Illuminati Conspiracy Part One: A Precise Exegesis on the Available Evidence
- by Terry Melanson, Aug. 5th, 2005Illuminati Conspiracy Part Two: Sniffing out Jesuits
A Metaprogrammer at the Door of Chapel Perilous
Briefly, the background of the Bavarian Illuminati puzzle is this. On May 1, 1776, in Bavaria, Dr. Adam Weishaupt, a professor of Canon Law at Ingolstadt University and a former Jesuit, formed a secret society called the Order of the Illuminati within the existing Masonic lodges of Germany. Since Masonry is itself a secret society, the Illuminati was a secret society within a secret society, a mystery inside a mystery, so to say. In 1785 the Illuminati were suppressed by the Bavarian government for allegedly plotting to overthrow all the kings in Europe and the Pope to boot. This much is generally agreed upon by all historians. 1 Everything else is a matter of heated, and sometimes fetid, controversy.
It has been claimed that Dr. Weishaupt was an atheist, a Cabalistic magician, a rationalist, a mystic; a democrat, a socialist, an anarchist, a fascist; a Machiavellian amoralist, an alchemist, a totalitarian and an "enthusiastic philanthropist." (The last was the verdict of Thomas Jefferson, by the way.) The Illuminati have also been credited with managing the French and American revolutions behind the scenes, taking over the world, being the brains behind Communism, continuing underground up to the 1970s, secretly worshipping the Devil, and mopery with intent to gawk. Some claim that Weishaupt didn't even invent the Illuminati, but only revived it. The Order of Illuminati has been traced back to the Knights Templar, to the Greek and Gnostic initiatory cults, to Egypt, even to Atlantis. The one safe generalization one can make is that Weishaupt's intent to maintain secrecy has worked; no two students of Illuminology have ever agreed totally about what the "inner secret" or purpose of the Order actually was (or is . . .). There is endless room for spooky speculation, and for pedantic paranoia, once one really gets into the literature of the subject; and there has been a wave of sensational "ex-poses" of the Illuminati every generation since 1776.That short excerpt is perhaps the most honest and succinct introduction to the Illuminati as you'll ever come across. So it is more than a bit ironic that Wilson, throughout the rest of the text, proceeds to perpetuate and expand upon similar myths, and in the process manages to take it to a whole new level. 2 In the end, the Illuminati had mystified Wilson as much as anyone in the preceding centuries.
1
If you were to believe all this sensational literature, the damned Bavarian conspirators were responsible for everything wrong with the world, including the energy crises and the fact that you can't even get a plumber on weekends. (pp. 3-4)
Robert Anton Wilson (RAW) is an enigma in his own right: an archetypal Trickster in the tradition of Aleister Crowley or Timothy Leary, both of whom he greatly admires. 3 The Cosmic Trigger Trilogy is meant to awaken the reader to multiple mind-blowing streams of thought and completely shatter preconceived notions of perception, time and space - much as the writings of illuminists themselves. Herein lies the seed of speculation to the effect that he must surely be in on the conspiracy - some have gone so far as to believe he's the Grand Master (or inner head) of the Illuminati himself. Wilson has always toyed with the accusations, and in typical RAW fashion, he's never denied it outright.
Cosmic Trigger wasn't the first book Wilson dedicated to the theme, however. Two years earlier, in 1975, RAW and co-author Robert Shea popularized the modern wave of Illuminati conspiracies with the publication of the novel Illuminatus! Trilogy. A veritable cult classic, Illuminatus invigorated the underground market and spawned a whole new generation of conspiracy authors. One cannot read any of RAW's material without a healthy sense of humor, though, and Illuminatus is definitely no exception. Written between 1969 and 1971 it reads like a subversive anarchist manual, yet satirical and surreal at the same time. The cut-and-paste job of excerpts right into the flow of dialogue - from books and pamphlets on a wide range of conspiracy theories - probably boosted its appeal from the beginning.
Any researcher investigating the Illuminati today would be remiss not to mention RAW - especially in a book or document purporting to cover the subject in detail. With the exception of Myron Fagan, "Wild" Bill Cooper, 4 the John Birchers and Biblical endtimes literature, the formation of the current mythos surrounding the subject has a lot to do with the popularity of Wilson's books: have you ever seen the Illuminati and the star Sirius mentioned in the same paragraph?
Before plunging headlong into the history of the Bavarian Illuminati, it might be useful to have a look at Wilson's diagram - his interpretation (at the time) of the "occult conspiracy" as it has been transmitted through the ages (Cosmic Trigger: Final Secret of the Illuminati, p.188):
New Promethean Possibilities
“European aristocrats transferred their lighted candles from Christian altars to Masonic lodges. The flame of occult alchemists, which had promised to turn dross into gold, reappeared at the center of new "circles" seeking to recreate a golden age: Bavarian Illuminists conspiring against the Jesuits, French Philadelphians against Napoleon, Italian charcoal burners against the Hapsburgs.”The Bavarian Illuminati originated during an age replete with the growing belief in the acquisition of truth through observation and experience. The Age of Enlightenment was in full swing and by the end of the Eighteenth Century an explosion of natural philosophy, science, the resurgence of hermeticism and occult experimentation, all competed directly with the traditional teachings of the Church and the Jesuit monopoly in the Universities and Colleges. 5 Numerous ideologies owe an intellectual and political heritage to this period: skepticism, rationalism, atheism, liberalism, humanism, reductionism, modernism, communism, nihilism and anarchism - among the most apparent.
- Billington, Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith, p. 6
As the Eighteenth Century came to a close Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), Denis Diderot (1713-1784), Voltaire (1694-1778), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794), Comte de Mirabeau (1749- 1791), David Hume (1711-1776), Adam Smith (1723-1790), Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) were famous in their own time. The instrument of reason became a new faith, no less susceptible to its own breed of dogmatism. The philosophers of the Enlightenment reasoned that the physics of Newton might become applicable in all fields of endeavor: the fundamental cosmic laws of nature could transform society and man himself into a "noble savage." 6
The idea of a "glorious revolution" attained widespread acceptance, but during Weishaupt's time it was still a relatively new concept to link political change with social change. The "imminent revolution of the human mind," promulgated by the "radical Bavarian Illuminists," coincided with Mirabeau's doctrine of a coming secular upheaval and universal revolution.
Mirabeau proclaimed Prussia to be the most likely place for the start of the revolution, with the "German Illuminists as its probable leaders." History records, however, that it was Mirabeau himself who became one of the main catalysts to spark the "fire in the minds of men" during the French Revolution. 7
At about the same time Weishaupt was embarking on an academic career two important figures entered the world stage: Thomas Robert Malthus, 8 born in 1766, a major influence on Darwinism, population control and the eugenics movement; four years later we see the birth of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, in Stuttgart Germany, the inventor of what would become known as the "Hegelian Dialectic."
"For Hegelians," Antony C. Sutton reports, "the State is almighty and seen as 'the march of God on earth.' Indeed, a State religion. Progress in the Hegelian State is through contrived conflict: the clash of opposites makes for progress. If you can control the opposites, you dominate the nature of the outcome" (Introduction to the 2002 edition of America's Secret Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull & Bones, no pagination PDF copy).
Revolutionary radicals were impressed with the proof-of-concept displayed by the ruthless conspirators in France. Malthusian and Hegelian dogma became equally influential for anarchists, communists, the intelligentsia and the new breed of revolutionaries that surfaced in the 19th Century: Young Hegelians such as Bakunin, Proudhon and Marx took up the cause in the "spirit of the times" to "destroy in order to build."
The Bavarian Illuminati: The "Insinuating Brothers" of ☉
“Weishaupt . . . proposed as the end of Illuminism the abolition of property, social authority, nationality, and the return of the human race to the happy state in which it formed only a single family without artificial needs, without useless sciences, every father being priest and magistrate. Priest of we know not what religion, for in spite of their frequent invocations of the God of Nature, many indications lead us to conclude that Weishaupt had, like Diderot and d'Holbach, no other God than Nature herself. From his doctrine would naturally follow German ultra-Hegelianism and the system of anarchy recently developed in France, of which the physiognomy suggests a foreign origin.”
- Henry Martin, Histoire de France depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'en 1789, XVI. 533. 9“Do you realize sufficiently what it means to rule - to rule in a secret society? Not only over the lesser or more important of the populace, but over the best of men, over men of all ranks, nations, and religions, to rule without external force, to unite them indissolubly, to breathe one spirit and soul into them, men distributed over all parts of the world? . . . And finally, do you know what secret societies are? What a place they occupy in the great kingdom of the world's events? Do you think they are unimportant, transitory appearances?”A quick perusal on the World Wide Web will show the disparity of opinions and irreconcilable differences about the history of the Illuminati - Bavarian or otherwise.
- Adam Weishaupt, Nachtrag von weitern Originalschriften, II, pp. 44, 51. 10
It's getting better though, a recent article published by the American Atheists 11 - The Enlightenment, Freemasonry, and The Illuminati - has solid documentation and thorough references for those inclined to investigate further into primary and secondary source material; the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon has uploaded part of Vernon L. Stauffer's New England and the Bavarian Illuminati; Bilderberg.org has most of the relevant parts of John Robison's classic, Proofs of a Conspiracy Against all the Religions and Governments of Europe; the Catholic Encyclopedia has long had a good, but short, article; nearly the complete text - and the two most important chapters as it concerns the Illuminati - from Nesta Webster's Secret Societies & Subversive Movements has been posted; three important chapters from Rabbi Marvin S. Antelman's To Eliminate the Opiate Vol. I; Wikipedia.org has an adequate article; and, for those poor Dan Brown fans whose first introduction to the Illuminati was the bestseller Angels & Demons, there's a good debugging write-up from the Center for Studies on New Religions.
If you never buy a single book on the Illuminati, and just read the internet references cited above, you would have an excellent grasp - much greater than your average conspiracy theorist - on the facts (as we can safely say) concerning the rise and fall of the Bavarian Illuminati. I have taken it a bit further, however. For the last six months I've engaged in a crash course on the Illuminati and related subjects: absorbing and taking notes from Proofs of a Conspiracy ..., and other internet references; buying Barruel's Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, Billington's Fire In the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith, Webster's Secret Societies & Subversive Movements, Antelman's To Eliminate the Opiate Vol. 1, Yates' The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, Fulop-Miller's The Power and Secret of the Jesuits, Carr's Pawns in the Game; and at the same time consulting other works, in my own personal library, when needed. 12
A Chronological Overview
In an effort to keep the notes to a minimum and still provide thorough citation, the following abbreviations will be applied:
- AB - Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, by Augustin Barruel, 1798, Real-View-Books Classics Reprint, 2002 edition
- VS - Chapter III: The European Illuminati (332 KB), from New England and the Bavarian Illuminati, by Vernon L. Stauffer Ph.D., 1918
- JB - Fire In the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith, by James H. Billington, 1980
- NW - Secret Societies & Subversive Movements, by Nesta H. Webster, 1924, A&B Publishers Group, 1998
- JR - Proofs of a Conspiracy Against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, by John Robison, 1798
- MA - To Eliminate The Opiate, by Rabbi Marvin S. Antelman, 1974
- CG - The Enlightenment, Freemasonry, and The Illuminati, by Conrad Goeringer
- TM - A Bavarian Illuminati Primer, by Trevor W. McKeown
- MI - The Illuminati and Angels & Demons FAQ - Do the Illuminati Really Exist?, by Massimo Introvigne
- CE - Catholic Encyclopedia: Illuminati
1748
1755
1768
1772
1773
1775
1776
- The Nursery
- Preparatory Literary Essay
- Novitiate (Novice)
- Minerval (Brethren of Minerva, Academy of Illuminism)
- Illuminatus Minor
- Symbolic Freemasonry
- Apprentice
- Fellow Craft
- Master
- Scots Major Illuminatus
- Scots Illuminatus Dirigens (Directory)
- Mysteries
- Lesser
- Presbyter, Priest, or Epopt
- Prince or Regent
- Greater
- Magus
- Rex or King
- Lesser
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | K | L | M |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | W | X | Y | Z |
13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
1777
1780
1782
“At Wilhelmsbad, near the city of Hanau in Hesse-Cassel, was held the most important Masonic Congress of the eighteenth century. It was convoked by Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick,20 Grand Master of the Order of Strict Observance … there were delegates from Upper and Lower Germany, from Holland, Russia, Italy, France, and Austria; and the order of the Illuminati was represented by the Baron Von Knigge. It is not therefore surprising that the most heterogeneous opinions were expressed.”– Albert G. Mackey. Mackey’s Revised Encyclopedia Of Freemasonry, under “Wilhelmsbad, Congress of”
1784
1785
To read more on the "Illuminati Conspiracy Part One: A Precise Exegesis on the Available Evidence" click on this link: http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/2014/01/29/illuminati-conspiracy-part-one/“The object of the first degrees of Illuminism is at once to train their young men, and to be informed of every thing that is going forward by a system of espionage. The Superiors aim at procuring from their inferiors diplomatic acts, documents, and original writings. With pleasure they see them commit any treasons or treacherous acts, because they not only turn the secrets betrayed to their own advantage, but thereby have it in their power to keep the traitors in a perpetual dread, lest, if they every showed any signs of stubbornness, their malefactions should be made known.-Oderint dum metuant, let them hate, provided they fear, is the principle of their government.“The Illuminees from these first degrees are educated in the following principles:
- “The Illuminee who wishes to rise to the highest degree must be free from all religion; for a religionist (as they call every man who has any religion) will never be admitted to the highest degrees.”
- The Patet Exitus, or the doctrine on Suicide, is expressed in the same terms as in the preceding deposition.
- “The end sanctifies the means. The welfare of the Order will be a justification for calumnies, poisonings, assassinations, perjuries, treasons, rebellions; in short, for all that the prejudices of men lead them to call crimes.
- “One must be more submissive to the Superiors of Illuminism, than to the sovereigns or magistrates who govern the people; and he that gives the preference to sovereigns or governors of the people is useless to us. Honor, life, and fortune, all are to be sacrificed to the Superiors. The governors of nations are despots when they are not directed by us.-They can have no authority over us, who are free men.
- “The love of one’s prince and of one’s country are incompatible with views of an immense extent, with the ultimate ends of the Order, and one must glow with ardour for the attainment of that end.
“The Superiors of Illuminism are to be looked upon as the most perfect and the most enlightened of men; no doubts are to be entertained even of their infallibility.”“It is in these moral and political principles that the Illuminees are educated in the lower degrees; and it is according to the manner in which they imbibe them and show their devotion to the Order, or are able to second its views, that they are earlier or later admitted to the higher degrees.“They use every possible artifice to get the different post-offices in all countries entrusted to the care of their adepts only. They also boast that they are in possession of the secret of opening and reclosing letters without the circumstance being perceived.“They made us give answers in writing to the following questions: How would it be possible to devise one single system of morals and one common Government for all Europe, and what means should be employed to effectuate it? Would the Christian Religion be a necessary requisite? Should revolt be employed to accomplish it? &c. &c.
Illuminati Conspiracy Part One: A Precise Exegesis on the Available Evidence
Darkbird18 is deep within the research of the Illuminati and it beginning and why they come about in the first place. The Conspiracy Archive.com is the only website I have found online that have detail and in deep research on this secret society. That is the real problem about find information online is that most website and blogs come online like a flash to get their name on the Internet wall of fame and then they’re gone! So to do good online research you have to find website/blogs that stay around and put out detail and consentient information over time. The Illuminati and information like this have to have that type of online live to make me keep coming back! So read this article and finish up on the website to get the “Illuminati History”…………
This article gets a lot of hits because people from all over the world is reading it! What's in this article that is making so many people read it? Is part of the truth that they hide from us is in this article? Let me know Darkbird18, thanks.
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