Ancient Order? A organization with roots in antiquity, continuously existing to the present in an unbroken history, with a single purpose and mission.

Conspiracy theorists love this kind of stuff, you know, the Freemasons, the Knights Templar (now defunct, thank God), the Illuminati, the Kennedys?

A lot of these are just made up, others have some basis in fact, although they are neither as mystical nor as sinister (or as ancient)as their critics suggest. Others, like the Klan, are neither particularly ancient nor unbroken, but arise from time to time under different leadership with roughly the same program, but no coherent history.

I can think of only one that fits the bill, the Roman Catholic Church. 2000 years old (most of them under one management), unbroken history, constant mission, an orderly succession of leadership and an eternal hierarchy and consistent pattern of organization. There may be others, the Japanese Royal family, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Coptics in Egypt, perhaps some religious groups in Asia, like the Tibetan Buddhists or the Hindus in India. Do the Muslims have anything similar? I know very very little of any of those, so I don't know. I believe either Oxford or Cambridge University in England has an unbroken history going back to the middle ages, but I don't really know if they qualify.

The RCs have it all, worldwide, they speak their own dead language, they have a permanent headquarters in the Vatican, great wealth, a huge following, enormous archives and historical and artistic resources unmatched anywhere. And they do have political influence, and had much more in the past. They fit all the requirements of an Ancient Order.

But I know a lot of Catholics, even a priest or two, and they seem like perfectly normal folks to me. It's hard to believe they belong to the only organization in the world today we can say with reasonable certainly will still be around, and recognizable, a thousand years from now.

I need an Ancient Order. Can any of you help me out?