What Is The Illuminati?

During recent years there has been a revival of interest in the secret society known as the Illuminati. Dan Brown's book Angels and Demons is partly responsible for this. A general interest in hidden knowledge has also been sparked by the upcoming year 2012, which has been frequently pinpointed by prophets and the Mayan calendar as being the time the world will end.

One of the secret groups which supposedly had knowledge not available to everyone else is the Illuminati. The society has been of particular interest to “conspiracy theorists” for hundreds of years. Conspiracy buffs believe that their members are the puppet masters who control the strings from behind the scenes. They are believed to control the elections and revolutions that occur all over the world. Big business and the stock market are also believed to be controlled by this secret fraternity. There have been many groups who have called themselves the Illuminati over the years. Illuminism as a philosophy is not the same as the group that formed in Bavaria in 1776 and called itself the Illuminati. Before this, there had been the Alumbrados of Spain, which were a mystical group of reformed Jesuits and Franciscans. Alumbrados means illuminated in English. This group practiced during the 15th and 16th century. They fell victim to the Inquisition and it's founder Adam Weishaupt was exiled from Germany. The French Illumines of Avignon, which formed in 1770, was also known as the Academy of True Masons.

During the recent decades, events have occurred on the world stage which do not appear to be unrelated and conspiracy theorists are quick to point out what they see as connections between them as proof that an elite group of individuals is controlling our lives. For instance, they ask how an event such as the 9/11 World Trade Center Attack could have happened without the intelligence and law enforcement agencies having some advance knowledge of it. And indeed there were people who have made statements to the press saying that they warned those in power long before the attack and were ignored.

You only have to have a mind capable of reasoning to see that our media is being controlled by someone. What should be a big story in the news might show up on the back pages of your local newspaper and will most likely not even be covered on the evening news, but some actor being seen in a compromising position will make headlines. It is not too difficult to believe that how we think and believe is being manipulated. During World War II, if a newspaper printed something the government didn't approve of, they shut the paper down. So, in a country that preaches freedom of press, the reality is quite different.

Even when there is something in the media or on television about these conspiracy groups, there is obviously an effort to debunk any conspiracy theory and to relegate those who believe in them to the category of “crack pot”.

I won't attempt to convince you that these groups do exist, or that they do not. I only ask that you entertain the idea that it is possible. If you were rich and powerful, would you not want to be even more rich and powerful? Would you not take advantage of the opportunities presented to you? Would you use government contacts and the media to further your ends, if there were no personal consequences for doing so? If you came into contact with other like minded individuals who came from similar circumstances, would you have any problem with making agreements with them to do things that were mutually beneficial to you? If you made such decisions, wouldn't these plans be more successful if they were kept secret? It is human nature to want to believe that you are different and more special than everyone else and to be drawn to associate with others who think you are too.

The Bavarian Illuminati was formed by Adam Weishaupt. He was born 1748 in Ingolstadt, Germany. He was educated by Jesuits and became a professor of Canon Law at the University of Ingolstadt in 1775. His views were radical and the clergy were offended by them. He began meeting in secret with other men to discuss his philosophy and views. This was to become the Bavarian Illuminati, which he and a German Freemason named Baron Adolph von Knigge founded May 1, 1776.

Their goals were subversive. They planned to overthrow the Roman Catholic Church, defeat all governments, and rule the world. Their ranks swelled from five members to over 2,500 members. Part of these members were also Masons.

Adam Weishaupt, himself, must have been an extremely immoral person. In the Code of the Illuminati, by Abbe Augustin Barruel, some of his personal letters are quoted. He wrote that he had gotten his brother's widow pregnant, which was considered incest. Then the couple tried to abort the fetus.

So, now you might be saying to yourself, “O.K., if there is an Illuminati or any other secret society, how does this effect me and why should I care?' The answer to that is, these societies are said to feel that things like Christianity and religion in general are holding mankind back and the feel that our Constitution as it was created by the Founding Fathers is flawed, with the concepts of private property and personal freedom, and needs to be abolished. They believe that if you disagree with their opinions that you should be eliminated and in accordance with their opinion that they are special, they believe they have the right to make these decisions for us and to make sure their plans are carried out. Weishaupt's Illuminati was organized into small groups or cells. They worked together but did not know who the members of the other cells were or who their leaders were. Weishaupt's plan was for these cells to spread around the world and infiltrate goverments and gain control of them. There is a good deal of evidence that the United States was infiltrated by these people. Even George Washington believed it to be fact.

A man named John Robison, who was a Scottish Mason wrote a book in 1789 called Proofs of a Conspiracy. He claimed to have declined to join the Illuminati. He wrote, “An association has been formed for the express purposes of rooting out all the religious establishements and overturning all existing goverments.”

You might ask yourself how does the symbolism of the Illuminati figure into this greater plan? Symbols are as much a part of the human mind as the written word is. Anthropologists believe we had to develop the ability to speak and before we could speak, we communicated with symbols and signs. As long as mankind has been telling stories, we have been using fables and allegories in order to convey a greater understanding of what we are trying to say. In many cases, symbols are used to plant ideas into the minds of those being addressed without overtly saying what it is that we really mean.

Knowledge is power. If you control who has it, then you have the power. Think of tribal cultures in which the shaman is nearly as powerful as the chief and in some instances more so. He maintains his power by controlling who he shares the knowledge of medicine, magic and how to talk to the gods with. He gets by with this by telling the other members of the tribe that the knowledge is too difficult for the average mind to grasp. A large degree of the power weilded by the Catholic Church was maintained by telling Christians that they needed the priests to explain the Bible and Jesus' teachings to them.

During ancient times cultures such as the Egyptians and the Greeks contained groups of people who were knowlegeable on subjects such as medicine, science, and those who made new discoveries tended to keep these discoveries to themselves in order to maintain their power and status. This knowledge was controlled by so called “Mystery schools.” The men who made up these Mystery schools were usually the best and brightest. And unlike in modern times, they did not separate spiritual knowledge from scientific knowledge.

The name Illuminati is itself symbolic. It is Latin for Illuminated ones and conveys the idea of knowledge as light or being enlightened. The concept behind this is Luciferianism.

In Christian or Biblical teachings, Lucifer was one of God's angels. His name meant “light bearer.” When he rebelled against God, he and about 1/3 of the other angels were kicked out of heaven. After this point, he was known as Satan.

Satanists and Luciferians believe that he is the source of knowledge and wisdom, and is therefore good. A basic tenet of Christianity is that Jesus is the light of the world, but Luciferians believe that Lucifer is. The name Satan, means adversary, because he is the enemy of God.

Luciferians prefer the name Lucifer, because he is believed to have given the hidden knowledge that God did not want man to have. And they believe that God wanted to keep this knowledge in order to oppress mankind, making God evil.

In both Christianity and Luciferianism, and also many other religions, light is symbolic of love, knowledge and wisdom. In Christianity is symbolises good and darkness is symbolic of evil. Christianity differs from Luciferianism in that Christianity is very open in it's teachings and message and it is available to everyone regardless of race, sex or social status. Luciferianism keeps it's knowledge and teachings secret. Luciferianism is considered occult. Occult means, “hidden.” Christians believe that mankind can be saved by believing in Christ. Luciferianism teaches that you are saved by learning this hidden knowledge. While you might not consider the idea of being saved by knowledge inherently evil, I consider the idea of having something that might benefit mankind as a whole and keeping it to oneself evil. Not only do they do this, they use it to take advantage of others. They lie by means of propoganda, and disinformation in order to keep this knowledge to themselves.

Conspiracy theorists believe that our government has been using Illuminati symbols to communicate with one another since the very founding of our country and that they use these symbols to indoctrinate us with the ideas they wish us to have. They do this by telling us they mean things other than their true meaning. The average American considers the eagle and the 13 stars and stripes to be “patriotic.” So therefore we have a positive emotional response to seeing them. At some point in the future, when the powers that be begin telling us that they represent other things than we have always been told, i.e. things associated with a New World Order, we will still have the emotional response to them ingrained in our psyche. This in turn will use our emotion to manipulate us into accepting ideas we might otherwise balk at. Let us take a look at some of these symbols.

The pyramid is said to by symbolic of the pagan temple of Lucifer worship. The words 'Novus Ordo Seclorum' on the dollar bill can be translated into 'New World Order'. The eye or Horus or 'all seeing eye' above the pyramid is believed by many to represent the eye of Lucifer.

Numbers figure heavily into Illuminati doctrines. The number 13 is significant to them. The number 13 is repeated several times on the dollar bill. There are 13 layers to the pyramid. Almost everyone knows that Satanic occultist use the number 13. Ancient cultures believed 13 was a number which signified bad omens, such as Friday 13th.

The number 11 is also important to the Illuminati. Those who indulge in occult practices use numbers in the form of dates and years to pick the best time for an important event to occur or to be made to occur. The attack on the World Trade Center happened on 9/11---9+1+1=11. If you want to report something life threatening, call 911. The Twin Towers were shaped like an 11. In Greek mythology, the 11th Labor of Hercules was to hold up Twin Pillars. The airplane that hit the Towers was Flight 11. It had 92 passengers. 9+2=11. September 11 is the 254th day of the year. 2+5+4=11.

Other numbers of significance to the Illuminati are 3,7, 18, 28, 33, 39, 77 and 666 or any multiple of these numbers. But many Christian and Jewish people believe in sacred numbers as well. There is some evidence that our DNA and our physical makeup is as a result of these numbers. We have 11 true ribs on each side, the lower ones being cartilage. There are 22 bones in your head. You have 33 vertebrae.

There is also a bald eagle on the dollar bill. It is believed to actually be a Phoenix. The Illuminati use it to symbolise the fact that no matter how many times their organization has been almost eliminated, they always rise from the ashes.

Illuminati members also hold the pentagram sacred. The Texaco Oil Company has as it's corporate logo, a pentagram within a circle. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft says that pentacles are pentagrams with circles drawn around the outside of them and that pentagrams symbolise protection from evil. Pentagrams are also known at the Blazing Star. They symbolise intellectual omnipotence and autocracy. It depends on which direction its points are pointing whether or not it stands for order or chaos. If there are two points at the top, it represents Satan,when there is one point at the top it represents Christ. The points represent the four limbs and the head of the human body. This is why having one point downwards represents a demon, because it shows intellectual subversion, disorder or madness. The points can also represent, earth, air, water, fire and the spirit. A circle around the outside represents the Circle of Time. The ending and beginning being one and the same.

Even some of our national landmarks are said to have Illuminati symbolism incorporated within them. The Statue of Liberty is supposedly a modern embodiment of the pagan goddess Ishtar, which is called in other cultures, Isis, Juno or Liberteria. There is also a statue of Prometheus at the entrance of Rockefeller Plaza in New York. The Rockefellers are often pointed out as belonging to many of the secret societies. Prometheus has been used by revolutionaries and others as their symbol because Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to mankind. You can see that this is similar to the idea that Lucifer gave enlightenment or knowledge to mankind. So, it could be argued that Prometheus is Lucifer by another name. The Washington Monument is an obelisk in the Egyptian style. The Egyptians believed that the upright part of the obelisk represent the male and that the base represented the female. Together they represent a penis uniting with a vagina, harmony between opposities, good and evil, East and West.

Those who believe in the existance of the Illuminati, believe that it is connected to other organizations such as the Scottish Rite Masons. The number 32 is significant to the Masons. There are 32 Degrees of Masonry, with a 33rd Degree which some Masons say doesn't exist and others say only exists for some on the national level of the organization. The eagle on the dollar bill has 32 feathers on one wing and 33 on the other. The stars above the eagle's head form a hexagram, which is an occult symbol for the seven planets. Those who practice witchcraft and Satanism use it.

The hexagram and the pyramid both have triangles. In witchcraft and Satanism it occurs as a double triangle, the Seal of Solomon, the hexagram. The Jewish Magen David is also made up of two triangles. The triangle that points up is representative of the flesh or material matter and the male generative act; the other triangle, which points downward, symbolises female sexuality and the integrated. Together they indicate sexual union, the reconciliation of opposites, yin and yang, Satan and God. Both pentagrams and the Magen David have a hidden 666. There are six triangles on the outside of the hexagram; there are six out points; and there are six lines that make up the design. Dr. O.J. Graham wrote a book called, The Six Pointed Star, and he stated that this symbol was never used by King David. It began to be used by Jewish priests in the Middle Ages when they were studying magic. The triangle can be traced back to Egyptian times and the worship of Isis. Some call it the geometrical God. Often the letter “G” appears in Masonic imagery and is said alternately to represent, God, geometry or the geometrical God which was symbolic of Isis. There is also a date written in Roman numerals at the base of the pyramid. Officially it stands for the date of July 4th, when the Declaration of Independence was signed. Others believe it to be the date May 1st which is when the Illuminati began. Interestingly, May 1st is a pagan holiday. Witches are initiated into covens on this date. Members of secret societies are often initiated into upper degress on this day as well.

Why are these symbols on our money? Manly P. Hall is considered by many to be one of the greatest experts on Freemasonry in the 20th century. In his book, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, pp. XC and XCI, he states, “Not only were many of the founders of the United States government Masons, but they received aid from a secret and august body existing in Europe which helped them to establish this country for a peculiar and particular purpose known only to the initiated few.” This “secret and august body” is believed to be the Illuminati. The symbol of Weishaupt's Illuminati was the pyramid, all seeing eye and the same motto found on the dollar bill.

During recent years it has become common knowledge that even George Washington was a Mason. There was a letter sent to him in 1798 warning him about a Masonic movement called the Illuminati. In his response, George Washington wrote,

It was not my intention to doubt that the doctrines of the Illuminati, the
principles of Jacobinism, had not spread into the United States. On the
contrary, no one is more truly satisfied of that fact than I am.

He then goes on to deny that the Illuminati and the Masons are one and the same, but that in some instances, some of the individual members might have been Illuminati.

The idea that I meant to convey was that I did not believe that the
lodges of Freemasonry in this country, as societes, have endeav-
ored to promulgate the diabolical tenets of the pernicious principles
of the latter, if they are susceptible to separation, but, that individuals
of them may have done it, or that the founder, or instrument founded,
or the instrument employed to found the democratic societies in the
United States may have had these objects in mind and actually had the
separation of the people from their government in view, is too evident
to question.

The Masonic Lodge is not the only organization with similarities to the Illuminati. The Trilateral Commission, The Council on Foreign Relations, the Skull and Bones Club, the Bilderberger group and others all have a common internal structure. The League of Nations, and the United Nations are said by authors on the New World Order, to be the first steps toward a one world government and those who came up with the plans are using these secret societies to scheme and plan their way towards that end. Regardless of your religious beliefs, it is important to be aware of what is going on in the world around you and to realize that events that happened long before you were born, could be having a direct effect on your destiny. To a certain degree, we can control our own destinys, if we refuse to allow others to do it for us.



Founding fathers, secret societies: Freemasons, Illuminati, Rosicrucians, and the Decoding of the Great Seal, Robert Hieronimus, Laura Cortner – 2006

New world order: the ancient plan of secret societies, William T. Still

Daniel's Key - Page 104, Lori Anne Holt – 2005

Rule by secrecy: the hidden history that connects the Trilateral Commission, The Freemasons and the Great Pyramid - Page 91, Jim Marrs – 2001

Code of the Illuminati - Page 167, Abbé Augustin Barruel

Proof of the Illuminati - Page 140, Seth Payson – 2003

Revelation of the Holy Grail - Page 140, Chevalier Emerys – 2007

New England and the Bavarian Illuminati - Page 188, Vernon Stauffer – 1911

The Gnostics and Their Remains: Ancient and Medieval - Page 393, Charles William King-1887

The Best of Times: The Worst of Times - Page 180, Gyeorgos C. Hatonn – 1993

Secret America: The Hidden Symbols, Codes and Mysteries of the United States - Page 32, Barb Karg, Susan Reynolds, Rick Sutherland – 2010

Illuminati: Healing and Developing the Mind - Page 205, Rodney St. Michael – 2002

A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America - Page 58, Michael Barkun – 2006

Ancient Philosophy of Satan, Jonathan Pentadragon

The Human Enigma - Page 77, John Merino

The Armageddon Conspiracy - Page 140, Mike Hockney – 2008

Illuminati - 2012 - Page 60, Nishan A. Kumaraperu – 2008

Tales from the time loop: the most comprehensive exposé of the global conspiracy ever written and all you need to know to be truly free--, David Icke – 2003

Codex Magica: secret signs, mysterious symbols, and hidden codes of the Illuminati--, Texe Marrs - 2005