Illuminati: Facts And History About The Secret Society

They worked in great secrecy. Their goal was to create a society without a King and Church.

Their ideas were controversial and their members were considered so dangerous that the society was quickly banned. Some think members of the Illuminati are still active, working in secrecy trying to create a New World Order.

The Illuminati Order still fascinates and frightens people, but who were these people really and what were their goals?

In this article, we examine facts and history about the Order of the Illuminati, one of the most dangerous secret societies that ever existed.

To understand why the Illuminati society was established, one must first understand how politics and religion influenced Europe in the 16th and 17th century.

Our journey takes us back hundreds of years in time to Regensburg in Germany where the secret society was born.

The Illuminati society was created on May 1, 1176 by Johann Adam Weishaupt, who was only 26 years at the time, but already a Professor.

He adopted the name of “Brother Spartacus” within the order. Weishaupt was fascinated with the current Renaissance ideals and scientific discoveries, such as Isaac Newton’s breakthroughs in physics and Galileo Galilei’s astronomical discoveries based in Copernicus previous theories and studies. People now knew that Earth was not the center of the Universe and our planet orbited the Sun and not the other way round.

There were many secret societies in existence during this period and many felt there was a need to give people power to decide in important matters. The power and role of the authorities and Church were questioned. There was a need for a radical change in the society and Weishaupt thought he had the “perfect” solution.

Congress of Vienna, 1814-15Many believe that the subversive goal of the Illuminati was to form a one world government. The Congress of Vienna was, according to these beliefs, brought about by the Illuminati who hoped to achieve their goal by forming a League of Nations. When Russia refused to join, however, their plan was foiled creating, supposedly, a great deal of animosity towards the Russian powers within the Illuminati rank and file. Image credit: Freemason Info

Weishaupt lectured at the Ingolstadt University in Bayern and he was the only professor who was not a member of the Jesuit order.

In 1773, Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Jesuits (also known as the Society of Jesus). This gave Weishaupt the opportunity to become a professor in canon law. The position had exclusively been held by a Jesuit up until that point.

In his free time, Weishaupt spent hours discussing new ideas with member of other secret societies.

The Illuminati wanted to make fundamental changes in the society. Their goals were:

Abolition of all ordered governments

Abolition of private property

Abolition of inheritance

Abolition of patriotism

Abolition of the family (children should be raised by the society)

Abolition of religion

Creation of a world government

The greatest enemy of all, was religion that, according to Weishaupt prevented progresses in the society. The aim was to combat religion and foster rationalism in its place.

Needless to say, that the Illuminati’s ideas and goals were so controversial that the entire order and its members were soon considered a dangerous threat to the society.

Order were given to put an end to the Illuminati. Authorities sent agents to infiltrate the society and collect sensitive information that could be used against the Order of the Illuminati.

This was a challenging task because Illuminati’s members were very cautious, secretive and never undertook unnecessary risks.

When they wrote to each other they never mentioned the society’s name – Illuminati. Instead they used a special sign that serves as a symbol of their society – a circle with a dot in the middle, a sign for the Shining Sun.

All member used ancient Greek and Romans names as to hide their identity.

Ironically, Weishaupt’s agenda promoted free thinking and freedom, but his society certainly did not reflect these thoughts and the order was anything but democratic in nature. Weishaupt believed constant surveillance of the members created several advantages such as loyalty and eliminated the risks of traitors.

The actual workings of the order involved spies and counter-spies. Each isolated cell of initiates answered to a supervisor, that none of the initiates knew. Weishaupt also set specific books and materials that all members had to read. Although Weishaupt’s goal was “enlightenment” for its members and society as a whole, by its own rules and regulations it prevented free thought by its members.

The Church and authorities started to become impatient. The Illuminati became more and more popular and the secret society gained many followers.

Weishaupt wanted to create a large organization, but he had to work hard. He had to prevent that members of the Freemasons joined the Rosicrucian Order.

Weishaupt had no respect for and disapproved of the Rosicrucian Order that engaged in worship of the occult and alchemy.

“The thought that young men are trying to create gold and other nonsense is unacceptable to me,” Weishaupt said.

The Order of Illuminati existed for almost a decade before it was banned and eradicated by the authorities.

In 1784, writings from the Order were intercepted in Bavaria and the group was declared seditious banned.

Weishaupt lost his position at the university and fled Bavaria. Once Weishaupt left Bavaria the Order collapsed the Illuminati came to an end.

In 1777, Weishaupt tried a second time to promote his ideologies. He joined the Masonic lodge “Theodor zum guten Rath” in Munich, but his Illuminati reforms were not welcome and rejected by the Freemasons.

Knowing this, Weishaupt created a quasi-masonic society and recruited members from inside the fraternity. Weishaupt claimed that his system was “pure” masonry.

Weishaupt wrote four books on the Illuminati over a three-year period while in exile. They were A Complete History of the Persecutions of the Illuminati in Bavaria (1785), A Picture of Illuminism (1786), An Apology for the Illuminati (1786), and An Improved System of Illuminism (1787).

Weishaupt died in Gotha, Germany on November 18th, 1830. The society’s influence is still felt today partly because of the profound association it formed with Freemasons.

Written by Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com

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About the author:Ellen Lloyd – is the owner of AncientPages.com and an author who has spent decades researching ancient mysteries, myths, legends and sacred texts, but she is also very interested in astronomy, astrobiology and science in general