The Order of the Illuminati, also known as the New World Order or just the Illuminati are the main antagonists of many conspiracy theories.
According to such conspiracy theories, they are the successor to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-age group that desired to overthrow the Bavarian monarchy. Due to the descritpion of this group often being nebulous, the term is often used to describe several groups, both real and fictious, and are depicted as a secret society with agents hidden in most national governments. A common theme found in theories surrounding the group is that their ultimate goal is to emerge as a global superpower and establish a totalitarian government across all nations.
Because of the infamy of the conspiracy theories it inspired, the Illuminati has seen numerous portrayals in popular culture, typically depicting it as a corrupt secret society like its portrayal in conspiracy theories.
History[]
General Story[]
Due to conflicting sources, it is unknown exactly when or how the modern Illuminati came into being, although it can be presumed to be around the 18th century, for it was then where the Illuminati became speculated upon.
After its creation, the Illuminati began orchestrating infamous historical events. These range from the French Revolution in 1799 and the Reign of Terror in 1794. This was done incite radicalism throughout all of Europe, garnering support for their anti-monarchism values.
The Illuminati would see a resurgence in notoriety in the 20th century, where it was theorized that the society began to take roots in the United States, with groups, such as fraternities, gentlemen’s clubs and think tanks, being accused of serving as front organizations for the conspiracy. Additionally, it is common for believers to claim that the Illuminati had a role in events in American history, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The common consensus is that the Illuminati’s endgame is to plant agents in national governments to spread their influence, allowing them to put their plans of world domination into fruition. Whether or not they are successful remains to be seen.
The Myth’s History[]
As mentioned above, the idea that the Illuminati survived its initial dissolution was first touted in the late 18th century by reactionary conspiracy theories, such as Scottish physicist John Robison, who published Proofs of a Conspiracy in 1797 to warn others about the rise of the Illuminati. During the 19th century, believers of the Illuminati feared that their anti-monarchal values will form within society and disrupt the world’s natural order. This ironically incites the revolutions believers of the Illuminati conspiracy sought to prevent in 1848, where the largest revolutionary wave in European history occurred.
The Illuminati conspiracy made a brief resurgence in the United States in the 1910s, where it was assumed by evangelists that the modernist and liberal principles permeating the cultural osmosis of the decade were a precursor to the Illuminati seizing control of the nation; however, it wasn’t until the 1960s where the modern incarnation of the Illuminati conspiracy took form.
Published in 1963, the Principia Discordia was a parodic religious text that preached the faux religion of Discordism, or the worship of Eris, goddess of chaos. While not directly mentioning the Illuminati, the text alluded to the idea that the world was controlled by a secret society of some kind. In 1975, the Illuminatus! trilogy of novels was released. The narratives suggested that the major “cover ups” of the decade, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy were done by the Illuminati in its quest to form a New World Order. Due to the novels’ release coinciding with the rise of counterculture, the trilogy gave way to new fascination with the Illuminati conspiracy, with many touting the book as fact, eventually if it was made purely for satire.
To this day, the Illuminati conspiracy has become the quintessential conspiracy theory, with hundreds across the globe believing in it. This has led to the Illuminati being a frequent subject in popular culture, usually in a nebulous role.
Alternate Narratives[]
Some conspiracy theories state that certain members of the Illuminati consume the blood of other human beings in order to maintain a long lifespan or even gain immortality.
Another easy-to-come-across theory is one which states that the Order covertly inserts subliminal messaging into certain pieces of media, such as songs, books, or films, and sometimes even shows. The motive(s) for the insertion of such messaging vary. One of the more common explanations for the Illuminati inserting such messaging is predictive programming. Conspiracy circles say that predictive programming is used by the Order in order to "desensitize" or "prepare" the masses for future events, in order to prevent widespread panic and/or chaos.
Other theories out there posit an alternate origin for the Illuminati, with its members actually belonging to a race of despicable Reptilians who have successfully blended in with the rest of humanity and have started to plant some of their own in various influential sectors of human life. Alternate versions of the "Reptilians theory" also tend to suggest that they are more allies of the Order rather than actual members of the organization. Besides the "Reptilians theory", there's another "theory" which implicates a different group of living beings in making up the Illuminati's membership, one that is quite controversial. This specific theory originates from a fabricated text, one which states that a cabal of Jewish leaders (who essentially fill the Order's spot in this "theory") were discussing plans for absolute global dominion, this fabricated text is none other than the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion, first produced in Russia around 1903. The Protocols have since been exposed and slammed by multiple groups, old and new, mind you, for being a fraudulent document and piece of propaganda often used by extremists to permit the harassment as well as persecution (and even murder) of Jews (with the excuse being that the Illuminati is made up of Jews who want to throw the world out of order, therefore the only course of action that can be taken against them is the persecution and genocide of their people). Many Christian conspiracy circles either dismiss this theory as demonic propaganda or believe in it to a concerning extent.
One extremely-hard-to-come-across conspiracy theory states that the Illuminati are actually benevolent hegemons, seeking to maintain order among humans in a world full of chaos. This theory is to be taken with a grain of salt, of course.
There are niche conspiracy theories out there blaming them for the existence of certain cultural phenomena, such as the large influx of cryptocurrencies, which can be explained away as them attempting to alter the norm of paper money being the primary resource used for the exchange of goods, so that they would reign supreme control over the virtual currencies that they supposedly introduced into the system, essentially creating a one-world currency. Another cultural phenomenon that people blame for existing on the Illuminati is our kind's (especially the Elites) growing fascination with the planet Mars. The reason for this fascination depends on which theory you come across, with one of the more common ones being that the Elite have started trying to colonize Mars as they need a place of refuge if anything terrible were to befall Earth, or that they know their exploitation of the planet's resources will lead to it being unable to sustain human life, so they need to find a new planet to live and prosper on (this version of the theory suggests that they might be planning to take advantage of Mars as they did to Earth).
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The term "Illuminati" come from the Latin word for "enlightened", illuminatus.
