He did this by sending fake letters to the men's magazine Playboy, where he worked, attributing cover-ups and conspiracy theories, such as the JFK assassination, to a secret elite organisation called the Illuminati. Wilson went on to turn these theories into a book, The Illuminatus Trilogy , which became a surprise cult success and were even made into a stage play in Liverpool, launching the careers of British actors Bill Nighy and Jim Broadbent. The idea of a powerful modern Illuminati conspiring to rule the world remained a niche belief upheld by a handful of enthusiasts until the s.
The internet changed all that, giving conspiracy theorists a global platform to expound their beliefs and present their evidence to a massive audience. Theories about how the New World Order operates run from relatively straightforward ideas to the outright bizarre.
Conspiracy theorists obsessively analyse public events for "evidence" of Illuminati influence. The symbols most associated with the Illuminati include triangles, pentagrams, goats, the all-seeing eye — such as the one that appears on US bank notes - and the number This has led to claims some of the American Founding Fathers were members, with Thomas Jefferson accused in the aftermath of the War of Independence.
Another commonly cited Illuminati symbol, which appears on US currency, is the so-called Eye of Providence, which is said to represent the omniscience of God watching over humanity. As well as being king and queen of the charts, Beyonce and Jay-Z are frequently depicted as lords of the New World Order.
Beyonce's immense fame and popularity have long made her a favourite target for conspiracy theorists. However, some musicians seem to enjoy deliberately playing with symbols connected to secret societies. Jay Z has also been accused of hiding secret symbols such as goat imagery and devil horns in his music videos. Most damningly, the logo for his own music label, Roc-A-Fella Records, is a pyramid — one of the most well-known Illuminati logos.
Rob Brotherton, a professor at Barnard College and author of Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe in Conspiracy Theories , explains that real-life government conspiracies targeting black people in America, such as FBI infiltration of the Civil Rights movement in the s and 60s, planted the seeds for Illuminati theory's popularity among hip-hop artists and fans. But while they were following these bizarre rituals, they also promoted a worldview that reflected Enlightenment ideals like rational thought and self-rule.
Anti-clerical and anti-royal, the Illuminati were closer to revolutionaries than world rulers, since they sought to infiltrate and upset powerful institutions like the monarchy. Historians tend to think the Illuminati were only mildly successful — at best — in becoming influential.
Though, of course, there are also those who believe the Illuminati successfully took over the world — and still control it today. If an all-powerful group does dominate the world, we probably wouldn't know about it.
It's also difficult to untangle the success of the Illuminati from that of the Freemasons, which they infiltrated and commingled with. It's just as tough to tell what influence the Illuminati actually had as opposed to the influence people think they had. We do know the Illuminati had some influential members — along with many dukes and other leaders who were powerful but are forgotten today, some sources think writer Johann Goethe was a member of the group though other sources dispute the claim.
In a way, Illuminati influence depends on what you believe about them. If you think their revolutionary ideals spread to other groups, like the French Revolution's Jacobins , then they were successful. If you think those ideas would have prospered regardless, then they were mainly a historical curiosity. In , Duke of Bavaria Karl Theodor banned secret societies, including the Illuminati, and instituted serious punishments for anyone who joined them.
Most of the group's secrets were disclosed or published, and, if you believe most historians, the Illuminati disappeared. From the moment of the disbanding, however, the myth expanded.
As described in Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia , documents found in the homes of high-ranking Illuminati members like Xavier von Zwack confirmed some of the spookiest Illuminati theories, like their dreams of world domination and cultish behavior even though those documents may exaggerate the truth about the group.
Almost immediately after the Illuminati were disbanded, conspiracy theories about the group sprang up. The most famous conspiracy theories were authored by physicist John Robison in , who accused the Illuminati of infiltrating the Freemasons, and Abbe Augustin Barruel , whose history of the Jacobins promoted the theory that secret societies, including the Illuminati, were behind the French Revolution.
Historians tend to see these as the first in a long line of conspiracy theories though, again, for those who believe the Illuminati run the world today, this is arguably proof of the group's power.
Later on, some of the Founding Fathers managed to stoke interest in the Illuminati in the United States. In , George Washington wrote a letter addressing the Illuminati threat he believed it had been avoided, but his mentioning it helped bolster the myth. In the panic caused by the anti-Illuminati books and sermons, Thomas Jefferson was baselessly accused of being a member of the group.
Though these early Illuminati panics fizzled out, they gave the group a patina of legitimacy that, later on, would help make a centuries-long conspiracy seem more plausible. Conspiracy theories have always been popular in the United States, but for centuries, the Illuminati were less feared than the Freemasons.
The Anti-Masonic Party was based on an opposition to the Freemasons, and though the party died out, Freemasons remained a focal point for paranoia in America.
Because the Illuminati recruited many members in Europe through Freemason lodges, the two groups are often confused for each other. To some degree, Freemason paranoia grew out of the Freemasons' influence in the United States. Many Founding Fathers were members, after all. And some key American symbols may have been derived from the Freemasons: There's a strong argument that the floating eye on the dollar, the Eye of Providence above a pyramid, comes from Freemasonry.
There's also an argument that it was meant as a Christian symbol; the only thing we know for certain is that it has nothing to do with the Bavarian Illuminati. That early Freemason paranoia can help us understand the conspiracy theories about the Illluminati today. The Illuminati never completely disappeared from popular culture — it was always burbling in the background.
But in the mids, the Illuminati made a marked comeback thanks to a literary trilogy that gave the group the simultaneously spooky and laughable image it holds today. Anti-clerical and anti-royal, the Illuminati aimed to infiltrate and upset powerful institutions. They created a plan for the global subversion of church, state, royalty, and society.
Weishaupt aimed to abolish all religions and obliterate every government so mankind could live happily in a world of equality. The Order was represented by the Owl of Minerva, which in Greek mythology traditionally accompanies Athena the virgin goddess of wisdom.
Another Illuminati emblem was a dot within a circle that symbolized the all-seeing eye which belonged not to God, but to a superior Illuminati watching over the lower ranks. The Illuminati adopted antique codenames to avoid identification. Weishaupt aimed to find young zealots - using Freemason lodges as a recruiting ground - and knit them together with secrecy. The lower ranks were divided into hierarchies of Novices, Minervals, and Illuminated Minervals, and divided into cells.
Weishaupt acted as their spymaster. They were asked to recommend appropriate people to be received into the Order and to list those who might be unfit, justifying reasons for both opinions.
They were told to pay attention to the conduct of other men around them and report back weekly about public or private occurrences.
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