The order had no name, and at first was designated by two stars (**), later by three (***).

Sometimes it was called the Invisible Empire of Ku Klux Klan.
Any white man over eighteen might be admitted to the Den after nomination by a member and strict investigation by a committee.

The oath demanded obedience and secrecy.

The Dens governed themselves by the ordinary rules of deliberative bodies.

The punishment for betrayal of secrecy was "the extreme penalty of the Law." None of the secrets was to be written, and there was a "Register" of alarming adjectives, such as terrible, horrible, furious, doleful, bloody, appalling, frightful, gloomy, which was used as a cipher code in dating the odd Ku Klux orders.
The general objects of the order were thus set forth in the revised Prescript: first, to protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenseless from the indignities, wrongs, and outrages of the lawless, the violent, and the brutal; to relieve the injured and oppressed; to succor the suffering and unfortunate, and especially the widows and orphans of Confederate soldiers; second, to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and all laws passed in conformity thereto, and to protect the States and people thereof from all invasion from any source whatever; third, to aid and assist in the execution of all "constitutional" laws, and to protect the people from unlawful arrest, and from trial except by their peers according to the laws of the land.
But the tests for admission gave further indication of the objects of the order.