Bronze-level articleIlluminati

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The Illuminati (plural of Latin illuminatus, "enlightened") is a name given to several groups, both real (historical) and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776. In more modern contexts the name refers to a purported conspiratorial organization which is alleged to mastermind events and control world affairs through governments and corporations to establish a New World Order. In this context the Illuminati are usually represented as a modern version or continuation of the Bavarian Illuminati.
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The '''Illuminati''' was a small [[freethought|freethinker]] society founded in 1776 in Bavaria.   
Contents [hide]
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1 History
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2 Barruel and Robison
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3 Modern Illuminati
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4 Popular culture
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4.1 Modern conspiracy theory
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4.2 Novels
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5 References
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6 Other reading
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7 External links
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History
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The movement was founded on May 1, 1776, in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria) as the Order of the Illuminati, with an initial membership of five,[1] by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt (d. 1830),[2] who was the first lay professor of canon law at the University of Ingolstadt.[3] It was made up of freethinkers as an offshoot of the Enlightenment and seems to have been modeled on the Freemasons.[4] The Illuminati's members took a vow of secrecy and pledged obedience to their superiors. Members were divided into three main classes, each with several degrees, and many Illuminati chapters drew membership from existing Masonic lodges.
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In the universe that rational people agree to recognize as reality, the Illuminati ceased to exist by 1789. In the parallel universe where the likes of [[Henry Makow]] and [[David Icke]] hang their hats (and the snakes living therein), they not only have continued to exist, but have developed such enormous capacity for secrecy, power, and control that the complete absence of evidence for their existence, power, and control ... proves their existence, power, and control.
Originally Weishaupt had planned the order to be named the "Perfectibilists".[1] The group has also been called the Bavarian Illuminati and its ideology has been called "Illuminism". Many influential intellectuals and progressive politicians counted themselves as members, including Ferdinand of Brunswick and the diplomat Xavier von Zwack, the second-in-command of the order.[5] The order had branches in most European countries: it reportedly had around 2,000 members over the span of ten years.[3] It attracted literary men such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann Gottfried Herder and the reigning dukes of Gotha and Weimar.
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In 1777 Karl Theodor became ruler of Bavaria. He was a proponent of Enlightened Despotism and his government banned all secret societies including the Illuminati. Internal rupture and panic over succession preceded its downfall, which was affected by the Secular Edict made by the Bavarian government.[3] The March 2, 1785 edict "seems to have been deathblow to the Illuminati in Bavaria." Weishaupt had fled and documents and internal correspondences, seized in 1786 and 1787, were subsequently published by the government in 1787.[6] Von Zwack's home was searched to disclose much of the group's literature.[5]
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Barruel and Robison
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Between 1797 and 1798 Augustin Barruel's Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism and John Robison's Proofs of a Conspiracy both publicized the theory that the Illuminati had survived and represented an ongoing international conspiracy, including the claim that it was behind the French Revolution. Both books proved to be very popular, spurring reprints and paraphrases by others[7] (a prime example is Proofs of the Real Existence, and Dangerous Tendency, Of Illuminism by Reverend Seth Payson, published in 1802).[8] Some response was critical, such as Jean-Joseph Mounier's On the Influence Attributed to Philosophers, Free-Masons, and to the Illuminati on the Revolution of France.[citation needed]
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==The legend==
Robison and Barruel's works made their way to the United States. Across New England, Reverend Jedidiah Morse and others sermonized against the Illuminati, their sermons were printed, and the matter followed in newspapers. The concern died down in the first decade of the 1800s, though had some revival during the Anti-Masonic movement of the 1820s and 30s.[1]
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Modern Illuminati
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In addition to the supposed shadowy and secret organization several modern fraternal groups claim to be the "heirs" of the Bavarian Illuminati and have openly used the name "Illuminati" in founding their own rites. Some, such as the multiple groups that call themselves by some variation on "The Illuminati Order",[9][10] use the name directly in the name of their organization, while others, such as the Ordo Templi Orientis, use the name as a grade of initiation within their organization.
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The spread of the Illuminati legend and continued belief in them today can be traced back to the book ''Proofs of a Conspiracy'' by John Robinson, a 1798 anti-[[Freemason]]ry book (the Freemasons and Illuminati are often regarded as one and the same by conspiracy theorists). ''Proofs of a Conspiracy'' has become a source of inspiration to many [[conspiracy theories|conspiracy theorists]] since its initial publication and has been reprinted by, among others, the [[John Birch Society]].  Many modern variations of the Illuminati conspiracy have them being a controlling influence in the [[New World Order]].
Popular culture
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==Keeping the fire alive==
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The alleged continued existence of the "Illuminati" looms large in many [[conspiracy theories]], tall tales by evangelical [[Satanic Panic]]-fakers like [[Mike Warnke]] and [[John Todd]], crank [[anti-Semitic]] and anti-Masonic writings, [[pseudolaw]] theories, etc.  Depending on which version of the "Illuminati" story one believes, they are either a Satanic, Masonic, Zionist, [[atheism|atheist]], [[David Icke|reptilian]],<ref>http://www.davidicke.com/index.php/</ref> or secular financial conspiracy.  Despite the many different versions of the conspiracy, each version claims to have evidence that they are correct. They secretly control [[earth|world]] events and their symbol, the all-seeing eye, is on the back of the U.S. $1 bill.  This belief, in whatever version, is patently ridiculous but it persists.  When the Founding Fathers designed the Great Seal, the all-seeing eye was proposed by members of design committees who were ''not'' Freemasons (since conspiracy theorists regard Freemasons and the Illuminati to be practically the same). It was also not named the "all-seeing eye," as the cranks believe, but rather the "eye of providence."<ref>http://www.msana.com/eyeinpyramid.asp</ref><ref>http://www.greatseal.com/symbols/eye.html</ref>
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Several 20th century conspiracy theory books such as those by William Guy Carr and Des Griffin combined John Robinson's allegations about the Illuminati and [[Freemasonry]] with those of the hoax book, ''[[The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion]]'', to come up with an explicitly anti-Semitic version of the Illuminati theory. [[Jack Chick]] and [[Alberto Rivera]] on the other hand promoted an anti-[[Roman Catholic]] variant of the theory, alleging the Illuminati was a creation of the Vatican.
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==The liars get on board==
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Mike Warnke and John Todd, mentioned above, are two fake "ex-[[Satanist]]" [[Christian]] evangelists.  They have both described the Illuminati as the highest level of Satanism. Warnke claimed he learned of the Illuminati when attending a high-level conference of Satanists and Witches, shortly before he dropped out of Satanism to join the navy and convert to Christianity. Todd claimed to have been a member of the Illuminati himself, which he said was a high council of druids secretly working to destroy Christianity and make witchcraft the official religion of the United States. Belief in the Illuminati as a Satanic conspiracy continues to be held by many evangelical Christians, despite both Warnke and Todd being exposed as frauds.
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To the true believer, exposing them as frauds only goes to show how far the Illuminati are willing to go to malign opponents.
 +
 
 +
==Horizontal transfer of memetic material==
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More modern conspiracy theories about the [[New World Order]] often keep the essential structure and nature of the Illuminati theory but shy away from direct mention of the Illuminati in favor of other groups, such as the [[Trilateral Commission]].  Also see our article on [[meme]]s.
 +
 
 +
==Illuminati in culture==
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On another level, the Illuminati plays a role in books like Robert Anton Wilson's ''Illuminatus!'' trilogy, Dan Brown's ''The Da Vinci Code'' and ''Angels & Demons'', and the joke religion of [[Discordianism]]. 
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It is also a [[Illuminati (game)|kick-ass card game put out by Steve Jackson Games]].<ref>[[wp:Fnord|Fnord]]</ref>
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==Easter eggs in the media==
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They also have a tendency to put hidden symbols and clues to their existence around the world, and on money, for no apparent reasons.<ref> Well, no reasons that actually make ''sense,'' anyway. Cranks claim that the symbols are put there to somehow brainwash people into accepting the coming Illuminati reign.</ref>
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Nearly every popular culture icon, including television shows, politicians music artists and any/every celebrity, are said to be somehow connected to the Illuminati in some way from something as normal as a triangle...
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 +
Probably the best example of this would be [[Tupac Shakur]], whose last album was entitled "The Don Killuminati: The Seven Day Theory" lead to many theories.<ref> The album's title have led to claims that Tupac chose the title as a way of saying that he would die in seven days even though the time between him getting shot and dying was 6 days (night of September 7th - afternoon of September 13th).</ref> Tupac actually chose the title to reference that the album was recorded and mixed in a relatively short period of seven days.The word killuminati (a portmanteau of the words kill and illuminati) that people ironically interpret as Pac saying that he is speaking out against them and killing illuminati. The truth being that he heard about them in prison and used the logic the majority of people lack that "If this organisation is so secret, how the fuck does everyone know about it?" Those aren't his words but it's what he meant, Tupac never believed in the Illuminati. <ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEHBsDjj9FQ How much more proof could you want?</ref> People also begin to distort the truth to form other theories. People have been saying Tupac faked his death and will be coming back since 2003. Every few years when they are obviously wrong people push back the guess a few years. This is mainly because a while before he died Tupac was planning on permanently changing his rap name to Makaveli after the 15/16th century writer Niccolò Machiavelli.
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An equally good example would be rapper Jay-Z. He is supposedly very high in the Illuminati's hierarchy of celebrities. The hand gesture that he flashes has been cited as "proof" (in a very, ''very'' loose sense of the word) even though it's meant to represent the diamond of Roc-a-fella Records and is thrown up as frequently as the east or west hand signs. He is also accused of being famous for selling his soul and amongst other things. As with Tupac, theorists just turn to lies to prove their points. Quite a few people claimed that the name of his newborn daughter, Blue Ivy, backwards (Yvi Eulb) is Latin for Lucifer's daughter even though there is nothing to imply this. Jay Z has denied all these claims; his response to the conspiracy theorists can be heard in Rick Ross's song, "Free Mason."<ref>http://www.killerhiphop.com/rick-ross-free-mason-lyrics-jay-z/</ref> I assure you when he dies no matter how simple the explanation for the death, someone somewhere will have "evidence" that the illuminati was involved.
 +
 
 +
It can be very difficult to find anyone who isn't actually connected with the Illuminati. All of the claimed affiliations involve an occult symbol in a music video or photo (usually the "all-seeing eye," the Star of David, or a Pentagram). This is most likely to get people talking and gain publicity. For example, if Rihanna has a newspaper cutout that says "Princess of the Illuminati" in a music video. Millions of people will go watch the video...
 +
 
 +
Michael Jackson is a very interesting case. One faction of the conspiracy community considers him a member of the Illuminati, employed to brainwash the public. Another faction, however, says that Michael was not a member, but actually was fighting to expose their control of the music industry and media. Michael was supposedly killed for this very reason. Either way the theorists have all the bases covered.
 +
 
 +
Spelling illuminati in reverse and entering it as a URL (www.itanimulli.com) leads to the NSA website. This is merely someone purchasing that domain and redirecting it to a government website as "inconclusive proof" even though anyone can do so.
 +
 
 +
And finally, there is the trend of blaming the Illuminati for the death of apparently anybody with any degree of fame. This is usually explained as the assassination of those who were ''just'' about to expose the conspiracy, or as a one of the Illuminati's ritualistic, demonic "sacrifice".
  
Main article: Illuminati in popular culture
 
Modern conspiracy theory
 
Main article: New World Order (conspiracy theory) - Illuminati
 
Writers such as Mark Dice,[11] David Icke, Texe Marrs, Jüri Lina and Morgan Gricar have argued that the Bavarian Illuminati survived, possibly to this day. Many of these theories propose that world events are being controlled and manipulated by a secret society calling itself the Illuminati.[12][13] Conspiracy theorists have claimed that many notable people were or are members of the Illuminati. Presidents of the United States are a common target for such claims.[14][15]
 
A key figure in the conspiracy theory movement, Myron Fagan, devoted his latter years to finding evidence that a variety of historical events from Waterloo, The French Revolution, President John F. Kennedy's assassination and an alleged communist plot to hasten the New World Order by infiltrating the Hollywood film industry, were all orchestrated by the Illuminati.[16][17]
 
Novels
 
The Illuminati (or fictitious modern groups called the Illuminati) play a central role in the plots of novels, such as The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson; in Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco; or Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. A mixture of historical fact, established conspiracy theory and pure fiction is used to portray them.
 
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
 
* [[Joseph "Doc" Marquis]]
 
* [[Joseph "Doc" Marquis]]

Revision as of 06:47, 28 November 2012

Some dare call it

Conspiracy

link=:category:
Secrets revealed!
The revealers

The Illuminati was a small freethinker society founded in 1776 in Bavaria.

In the universe that rational people agree to recognize as reality, the Illuminati ceased to exist by 1789. In the parallel universe where the likes of Henry Makow and David Icke hang their hats (and the snakes living therein), they not only have continued to exist, but have developed such enormous capacity for secrecy, power, and control that the complete absence of evidence for their existence, power, and control ... proves their existence, power, and control.

Contents

The legend

The spread of the Illuminati legend and continued belief in them today can be traced back to the book Proofs of a Conspiracy by John Robinson, a 1798 anti-Freemasonry book (the Freemasons and Illuminati are often regarded as one and the same by conspiracy theorists). Proofs of a Conspiracy has become a source of inspiration to many conspiracy theorists since its initial publication and has been reprinted by, among others, the John Birch Society. Many modern variations of the Illuminati conspiracy have them being a controlling influence in the New World Order.

Keeping the fire alive

The alleged continued existence of the "Illuminati" looms large in many conspiracy theories, tall tales by evangelical Satanic Panic-fakers like Mike Warnke and John Todd, crank anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic writings, pseudolaw theories, etc. Depending on which version of the "Illuminati" story one believes, they are either a Satanic, Masonic, Zionist, atheist, reptilian,[1] or secular financial conspiracy. Despite the many different versions of the conspiracy, each version claims to have evidence that they are correct. They secretly control world events and their symbol, the all-seeing eye, is on the back of the U.S. $1 bill. This belief, in whatever version, is patently ridiculous but it persists. When the Founding Fathers designed the Great Seal, the all-seeing eye was proposed by members of design committees who were not Freemasons (since conspiracy theorists regard Freemasons and the Illuminati to be practically the same). It was also not named the "all-seeing eye," as the cranks believe, but rather the "eye of providence."[2][3]

Several 20th century conspiracy theory books such as those by William Guy Carr and Des Griffin combined John Robinson's allegations about the Illuminati and Freemasonry with those of the hoax book, The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, to come up with an explicitly anti-Semitic version of the Illuminati theory. Jack Chick and Alberto Rivera on the other hand promoted an anti-Roman Catholic variant of the theory, alleging the Illuminati was a creation of the Vatican.

The liars get on board

Mike Warnke and John Todd, mentioned above, are two fake "ex-Satanist" Christian evangelists. They have both described the Illuminati as the highest level of Satanism. Warnke claimed he learned of the Illuminati when attending a high-level conference of Satanists and Witches, shortly before he dropped out of Satanism to join the navy and convert to Christianity. Todd claimed to have been a member of the Illuminati himself, which he said was a high council of druids secretly working to destroy Christianity and make witchcraft the official religion of the United States. Belief in the Illuminati as a Satanic conspiracy continues to be held by many evangelical Christians, despite both Warnke and Todd being exposed as frauds.

To the true believer, exposing them as frauds only goes to show how far the Illuminati are willing to go to malign opponents.

Horizontal transfer of memetic material

More modern conspiracy theories about the New World Order often keep the essential structure and nature of the Illuminati theory but shy away from direct mention of the Illuminati in favor of other groups, such as the Trilateral Commission. Also see our article on memes.

Illuminati in culture

On another level, the Illuminati plays a role in books like Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus! trilogy, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, and the joke religion of Discordianism.

It is also a kick-ass card game put out by Steve Jackson Games.[4]

Easter eggs in the media

They also have a tendency to put hidden symbols and clues to their existence around the world, and on money, for no apparent reasons.[5]

Nearly every popular culture icon, including television shows, politicians music artists and any/every celebrity, are said to be somehow connected to the Illuminati in some way from something as normal as a triangle...

Probably the best example of this would be Tupac Shakur, whose last album was entitled "The Don Killuminati: The Seven Day Theory" lead to many theories.[6] Tupac actually chose the title to reference that the album was recorded and mixed in a relatively short period of seven days.The word killuminati (a portmanteau of the words kill and illuminati) that people ironically interpret as Pac saying that he is speaking out against them and killing illuminati. The truth being that he heard about them in prison and used the logic the majority of people lack that "If this organisation is so secret, how the fuck does everyone know about it?" Those aren't his words but it's what he meant, Tupac never believed in the Illuminati. [7] People also begin to distort the truth to form other theories. People have been saying Tupac faked his death and will be coming back since 2003. Every few years when they are obviously wrong people push back the guess a few years. This is mainly because a while before he died Tupac was planning on permanently changing his rap name to Makaveli after the 15/16th century writer Niccolò Machiavelli.

An equally good example would be rapper Jay-Z. He is supposedly very high in the Illuminati's hierarchy of celebrities. The hand gesture that he flashes has been cited as "proof" (in a very, very loose sense of the word) even though it's meant to represent the diamond of Roc-a-fella Records and is thrown up as frequently as the east or west hand signs. He is also accused of being famous for selling his soul and amongst other things. As with Tupac, theorists just turn to lies to prove their points. Quite a few people claimed that the name of his newborn daughter, Blue Ivy, backwards (Yvi Eulb) is Latin for Lucifer's daughter even though there is nothing to imply this. Jay Z has denied all these claims; his response to the conspiracy theorists can be heard in Rick Ross's song, "Free Mason."[8] I assure you when he dies no matter how simple the explanation for the death, someone somewhere will have "evidence" that the illuminati was involved.

It can be very difficult to find anyone who isn't actually connected with the Illuminati. All of the claimed affiliations involve an occult symbol in a music video or photo (usually the "all-seeing eye," the Star of David, or a Pentagram). This is most likely to get people talking and gain publicity. For example, if Rihanna has a newspaper cutout that says "Princess of the Illuminati" in a music video. Millions of people will go watch the video...

Michael Jackson is a very interesting case. One faction of the conspiracy community considers him a member of the Illuminati, employed to brainwash the public. Another faction, however, says that Michael was not a member, but actually was fighting to expose their control of the music industry and media. Michael was supposedly killed for this very reason. Either way the theorists have all the bases covered.

Spelling illuminati in reverse and entering it as a URL (www.itanimulli.com) leads to the NSA website. This is merely someone purchasing that domain and redirecting it to a government website as "inconclusive proof" even though anyone can do so.

And finally, there is the trend of blaming the Illuminati for the death of apparently anybody with any degree of fame. This is usually explained as the assassination of those who were just about to expose the conspiracy, or as a one of the Illuminati's ritualistic, demonic "sacrifice".

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. http://www.davidicke.com/index.php/
  2. http://www.msana.com/eyeinpyramid.asp
  3. http://www.greatseal.com/symbols/eye.html
  4. Fnord
  5. Well, no reasons that actually make sense, anyway. Cranks claim that the symbols are put there to somehow brainwash people into accepting the coming Illuminati reign.
  6. The album's title have led to claims that Tupac chose the title as a way of saying that he would die in seven days even though the time between him getting shot and dying was 6 days (night of September 7th - afternoon of September 13th).
  7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEHBsDjj9FQ How much more proof could you want?
  8. http://www.killerhiphop.com/rick-ross-free-mason-lyrics-jay-z/
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