Category: Illuminati

More than 200 years after the Illuminati was founded to oppose religious influence over daily life, it has become one of the world’s greatest conspiracy theories.

“I have heard there are some meetings here, but where and when, I have no idea,” Sister Anna told me, taking some time to open up on the subject. “I think they come from France, England, all over, but Ingolstadt is the meeting place in Europe.”

Working in the church bookshop opposite Ingolstadt’s colossal Gothic Liebfrauenmünster church, Sister Anna sees, and speaks to, a lot of people. But some remain shrouded in mystery to her: Illuminati pilgrims, who she believes may still carry out secret meetings in the Bavarian city.

The idea that clandestine Illuminati gatherings could be taking place in the small Bavarian city may seem far-fetched, but Ingolstadt does have a history of them. The city is the birthplace of the infamous secret society that has become part myth, part historical truth, and the foundation of countless conspiracy theories.

It was on 1 May 1776 that Adam Weishaupt, a professor of law at the University of Ingolstadt, founded the Order of the Illuminati, a secret organisation formed to oppose religious influence on society and the abuse of power by the state by fostering a safe space for critique, debate and free speech. Inspired by the Freemasons and French Enlightenment philosophers, Weishaupt believed that society should no longer be dictated by religious virtues; instead he wanted to create a state of liberty and moral equality where knowledge was not restricted by religious prejudices. However religious and political conservatism ruled in Ingolstadt at that time, and subject matter taught at the Jesuit-controlled university where Weishaupt lectured was strictly monitored.

After initially handpicking his five most talented law students to join, the network rapidly expanded, its members disseminating Weishaupt’s goals of enlightenment with radical teachings, while at the same time creating an elaborate network of informants who reported on the behaviour of state and religious figures in an effort to build up a wealth of information that the Illuminati could potentially exploit in their teachings. With the help of prominent German diplomat Baron Adolf Franz Friedrich, Freiherr von Knigge – who helped recruit Freemason lodges to the Illuminati cause – the clandestine group grew to more than 2,000 members throughout Bavaria, France, Hungary, Italy and Poland, among other places.

Yet in the city where it all began, this peculiar legacy remains little known among residents.

“Not so many people know about it. But the Illuminati are part of the history of Ingolstadt,” local journalist Michael Klarner explained as we stood outside the old University of Ingolstadt, an unassuming, church-like building just a short stroll from Sister Anna’s bookshop.

“Weishaupt was in many ways a revolutionary,” Klarner continued. “He liked the idea of teaching people to be better human beings. He wanted to change society, he was dreaming of a better world, of a better government. He started the Illuminati with the idea that everything known to human kind should be taught – something that was not allowed here at the university.”

Entering the old university building, I was on the lookout for any sign that Weishaupt’s organisation started within these thick medieval walls, but clues were noticeably absent.

But maybe that shouldn’t be so surprising – the Illuminati, after all, was never meant to be noticed.

The organisation didn’t evade the establishment for long, however. Just a decade after its creation, the secret society was infiltrated by Bavarian authorities after its radical anti-state writings were intercepted by government authorities. The Illuminati was shut down and Weishaupt was banished from Ingolstadt to live the rest of his life in the German city of Gotha, 300km to the north.

Yet the idea of a secret society revolting against the state has captured imaginations ever since, encapsulated in conspiracy theories cooked up by those who believe the Illuminati was never actually disbanded – a claim that has been widely debunked by historians. Even still, conspiracy theorists say that the organisation has been covertly working behind the scenes to subvert authority. The Illuminati has been suggested as the party responsible for the French Revolution, the assassination of US president John F Kennedy and even the 11 September 2001 terror attacks, and has become famous through books and films like Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons.

“The Illuminati conspiracy theory is what we call a ‘superconspiracy’, or basically a conspiracy that controls smaller conspiracies,” said Dr Michael Wood of the University of Winchester, an expert in the psychology of conspiracy theories. “People do talk about the Illuminati, but a lot of the time it’s in a joking or self-aware kind of way, almost making fun of the idea of a global conspiracy.”

And all of this began in a modest Bavarian city that’s better known as the setting of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein than anything else.

Little points to the secret society’s creation in Ingolstadt, except perhaps a small, easily missed plaque outside Weishaupt’s former home, a light blue building on Theresienstrasse street, that marks it as an Illuminati meeting place in the late 18th Century. Yet delve a little deeper, and signs can be found of Ingolstadt’s unlikely role in history.

Tucked behind two sets of metal doors at the Stadtmuseum Ingolstadt (City Museum) I found city archivist Maria Eppelsheimer sifting through row upon row of centuries-old books in search of Ingolstadt’s Illuminati past, written in the words of the founder himself. The thick smell of ageing paper filled the narrow spaces between each bookcase, from which precious archaic hardbacks and delicate manuscripts jutted out.

“I think it’s one of the most interesting topics we look at here,” Eppelsheimer said as she studied the dusty spines in a section dedicated solely to Ingolstadt’s history. She delicately pulled out one of the smallest books on the shelf. It was Apologie der Illuminaten, a 1786 work written by Weishaupt in which he defended the creation of the Illuminati shortly after his exile from the city.

“It’s crazy what the Illuminati has been made into,” the archivist said as she leafed through the pages of the well-worn manuscript. “What it’s been made into has nothing to do with the real Illuminati.”

More of Weishaupt’s words can be found in small, unassuming volumes hidden among the city’s vast archive. It’s as though more than two centuries after its formation, Weishaupt’s Illuminati has continued to remain as elusive as possible.

However there are some people in Ingolstadt, such as Klarner, who are actively trying to bring this unusual historical legacy to light.

“You know Frankenstein is believed to have been based in the city because of the Illuminati,” Klarner said enthusiastically as he took me on a short tour of Ingolstadt’s historical and religious landmarks. “By the French Revolution, there were already theories that the revolution began in Ingolstadt and that the Illuminati were the intellectual fathers of the revolution. This is why many literary theorists believe Mary Shelley knew about Ingolstadt, and why Frankenstein was then set here.”

Klarner regularly leads Illuminati-themed walking tours to educate visitors on the group’s relationship to the city. As we passed the large green, orange and yellow painted buildings of the old city, Klarner reeled off significant Illuminati dates, individuals and information, taking us back to 16th-Century Ingolstadt and the role of 15th-Century university professor Johann Eck in helping to cement the city, and the university in particular, as a bastion for the Catholic faith – something Weishaupt looked to counter two centuries later.

“Of course we get some conspiracy theorists on the tours I do,” Klarner admitted. “But we can educate them to what is the real truth and what is conspiracy.”

Back at Sister Anna’s bookshop, however, the mystery around the Illuminati continues to catch the imagination of the shy nun – despite what the history books may say.

“Some people have come here and asked me about the meetings,” the nun said, leaning over the table as though disclosing a secret. “I think there is something here, but what exactly, in what houses, I don’t know.”

The history of the Illuminati dates back to the late 18th century, when the Bavarian Illuminati was founded by Johann Adam Weishaupt in the Electorate of Bavaria.

Adam Weishaupt was a professor of Canon Law and practical philosophy, who became a non-clerical professor in the Jesuits, an order that was dissolved by Pope Clement XIV in 1773 with the issuing of the papal brief Dominus ac Redemptor.

Weishaupt became deeply anti-clerical, resolving to promote the spread of the “Enlightenment”, an intellectual and philosophical movement that promoted ideas based on the pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence of the senses, human happiness, fraternity, liberty, toleration, and the separation of church and state.

Following a system of ranks and grades based on Freemasonry, Weishaupt founded a quasi-masonic society in 1776 called the Bund der Perfektibilisten, or Covenant of Perfectibility (Perfectibilists), but this was later changed to the Illuminatenorden, or Order of Illuminati in 1778.

The founding members adopted the Owl of Athena as the groups symbol, with each member taking an alias. Weishaupt took the name of Spartacus, whilst his students Massenhausen, Bauhof, Merz and Sutor took the name of Ajax, Agathon, Tiberius and Erasmus Roterodamus.

Weishaupt joined a Masonic lodge in 1777, where he used Freemasonry to recruit new members to his society, by promoting his own agenda as pure masonry based on “perfecting human nature” through re-education for achieving a communal state with nature, free of government rule and organised religion.

The succession of Charles Theodore to the Dukedom and Prince-Elector of Bavaria in 1777 had initially led to a liberalisation of attitudes and laws, but courtiers and clergy persuaded the monarch to repress liberal thought, leading to resentment amongst the educated classes that provided a perfect ground for the Illuminati to find new members.

Recruitment focused on candidates who were rich, had an interest to advance through education, and those who had influence or positions in society and other Masonic lodges. Christians of good character were actively sought, but Jews, pagans, monks, and women were excluded from membership.

At this time, the Order had three grades of membership, the Novice, Minerval and the Illuminated Minerval, for which favoured members were inducted into the ruling council, or Areopagus. In 1782, Adolph Freiherr Knigge, a leading member and spokesman of the Order reformed the Illuminati with a new system of grades arranged in three classes: The Nursery, The Masonic Grades and The Mysteries.

By 1784, the Order reached somewhere between 650 and 2,500 members, with powerful benefactors amongst the ranks such as Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Count Metternich of Koblenz and Count Pálffy von Erdöd, chancellor of Hungary.

Weishaupt wished to keep the existence of the Order secret from the Rosicrucians, but this did little in deterring the Rosicrucians from openly declaring the Illuminati as a masonic sect which sought to undermine Christianity by following atheism, and turn Freemasonry into a political system with revolutionary tendencies.

As the Illuminati embraced Freemasonry and expanded outside Bavaria, the council of the Areopagites was replaced by an ineffective “Council of Provincials”. The Areopagites, however, remained as powerful voices within the Order, and began to bicker causing internal dissent with Weishaupt, who privately slandered his perceived enemies causing the Order to fracture.

The decline of the Illuminati was brought about by the indiscretions of some members, who criticised the monarchy resulting in the Orders existence becoming more widely known, along with the names of many important members. The Order was also blamed for several anti-religious publications and writings interpreted as seditious, resulting in Charles Theodore and his government banning all secret societies in 1784.

In response to the government edict, Weishaupt fled, leaving behind the Orders documents and internal correspondence, which was seized and made public in 1787, causing the Illuminati membership to fracture.

In his exile, Weishaupt would write a series of works on illuminism, including A Complete History of the Persecutions of the Illuminati in Bavaria, A Picture of Illuminism, An Apology for the Illuminati, and An Improved System of Illuminism, until his death in 1830.

Between 1797 and 1798, Augustin Barruel’s Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism and John Robison’s Proofs of a Conspiracy publicised the theory that the Illuminati had survived and represented an ongoing international conspiracy, including the unsubstantiated claim that the Order was behind the French Revolution.

Several modern-day fraternal organisations claim to be descended from the original Bavarian Illuminati, openly using the name of “Illuminati” or the “The Illuminati Order”, but there is no known provenance or historical connection to suggest that these modern entities are associated with the historic Order.

The 18th-century German thinker Adam Weishaupt would have been stunned if he had known his ideas would one day fuel global conspiracy theories, and inspire best-selling novels and blockbuster films.

Until he was 36, the vast majority of his compatriots would have been equally stunned to discover that this outwardly respectable professor was a dangerous enemy of the state, whose secret society, the Illuminati, was seen to threaten the very fabric of society.

Born in 1748 in Ingolstadt, a city in the Electorate of Bavaria (now part of modern-day Germany), Weishaupt was a descendant of Jewish converts to Christianity. Orphaned at a young age, his scholarly uncle took care of his education, and enrolled him in a Jesuit school. After completing his studies, Weishaupt became a professor of natural and canon law at the University of Ingolstadt, married, and started a family. On the surface, it was a conventional enough career—until 1784 when the Bavarian state learned of his incendiary ideas.

Secret papers seized by the Bavarian authorities revealed fascinating details about the rituals of the Illuminati. A novice preparing to pass to the higher level of minerval, for example, had to present a detailed report on the titles of the books he owned, the identity of his enemies, and the weak points of his character. Upon initiation as a minerval, he promised to sacrifice all personal interests to those of the society.

A closer look at his upbringing, however, reveals that Weishaupt always had a restless mind. As a boy he was an avid reader, consuming books by the latest French Enlightenment philosophers in his uncle’s library. Bavaria at that time was deeply conservative and Catholic. Weishaupt was not the only one who believed that the monarchy and the church were repressing freedom of thought.

Convinced that religious ideas were no longer an adequate belief system to govern modern societies, he decided to find another form of “illumination,” a set of ideas and practices that could be applied to radically change the way European states were run.

Freemasonry was steadily expanding throughout Europe in this period, offering attractive alternatives to freethinkers. Weishaupt initially thought of joining a lodge. Disillusioned with many of the Freemasons’ ideas, however, he became absorbed in books dealing with such esoteric themes as the Mysteries of the Seven Sages of Memphis and the Kabbala, and decided to found a new secret society of his own.

Weishaupt was not, he said, against religion itself, but rather the way in which it was practiced and imposed. His thinking, he wrote, offered freedom “from all religious prejudices; cultivates the social virtues; and animates them by a great, a feasible, and speedy prospect of universal happiness.” To achieve this, it was necessary to create “a state of liberty and moral equality, freed from the obstacles which subordination, rank, and riches, continually throw in our way.”

On the night of May 1, 1776, the first Illuminati met to found the order in a forest near Ingolstadt. Bathed in torchlight, there were five men. There they established the rules that were to govern the order. All future candidates for admission required the members’ consent, a strong reputation with well-established familial and social connections, and wealth.

In the beginning, the order’s membership had three levels: novices, minervals, and illuminated minervals. “Minerval” referred to the Roman goddess of wisdom, Minerva, reflecting the order’s aim to spread true knowledge, or illumination, about how society, and the state, might be reshaped.

Over the following years, Weishaupt’s secret order grew considerably in size and diversity, possibly numbering 600 members by 1782. They included important people in Bavarian public life, such as Baron Adolph von Knigge. Although, at first, the Illuminati were limited to Weishaupt’s students, the membership expanded to included noblemen, politicians, doctors, lawyers, and jurists, as well as intellectuals and some leading writers, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. By the end of 1784, the Illuminati had 2,000 to 3,000 members.

Baron von Knigge played a very considerable role in the society’s organization and expansion. As a former Freemason, he was in favor of adopting rites similar to theirs. Members of the Illuminati were given a symbolic “secret” name taken from classical antiquity: Weishaupt was Spartacus, for example, and Knigge was Philo. The membership levels also became a more complex hierarchy. There were a total of 13 degrees of initiation, divided into three classes. The first culminated in the degree of illuminatus minor, the second illuminatus dirigens, and the third, that of king.

After the French Revolution began in 1789, the Illuminati were accused of desiring a similar revolt against the Bavarian regime. Some even claimed that Weishaupt had met the French revolutionary leader Robespierre. In reality, Weishaupt was more of a reformer than a firebrand revolutionary.

Pressures both internal and external, however, would soon put an end to the order’s expansion into the upper echelons of Bavarian power. Weishaupt and Knigge increasingly fought over the aims and procedures of the order, a conflict that, in the end, forced Knigge to leave the society. At the same time, another ex-member, Joseph Utzschneider, wrote a letter to the Grand Duchess of Bavaria, supposedly lifting the lid on this most secret of societies.

The revelations were a mix of truth and lies. According to Utzschneider, the Illuminati believed that suicide was legitimate, that its enemies should be poisoned, and that religion was an absurdity. He also suggested that the Illuminati were conspiring against Bavaria on behalf of Austria. Having been warned by his wife, the Duke-Elector of Bavaria issued an edict in June 1784 banning the creation of any kind of society not previously authorized by law.

The Illuminati initially thought that this general prohibition would not directly affect them. But just under a year later, in March 1785, the Bavarian sovereign passed a second edict, which expressly banned the order. In the course of carrying out arrests of members, Bavarian police found highly compromising documents, including a defense of suicide and atheism, a plan to create a female branch of the order, invisible ink recipes, and medical instructions for carrying out abortions. The evidence was used as the basis for accusing the order of conspiring against religion and the state. In August 1787, the duke-elector issued a third edict in which he confirmed that the order was prohibited, and imposed the death penalty for membership.

Weishaupt lost his post at the University of Ingolstadt and was banished. He lived the rest of his life in Gotha in Saxony where he taught philosophy at the University of Göttingen. The Bavarian state considered the Illuminati dismantled.

Their legacy, however, has endured and fuels many conspiracy theories. Weishaupt was accused—falsely—of helping to plot the French Revolution. The Illuminati have been fingered in recent events, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Weishaupt’s ideas have also influenced the realms of popular fiction, such as Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons and Foucault’s Pendulum by Italian novelist Umberto Eco. Although his group was disbanded, Weishaupt’s lasting contribution may be the idea that secret societies linger behind the scenes, pulling the levers of power.

We all find interest in conspiracy theories, and the recent world events have made the world talk about them more frequently. A concept known as the New World Order is about conspiracy theories that dictate how the world should be ruled. The theories suggest that there should be a single authoritative type of government ruling over the whole world, with a significant cut in the world population. One of the most widely known conspiracy theories is about the Illuminati, an organization that is believed to want this new world order; no states with territories and a single world government.

Ever since Covid19 started to spread, it has made the whole world fall into the vicious cycle of forming their own conspiracy theories about the pandemic. The theory that Covid-19 is a bioweapon is widely known, however, who knows, maybe this Covid-19 is actually an agenda of the Illuminati. This of course has no proof or evidence since the Illuminati group is said to be secretly in control of the world (Gill 2017). If this is true, then Covid-19 is a pretty good shot in promoting the agenda of the Illuminati, since confirmed worldwide cases according to the news have reached 4.3 million+ and the virus deaths have totaled to more than 294,000. Moreover, a senior World Health Organization official has said that the virus may never go away and do not get high hopes to expect any vaccine (NY times 2020). And there is no telling when all of this will end. It may take a few months or even a year. Whatever the case will be, Illuminati seems to be on the winning side. The history of other pandemics is evident to the fact that the population can be abruptly reduced, for instance, the Spanish Flu of 1918-1919 killed 40-50 million people (LePan 2020). In the future, complex technologies such as gene-editing technology can be utilized to fulfill Illuminati’s needs, where human genes can be altered to halt human growth and human reproduction, but this is probably too good to be true. Moreover, an airborne germ can be injected into the air in large volumes, thereby killing a population.

d. Along with maintaining peace, one goal of the United Nations is to contribute to the development of the countries. It was the UN that transformed the destroyed cities after the World Wars by the help of the World Bank. If the UN can solve issues of such extreme, we can hope for its help in many of the issues that are or are not, the result of the actions of the developed world.

The first and foremost thing the UN can do is promote equal representation for everyone. There is some passive business in the UN, especially from the fact that the UN Security Council does not have a proper international representation, with a few non-permanent members along with the five permanent China, France, Russia, UK, and US (Ahmad 2017). Perhaps, the UN has unofficially favored the countries that have the highest contribution to the UN budget, for e.g. the US and Japan. Countries like Pakistan are nowhere to be seen on the list. So what we need is an assurance by the UN of its selfless support to the countries in need regardless of their financial contributions, or else the UN will only act as a puppet to the developed world.

The developed world has created some obstacles for the developing nations such as the exercise of superiority over developing countries, which has made the developing nations suffer one way or another, and that requires the UN’s intervention. The attacks surrounding the murder of Qasim Solemani by the U.S and Iran on each other’s property is an example. Donald Trump’s imposition of severe economic sanctions after the war has caused Iran to suffer, especially with the shortage of proper medical supplies and PPEs during the Covid19. Iran has also received a threat from the US on the destruction of its heritage sites, which is a severe crime. The UN needs to intervene in issues such as this, and the UN can exercise its full motives of UNESCO to ban any such actions against cultural sites. Also, If the UN claims being so humanitarian, it only makes sense that it eases the sanctions on Iran so the country can fight the coronavirus properly.

Other than that, with the reduced worldwide population on the streets due to the covid19 lockdown, the UN can work on environmental and pollution issues that have been perpetuated by the extensive use of fossils for electricity production. The energy sector is responsible for around 40% of CO2 emissions worldwide (United Nations 2020). The UN is helping areas turn to renewable energy. For instance, Water boreholes are powered by solar panels in Nigeria that are improving the lives of Nigerians displaced by conflict (United Nations 2020). Hence, measures like these by the UN in both developed and developing nations can further reduce pollution. Furthermore, Pakistan’s loss of 70,000+ human lives due to its participation in the Afghan War on terror has devastated the country. Even then, Pakistan’s efforts are not being openly recognized as some countries go as far as to term Pakistan as a terrorist funding state. A unified approach is required here, and it is the UN that can carry it out. if the UN is more open and clear about Pakistan’s and other unpopular states’ contributions to humanity, its narrative can go a long way in improving the image of countries like us.

Moreover, the recent debt relief by the World Bank for the developing countries due to the covid19 pandemic has garnered appreciation worldwide. Measures like these give us hope for the unbiased role of the UN in solving issues. They make one thing clear to us: the UN has the potential to solve the complex issues of the 21st century. Thus, the role the UN can play in solving issues of the developing countries is of great importance.

References

1. Ahmad, Shamshad. 2017. ‘Strengthening of the UN.’ In Pakistan and World Affairs, by Shamshad Ahmad, 425-427.
2. Gill, Martha. 2017. What is the Illuminati? You asked Google – here’s the answer. November. https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/22/what-is-illuminati-google-autocomplete.
3. Hughes, Roland. 2018. China Uighurs: All you need to know on Muslim ‘crackdown’. November 8. bbc.com/news/amp/world-asia-china-45474279.
4. Lalwani, Sam Winter-Levy, and Nikita. 2018. When is nationalism a good thing? When it unites an ethnically diverse citizenry. June 26. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/06/26/when-is-nationalism-a-good-thing-when-it-unites-an-ethnically-diverse-citizenry/.
5. LePan, Nicholas. 2020. Visualizing the History of Pandemics. March 14. visualcapitalist.com/history-of-pandemics-deadliest/.
6. NY times. 2020. Nations Move in Opposing Directions on Coronavirus: Live Coverage. May 14. nytimes.com/2020/05/13/world/coronavirus-world-news-updates.html.
7. United Nations. n.d. Purposes and Principles of the United Nations. https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/purposes-and-principles-un-chapter-i-un-charter#rel5.

My Question

There you are, watching TV on the date of September 11, 2001. Then suddenly the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked, and people are in disarray of what is going on, then several weeks later conspiracies arrive of why this happened. Hearing the words “Illuminati” from several people. This secret society has always bugged me ever since the first clue to the Illuminati, that clue being the unfinished pyramid at the top of the dollar bill (Marketplace, 1). Questions that started to run through my mind seeing this on the dollar bill was, “Who were these people”? “What exactly did these people want”? “Did they influence anybody through their reign”?

My Journey

Throughout the many conspiracy theories and groups in the world, I got to come across the Illuminati, the Illuminati is an unknown group that is believed to be controlling the world, the big question I have thought is what is the Illuminati? The Illuminati was real at one point in time, it came into being on the date of May 1, 1776(“Illuminati” 1). They were called the Order of the Illuminati, they began as a secret society of only five members, and they were made up of people of opposed the Catholic Church’s power, as their numbers grew larger, the secret came out of their whereabouts they were banned by the Elector of Bavaria and since disbanded… But were they really (“Illuminati” 1)?

What I learned

As of modern times, it is believed that the Illuminati has influenced many popular who became famous. As I continued to search through the internet, the Illuminati affected a lot of people that were famous, this sparked up my question “Who did the Illuminati effect”? I read a document that said Beyoncé and Jay-Z are the King and Queen of the Illuminati, crazy right? Two of the most popular Hip-Hop singers who rose to fame to be a part of this secret society, but it’s not their fame that they believe it’s for the actions these artists speculate that they are part of this society. In Jay-Z’s album “Roc Nation”, his signature hand sign is to have his hands in a shape of a triangle, and the Illuminati’s most common symbol in society is the Triangular eye(Chen, 3).

Furthermore, I continued to search and discover more truths about the Illuminati, I started reading on many cases of the Illuminati, such as murders. In Michael Jackson’s son, Prince said in a news video that a week before Michael Jackson’s death, Prince would hear Michael say, “They’re going to kill me, they’re going to kill me”. Who were they? Well in a press with Michael Jackson, he stated that there was “the system in place in the music industry takes advantage of celebrities”(Dean, par 3). To proceed even further into this Illuminati business, Aaron Hernandez, a young rich NFL player ended up taking his life in a jail cell for a life sentence for the 2013 shooting of Odin Lloyd, committed suicide, and wrote “ILLUMINATI” in all caps on the wall of his cell, with his own blood (ParkalertPress, 1)!

He then drew an unfinished pyramid and an eye, he also proceeded to write “John 3:16” on his forehead, I looked up this verse and it read “ For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What was Aaron Hernandez trying to convey?

One of the first questions was, who was the Illuminati? Well, the Illuminati had a big different society back then, then what it is today. In 1776, Adam Weishaupt didn’t believe in the monarchy of the church at the time and disregarded it, he proceeded to make an “Illumination” group that was set on changing European states on how they run. (Fotostock, par 4). During the night of May 1, 1776, the Illuminati met in a forest near Ingolstadt. There was a total of five men and established rules to which they govern the order. They even had three membership levels! First would be novices, minerals, and illuminated minerals (Fotostock, par 6). In a matter of years, the secret society grew to 600 members by 1782, then by the end of 1784, Illuminati grew to 3000 numbers(Fotostock par 7), not such a secret society if there are so many people, right? Well that’s exactly what happened, word got out of this society and the Bavarian society issued a banning order on the Illuminati, they later disbanded ever since. The next question that this theory gave was, who did the Illuminati affect? In an article made by ancient code, they wrote that figures such as Pope Francis and singers like Jay-Z and Beyonce are among the secret group, however, there really isn’t any evidence linking having them being discovered. (Ancient Code, par 3)

What this means to me

As of starting this project, I only had knowledge of the Illuminati about how there was an eye on the top of the pyramid in the dollar bill, I didn’t know that there was a conspiracy involved with this, the theory involved with this, was called the Illuminati theory. As of researching the topic 10 years later, I discovered something bigger behind the picture, the New World Order. This New World Order was the embodiment of the Illuminatis so-called plan, the powerful group sought to rule mankind into one singular world government (The Telegraph, 25). There has been some speculation that shows key events linking to the New World Order, such as 9/11.

President Bush was said to be a key link to the 9/11 attack, but what’s even eerier is that 11 years ago before 9/11 happened. Was that Bush gave an address called “Toward A New World Order”.(Cutting-edge, par 22) The main idea of this speech was that the Iraqi invasion would be a catalyst that would propel the US in a New World Order, then 11 years later the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was attacked, isn’t that crazy how Bush’s speech and the attack was on the same date, then the many allegations that “Bush did it” (Cuttingedge, par 23).

Now, this essay was really different than other research papers since it was basic research you wanted to do! It didn’t have any guidelines about what you should and shouldn’t do, and it had more freedom than most papers, except for the fact of plagiarism was still a no-go. Also making this essay compared to other essays was how chilling reading different articles, this gave me many twists in my stomach, one thought I always had in the back of my head was “What if they came and took me because of the stuff I knew”. Even on some nights, I couldn’t even sleep!

This essay really had value to me, there was so many theories or groups I could’ve done such as the Skulls and Bones society, or the Flat-Earth Theory, although those are some interesting topics, I believed that the Illuminati theory would give me useful information later since it was so secret.

To summarize it, the Illuminati has made me have many twists and turns, from asking “Who was the Illuminati” “What did they want” and “Who did they affect”, they provided me with so much information that I didn’t even know existed! Just watch out cause even the Illuminati can be reading this paper as well.

Subliminal Message

This culture jam project was unquestionably a standout among the most captivating task that I’ve done so far. When I first start thinking of the topic for this project, I wanted to do something my mind is linked to. I remembered watching this particular video in high school. The speaker conveyed a message surrounding subliminal messages. The general meaning of a subliminal message is a hidden message that is not easily perceived or be seen. The speaker then touched on modern music videos and point out numerous areas where subliminal messages were hidden which surprised me dramatically. He followed with an intriguing message by simply pointing out what was the meaning behind the drawings in the back of the American one-dollar bill. This really captured my interest, as I never really paid much attention on the design of the one-dollar bill. The more I looked at the drawings, the more question marks start to pop up in my head. This project gave me the opportunity to investigate and look deep into the drawings. Possibly finding out the reason and purpose of why it was drawn as they are. Moreover, I was more anxious to find out if the drawings have any subliminal messages which most people were not aware of. There were a lot of speculation on whether the pyramid, the half-hidden owl, and the infamous eye have anything to do with the Illuminati. Illuminati is a secret society that is, ironically, known for their love for owls, pyramids, and of course, the infamous eye. With the obvious and weird correlation between the dollar bill and the Illuminati, could it really be possible that the drawings of the dollar bill was originally designed around the idea of the Illuminati? We soon shall see.

The design of the drawing has its own original historic facts and meanings. Do you already know that there are hidden patterns, color spots, and mysterious symbols in one dollar? And this is just the most common knowledge. Also, do you know the true meaning of those seemingly random letters and Latin phrases? But first, I will explain one simple question: what is the value of one dollar bill? This question seems simple, but the answer is complicated. Since 1973, the dollar bill has not been added to the value. You can’t exchange gold, silver, or any other commodity with the dollar and the government. The value of this US currency is related to the government’s stipulation that the US dollar is the legal currency of all debt. This means that if someone wants to pay the debt in dollars, the payee must accept the money unless the law no longer recognizes the debt. This is very important, so this phrase is printed on every banknote made by the government. It is also very important that the citizens of the country agree that the banknote is valuable. If a member of a society decides not to trust a currency, the value of the banknote will soon be equivalent to the value of the paper printed on it. The case-by-case data is that the government prints 6.4 cents per banknote.

What kind of paper is the banknote printed from? The banknotes are made from a mixture of flax and cotton, which is why they do not dissipate like plain paper after washing. If you look closely, you will see the red and blue silk fibers of the banknote intertwined on the banknote. Such a thread is generally considered to be a measure against counterfeit banknotes.

What is the meaning of the letters in a circular seal on the front of a one-dollar bill? There is a black seal with a large letter in the middle, representing the Federal Reserve Bank that placed the order. A = Boston, B = New York City, C = Philadelphia, D = Cleveland, E = Richmond, Virginia, F = Atlanta, G = Chicago, H = St. Louis, I = Minneapolis, J = Kansas City, K = Dallas. (PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP) This letter also echoes the black numbers that appear everywhere on the front of the banknote. For example, if you have a banknote with the letter K from Dallas, the number on the banknote should be 11, because K is the 11th letter of the alphabet.

Can you find hidden owls or spiders on the top of the banknote? Many people believe that they can see a small owl (also known as a spider) next to the big number ‘1’, in the upper right corner of the banknote. If you look closely at the shape of the shield around the number ‘1’, you will find the little owl in the upper left corner. The most likely scenario is that this is just part of the design of the edge of the pattern, and nothing else. However, this still does not prevent some people from linking to the Illuminati.

Topic: The Simpsons and Illuminati

• General Purpose: To persuade
• Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that The Simpsons is related to the Illuminati conspiracies
• Central Idea: The Simpsons and Illuminati can be related based on how The Simpsons has accurately predicted the future in the episodes such as the 9/11 attack, Donald Trump’s Presidency, and Lady Gaga’s performance.

Introduction:

1. The world’s most well-known animated television series, The Simpsons started and released the first episode on 17th September 1989. Over its nearly 30 years of running the series, The Simpsons has been recorded as the longest-running sitcom in television history. Nevertheless, it has been strangely predicting the future events with accuracy since the first episode but the show seemingly has a dark secret, it has foreseen some of the most significant moments in history before they have happened.
2. Many individuals have claimed that The Simpsons show is being controlled by the secret society so-called Illuminati and is being used as a tool to baffle the public. The Simpsons has shown an impressive ability to predict the future we have witnessed horrifying events that have come true and that without a doubt have passed into history.
3. Some people may argue that The Simpsons has been running for almost 30 years so it’s inevitable that some themes that cropped up in the show might occur in real life. However, some of the font lines are eerily close to the events that have happened throughout the world.
4. Due to the fact Illuminati became a joke when so many conspiracy theories came out about the secret organization and make it looks like it is a fake thing. Illuminati have been known as The All Seeing Eye who is the most powerful organization and has controlled the media all over the world. As I’ve been growing up as a Muslim who believes about The Dajjal, “one with blind one eye” as it has stated in the Quran about the existence and the reality of Dajjal, I believe that the Illuminati and Dajjal are so much relatable.
5. In my speech, I’d like to show you according to some The Simpsons episodes of some predictions that were successfully revealed which are the 9/11 attack, Donald Trump’s Presidency, and Lady Gaga’s performance, I’d like to persuade each of you about The Simpsons can be related to the Illuminati conspiracies.

(Transition: Let’s begin by looking at the first main point which is the 9/11 attack.)

Body:

I. The first main point is about the 9/11 attack incident.

• A. In the episode of The Simpsons titled The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson on 21st September 1997, there was a moment that alluded to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York City.
• B. According to Maya Salam, in the website of The New York Times, in the episode of The Simpsons, she quoted “there is a frame where there is a brochure that says New York at $9 a day, and behind the nine are the twin towers that clearly look like an eleven, and that makes it look like 9/11”. This episode was aired exactly four years before the attack had happened on 11th September 2001.

1. Thus, what makes it related to the Illuminati? There is some remarkable image drawn on a card in the 1990s board game that shows an eerily accurate representation of the burning Twin Towers after the 9/11 attacks. This game was based on the successful book trilogy, The Illuminatus, and was a satirical take on the topic of a global conspiracy.
2. The card game or The Terrorist Nuke card depicts drawings of two large towers with an explosion ripping through the middle of one of the buildings. The top of the building is also tipping to the right, suggesting it is about to collapse. Terrifyingly, the cards in the Illuminati card game so-called as Steve Jackson’s Illuminati: The Game Conspiracy, seem to foresee the attacks which it was released in 1995 and chillingly resembled to the images of the 9/11 attacks in New York. (Austin, 2016)

• C. It might a bizarre thing that people could think of. But, The Simpsons was not the only show that had been predicted about 9/11 attack. Does it make sense that the shows, books, or card games have exactly the same thing and make it look like a coincidence? There were some shows that also had predicted the 9/11 attacks which are:

1. Johnny Brave in the episode of “Chain Gang Johnny” and it was aired 27th April 2001. In the episode, there was a frame with a burning building in it with fire and smoke and it said ‘Coming Soon’ and 9/11 happened a few months after this episode was aired. (Raj, 2016)
2. “Asi Sufre Latino America” was also one of the predictions that came from a book written by Jose Borja for almost 20 years before the 9/11 attack that it had a front page with a twin towers which one of it was collapsing and exploded.

(Transition: For your information, The Donald Trump episode is so famous and one of the reasons people said that The Simpsons were predicting the future. )

II. The second main point is about Donald Trump’s presidency.

• A. The all-time popular episode that has been talking by people is The Donald Trump presidency in the 17th episode during season 11 with the title “Bart to the Future”. This episode tells about Donald Trump becoming the president of the United States (US) and The Simpsons predicted 16 years ago in 2000 that Donald Trump would one day become US president as we all know Donald Trump won the election in 2016.
• B. The second time The Simpsons took a peek into the future; Lisa Simpsons has become “America’s first straight female president” from an outgoing President Trump in the episode.

1. In a cabinet meeting, she offhandedly mentions, “We inherited quite the budget crunch from President Trump”. It initially was a reference to Trump attempting a run as a Reform Party candidate but the words gained much more validity when Trump was elected as president in 2016. (Bloom, 2018)
2. She asked how bad things have got, to be told the country is broke, as the previous regime invested in the nation’s children but “created a generation of ultra-strong-super-criminals”.
3. What may have seemed in 16 years ago, it was an implausible fantasy that was intended as “a warning to America”, told the episode’s creator to The Hollywood Reporter. (Addley, 2016)

• C. Thus, what is the relation between Illuminati and Donald Trump? Previously the Illuminati card game shows about the 9/11 attack. Once again this terrifying card game holds an image similar to an angry-looking Trump, taken in 2011.

1. The card’s title was Enough is Enough and it reads: “At any time, at any place, our snipers can drop you…have a nice day.” (Hickson, 2016)
2. Many see this as a direct reference to an assassination of the person on the card.

• a) An alleged assassination attempt has already failed on the president-to-be.
• b) Michael Sandford, 20, is accused of trying to grab a police officer’s gun to shoot Mr. Trump at a campaign rally in Las Vegas.
• c) And a terrifying radio broadcast previously predicted the man’s assassination.
• d) Donald Trump has certainly ruffled a few feathers and insulted many of his opponents making this card all the more believable.

(Transition: Now, let’s get a move to the last main point which is the Lady Gaga episode in The Simpsons.)

III. Last but not least, the third main point is about Lady Gaga’s performance.

• A. In a 2012 episode of The Simpsons titled Lisa Goes Gaga, when the singer puts on a show in Springfield, flying through the air on wires in a wild outfit. (Locker, 2017)
• B. Five years later, Lady Gaga’s performance at the 2017 Super Bowl Halftime Show was held just like the predictions made by The Simpsons un bizarrely accurate details. (Hancock, 2017)

1. In her appearance in Super Bowl LI’s Pepsi Half Time Show, Lady Gaga descended from the roof of Houston’s Stadium, and fans were quick to point out the similarities and resemblance between the stunt and 2012 The Simpsons episode.

• C. Lady Gaga is recognized for her bizarre outfits and stage sets. Many people believe she is the queen of the modern-day Illuminati with her Illuminati symbolism, triangles, and unicorns in her music videos and music performances. (Beliefnet, n.d.)

1. Lady Gaga does the hidden eye sign repeatedly in her music video, Just Dance. The Hidden Eye, or more importantly, the one exposed eye, represents the All-Seeing eye of the Illuminati.
2. In 2009, Lady Gaga was seen flashing a Triple Six in front of an all-seeing eye while performing Alejandro during her The Monster Ball Tour. All the dancers had a vest with an all-seeing eye on a triangle.
3. There were so many articles written about Lady Gaga’s Superbowl Half-Time Show is full of Illuminati symbolism such as the pentagram, 666 signs, checkered floors, and all the basic symbols.

Conclusion:

1. In conclusion, all of these theories might sound ridiculous and make no sense, but many people won’t come out with all of these speculations without any research or further investigation.
2. As I said earlier about The Dajjal and Illuminati were so much relatable as it is a fact that cannot be denied because the existence of The Dajjal has been written in the Quran and Sunnah. So, the same goes to the Illuminati and The Simpsons episodes which are the 9/11 attack, The Donald Trump Presidency, and Lady Gaga’s performance which are way too much to say them as coincidences.
3. It is a possible thing, why not? The fact that there could be some, all-knowing organization under everything. The point I’m saying is, that nothing is impossible. Sometimes you just got to look at something with an open mind though it may seem crazy on the surface.

References:

1. Addley, E. (2016). Back to the future: how the Simpsons and others predicted President Trump. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/10/simpsons-predicted-president-trump-back-to-the-future
2. Austin, J. (2016). How board game that ‘predicted 9/11 terror strike’ warns of IMMINENT NUCLEAR World War III. Retrieved from Express: Home of the Daiy and Sunday Express: https://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/654452/How-board-game-that-predicted-9-11-terror-strike-warns-of-IMMINENT-NUCLEAR-World-War-III
3. Beliefnet. (n.d.). 7 Celebrities Supposedly In the Illuminati. Retrieved from Beliefnet: https://www.beliefnet.com/entertainment/galleries/7-celebrities-supposedly-in-the-illuminati.aspx?p=6
4. Bloom, M. (2018). ‘The Simpsons’: 30 Times the Fox Comedy Successfully Predicted the Future. Retrieved from The Hollywood Reporter: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/simpsons-30-times-fox-comedy-successfully-predicted-future-1140775
5. Hancock, E. (2017). ‘The Simpsons’ predicted Lady Gaga’s Superbowl performance 5 years ago. Retrieved from Business Insider Nordic: https://nordic.businessinsider.com/the-simpsons-is-good-at-predicting-the-future-2016-11/
6. Hickson, A. (2016). US Election 2016: Donald Trump’s assassination predicted by creepy Illuminati card game. Retrieved from Daily Star: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/543704/Donald-Trump-assassination-accurate-card-game-predict-Republican-Illuminati-conspiracy
7. Locker, M. (2017). The Simpsons Totally Predicted Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl Performance. Retrieved from Time: http://time.com/4661014/simpsons-super-bowl-prediction/
8. Raj, N. (2016). 15 Bizarre Signs In Popular Culture That ‘Predicted’ The 9/11 Attacks Before They Actually Happened. Retrieved from Scoop Whoop: https://www.scoopwhoop.com/Signs-In-Popular-Culture-That-Predicted-The-911-Attacks-Before-It-Actually-Happened/#.8szsck7uh