on may 1st 1776 five men gathered around the table in ingolstadt bavaria leading them was a local professor of canon law the 28 year old adam weishaupt they gathered to inaugurate a new secret society the order of perfectabilists its name soon changed to the order of the illuminati or in german the illuminati order the order of the enlightenment its totem was the owl of minerva or athena the ancient goddess of wisdom another symbol was a dot in a circle representing the all-seeing eye not the all-seeing eye of god but of the mysterious unknown superiors to
whom the order answered the day may first marked an ancient fertility festival and it was the extension of the preceding walpurgis knight long associated with witchcraft and evil spirits vice house tiny order had grand ambition their aim was to make men free and happy but first they had to make them good vice hopped envisioned nothing less than a world revolution that would result in a universal republic a new world order this necessitated destruction of christianity and all other forms of religion it also meant the annihilation of all governments the new order would bring liberation from
all social moral and religious restraint and embrace absolute equality and social fraternity religious superstition would be replaced with atheism for the masses and a kind of enlightened pantheism for the higher classes a communism of goods would govern economics the benevolent enlightened elite the illuminati would reign over this earthly paradise as weishaupt put it the superiors of luminism 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 down with the old masters say hello to the new masters i bet that even
if you've never taken notice of secret societies before you've heard of the illuminati well over two centuries later the term is embedded in popular culture as the generic name for a conspiratorial group bent on world domination people pour over super bowl ads looking for hidden illuminati symbols and they're even parodied in taco bell commercials the bavarian illuminati have spawned a cottage industry of conspiracy theory in this lecture we're going to explore the roots of vice hope's creation what it believed what it did and its legacy perhaps its survival the illuminati were very much a creature
of the 18th century enlightenment a time that well it's mostly identified with the flowering of reason and science also saw an explosion of interest in mysticism in the occult the century that produced the french philosopher's roll rousseau and voltaire also gave us the italian forger and swindler alessandro caleostro the german hypnotist friedrich anton mesmer and the ageless alchemist the count of saint germain there is nothing new about vice house utopian vision the term illuminati has been used many times before in the classical age any initiate of a mystery cult was considered an illuminatus the same
was true for a christian who'd undergone baptism in essence what vice helped envisioned was the realization of heaven on earth the immanentizing of the eshaitan that notion goes back a long long time a fifth century persian prophet named mazdak imagined something much the same another version is the millennial paradise that many believe christ will usher in on his return or the perfect kingdom jews anticipate with the messiah [Music] the difference is that vice health's perfect kingdom would be instituted by humans themselves at least the illuminated ones vice hope's original contribution to this ancient theme was
organization as opposed to open proselytizing mass movements and direct confrontation he advocated secrecy or more to the point conspiracy the great strength of our order lies in its concealment he decreed let it never appear in any place in its own name but always covered by another name and another occupation besides vice house lack of originality there was a question of whether he was the real master of his conspiracy or the tool of something bigger occult and masonic scholar manly p hall claimed that the bavarian illuminati were but a fragment of a larger movement hall viewed
vice helped as a faithful servant of a larger cause and that behind him moved the intricate machinery of the secret schools hall warned that the mystery schools never trust their full weight to any perishable institutions the bavarian illuminati were a chapter in a story not the whole story outwardly vice health and his brethren came nowhere near to achieving their lofty ambitions the bavarian illuminati officially lasted barely a decade the group is easy to dismiss as another of history's countless failed pipe dreams but it's not as simple as that the illuminati were never rounded up or
brought to account vice helped lib to write plot and influence until his death in 1830 at the ripe age of 82. nor was the society's organization seriously disrupted after all it was invisible remember weishaupt decreed that the order's strength lay in concealment and that it would always appear under other names how do you ban that like other secret societies in history such as the templars assassins cathars and still more before them there's every reason to suppose that the illuminati carried on in one form or another you could argue that being exposed was the best thing
that ever happened to the illuminati there's no such thing as bad publicity spread the name of the order far and wide people who might never have heard of it now did and as many were intrigued as repulsed some even argue that weishaupt himself blew the order's cover for precisely that reason in other words it was part of his plan so who was adam weishaupt his full name was johann adam joseph weisshoft he was not jewish as some have claimed nor was he a jesuit priest or any kind of religious figure he was the son of
a lawyer who died young and left his son's upbringing in the hands of a godfather baron johann from ichthaf and ikshdof was the embodiment of an enlightenment scholar as lay director of the jesuit-run university of ingolstadt he possessed a large library of forbidden and esoteric books to which young adam had early and ready access doubtless he learned a few things at age 15 adam entered engelstadt university and followed his late father in the study of law he graduated in 1768 age 20 and right away assumed a professorship at the same school he was a hometown
boy made good he seemed a typical member of the german intellectual establishment vice house jesuit instructors were noted for the rigorousness of their education a part of this was the notion of casualty it was the use of rational argument to back up dubious deceptive or self-serving conclusions especially moral ones simply put the art of propaganda weishaupt learned an important but often overlooked lesson the voice of reason isn't the one telling you to show mercy it's the one telling you not to leave any witnesses the jesuits were basically a secret society within the catholic church under
the absolute authority of their superior general they fought the enemies of the church by all means fair and foul political conspiracy even assassination was their stock and trade much like the medieval knights templars the amassed wealth and power and like the templars this aroused envy and fear in the templars case it ended in accusations of heresy and blasphemy the jesuits nearly suffered the same fate in 1773 pope clement xiv was persuaded to abolish the jesuits for weishaupt this meant opportunity in englishdot he ascended to deacon of canon law weisshof later expressed both disdain and admiration
for his jesuit mentors his later position at the head of the illuminati directly mimicked the autocratic power of the superior general arguably the whole plan of the illuminati even its secretiveness was taken straight from the jesuit playbook thus some suspected that weisshoft remained a jesuit at heart and secretly did their bidding so what was weisshaupt's plan first he was obsessed with secrecy he proclaimed that of all the means i know to lead men the most effectual is a concealed mystery the hankering of the mind is irresistible noting that the games and abuses of secret societies
were without end he said i wanted to make use of this human weakness for a real and worthy goal the welfare of mankind simply put vice health saw that men desire status and offering them access to secrets real or imagined was a way to manipulate them he looked for an existing secret society to serve as a cover for his new one weisshauf decided that none is fitter than freemasonry the public is accustomed to it expects little from it and therefore takes little notice of it he mocked ordinary freemasonry as a frivolous business but appreciated the
keenness and zeal of its members and the way the lodges were knit together by the secrecy of their union and masonic lodges made excellent recruiting grounds so in 1777 weiss however joined a masonic lodge and demanded every illuminatus do likewise once initiated they were to attain positions of leadership and turn the lodges into vehicles for illuminati propaganda and expansion vice weishaupt also saw great value in literary societies and libraries the internet of their day he commanded his order to establish or infiltrate them so we may turn the public mind which way we will at the
same time the illuminati would monitor everything appearing in print weisshof said if a writer publishes anything that attracts notice but does not accord with our plan we must endeavor to win him over or decry him though utterly contemptuous of religion vice helped placed a premium on recruiting clerics the most wonderful thing of all he wrote is that the distinguished lutheran and calvinist theologians who belong to our order really believe that they see in it the illuminati the true and genuine sense of christian religion o mortal man is there nothing you cannot be made to believe
weishaupt didn't forget the common man he said we must win the common people in every corner and he said this will be obtained chiefly by means of the schools and by open hearty behavior condescension popularity and toleration of their prejudices which we shall at leisure root out and dispel nor did he ignore women writing there is no means of influencing men so powerfully as by means of women women should therefore be our chief study we should insinuate ourselves into their good opinion give them hints of emancipation this he argued will cause them to work for
us with zeal without knowing that they do so still vice house perfect world would be a man's world the head of every family will be the patriarch the priest and the unlettered lord of his family if this sounds like more deception and manipulation you're right weishaupt wouldn't argue the ultimate goal was to make men free and happy but first they had to be made good and that required manipulation trickery even coercion well the illuminati would be the enlightened aristocracy of the new world order even they weren't equal or free a recruit or novice was under
the complete control of his recruiter or insinuator novices were told what to read how to think and they kept a daily account of their every thought and action they also compiled detailed personal histories they had no secrets from their insinuator and obeyed every command without question initiates received a special name usually something classical vice house was spartacus curiously many picked names connected to ancient mystery cults like osiris pythagoras or atis once a novice received initiation into the next rank the brethren of minerva he had truly entered the illuminati there were also two higher ranks minor
and major illuminatus but weishaupt decreed that no religionist that is anyone retaining a scrap of their old belief could be admitted to them nor was there any room for patriotism absolute loyalty to the order and one's illuminati superiors was the rule the love of one's prince and of one's country are incompatible with the ultimate aims of the order ordinary morality was also forbidden calumnies poisonings assassinations perjury treasons and rebellions were not crimes if done on the command of superiors and for the good of the order it's that old saying to the pure all things are
pure it root it was antinomianism the rejection of all traditional rules and restrictions the illuminati later instituted more higher grades unknown to the rank and file there were scotch knights a nod to the masonic scottish right e-pups prefects national directors national prefects and finally the grand master adam weishauft himself illuminati propaganda insisted the order would free men from all religious prejudices cultivate social virtues and lead them to a speedy prospect of universal happiness in a state of liberty and moral equality freed from subordination rank and riches weishaupt proclaimed my explanation is accurate and complete my
means are effectual and irresistible our secret association works in a way nothing can withstand and man shall soon be free and happy if any of this sounds familiar it should everything about vice health's illuminism echoes the style substance and promise of later communism coincidence or inheritance so how did vice house plan work in practice researchers like terry mellinson who maintains the conspiracy archives identifies about 450 confirmed illuminati other estimates range from 600 to 2000 regardless a huge increase from the original five still secret societies always emphasize quality over quantity known illuminati came almost exclusively from
the 18th century intelligentsia lawyers academics physicians writers and theologians abound among them was johann funguetta author of faust and one of the most celebrated names in western literature and guerta was confidential advisor to another illuminatus du carl august of saksa weimar the illuminati roster includes an astounding number of barons and counts as well as more important aristocrats such as dukes and princes peasants butchers and chimney sweeps are absent jews pagans and ex-jesuits were generally excluded though exceptions were made the great majority of illuminati were freemasons most were germans but there were brethren in austria hungary
switzerland france denmark and even russia there was an especially active cell in naples italy they played a guiding role in naples short-lived parthenopian republic in 1799 weishaupt focused on recruiting what today we'd call influencers or opinion shapers illuminati brethren also mostly represented the have sums of enlightenment society as opposed to the have nots and have everythings they have some and they wanted more they embodied both ambition and resentment the same sort can be found in the driver's seat of almost every revolution marx lenin and castro would have felt quite at home despite the secrecy and
conspiracy vice house order seemed to evaporate under scrutiny but evaporated water doesn't cease to exist it just goes somewhere else under pressure from the church carl theodore of bavaria banned the illuminati in 1784. and again in 1785 yet again in 1787 and again in 1790 obviously suppression wasn't easy nor thorough outside bavaria the order was mostly unscathed vice houft slipped away to nearby gota and he was protected by its illuminatus prince javier von zwaak one of weisshof's most key lieutenants was briefly jailed but escaped to paris in 1786. a year later so did johann bode
who weisshaupt made executive secretary of the order the exposure of the illuminati was at least partly the work of a disaffected brother baron adolf von kinige who objected to vice house stiff-necked in authoritarian leadership phone caniga was also one who accused vysoft of secret jesuitry earlier i said that there were other illuminati cults well the term goes back to the mystery cults of the roman empire illuminism wasn't just a western concept in the 1500s in what's now afghanistan a brotherhood appeared the roshaniyah or illuminated ones they had elaborate very secret initiatory rituals their founder and
illuminated master was a sufi warrior mystic named pier bayezid khan he decried the tyranny and spiritual imperfections of secular rulers including the powerful mogul emperor pir baezid preached the overthrow of the existing order in the creation of a new world order based on an egalitarian communistic society men and women would enjoy a paradise of perfect equality under the benign guidance of an enlightened elite sounds familiar yes was the rashinia just part of what author manley hall called the larger movement around the same time in spain there were the alumbrados or illuminatos they were first mentioned
in 1492 and were supposed to have come to spain from italy church officials suspected them of being a survival of the earlier cathars supporting the notion was the alum brothers rejection of the catholic church's authority and sacraments following masters guided by visions of angels and saints the spanish illuminati sought mystical knowledge and ecstatic union with god once that was attained you could indulge lusts and other desires all you wanted without actually sinning to the pure all things are pure yet again this led to claims that the whole thing was a cover for a sex cult
the inquisition intervened and the aldon brothers were banned in 1525 among those implicated in the cult was none other than the future founder of the jesuits ignatius loyola still the alombrados survived and spread to france in the early 1600s there they were called the illuminaes under the leadership of a former catholic curate pierre geron these illuminati attained a following in piccardy before being suppressed but not destroyed in 1635 and their appearance has an interesting overlap with another secret order the rosicrucians in the early 1700s yet another bunch of illuminaes appeared in the remote sevans region
of southern france they were part of a protestant revolt against the french crown and the catholic church some of these illuminati fled to england there they formed a sect called the french prophets who joined or infiltrated esoteric masonic lodges in 1754 back in france an occultist named joachim martin de pasquale founded yet another illuminous sect dubbed the order of knights masons elect priests of the universe their doctrine was drawn from ancient jewish mystical traditions the kabbalah ritual magic and even the doctrine of swedish mystic emanuel swedenborg they spread all the way to russia where a
cell thrived in moscow until suppressed by catherine the great in the 1790s as a fixture of popular culture the illuminati tale kept evolving one of the first places it might appear is mary shelley's 1818 novel frankenstein vice house hometown of ingelstadt is the same place victor frankenstein makes his monster some see shelley's tale as an allegory for adam weishaup's creation of the illuminati a monster over which he lost control certainly mary's husband poet percy shelley was fascinated by the illuminati researcher scott de hart argues that percy shelley was himself an illuminatus and the real author
of the novel vice house secret society went on to become a stock villain in gothic pot boilers jane austen mentions them half jokingly in northanger abbey they also come up in tolstoy's war and peace and have been referenced by contemporary novelist umberto echo dan brown and the marvel universe of comic book fame and then there are the video games and music madonna's 2015 song illuminati just continues the refrain the illuminati have spawned endless conspiracy theories as well nista webster in her 1924 book secret societies and subversive movements resurrected claims of illuminati influence behind the french
revolution and further link them to the bolsheviks and pretty much every other radical movement since the beginning of time illuminati has become the blanket term for any shadowy elite bent on global domination what do henry kissinger queen elizabeth david rockefeller and arms magnet basil zaharov have in common they're all accused of being illuminati in the 1990s british conspiracist david ike went further way further by turning the illuminati into shape-shifting lizard people from outer space what would adam weisshoft make of all this would he be disgusted that his plan for making men happy and free had
been co-opted corrupted and lampooned or would he find satisfaction that the name has survived and that his secret society may have achieved power and influence beyond anything he could have imagined in 1776 [Music] you
