THE ILLUMINATI
Written by Nefertiti FirstLadyShip
Who are these obscure but highly elitist clandestine brotherhood, the incubators of democracy, science & ecumenical religion? Who are these radicals with powers wrapped up in their ability to stay anonymous & keep their correspondences a secret?
The Illuminati, plural of the Latin word “Illuminatus” (the unusually enlightened), is a clandestine organization steeped in mystery & conspiracies, & birth in esoterism for more than 500 years. But who are they really? What do we know about them?
Believed to have existed in its earliest form as the gnostic “Alumbrados” (Spanish word for enlightened) around 1492, who later fell victim to the Church’s Inquisition, it reached France from Italy, then Spain in 1623, in the form of “Illuminés.”
The Bavarian Illuminati is the most prominent group to be associated with the name “Illuminati.” Founded in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt (a professor of canon law at Ingolstadt, a city in Bavaria, Germany), Weishaupt was a former Jesuit while his colleagues were all priests.
Weishaupt wanted to replace Christianity with a religion of “reason.” His members called themselves the “Perfectibilists,” or Perfectionists in English. Frustrated by the church’s teachings & spiritual stagnation, Weishaupt wanted to usher in CHANGE.
But how? How would he achieve change in that age & era? People were beginning to fill their heads with enlightenment. But there was also great confusion, more specifically — “the uncertainty of how these changes might be implemented.”
Within a few years, there would be the uprising by irate mob, leading to the execution of the last French Monarchy (that of Louis XVI & Marie-Antoinette).
Welcoming this first sign of change in France but rejecting the violence, Adam Weishaupt had in mind a different approach. “He wanted to undermine the State from within.” He hoped to achieve this through a Secret Order, & his students were perfectly positioned to receive his ideas.
“Reason” anchored on “enlightenment” would become the bedrock of this new Secret Order – the Illuminati.
Weishaupt in one of his famous speech said “No to Revolution! Violence achieves nothing! We must tie the devil’s hand & govern without domination! Legion of men must dominate the mighty in this world, they will pursue the grand plan of guiding mankind & never give up!”
A great speech by many stretch. To put it more clearly, Adam Weishaupt wanted a secret government within the state.
A scary idea even at that time. People were motivated to join such secret societies because it was the melting pot for hotheads, for revolutionaries, people with insane ideas, who could express themselves within a secret order, without the fear of retribution.
In the aftermath of the French Revolution, the Illuminati setup countless lodges & began to recruit new members, especially the academia.
Weishaupt & his recruits would spread across the cities of Bavaria, across Europe, from Italy to Denmark, Warsaw to Paris, making connections with Masonic lodges (were they often managed to gain prominent positions).
The movement over time acquired a rigorously complex constitution & internal system of communication conducted in ciphers. The Illuminati rejected “throne & altar,” but they were not unaware of the consequences of opposing absolute rulers.
Adam Weishaupt was self-opinionated, he was narcissistic & domineering. He wanted the state held in higher degree of purity & perfection. As the supreme leader of the fraternal society, he demanded absolute loyalty & obedience from members.
They gave themselves Greek names as cover, & introduced their own time standards. Ritualistic rites were attributed to the order. They took a vow of silence, were forbidden to speak about the society’s rituals & aims.
2. You have to pass through the 13 hierarchies of the Illuminati before you can be made privy to its secrets. Members were highly encouraged to spy on & denounce one other. A clever way of quickly identifying saboteurs & to neutralize them.
The Illuminati thrived in political intrigues, but also in plot & subversion. Being a domineering figure, Adam had a weakness for the ancient Athenians, he valued their ideas & Democratic principles. This is why the Athenian Owl is the symbol of the Illuminati.
His agenda was anchored on education that will take time. He once said “it could take well over 200 years before success in the form of enlightenment would triumph.” At a time the Illuminati had over 2000 members, all of them high ranking members of the society.
Large numbers would be drawn from the Freemasons (who saw the Illuminati as more radical & more exciting). Recruited Illuminati members were young men of wealth, of rank & social status, & members of Masonic lodges.
Friedrich Knigge was a Mason convert, who went on to gain commanding position in the Bavarian Order. Knigge is credited with writing the Constitution & the internal communication system of the order.
Members gave Knigge a special Classical name, he alone was addressed by this name. Weishaupt was called ‘Spartacus,’ Knigge was ‘Philo.’ Every internal communication was conducted in ciphers. For greater mystification, towns & provinces were assigned arbitrary names.
Some famous Illuminati were literary giants Johann Wolfgang von Goethe & Philosopher Johann Gottfried von Herder. Astronomer Johann Bode, writer & bookseller Friedrich Nicolai. The Philosopher Friedrich Jacobi, Friedrich Leopold the Poet. Francis Bacon & St. Ignatius of Loyola.
The Illuminati were very strict & hierarchical oriented. Members laid bare their private lives (a requirement members were at odds with). It was a secret society that simply asked for too much. Kings & Princes were not going to subject their authority to men.
It just wasn’t appealing to Royalty. So the more influential the Illuminati grew, the more the resistance it faced. The absolutists (Monarchs) hit back, those who cowered met their deaths in somewhat mysterious circumstances.
In 1785, a courier on his way to France to deliver a letter was struck (allegedly by lightening). Then the police found on him, names of members. The secret order was banned just 10 years after it was founded, & membership carried the death penalty.
Adam Weishaupt was stripped of his professorship at Ingolstadt, & banished from Bavaria. The Bavarian Illuminati was driven by the idea of “benevolent despotism” as a ladder for Enlightenment.
It would suffer from internal dissension, then ultimately banned by the Bavarian government edict of 1785. Some members were imprisoned, while others were driven from their homes.
During the suppression, authorities found documents that defended suicide & atheism, as well as instructions for abortion. We have no evidence of the Bavarian order in historical record after 1785.
But Adam Weishaupt allegedly established contact with leading figures in America before he fled Ingolstadt. In alleged letters he wrote to Benjamin Franklin, he sort permission to setup a colony in Allysium (the spelling is vague) a codename for America.
These letters has been a subject of speculations till this day. Karl Theodor of Bavaria, forced by the church, banned the order in 1785. However, conspiracy theorists believe the Illuminati continued to exist outside Bavaria.
Some of America’s Founding Fathers saw the Illuminati as exciting. An order that started in 1776, two months before the American Declaration of Independence.
They believe that Weishaupt fled to Gotha under the protection of Franz Xaver von Zwack, the Councilor & President of the Government of Munich & Espira. He was the prince who belonged to the Illuminati. While in exile, Weishaupt continued to write several books on Illuminism.
3. Did the Illuminati escape Germany for the United States? Are they in fact still influencing America’s politics? Do we really have traces of the Illuminati in this “One Nation Under God?” Are some of its most cryptic messages hidden in plain sight?
The Illuminati was represented by the symbol of the ancient goddess of wisdom (Athena), more commonly called the Athenian Owl or Owl of Minerva. The “Eye of Providence” on the top of the 13 Steps Pyramid, is also a symbol allegedly used by the Illuminati.
Originally a Christian symbol, the disembodied eye strongly suggests the sense of a prying authoritarian Big Brother.
It is true the Illuminati were inspired by the ideas behind Freemasonry, but the “Eye of Providence” is pointing more to 18th century esthetics than it does about the Illuminati authority. Conspiracy theorist won’t like this.
The Illuminati is linked to the $1 bill in the form of the Owl symbol & the Roman numeral “MDCCLXXVI – 1776,” representing the year the Illuminati was founded, the year the American Declaration of Independence was written. A coincidence?
Their mottos: Annuit Cœptis, meaning – “Providence has favored our undertakings,” & Novus Ordo Seclorum – “New order of the ages,” was suggested in 1782 by one of America’s founding father, Charles Thomson.
Both mottos suggesting that the founders who led the American Revolution understood that “providence” played a key role in their gaining Independence from Great Britain.
Alongside the date MDCCLXXVI (1776) at the base of the unfinished pyramid, Charles Thompson explained the words signify the beginning of a “New American Era.”
Epluribus Unum — “One from many,” found on the Great Seal & proposed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin & Thomas Jefferson in 1776, was one of the earliest motto of the United States, until 1956.
So are the Illuminati & all their insignia a figment of our imagination? Are they real & in fact ruling the corporate world as it we know it today Organized along Jesuit lines, members pledged obedience to their superiors via well divided class system.
The first order were:
1. novices
2. Minervals &
3. lesser illuminati.
The second order are the:
Freemasons, organized into:
i Ordinary
ii. Scottish &
iii. Scottish knights.
The third order included the:
Mystery class comprised of:
i. Priest & regent, as well as
ii Magus & king.
The secret order of the Illuminati has 13 hierarchical levels. This explains why the number 13 appears everywhere. On the dollar bill, 13 is the number of stars above the Eagle, 13 Colonies (the number of the original U.S states). The number of arrows as well.
Everyone was handling the dollar bill & what way to teach Americans about America than through the symbols printed on it currency notes? So are these all too familiar & insane relics of a less sophisticated time, mere conspiracies of men? Are they real & in fact, here with us?
I’ll digress a little. 13 holds a significance in Christendom. 13 have always been considered ominous since antiquity. The Last Supper of Jesus Christ, 13 were the number of diners. The Kabbalah lists 13 evil spirits as well as the Nordic legends.
The Book of Revelation chapter 13 talks about the antichrist & the beast. A Scandinavian legend tells of the tradition in the supper of the gods in Valhalla, with (Loki the spirit of evil) as the 13th guest. In the Tarot, the number 13 speaks of death.
13 was the number witches of the Middle Age waited before they made their potions.
Back to my story, America’s founding fathers saw the pyramid as the kind of human structure that lasted out the ages, so they wanted the country to last as long as the pyramids. But the pyramid & eye didn’t show up on the dollar bill until 1935. They started out as part of U.S Great Seal.
4. Therefore, for Conspiracy theorists, “New World Order.” insignia on the dollar bill, is a signal that the U.S government had been taken over by evil forces, most likely the Illuminati & the Freemasons. In truth, New World Order, merely speaks of the birth of a new nation, America.
From 1785 onwards, historical records contained no further activities of Weishaupt’s illuminati, but the order featured prominently in conspiracy theories & in movies.
“The Illuminatus” Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea, & Dan Brown’s work of fiction – The Da Vinci Code. The Angels & Demons & The Lost Symbol shined the light on the Illuminati as well.
The Bavarian Illuminati was credited for instigating the French & American Revolutions, they were equally accused of assassinating President John F. Kennedy. Deep State theorists in America accuse the Illuminati of being being behind the COVID-19 Pandemic.
It’s believed that an all-knowing cabal of ancient masters are still a powerful image in our consciousness, till this day. Madonna, Jay-Z, Beyoncé & Kanye West have all been accused of using the Eye of Providence, & other Illuminati iconography.
But in truth, much of these are for aesthetics, for the arts & culture, more than any ties to the Illuminati. In my opinion, these artists share in common; a discerning eye for the iconic, in part to provoke & arouse our suspicion & imagination for that which is clandestine & kept secret for a throughout the ages.
“What could captivate their audiences, more than the iconic & striking visuals of the Eye of Providence repeated in their songs?” I don’t think the all-seeing eye linked to the Freemasons & Renaissance artists is proof of a conspiracy that endured through time.
The Eye of Providence, invented as a sign of God’s compassionate watchfulness over humanity, represent the work of art, a sheer brilliance that survived from the biblical time, down to the time of great enlightenment.
Illuminati iconography helps to keep the illuminati close to our consciousnesses. As crazy as all these conspiracies sound, the truth is, “the Illuminati was suppressed in Bavaria in the late 18th century, because members couldn’t just seal their lips on their beliefs, teachings & methods.”
Today & since the 18th century, we’ve seen amateurish attempts to revive the order. But there is no Illuminati behind governments & major world events, there is no esoteric group controlling the economy of nations.
There is absolutely no reason to believe the Illuminati has any current agenda like instigating the COVID-19 Pandemic. Followers of the defrocked Jesuit, Adam Weishaupt, all died some 238 years ago.
It is called a secret society because they have secrets. If it’s done in the glare of public view, how then do you call it a Secret Society?
