THE ILLUMINATI

 

The Freemasons have been confused with many mysterious sects over the years, from witches to the Rosicrucians (a spiritual group that arose during the 17th century). But perhaps the strongest association that has been made was with a secret society called the Illuminati.

On May 1, 1776, Adam Weishaupt (born February 6. 1748- d.1830), a professor of Canon Law at Ingolstadt University in Bavaria (present day Bayern,) formed a ultra secret society called the Order of the Illuminati within the existing Masonic lodges of Germany, enlisting in its ranks members from the highest degrees of the Masonic Order. Since Masonry is itself a secret society, the Illuminati was a secret society within a secret society, a mystery inside a mystery. It has been claimed that 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.)

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.

The Illuminati have been blamed for organising the French and American revolutions from behind the scenes, taking over the world, being the brains behind Communism, continuing underground, secretly. Some claim that Weishaupt didn't 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 Babylon, to Egypt. 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 . ..).

According to Robert Anton Wilson in his book called Cosmic Trigger: Final Secret of the Illuminati published in 1977, “the damned Bavarian conspirators were responsible for everything wrong with the world, including the energy crises.

H.L. Haywood, another highly esteemed Masonic historian, also included Weishaupt's biography in his book Famous Masons and Masonic Presidents. Weishaupt's esteemed summary is one of only one hundred biographical sketches appearing in the book, indicating that he had to have been a very prominent Mason. John Robison, an eighteenth century historian and a prominent Mason, was entrusted with some of the original documents and correspondence of the Illuminati. In his book, Proofs of a Conspiracy, written in 1798, he reproduced major segments of the Illuminati's original writings. Robison stated, "the express aim of the Order was to abolish Christianity, and overturn all civil government" (John Robison, Proofs of a Conspiracy. Boston: Western Islands, 1967, p.60). He went on to quote Weishaupt as stating that the plan for a New World Order can succeed "in no other way but by secret associations, which will by degrees, and in silence, possess themselves of the government of the States, and make use of those means for this purpose . . . ".

 Using deception and intrigue, Weishaupt and his inner circle of adepts succeeded at gaining the support of Germany's Masonic lodges. "All these branches were controlled by the twelve leading adepts headed by Weishaupt, who at the lodge in Munich held in his hands the threads of the whole conspiracy". Mackey admits to the initial success of the Illuminati, commenting:

The Order was at first very popular, and enrolled no less than two thousand names upon its registers, among whom were some of the most distinguished men of Germany. It extended rapidly into other countries, and its Lodges were to be found in France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, and Italy.

 “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.”  

In 1782, at the Masonic Congress of Wilhelmsbad, Weishaupt's Illuminati solidified its position among Europe's secret societies as the undisputed leader of the occult one-world movement. Around the same time, Weishaupt also succeeded at forging an alliance between Illuminized Freemasonry and the growing Rothschild banking network, thereby giving the Order the financial means to begin to carry out its plans.

As a result of this alliance with the international financiers, the Freemasons regained the banking prominence once held by the Templars, and the Illuminati gained momentum. H.L. Haywood observes, "It took root, it grew, it flourished, it gathered into itself more men of royal and noble titles than were possessed by the Hohenzollern family; even the Jesuits joined it".

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. "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. 

Although Weishaupt's Illuminati was exposed within ten years, he had accomplished more to further "the plan" during this time than all of Freemasonry's efforts of the previous fifty years combined. One reason for his success was that he had gotten many Christian leaders to join the Order by convincing them that the Illuminati was a for the sake of Christ. Robison states, "In this scheme of Masonic Christianity, Spartacus [Weishaupt] and Philo [Baron Von Knigge] laboured seriously together. Spartacus sent him the materials, and Philo worked them up.".
 This apostate teaching, which was presented to Christian initiates, was explained by Von Knigge: "Jesus Christ established no new Religion; he would only set Religion and Reason in their ancient rights. For this purpose he would unite men in a common bond. He would fit them for this by spreading a just morality, by enlightening the understanding, and by assisting the mind to shake off all prejudices. He would teach all men, in the first place, to govern themselves. Rulers would then be needless, and equality and liberty would take place without any revolution, by the natural and gentle operation of reason and expediency. This great Teacher allows himself to explain every part of the Bible in conformity to these purposes; and he forbids all wrangling among his scholars, because every man may there find a reasonable application to his peculiar doctrines.
Let this be true or false, it does not signify. This was a simple Religion and it was so far inspired; but the minds of his hearers were not fitted for receiving doctrines. I told you, said he, but you could not bear it. Many therefore were called, but few were chosen. To these elect were entrusted the most important secrets; and even among them there were degrees of information. There was a seventy, and a twelve. All this was in the natural order of things, and according to the habits of the Jews, and indeed of all antiquity. The Jewish Theosophy was a mystery; like the Eleusinian, or the Pythagorean, unfit for the vulgar, and thus the doctrines of Christianity were these they were maintained, like the Vestal Fire. They were kept up, only in hidden societies, who handed them down to posterity, and they are now possessed by the genuine Free Masons."

"Using this cover of working for worldwide Christian unity, Weishaupt was able to gain the backing of numerous credulous leaders who thought they were working for a noble cause. In fact their every move was designed by Weishaupt to nudge the Illuminists one step closer to world domination". 
Christian unity comes naturally among those who share a common love for Christ. The false ecumenical/interfaith unity being promoted today by the World Council of Churches — an organization that is strongly influenced by Freemasonry — is nothing new. It has been used for centuries to try to further the cause of world government. As long as Christians do NOT unite with the peoples of other religions, there can be no world government. This unwillingness of Christians to compromise their faith has been the chief obstacle for the conspirators.
 Weishaupt received a special thrill out of being able to deceive Christians in this fashion.
On one occasion, after having persuaded a Protestant leader to join his "unification effort," he wrote:

"You can't imagine what respect and curiosity my priest-degree has raised; and, which is wonderful, a famous Protestant divine, who is now of the Order, is persuaded that the religion contained in It is the true sense of Christianity. O MAN, MAN! TO WHAT MAYST THOU NOT BE PERSUADED. Who would imagine that I was to be the founder of a new Religion."
 
Although the Illuminati's efforts officially ceased in the 1780s, unofficially its agenda continued to move forward through the network of Illuminized Masonic lodges that had already been set in place. The main catalyst for this continued drive seemed to come from the Grand Orient Lodge of France, and later on, from the Masonic leaders of Italy and the United States keeping British Freemasons behind the Veils.

The Bavarian Illuminati and the God of Nature

“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 (Babylonian cabalist doctrine En Sof). 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.” 
 
“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? 

A Chronological Overview

1755

Weishaupt's father, George, dies.

1776

May 1. Weishaupt founds the Order of the Illuminati with an original membership of five. The Order is secret, hierarchical. The original name for the Order was uncertain: Perfectibilists and Bees were both considered, but Weishaupt settled on Illuminati  The Order was, therefore, always represented in communications between members as a circle with a dot in the center ☉ This symbolic imagery - the point within a circle, the Perfectibilists and the Bees - is also reflective of Weishaupt's fascination with Eleusinian and Pythagorean Mysteries; no doubt learning of this early on having access to Ickstatt's considerable library.
Like most secret societies the basic structure of the Order was divided into classes and degrees, in the following manner:

• 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

The Council of 13= 13 Druids. Sir Winston Churchill was a member of the Ancient Order of Druids.

The Council of 33 = the 33o Masons.
The Council of 300 = the 300 wealthiest dynastic families.

(The Council of 13 heading up the plan for world hegemony are signified by the 13 layers of masonry portrayed on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States and printed on the U.S. one dollar bill by Illuminatus F.D. Roosevelt).
"The Zoroastrian-Manichaean cult of fire was central to the otherwise eclectic symbolism of the Illuminists; their calendar was based on Persian rather than classical or Christian models." [JB: 95] Weishaupt explains: "The allegory in which the Mysteries and Higher Grades must be clothed is Fire Worship and the whole philosophy of Zoroaster or of the old Parsees  who nowadays only remain in India; therefore in the further degrees the Order is called 'Fire Worship' (Feuerdienst), the 'Fire Order,' or the 'Persian Order' - that is, something magnificent beyond all expectation." [NW: 201] Weishaupt constructed the Illuminati calendar to commemorate the date of the Persian King Yazdegerd III (632 AD) [MI] - the Parsees (Parsis) still use the same dating system to this day.  Barruel relates how the Illuminati Novice in-training "must … learn how to date his letters, and be conversant with the Illuminized Hegira or Calendar; for all letters which he will receive in future will be dated according to the Persian era, caled [sic] Jezdegert and beginning A.D. 630.
The Bavarian Illuminati were set up for "political intriguing rather than in speculation" [NW: 201], the Illuminati became "much more characteristic of a militia in action than an order with initiations." [JB: 95] Weishaupt's contempt for certain esoteric pursuits - as a "thing-in-itself" - was widely known: "... in Weishaupt's system the phraseology of Judaism, the Cabalistic legends of Freemasonry, the mystical imaginings of the Martinistes, play at first no part at all. For all forms of 'theosophy,' occultism, spiritualism, and magic Weishaupt expresses nothing but contempt.

1782

July 16. Congress of Wilhelmsbad convened (set up). Probably the most significant event of the era as far as any official coalition between secret society factions:
“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, 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"
"...it was not until the Congress de Wilhelmsbad that the alliance between Illuminism and Freemasonry was finally sealed....What passed at this terrible Congress will never be known to the outside world, for even those men who had been drawn unwittingly into the movement, and now heard for the first time the real designs of the leaders, were under oath to reveal nothing. One such honest Freemason, the Comte de Virieu, a member of Martiniste Lodge at Lyons, returning from the Congre's de Wilhelmsbad could not conceal his alarm, and when questioned on the 'tragic secrets' he had brought back with him, replied: 'I will not confide them to you. I can only tell you that all this is very much more serious than you think. The conspiracy which is being woven is so well thought out that it will be, so to speak, impossible for the monarchy and the Church to escape from it." From this time onwards, says his biographer, M. Costa de Beauregard, 'the Comte de Virieu could only speak of Freemasonry with horror.'"39

1785

March 2. The Bavarian Monarch issues an (second) edict against secret societies, specifically naming the Illuminati and Freemasonry; shortly after a considerable amount of important documents were concealed or put to the flames. This second ban was more forceful, it "left no room for evasion." The government enforcers were giving weapons to "wage an effective command."
Weishaupt had already left his post at the University two weeks earlier, obviously knowing about the approaching storm. "He fled across the border to Regensburg, and finally settled at Gotha" under the protection of Illuminati member Duke of Saxe-Gotha. Thirteen years later Barruel writes, "[Weishaupt] now banished from his country as a traitor to his Prince and to the whole Universe, peacefully at the court of Ernest Lewis, Duke of Saxe Gotha, enjoys an asylum, receives a pension from the public treasury, and is dignified with the title of Honorary Councellor to that Prince."

Judicial inquiries were held at Ingolstadt. Subsequent government measures were taken and some members made formal confessions. A considerable membership was found to be held within the military; officers and soldiers were ordered to come forward and confess any involvement. State officials, professors, teachers, and students who were found out to be members were summarily dismissed. Some were even banished from the country. 

September 9. Utzschneider, Grünberger, and Cosandey make a joint Juridical Deposition before the Elector:
"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.

"They use every possible trick 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? etc.
"We were also asked, in which Brethren we should place the most confidence if there were any important plan to be undertaken; and whether we were willing to recognize the right of life and death as vested in the Order; and also the right of the sword, Jus Gladii.

"In consequence of our acquaintance with this doctrine of the Illuminees, with their conduct, their manners, and their incitements to treason, and being fully convinced of the dangers of the Sect, we the Aulic Counsellor Utzschneider and the Priest Dillis left the Order. The Professor Grünberger, the Priest Cosandey, Renner, and Zaupfer, did the same a week after, though the Illuminees sought to impose upon us shamefully, by assuring us that his Electoral Highness was a member of their Order. We clearly saw that a Prince knowing his own interests, and wholly attending to the paternal care of his subjects, would never countenance a Sect, spreading through almost every province under the cloak of Free-masonry; because it sows division and discord between parents and their children, between Princes and their subjects, and among the most sincere friends; because on all important occasions it would install partiality on the seats of justice and in the councils, as it always prefers the welfare of the Order to that of the state, and the interests of its adepts to those of the prophane. Experience had convinced us, that they would soon succeed in perverting all the Bavarian youth. The leading feature in the generality of their adepts were irreligion, depravity of morals, disobedience to their Prince and to their parents, and the neglect of all useful studies. We saw that the fatal consequence of Illuminism would be, to create a general distrust between the prince and his subjects, the father and his children, the minister and his secretaries, and between the different tribunals and councils. We were not to be deterred by that threat so often repeated, That no Prince can save him that betrays us. We abandoned, one after the other, this Sect, which under different names, as we have been informed by several of our former Brethren, has already spread itself in Italy, and particularly at Venice, in Austria, in Holland, in Saxony, on the Rhine, particularly at Frankfort, and even as far as America.-The Illuminees meddle as much as possible in state affairs, and excite troubles wherever their Order can be benefited by them." [emphasis in original]

1786

On October 11 police search Xavier Zwack's residence in Landshut. A number of books and over two hundred letters, between Weishaupt and the Areopagites, were confiscated. The documents were published by the Bavarian government under the title Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens.
The evidence discovered at Zwack's residence was considerable: besides the secret communications between the Illuminati Adepts, the authorities found tables containing the Order's symbols and the Persian calendar; membership rosters, statutes, instructions for recruiters, ceremonies of initiation and imprints of the Order's insignia; a eulogy of atheism and a copy of a manuscript entitled Better Than Horus; a proposal for a branch of Illuminism for woman; several hundred impressions of Government seals (with a list of their owners, princes, nobles, clergymen, merchants, etc.), for the purposes of counterfeiting; instructions for the making of the poison Aqua Toffana, poisonous gas and secret ink; "an infernal machine" for the safeguarding of secret papers - apparently a strong box that would blow up, destroying its contents; and receipts for procuring abortion and a formula for making a tea to induce the procedure. In the space of a few months, in 1786 - in order to save face - Weishaupt pens 9 different apologetic pamphlets, most notably: Apologie der Illuminaten, Frankfort and Leipzig, 1786, and Vollständige Geschichte der Verfolgung der Illuminaten in Bayern, Frankfort and Leipzig, 1786.

1787

As a result of further police searches of Baron Bassus' castle at Sandersdorf, the Bavarian government published more secret documents of the Order: Nachtrag von weitern Originalschriften ...

August 16. The third and final edict against the Order is put into effect by the Duke of Bavaria. The former edicts were reemphasized "and in addition, to give maximum force to the sovereign's will, criminal process, without distinction of person, dignity, state, or quality, was ordered against any Illuminatus who should be discovered continuing the work of recruiting. Any so charged and found guilty were to be deprived of their lives by the sword; while those thus recruited were to have their goods confiscated and themselves to be condemned to perpetual banishment from the territories of the duke. Under the same penalties of confiscation and banishment, the members of the order, no matter under what name or circumstances, regular or irregular, they should gather, were forbidden to assemble as lodges."

Some Illuminati Members: Alias, Occupation, Residence and Associates

 

 

 

Some Illuminati Members.... -->

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Created by:	Salauddine Mohammed Faruque on July 25,2007, last updated on 12.08.2009