Illuminati
ILLUSTRATES Renato Faccini
They are rich, powerful and influential. They are leaders in the most important sectors of politics, the economy and the media. And they are the nexus of all conspiracy theories. They are the Illuminati – a supposed secret group, akin to Freemasonry, which seeks total control of humanity (a totalitarian state known as the «New World Order»). It doesn’t matter if you’re skeptical: the rest of the world already believes. According to Google Ngram, which analyzes the frequency of use of words, since the end of World War II the term “illuminati” has appeared more and more in books, websites and articles. Still, there is little concrete evidence about the alleged group. The time has come to bring the “enlightened” out of the shadows.
And the light comes
The first group to call itself the Illuminati («enlightened ones» in Latin) emerged in ancient Rome in the 2nd century. Led by the prophet Montanus, it was Christian and promoted strange rituals that left followers in a trance. In 15th century Spain there were the illuminated (“enlightened” in Spanish), persecuted by the Inquisition for believing they had a direct channel with the Holy Spirit
army of god
There are no reliable records showing a link between them, but many point to the Templar Knights as ancestors of the current Illuminati. This society gathered warriors from the Crusades, accumulated many riches and became quite powerful inside and outside the Church. Their swift disappearance in 1307 fueled theories that they secretly continued to exist.
From North to south
In the wake of the Enlightenment (the philosophical and scientific movement pro-rationality of the 18th century), France had two confraternities illuminated. The first appeared in 1623, in Picardy, in the north of the country (although some say that they were, in fact, Spaniards from Seville). In 1772, those from the south appeared, possibly associated with the Alumbrados. They lasted until 1794
the first master
It was in the German region of Bavaria that the current version of the myth emerged. On May 1, 1776, the professor of law Adam Weishaupt (1748-1830), quite popular among students thanks to his liberal ideals, founded an association regulated by a strict moral code. It was the Order of Perfectibilists, soon to be called the Illuminati.
Freedom, equality and luminosity
Weishaupt also mixed Islamic mysticism, Jesuit doctrine and masonry. He was a Freemason and to this day this encourages the thesis that the Illuminati are a subgroup of this society. And, as the professor recruited several leaders of the French Revolution (1789), people began to think that the group was exclusive to the powerful and influential.
Your envy made my fame
As Weishaupt’s philosophy was close to the Enlightenment of Rousseau and Voltaire, his fame spread – and with it, paranoia. the Bavarian government banned the group in 1784. Two books tried to denounce him in 1797, but they exaggerated his powers and ended up generating more curiosity. It was the start of conspiracy theories.
SOURCES Larousse Books Secret Societies, various authors, and The Most Wicked Secret Societies in History by Shelley Klein, SUPERINTERESSANTE magazine and websites Illuminati Rex, Illuminati Symbols and Discovery
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